SEC Lawsuit vs Binance: Crypto Tokens are not Security

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) escalated its action on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange platform, on Friday. In its latest allegation, the SEC listed Binance’s crypto tokens as unregistered securities. 

This includes Axie Infinity (AXS), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), and Decentraland (MANA). However, the SEC later stated that it did not refer to the assets but to the full set of contracts, expectations, and understandings for selling such digital assets. 

This adds to the other charges leveled by the SEC on Binance. Earlier, the exchange was accused of operating as an unregistered digital currency exchange and as a broker-dealer. Specifically, by enabling users to swap these tokens, Binance and its U.S. affiliate, BAM Trading, promoted selling them as tokens, now considered unregistered securities, without being registered—a clear violation of securities laws.

The SEC alleged that Binance allowed and encouraged users to trade the assets. It emphasized their investment capabilities and value. The lawsuit proves that the regulator is determined to seek to apply more orders to the crypto sector. Interestingly, the SEC wants to apply existing laws on securities to a greater number of digital assets. 

Notably, the allegations are not limited to Binance alone but are a warning shot to the crypto industry as a whole. However, following the news, the market proved to be favourable for some of the tokens. There was a slight rise in the price of the tokens, namely AXS and FIL. At the time of writing, FIL was trading at $3.70, while AXS was priced at $4.80. 

This market stability could be attributed to traders’ beliefs about the future of the regulations on digital assets. This could lead to less volatility in the market. Further, the lawsuit will shape the global rules for cryptocurrencies and trading platforms.