So, picture this: Binance.US’ crack team of lawyers made a dash to the courthouse on August 14, throwing in a plea. Their message? “Hey, can we get a little shield from the SEC’s prying eyes during this whole discovery thing?” I mean, can you blame them?
Rolling her chair back, Judge Amy Berman Jackson, sitting pretty at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, thought it over. On August 16, she was like, “Hmm… let’s pass the ball to Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui.” The aim? Sorting out this protective order hullabaloo. The kicker? Binance.US had been shouting from the rooftops that this whole order thing was to save their skin from the SEC’s nosey parker antics.
Before the gavel could even fall, John Reed Stark, the big kahuna who once led the SEC’s Internet Enforcement, was buzzing on X (you know, what we used to call Twitter). He bet his boots that the issue would land in a magistrate’s lap before the SEC could even raise an eyebrow or fire back.
But hold up, here’s the skinny from Stark: “Look, every case is its own beast. But, generally, the SEC? Yeah, they sometimes get a tad greedy with what they ask for. And the ones in the hot seat? They also stretch their luck, wanting too much protection.”
Binance’s Recent Move: What’s the Scoop?
So, here’s the heart of the matter. The SEC was all up in Binance.US’s grill, demanding info about how they handle, secure, and make their user’s assets available. Binance.US was like, “Back off! That’s none of your beeswax.” They argued the whole shebang wasn’t even on the SEC’s radar, especially since their case in June was about some shady unregistered securities.
What Will Likely Happen Regarding Binance’s Recent Motion for a Protective Order In The SEC/Binance Case
— John Reed Stark (@JohnReedStark) August 16, 2023
There’s clearly a discovery storm brewing between the SEC and Binance. Among other gripes, the U.S. arm of crypto exchange Binance Holdings is fighting an attempt by the U.S.… pic.twitter.com/LzTjsMeMWp
And the plot thickens! Binance, along with their head honcho Zhao, are also dancing with a lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. And guess what? They tried to give that the boot in July. Word on the street is that they’re also on the U.S. Department of Justice’s naughty list, for letting some Russian bigwigs play on their platform.