{"id":25570,"date":"2023-06-16T20:51:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T20:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=25570"},"modified":"2023-07-01T19:43:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T19:43:05","slug":"sec-sues-binance-part-2-asset-freeze-securities-coley-and-brooks-genslers-alleged-coi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/06\/16\/sec-sues-binance-part-2-asset-freeze-securities-coley-and-brooks-genslers-alleged-coi\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC sues Binance, part 2: asset freeze, securities, Coley and Brooks, Gensler&#8217;s alleged COI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By <\/em><strong><em>Amy Castor<\/em><\/strong><em> and <\/em><strong><em>David Gerard<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ONE WEIRD TRICK <strong><em>they<\/em><\/strong> don\u2019t want you to know: Send us money! Here\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/amycastor\"> Amy\u2019s<\/a> Patreon, and here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\/\">David\u2019s<\/a>. Sign up today!<\/li>\n<li>Our patrons can also get a couple of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/bitcoin-it-cant-be-that-stupid.png\">\u201cBitcoin: It Can\u2019t Be That Stupid<\/a>\u201d stickers just by messaging one of us and asking.<\/li>\n<li>David has<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/26\/get-signed-copies-of-libra-shrugged-and-attack-of-the-50-foot-blockchain\/\"> signed author copies of his books<\/a> for sale.<\/li>\n<li>Sign up on<a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/\"> Amy\u2019s blog<\/a> to see every new post she makes as it goes up, and<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/#byemail\"> click here and enter your email address<\/a> for every new post on David\u2019s blog as it goes up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cplease don&#8217;t joke about this, a byzantine general stole my life savings\u201d \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/owen_needs_tea\/status\/1669676655453806600\">owen_needs_tea<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/07\/22\/binances-bnb-token-burn-why-this-is-meaningless-nonsense-to-fool-suckers\/cz-binance\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20012\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20012\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/cz-binance.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/cz-binance.jpg 680w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/cz-binance-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/cz-binance-348x215.jpg 348w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In our <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/06\/12\/sec-sues-binance-part-1-the-complaint-binance-us-asset-freeze-tai-chi-plan-sock-puppet-ceos-weird-cash-flows\/\">last episode<\/a>, we introduced the SEC complaint against Binance, BAM Trading (Binance.US), and Binance\u2019s founder, Changpeng Zhao (\u201cCZ\u201d); the \u201cTai Chi\u201d plan; the SEC&#8217;s proposed asset freeze; and how the Binance money funnel works. But there&#8217;s so much more! [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67474542\/v-securities-and-exchange-commission\/\"><em>case docket<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Binance responds to the SEC\u2019s proposed Temporary Restraining Order<\/h3>\n<p>The current action in the case is the SEC\u2019s proposed TRO to freeze Binance.US assets and keep CZ from moving the customers&#8217; money and cryptos outside the US.<\/p>\n<p>Binance thought it would insulate itself from regulators by launching Binance.US. But it did the opposite \u2014 it opened Binance up to federal regulation. The SEC now wants Binance\u2019s accounting info \u2014 for .com as well as .US.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC specifically mentions <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/01\/25\/crypto-collapse-us-banks-leave-crypto-how-genesis-kept-gemini-hanging-on-ftx-binance-nexo\/\">Key Vision Development<\/a> \u2014 a shell entity that Binance used for years to gain access to the US banking system and only lost in the collapse of <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/03\/09\/crypto-collapse-good-night-silvergate-bank-unbanking-crypto-exchanges-voyager-sale-to-binance-proceeding\/\">Silvergate<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/03\/14\/crypto-collapse-signature-bank-blows-up-us-crypto-frantically-looks-for-banking\/\">Signature<\/a>. If the SEC gets its way, Binance.com may have no other way to access US banking.<\/p>\n<p>Binance Holdings Limited and BAM Trading (who run Binance.US) responded to the SEC&#8217;s proposed TRO and asset freeze. The facts are bad \u2014 so BAM pounds the table, asking why the SEC didn\u2019t bust them before if they were doing something illegal, and that the SEC hasn\u2019t defined which digital assets are securities.<\/p>\n<p>You may have trouble finding good arguments if one of your subheadings is &#8220;The Allegedly Manipulative Trading Identified by the SEC was Entirely Appropriate.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.40.0.pdf\"><i>Doc 40<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>BAM filed over 100 exhibits, most of which are trash \u2014 press clippings, web page printouts, and documents the SEC had already submitted. There might be interesting stuff in there if you go diving into the docket. BAM also submitted a proposed order of their own. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.41.8.pdf\"><i>Doc 41-8<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>BAM\u2019s response does confirm that CZ &#8220;resides in the UAE.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It looks like BAM proposed a consent order on how it handled US customer assets just before the SEC complaint was filed. The SEC was apparently ready to accept this proposal \u2014 but only if BHL and CZ signed on. They refused to \u2014 so the SEC proposed the apocalyptic version.<\/p>\n<p>But this left Judge Amy Berman Jackson thinking there was room to negotiate a consent degree so they could all spend time on the actual case \u2014 and so she wouldn&#8217;t be dealing with endless appeals just on the order. (She wasn&#8217;t so thrilled by 4,000 pages of exhibits either.) Here\u2019s the rough transcript of Tuesday\u2019s hearing, if you\u2019re curious. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnreedstark.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/180\/2023\/06\/SECvBinance6-13-23.pdf\"><i>Transcript<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>BAM, BHL, CZ and the SEC are now negotiating a consent order \u2014 rather than a restraining order \u2014 to restrict BAM and BHL\u2019s use of Binance US customer funds. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.68.0_1.pdf\"><i>Doc 68<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update:<\/strong> We have an agreed order, uploaded around 10pm Eastern on Friday night. [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.70.1.pdf\">Proposed order<\/a>, PDF<\/em>] <strong>Update 2:<\/strong> Judge Jackson has signed off on it. John Reed Stark explains how this is extremely strong for an SEC consent order. [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.71.0.pdf\">Doc 71<\/a>, PDF; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnReedStark\/status\/1670048264572239872\">Twitter<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n<h3>Catherine Coley and Brian Brooks: What we did on our holidays<\/h3>\n<p>Catherine Coley was the first CEO of Binance.US, hired in 2019. She stepped down abruptly in April 2021 and <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2021\/07\/13\/binance-fiat-off-ramps-keep-closing-reports-of-frozen-funds-what-happened-to-catherine-coley\/\">disappeared from social media<\/a> \u2014 and kept silence to the point where <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/02\/18\/crypto-collapse-sec-tightening-crypto-custody-rules-why-you-cant-cash-out-your-busd-binance-and-catherine-coley-sec-charges-terra-luna\/\">people wondered what had happened to her.<\/a> Coley <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/04\/04\/crypto-collapse-no-cashing-out-from-binance-us-catherine-coley-lawyers-up-voyager-binance-deal-on-hold-celsius\/\">lawyered up and resurfaced<\/a> only after the <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/03\/28\/cftc-cracks-czs-phone-sues-binance-whats-a-little-terrorist-financing-between-friends\/\">CFTC lawsuit against Binance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Quite a few documents from Coley seem to have found their way to Reuters over the past year \u2014 and the SEC has gotten hold of her internal communications with Binance, in which she questioned large money flows in and out of Binance.US accounts where she had no idea where the money was coming from or going to. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/investigates\/special-report\/fintech-crypto-binance-zhao\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a><i>, 2022<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Coley also testified to the SEC, who published portions of her testimony as evidence of the weird things going on inside Binance.US. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.20.6_1.pdf\"><i>Doc 20-6<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>In March 2021, CZ decided to fire Coley and replace her with Brian Brooks, who started in May.<\/p>\n<p>Brooks previously worked at the Coinbase crypto exchange, then served as acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates federal banks and credit unions.<\/p>\n<p>During Brooks&#8217; 10 months at the Trump-era OCC, the bureau issued guidance that federally chartered banks could <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/07\/27\/news-bitcoin-ad-regulation-in-the-uk-coinsquare-settles-with-osc-institutional-investors-fail-to-show-up-nobody-uses-bitcoin\/\">custody crypto<\/a>, use blockchain-based payment systems and even <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/10\/10\/news-mcafee-and-bitmex-busted-dont-pay-your-ransomware-morgan-beller-leaves-libra-sec-beats-kik\/\">issue their own stablecoins<\/a> \u2014 pumping crypto so hard that Congressional Democrats asked Brooks <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/16\/news-the-collapse-of-cred-binances-cunning-plan-new-us-regulators-bitcoin-miners-run-out-of-cash\/\">just what he thought he was doing.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fortune wrote up the Brooks OCC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/01\/14\/news-twitter-on-the-blockchain-the-us-coup-on-the-blockchain-gensler-in-at-the-sec-ripple-ex-cto-loses-bitcoin-keys\/\">misadventures in crypto banking<\/a> and how Brooks\u2019 successor Michael Hsu wound back Brooks\u2019 nonsense. [<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/crypto\/2023\/02\/08\/with-crypto-banking-on-the-brink-rumors-are-flying\/\"><i>Fortune<\/i><\/a><i>; House, PDF, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210519090424\/https:\/\/financialservices.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/hhrg-117-ba00-wstate-hsum-20210519.pdf\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Brooks\u2019 condition for accepting the Binance.US role was to be able to run BAM himself, independently of CZ and Binance.<\/p>\n<p>This was not going to happen \u2014 per the complaint, Binance \u201cexerted and would not relinquish substantial control over BAM Trading and the operation of the Binance.US Platform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brooks thought the greatest risk to BAM was that they were \u201chighly dependent on a bunch of technology that sits in Asia.\u201d Brooks tried to bring these technical functions into the US \u2014 but CZ overruled him.<\/p>\n<p>Brooks <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/08\/12\/news-the-senate-hates-bitcoin-tether-and-usdc-attestations-defi-money-market-and-poloniex-settle-with-sec-poly-network-hack\/\">resigned<\/a> after 80 days in the job. As he told the SEC, &#8220;wh<span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">at<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">became<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">clear<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">to<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">me<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">at<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">a <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">certain point was CZ was<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">the<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">CEO<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">of<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">BAM<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Trading,<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">not<\/span> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">me &#8230; as soon as I realized that, I left.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.20.3.pdf\"><i>Doc 20-3<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Brian Shroder took Brooks&#8217; place as the next sucker in line for the job of CZ\u2019s US puppet on a string.<\/p>\n<h3>Securities offered for trading on Binance.US<\/h3>\n<p>The SEC has stated that SOL (Solana), ADA (Cardano), MATIC (Polygon), FIL (Filecoin), ATOM (Cosmos), SAND (The Sandbox), MANA (Decentraland), ALGO (Algorand), AXS (Axie Infinity), and COTI are securities.<\/p>\n<p>Several of these were also claimed to be securities in the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/06\/07\/the-sec-sues-coinbase-its-on\/\">Coinbase complaint<\/a> \u2014 the ones only in this complaint are ATOM, ALGO, MANA, and COTI.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC only has to show that one of these constitutes a security under the Howey test. But it works through all of them, just to be sure.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, Binance.US was offering \u201cexchange, clearing agency and brokerage services to US customers for crypto asset securities, without being licensed to do so and with the securities being unregistered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t a minor matter, any more than it was in the Coinbase or <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/04\/23\/crypto-collapse-reggie-fowler-sentencing-delayed-sec-charges-bittrex-coinbase-looks-to-leave-the-us-scaramucci-and-ftx-bitfinex-ripple\/\">Bittrex<\/a> complaints. These functions are kept separate because there\u2019s too much potential for conflicts of interest \u2014 where the exchange trades against its own customers.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint notes that two Binance companies, Merit Peak and Sigma Chain, were frequently the customers\u2019 counterparties \u2014 so Binance literally was trading against its own customers.<\/p>\n<h3>Securities promoted by Binance<\/h3>\n<p>Binance offered its own securities, \u201cBNB, BUSD, BNB Vault, and Simple Earn,\u201d per the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>Binance offered BNB in an <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/icos-magic-beans-and-bubble-machines\/\">ICO<\/a> in 2017. They were explicit that they were raising funds to launch Binance \u2014 this was a straight-up unregistered penny stock. The white paper repeatedly called ICO buyers \u201cinvestors\u201d and talked about CZ\u2019s management expertise.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2019, CZ directed that Binance.US had to offer trading in BNB \u2014 even though it was blitheringly obviously a security under the Howey test. (David had thought in July 2019 that there was <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/07\/22\/binances-bnb-token-burn-why-this-is-meaningless-nonsense-to-fool-suckers\/\">no way Binance would be that foolish<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Coley \u2014 who was partially paid in BNB \u2014 didn\u2019t want to offer BNB on Binance.US, but CZ overruled her. He knew it would likely cause problems, but he figured the profit outweighed the risk:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In an internal chat in September 2019, the Binance CFO and the Binance CCO agreed that \u201cCZ [wa]s willing to take the legal risk in listing BNB, if [they could] find a way to quantify it.\u201d They further quantified the legal risk of listing BNB on the Binance.US Platform as \u201c$10 mm in legal fees and settlements,\u201d contrasted to the fact that BNB\u2019s price could \u201cgo up 20%.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>BUSD is a dollar stablecoin \u2014 but Binance sells it to investors as the ticket to various investment schemes. Binance would tell buyers that they would make money simply from buying BUSD or from putting it into Binance yield programs:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Binance has, from the outset, marketed BUSD\u2019s profit-earning potential and referred to the various \u201cAPYs\u201d (annual percentage yield) that investors may earn with respect to their BUSD holdings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This might seem a stretch \u2014 but when <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/02\/18\/crypto-collapse-sec-tightening-crypto-custody-rules-why-you-cant-cash-out-your-busd-binance-and-catherine-coley-sec-charges-terra-luna\/\">the SEC sued Terraform Labs<\/a> in February 2023, it made a similar claim that UST was marketed as the required ticket to invest in the Anchor Protocol, and so was part of the investment scheme as it was promoted.<\/p>\n<p>Other schemes were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Simple Earn, which would \u201cpay interest to investors who lend their crypto assets to Binance for fixed or flexible lengths of time &#8230; 15% APR for participants in the BUSD-specific Simple Earn product, and 10% in the Simple Earn product for another crypto asset\u201d;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">BNB Vault, a \u201cBNB yield aggregator\u201d in which you could lend your BNB to Binance and get \u201cOne-Click Earning for Your BNB Holdings\u201d;<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Binance.US (BAM Trading) offered managed blockchain staking as a service.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of these are incredibly obviously securities under the Howey test.<\/p>\n<h3>Gensler and the alleged conflict of interest<\/h3>\n<p>Binance Holdings Limited (Binance.com) wrote to the SEC on June 4, begging the SEC not to freeze Binance.US funds. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060\/gov.uscourts.dcd.256060.19.14_1.pdf\"><i>Doc 19-14<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The fun bit is that BHL claims in this letter that SEC chair Gary Gensler has a conflict of interest in acting against Binance.<\/p>\n<p>Before Gensler took up the reins at the SEC, he apparently spoke to CZ, including getting CZ to speak to his blockchain course at MIT.<\/p>\n<p>BHL claims that Gensler \u201coffered to serve as an advisor to BHL\u201d \u2014 which we find implausible. Amy has interviewed Gensler in the past and found him to be as careful a speaker as you would imagine. He would have known the SEC job was already in the air.<\/p>\n<p>BHL demands:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Mr. Gensler should have been recused from any consideration in this matter based on this history and the prospect that Mr. Gensler may be a material fact witness. To date, the Staff has never confirmed whether Mr. Gensler has recused himself, and if he has not, the Commission\u2019s explanation for why not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Do they expect this is some sort of get-out-of-SEC-action-free card?<\/p>\n<p>This is at best a PR move. Its audience is the suckers and any remaining pet politicians. If they bring this claim up in court, we don&#8217;t think Judge Jackson will have patience for it.<\/p>\n<h3>Other good news for Binance<\/h3>\n<p>US dollar deposits seem to have been stuck on Binance.US since June 9. Binance.US notified customers that it was losing all US banking by June 13 and that their USD deposits might be converted into unspecified stablecoins. It\u2019s not clear this conversion has happened yet \u2014 have any Binance US customers seen this happening yet? [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BinanceUS\/status\/1666996908651323393\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance.US&#8217;s erstwhile payments processor Wyre has finally shut down for real, owing to &#8220;market conditions&#8221; and &#8220;<span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\">not due to any regulatory agency direction.&#8221; Okay.<\/span> [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/web3isgoinggreat.com\/?id=wyre-finally-shuts-down\">Web 3 Is Going Just Great<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sendwyre\/status\/1669688772844220418\">Twitter<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n<p>Customers of Binance Australia were dumping their BTC at a discount in late May as they rushed to get their funds off the exchange. After June 1, traders were no longer able to withdraw AUD to their bank accounts using Australia\u2019s PayID service. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-05-30\/bitcoin-btc-discount-emerges-on-binance-australia-ahead-of-payment-cutoff?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_content=crypto&amp;utm_source=twitter\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance has asked Cyprus to withdraw its Crypto Asset Service Provider license, apparently so it can ready itself for MiCA going into force in the EU. They totally didn&#8217;t get kicked out, okay? Binance got its CASP license last October for spot trading, custody, staking, and card services in Cyprus. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2023\/06\/14\/binances-cyprus-unit-under-examination-for-deregistration-as-crypto-service-provider\/\"><i>CoinDesk<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>There will be no more Binance in the Netherlands as of July 17 as it&#8217;s been refused a license after multiple applications. Binance was <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/08\/28\/crypto-collapse-celsius-sues-keyfi-blockfis-ftx-deal-scaramuccis-skybridge-voyager-suit-3ac-going-to-jail\/\">fined 3,325,000 EUR<\/a> by De Nederlandsche Bank in July 2022 for operating without a license. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nu.nl\/economie\/6268250\/grootste-cryptoplatform-ter-wereld-binance-trekt-zich-terug-van-nederlandse-markt.html\"><i>NU<\/i><\/a><i>, in Dutch<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance Nigeria has been ordered to cease operations. \u201cBinance Nigeria Limited is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal &#8230; Binance Nigeria Limited is hereby directed to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/sec.gov.ng\/circular-on-the-activities-of-binance-nigeria-limited\/\"><i>SEC Nigeria<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>A fifth of Binance&#8217;s 8,000 staff were laid off in late May. Binance responded to news reports of the layoffs by saying it\u2019s just dropping a few <span data-v-9360dbf6=\"\">employees who &#8220;might not be performing well or who might not be the right cultural fit\u201d<\/span> as part of a \u201ctalent density audit.\u201d Fifty staff at Binance.US just got laid off a couple of days ago. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WuBlockchain\/status\/1663890209526927373\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/232696\/binance-layoffs-cuts-jobs\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/unchainedcrypto.com\/binance-addresses-reported-layoffs-nothing-to-do-with-market-conditions\/\"><i>Unchained<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/crypto-giant-binances-us-affiliate-fires-staff-after-sec-charges-sources-2023-06-15\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance seems to be positioning Richard Teng to replace CZ as CEO at some point. Teng was recently promoted to regional head of all Binance markets outside the US. He previously worked for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore stock exchange, and Abu Dhabi Global Market. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-06-05\/binance-s-richard-teng-emerges-as-cz-s-heir-apparent-as-regulators-circle\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Molly White writes about the Binance and Coinbase suits for Rolling Stone, with a few quotes from David. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-features\/binance-coinbase-sec-investigation-crypto-1234768202\/\"><i>Rolling Stone<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Next episode<\/h3>\n<p>It looks like we\u2019re going to a part 3 just on this one SEC complaint and its many, many exhibits. <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/06\/23\/sec-sues-binance-part-3-vips-on-vpns-wash-trading-the-binance-us-equity-sale-who-is-guangying-chen\/\">Here&#8217;s part three!<\/a><\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Allegedly Manipulative Trading Identified by the SEC was Entirely Appropriate.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1400,138,2835,568,1016,1898,3012,940,2372,1401,3540,2134,1275,708,852,2028,2060,9,3408,417,2531,1829,2359,3539,3541,1972,33,2789],"class_list":["post-25570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-algorand","tag-australia","tag-axie-infinity","tag-binance","tag-bnb","tag-brian-brooks","tag-busd","tag-cardano","tag-catherine-coley","tag-cosmos","tag-coti","tag-cyprus","tag-cz","tag-de-nederlandsche-bank","tag-decentraland","tag-filecoin","tag-gary-gensler","tag-ico","tag-key-vision-development","tag-netherlands","tag-nigeria","tag-occ","tag-polygon","tag-reuters","tag-richard-teng","tag-sandbox-blockchain-game","tag-sec","tag-solana"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/cz-binance.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25570"}],"version-history":[{"count":79,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25700,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25570\/revisions\/25700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}