SEC files lawsuit against Binance and CEO for securities violations and mishandling funds.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Binance, the operating company for Binance.US, and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for violating federal securities laws. The SEC alleges that Binance, Binance.US, and CZ offered unregistered securities to the public in the form of the BNB token and Binance-linked BUSD stablecoin, and that Binance's staking service violated securities law. The SEC also alleges that Binance allowed U.S. persons to trade on its platform despite saying it wasn't, and that customer funds were diverted and potentially used for personal purposes. Binance and CZ deny the allegations and plan to vigorously defend against them.