US SEC and Binance File Joint Motion in US Court Seeking 60-Day Pause on Legal Battle

The U. SEC and Binance are seeking a 60-day pause in their legal battle, which began in June 2023. In a joint motion filed in the District Court of Columbia, both parties urged the court to grant the stay. This request follows the resignation of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, known for his anti-crypto stance, in January. US President Donald Trump replaced him with Mark Uyeda as acting SEC chief, leading to a noticeably more lenient approach toward the crypto sector in recent months.

Details on the Motion Filed

The motion names Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Trading Service Inc., BAM Management US Holdings Inc., and Changpeng Zhao as defendants in the case against the SEC as the plaintiff. Collectively, the parties have moved to put a stay on this case for two months.

“A district court considers three factors when deciding whether to stay a case: “(1) harm to the nonmoving party if a stay does issue; (2) the moving party's need for a stay—that is, the harm to the moving party if a stay does not issue; and (3) whether a stay would promote efficient use of the court's resources. Here, the Parties believe a brief stay is warranted,” the document read.

Both Binance and the SEC have urged the court to grant the stay.

“At the end of the 60-day stay period, the Parties propose, that they will submit a joint status report, including whether a continuation of the stay is warranted,” the filing noted.

What Led to This Development

Throughout its legal battle with the SEC, Binance has repeatedly highlighted the lack of clear regulatory guidelines in the US.

Following Donald Trump's return to the White House in January as the 47th US President, he ordered the creation of a dedicated Task Force to establish clear cryptocurrency regulations. Mark Uyeda, the acting SEC chair, is overseeing its efforts.

According to the motion filed, both Binance and the SEC believe the Task Force's work could help pave the way for a potential resolution to their legal dispute.

“The SEC proposed a brief stay to Defendants, and the Defendants agreed that a stay is appropriate and in the interest of judicial economy. As this is a joint motion, there is no prejudice to any party here, and a stay could save the Parties resources because, if an early resolution could be reached, it would obviate the need to continue merits discovery,” the joint filing added.

The court's decision on granting the stay is expected in the coming days, though the exact timeline remains uncertain.

The Feud Between Binance and the SEC

In June 2023, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance accusing the crypto exchange of being in violation of the US securities laws. The SEC said that the exchange was operating as an unregistered securities exchange and was misleading the investor community.

“By engaging in multiple unregistered offerings and also failing to register the Binance platforms under Zhao's control imposed outsized risks and conflicts of interest on investors. Those risks and conflicts are only heightened by the Binance platforms' lack of transparency, reliance on related-party transactions, and lies about controls to prevent manipulative trading,” former SEC Enforcement Director, Gurbir S. Grewal had said at the time.

As an argument, Binance reportedly cited the unclear rules in the US that distinguished securities from commodities in the crypto arena. Coinbase, Binance's rival in the crypto exchange sector also locked horns with the SEC over the lack of crypto rules last year.

Under President Trump, the US is poised to take multiple pro-crypto steps, including the creation of comprehensive guidelines for the crypto sector. During his election campaign, the billionaire businessman had promised to transform US into the crypto capital of the world.