Binance US’ chief operating officer reportedly said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched suit in 2023 made banks pull support from the exchange. The regulatory challenge “effectively choking the business,” said Christopher Blodgett.
Earlier, the news broke out that Binance had to slash 200 employees off of their US arm due to a 75% loss in revenue. This comes as a result of the June lawsuit that forced the termination.
SEC’s move isolated Binance
The SEC charged the crypto exchange Binance, Binance.US and founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) with selling unregistered securities in June last year. “To banks, we’re radioactive,” Zhao said as per reports.
According to a December deposition shared in a March 5 court filing in the SEC’s case against Binance US, chief operating officer Christopher Blodgett said, “Who can blame them? Because the second it becomes known that they’re working with Binance US, they can reasonably expect a nasty subpoena from the SEC.”
Since its banking partners withdrew support, Blodgett said the exchange’s customers have not been able to transact in US dollars. “In the immediate wake of the TRO, our banks demanded drastic increases in collateral. But eventually, they fully terminated the relationship. As a result, our customers were prevented from depositing and withdrawing fiat to the platform, effectively choking the business,” he noted.
In the wake of the SEC’s action, Binance US saw around $1 billion of assets flee the platform and terminated more than 200 people – more than two-thirds of the company – after its revenue “imploded on the order of 75 percent-plus,” Blodgett said. In a complaint filed with the SEC, Binance, Binance US, and Zhao were accused of selling unregistered securities, engaging in wash trading, and commingling user funds in a Merit Peak account tied to Zhao.
Zhao pleads guilty
Following the suit, the SEC tried to freeze Binance US’ assets by filing a TRO over concerns it would transfer customer funds overseas. However, a judge dismissed it. “In the immediate aftermath of the TRO, we saw somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion of assets flee the platform, crypto, and fiat,” Blodgett said in the December 2023 deposition, which was published recently as the SEC-Binance lawsuit status update.
In November, Binance, Binance US and Zhao admitted to violating money laundering and terrorism financing laws and settled for $4.3 billion with the Department of Justice, Treasury and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Still, the SEC is sticking to its charges and is digging for evidence against the exchange. Zhao pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge with a sentencing hearing on April 3, facing upto 18 months in prison.
