Binance US Removes Selected Trading Pairs Amid SEC Allegations
Binance is also pausing its OTC Trading Portal services in the US. The exchange said that it will notify users if and when the portal opens in the coming weeks and months.
The US arm of top crypto exchange Binance has removed 10 advanced trading pairs from its platform. In an announcement, the exchange said it would let go of select BTC and BUSD Advanced Trading pairs by 9 am PDT on June 8, 2023. Notably, the company earlier planned to eliminate over 100 crypto assets. The initial decision was supposed to affect USDT, BTC, and BUSD advanced trading pairs for digital assets like Bitcoin Cash, Uniswap, and others. According to the breakdown of the former remover provided by Binance, 95 assets were paired with USDT. In addition, eight cryptos were paired with BTC, while two were with BUSD. However, Binance US updated the press release, noting:
“Following community feedback, Binance.US will no longer remove any USDT Advanced Trading pairs. All cryptocurrencies and USDT pairs remain available to trade. Only select BTC and BUSD Advanced Trading pairs below will be removed.”
Binance Eliminates Selected Trading Pairs
The affected Bitcoin trading pairs are ATOM/BTC, BCH/BTC, DOT/BTC, LRC/BTC, MANA/BTC, UNI/BTC, VET/BTC, and XTZ/BTC. On the other hand, Binance US is halting the following BUSD Advanced Trading pairs: HBAR/BUSD and ONE/BUSD.
As Binance US gets rid of the selected trading pairs, it is also streamlining its Buy, Sell & Convert offering. The updated maximum order for Buy, Sell & Covert is $10,000. Also, Binance is pausing its OTC Trading Portal services in the US. The exchange said that it would notify users if and when the portal opens in the coming weeks and months.
The decision on advanced trading pairs for Binance US came shortly after the SEC slammed the exchange with a lawsuit. On June 5, the Commission filed a suit against Binance, its US platform, and CEO Changpeng Zhao over unregistered securities operations. According to the lawsuit in the District Court for the District of Columbia, Binance failed to register as a securities exchange and operated illegally in the US. There were 13 charges against Binance, including its staking program, sales of the BNB and BUSD tokens, and the Simple Earn and BNB Vault products. The US regulator added that Binance and other defendants put investors at risk while enriching their own pockets. Furthermore, the SEC claimed that Binance and its US legal entity BAM Trading did not register Binance US as an exchange broker and clearing agency. The SEC wrote:
“Defendants have engaged in multiple unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities and other investment schemes. Defendants BAM Trading and BAM Management defrauded equity, retail and institutional investors about purported surveillance and controls over manipulative trading on the Binance.US Platform, which were in fact virtually non-existent.”
About 24 hours after the attack on Binance, the SEC also went after Coinbase, citing similar allegations.
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Ibukun is a crypto/finance writer interested in passing relevant information, using non-complex words to reach all kinds of audience.
Apart from writing, she likes to see movies, cook, and explore restaurants in the city of Lagos, where she resides.
