The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a urgent request filed to freeze assets including crypto from Binance, Binance.US and owner Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao. The request follows after the SEC sued Binance earlier this week.
SEC suspects misappropriation of client funds
There is a slight panic in the crypto world and that mainly has to do with what the SEC is up to. Monday became the largest crypto exchange on the market, Binance al sued by the government agency also requesting a freeze of all assets. The SEC is now pressuring the federal judge to actually implement this.
The SEC accuses Binance of, among other things, misappropriating customer funds for personal use, including the purchase of an $11 million yacht. It’s a bit like it FTX drama which also involved cheating with customer funds. It is a firm accusation from the SEC and is now demanding that all of Binance’s assets be frozen. The body states that this is necessary for the following reason:
This waiver is urgently needed to ensure the safety of clients’ assets and prevent available assets from being lost, given years of disregard for United States laws, evasion of regulatory oversight, and several questionable financial transfers.
Binance accounting is not in order
The SEC is proposing that Binance must transfer customer assets to Binance.US within 10 days. In addition, the authority requires that all crypto assets be sent to new wallets with new ones private keys. Also, according to the recent court order, Binance and Binance.US must provide customer data and their financial balance sheets to the SEC. The SEC is requesting that the company provide sworn and verified accounting records, a first for the company after earlier criticism of incomplete reporting.