Binance scores big win after SEC agrees to drop lawsuit against exchange
The world’s largest crypto exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission have agreed to end one of the most consequential—and ongoing—lawsuits in the U.S against a crypto firm. In a joint filing submitted to a New York federal judge on Thursday, Binance and the SEC asked to dismiss the case.
A spokesperson for the federal regulator did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “We’re deeply grateful to Chairman Paul Atkins and the Trump administration for recognizing that innovation can’t thrive under regulation by enforcement,” said a Binance spokesperson, referring to the current SEC chair.
The pending dismissal puts an end to a nearly two-year battle between the SEC and Binance. In 2023, the agency, under President Joe Biden, alleged that Binance violated U.S. securities laws in what former SEC chair Gary Gensler said was an “extensive web of deception.”
At the time, the SEC filed 13 charges against the exchange and alleged that the crypto company let U.S. traders access the offshore exchange, mishandled customer funds, and offered unregistered securities, or financial assets like stocks and bonds that must adhere to regulatory oversight.
The Binance suit was one of many the SEC filed against crypto companies after the fall of the crypto exchange FTX in late 2022. The agency also targeted Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken and a host of other firms, as Gensler, the former chair, alleged that the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are unregulated securities and therefore in violation of U.S. financial law.
In response, the crypto industry launched one of the most expansive influence campaigns in political history and spent more than $130 million to elect pro-crypto candidates. Industry executives also courted Trump, who soon proclaimed that he was a “pro-crypto” president amid a flood of campaign donations.
When the 47th president took office in January, his administration quickly adopted pro-crypto positions. These included executive orders to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, pardons for high profile crypto figures, and the elimination of a specialized crypto enforcement unit at the Department of Justice.
In February, the SEC and Binance paused their ongoing legal battle as the two looked to “facilitate the potential resolutation of the case.” Meanwhile, the regulator dropped the majority of consequential lawsuits its filed against crypto firms, including Coinbase.
The case against Binance was one of the few outstanding crypto cases the SEC hadn’t moved to dismiss. In May, one of the Trump family’s crypto businesses announced it had facilitated a $2 billion investment from an Abu Dhabi investment firm into Binance.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com