Binance.US, the American branch of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has announced that it is eliminating over forty crypto trading pairs currently available on its platform. The total number of trading pairs will be reduced to 226.
The company was charged on June 5 with allegedly violating U.S. securities laws, per the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Binance’s Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao, is also being targeted by the agency.
Binance.US also announced that it is pausing its Over-The-Counter (OTC) desk. According to a press release, these actions will go into effect on the morning of June 8.
SEC Seeks Emergency Order to Freeze Binance US Assets
The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a judge to freeze assets held by Binance.US, according to an emergency motion filed by the agency on Tuesday. The freeze would impact two holding companies associated with Binance.US’s operations: BAM Management US Holdings and BAM Trading Services. The emergency motion also requests the repatriation of assets belonging to Binance.US customers—whether that involves fiat currency or crypto—a process that would involve the transfer of assets back t...
Among the cryptocurrencies to be removed, the majority use the stablecoin Tether (USDT) as its pair. This list includes notable examples such as Aave, Basic Attention Token (BAT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), ZCash (ZEC), and Compound (COMP) along with dozens of other tokens.
Bitcoin will see the removal of eight trading pairs, including Cosmos (ATOM), Polkadot (DOT), and Tezos (XTZ) among others.
Binance’s native stablecoin, BUSD, will lose its pair against Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) and Harmony (ONE).
Binance Condemns SEC’s ‘Blunt Weapons of Enforcement’
Binance has responded to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit by calling the regulator “unreasonable” and claiming it is using “blunt weapons of enforcement.” The SEC today filed 13 civil charges against Binance—the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange—and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly breaking U.S. securities rules. Via court documents and a press release, the American regulator alleged that the behemoth crypto company deliberately ignored U.S. securities laws and pu...
Interestingly, several of the cryptocurrencies that are present in the SEC’s lawsuit as alleged unregulated securities, are missing from this list. For the time being, they will continue to be on offer on the platform. These include Binance coin (BNB), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL) among others.
Today’s news comes as the company is under swift legal action from financial authorities in the land of Uncle Sam. Yesterday, the SEC asked a U.S. court judge to freeze assets held by Binance.US in an emergency motion.
