Binance has released a powerful statement in response to the lawsuit recently filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In their message, the company shares their perspective on the current situation and their thoughts on the SEC, offering insights to their investors.
Binance’s Statement
The Binance team expressed their astonishment and opinions on the situation through a post on their official blog:
We are disappointed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has chosen to file a complaint against Binance today, seeking so-called emergency relief among other remedies.
We have actively cooperated with the SEC’s investigations from the start and worked tirelessly to answer their queries and address their concerns. Most recently, we conducted extensive good-faith negotiations to reach a negotiated agreement to resolve their investigations.
Despite all our efforts, the SEC decided to abandon this process today with their complaint, opting instead for unilateral action by filing a lawsuit. This decision has left us disappointed.
While we take the SEC’s claims seriously, these allegations should not be the subject of an SEC enforcement action, let alone an emergency. We intend to vigorously defend our platform. Unfortunately, the SEC’s refusal to effectively engage with us is yet another instance of the Commission’s misguided and conscious refusal to provide much-needed clarity and guidance to the digital asset industry.
Today’s action, like other similar cases faced by crypto projects, is another example where the Commission has decided to regulate with blunt weapons of sanction and lawsuit instead of the thoughtful, nuanced approach required by this dynamic and complex technology. Unilaterally labeling certain tokens and services as securities only exacerbates these issues, even for tokens and services over which other U.S. authorities claim jurisdiction.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect is that the SEC’s actions undermine America’s role as a global hub for financial innovation and leadership. Digital asset laws are largely underdeveloped in many parts of the world, and regulation through enforcement is not the optimal path forward. An effective regulatory framework requires collaborative, transparent, and thoughtful policy participation, a path that the SEC has abandoned.
To be clear: allegations that user assets on the Binance.US platform are at risk are categorically false. There is no justification for the Staff’s actions amidst the broad daylight of its investigation. All user assets on Binance and Binance affiliate platforms, including Binance.US, are secure and safe, and we will vigorously defend against any claims to the contrary.
On the contrary, the SEC’s actions here appear to serve the rush to claim jurisdiction from other regulators, and investors do not seem to be a priority for the SEC.
Due to our size and global brand recognition, Binance is an easy target caught in the crosshairs of regulatory contention in the U.S. Based on these developments, it is clear that the SEC’s goal was not to protect investors; if that were truly the case, they would engage thoughtfully with us about the individual facts and our efforts to demonstrate the safety and security of the Binance.US platform. The real goal of the SEC seems to be making headlines.
As a result of our size and global recognition, Binance has become an easy target amidst the ongoing regulatory conflict in the US. Based on these developments, it seems that the SEC’s objective here was never about protecting investors. If that was the case, they would have engaged with us thoughtfully on individual facts and our efforts to demonstrate the safety and security of the Binance.US platform. It appears that the main goal of the SEC here is to make headlines.
We will continue to cooperate with regulators and policymakers in the US and around the world because it is the right thing to do. Binance will persist in working efficiently to ensure that the next generation of cryptocurrency regulations encourages innovation while also implementing and securing significant consumer protections.
Since Binance is not a US exchange, the scope of the SEC’s actions is limited. Nevertheless, we stand with the participants in the US crypto asset market against this latest overreach by the SEC, ready to fight to the end within the framework of the law.
We will work with our industry partners to defend this important technology against misguided lawsuits. We will ceaselessly continue our efforts to provide a safe and reliable platform that remains loyal to our core value of advancing monetary freedom for our users.
Latest on Bitcoin
Bitcoin continued to trade just below the $27,000 level, at around $26,800 within the day. It experienced a sharp drop following the news of the SEC’s lawsuit against Binance, which broke around 18.30 Turkish time.
The price quickly melted down to around $25,550 within minutes, before experiencing some recovery and returning to the $26,000 level. Bitcoin, which has not yet passed this level, could continue its sharp movements with new news. It is necessary for investors to be cautious about this situation.
