SEC Pauses Binance Prosecution Amid New Crypto Landscape

The SEC reportedly wants to put its case against the world’s biggest crypto exchange on hold.

That’s because the financial regulator wants to wait as the Trump administration develops a digital asset framework, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (Feb. 11), citing a court filing by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the report, the SEC, Binance and Binance Co-founder Changpeng Zhao submitted a joint motion in court asking for 60 days, following the recent creation of a crypto taskforce by SEC acting Chairman Mark Uyeda last month.

“The work of this task force may impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case,” the filing said. “Accordingly, the SEC proposed a brief stay to defendants, and the defendants agreed that a stay is appropriate and in the interest of judicial economy.”

Binance and Zhao were charged in 2023 during a wave of crypto enforcement activity by regulators such as the SEC under President Joe Biden’s administration, which had taken much less pro-crypto approach to the industry than what the Trump White House has promised.

In this case, the company was accused of allowing its American users to trade on its international exchange, in violation of SEC regulations.

Binance eventually settled charges with two other regulators — the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — with Zhao and the company agreeing to pay around $4.3 billion in penalties and Zhao stepping down as CEO.

“The SEC’s case has always been without merit and we are eager to put this behind us and to continue our focus on keeping Binance the most secure, licensed and trusted exchange in the world,” a Binance spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Following their proposed 60-day stay, the SEC and Binance said they would submit a joint status report, including whether a continuation of the stay is needed, the filing said.

The SEC’s Crypto Task Force went live last week, “ushering in a new era for the Web3 space,” as PYMNTS wrote at the time.

“The SEC’s pivot isn’t happening in a vacuum,” that report said. “Pressure is mounting from Congress, crypto investors, and the White House to modernize the regulatory approach to digital assets.”

On the day of the task force’s launch, the U.S. crypto and artificial intelligence (AI) czar, David Sacks, said that while getting crypto legislation through Congress “takes time … it is something we could do in the next six months.”