SEC Calls for Further Court Action on Binance.US and Delays Decision on Ether ETFs

By: Eva Baxter

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a joint motion on March 5 requesting the court to take further action against crypto exchange Binance.US. The SEC alleges that Binance.US has insufficiently complied with regulatory requests for information concerning customer assets.

The SEC is primarily concerned about whether Binance.US holds exclusive control over customer assets and if entities outside of the U.S., including Binance Holdings Limited, control any Binance.US crypto wallets. Questions about the company's control over private keys via Amazon Web Services servers that support Binance.US's wallet software have been raised.

In parallel, the SEC has postponed its decision on Ether ETF applications by BlackRock and Fidelity. The authority wants to ascertain whether the applications for ETFs holding Ethereum's Ether are backed by the same arguments that led to the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

This string of regulatory actions by the SEC has resulted in alleged material damage to crypto industries, with entities like Binance.US witnessing the loss of banking partners, active users, and a significant drop in revenues.