The Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to freeze the assets of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In an urgent application for a temporary restraining order submitted on Tuesday (PDF), the SEC says it made this decision to “ensure the safety of clients’ assets.”
The filing also alleges that Binance has engaged in “offending conduct” for years in “disregarding the laws of the United States, evading regulatory oversight and open questions regarding various financial transfers, and the custody and control of customer assets.”
As part of the order, Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao are required to relinquish “possession, custody or control of customer assets” within five days, with neither Zhao nor the company having the ability to transfer or repossess assets of its client portfolios. It also asks Binance to transfer client assets to “new wallets with new private keys, including new administrative keys,” and that the exchange provide the SEC with a review of all new portfolios of client assets.
In the proposed order, regular customers may continue to redeem their assets “with the exception of and specifically excluding customer crypto assets from any of the Binance entities and otherwise subject to the prohibition against transferring customer assets for the benefit of any of the Binance entities. “
Zhao responded to the motion by retweet a post saying, “We’re about to find out how solvent #Binance is.”
“The SEC is trying to freeze Binance’s assets extremely aggressively pending the outcome of this litigation,” said Moish Peltz of the law firm Falcon, Rappaport & Berkman. “If the court were to grant this motion, it would likely have a material impact on the operation of the parties subject to the injunction.”
