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Binance claims SEC did not provide evidence of commingling customer assets, motion rejected by the court

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Binance claims SEC did not provide evidence of commingling customer assets, motion rejected by the court

After the SEC filed multiple charges against Binance earlier this month, Binance filed a motion last week requesting the court to dismiss the accusations of commingling customer assets without evidence. However, the judge did not accept Binance's argument and rejected the motion today.

Recap of the SEC's multiple charges: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Binance Holdings and Changpeng Zhao of violating securities laws, BNB hit recent lows, CZ responded 4.

Binance Proposes Motion to Oppose SEC's Public Statements on Commingling User Assets

John Reed Stark, former head of the SEC's internet enforcement office, pointed out that Binance filed a motion last week in response to the SEC's enforcement action, requesting Judge Amy Berman Jackson to prevent SEC lawyers from making public statements about Binance and its CEO CZ mishandling U.S. user assets.

In the SEC's press release, Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal stated, "Changpeng Zhao and Binance control user assets on the platform and can commingle and transfer assets."

In response to these allegations, Binance stated that the SEC did not provide any evidence of commingling assets and argued that the SEC's public statements risk prejudicing the jury. Therefore, Binance believes Judge Jackson should require the SEC to adhere to the District of Columbia's rules of professional conduct, prohibiting lawyers from making extrajudicial statements that could have a material impact on court proceedings.

Binance's Motion Swiftly Denied

Three business days after Binance filed the motion, the judge swiftly denied the motion without waiting for a response from the SEC. Judge Jackson stated:

Regarding Binance's actions, Stark considered the motion to be superficially boring and not worth it, suggesting it seemed more like a marketing tactic rather than a legal argument. He also believed that the motion might prompt law enforcement agencies to accelerate any actions against Binance.