BNB-2.03%
Market Analysis
Binance.US Pausing OTC Trading and Delisting More Than 100 Trading Pairs
According to the announcement, most of the affected pairs involve USDT and Binance.US has no concrete plans to resume OTC trading.
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On June 7th, Binance’s US affiliate—Binance.US—announced it is pausing OTC trading. Additionally, the platform revealed it is delisting a large number of USDT, BTC, and BUSD trading pairs. The decision comes two days after the SEC filed a lawsuit against the company, and less than 24 hours after it filed a motion to freeze the firm’s assets.
Binance.US Removing Numerous Trading Pair, Halting OTC Trading
This Wednesday, Binance.US announced it is halting its OTC trading, The exchange also stated it will be delisting more than 100 trading pairs—the bulk being USDT pairs—on June 8th.
In the notice, the company also highlighted that despite the decision, users’ assets remain safe and secure, and added that both deposits and withdrawals will continue functioning normally.
Binance.US’ decision comes two days after the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled a major lawsuit against the company, its various entities including the US affiliate, the international platform, and various BAM entities, as well as its CEO, Changpeng Zhao.
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SEC Files Motion to Freeze Binance.US’ Assets
While the SEC unveiled its lawsuit against Binance on Monday, June 5th, it filed another request targeting the US affiliate a day later. The motion requests an emergency freeze of the US affiliate’s assets.
The Commission cites Binance’s seeming disregard for US laws, as well as “volatile” behavior as the main drivers behind the motion. The watchdog also states that the purpose of the freeze is to ensure the safety of users’ assets.
The digital assets markets reacted dramatically to the lawsuit on Monday, as well as to the one filed against Coinbase a day later, and the price of most cryptocurrencies decline sharply. Binance’s BNB was hit particularly hard and fell from around $300 on Monday to around $260 on Wednesday afternoon.
Do you think the SEC is seeking to drive the cryptocurrency industry out of the US with its actions against Binance and Coinbase? Let us know in the comments below.
Tim Fries
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
