Yeliz Akmaca 
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving to dismiss its lawsuit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, stepping back from yet another cryptocurrency case.
U.S. Securities Agency Drops Binance Lawsuit
In 2023, the SEC accused Binance of artificially inflating trading volumes and misusing customer funds. It also claimed that Binance failed to restrict U.S. users from accessing the platform and misled investors about market oversight. Additionally, the SEC alleged that Binance allowed trading of various digital tokens as unregistered securities. Following the lawsuit, users withdrew approximately $800 million in assets from Binance platforms. At the time, the BNB token lost over 12% of its value.
In the lawsuit, Binance’s then-Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) reportedly told another compliance officer in December 2018, “Dude, we’re operating as an unlicensed securities exchange in the U.S.”
In a filing submitted to the District Court for the District of Columbia on May 29, the SEC stated that it found dismissing the case appropriate “in the exercise of its discretion and as a matter of policy.”
New Era in SEC’s Cryptocurrency Regulations
Following the departure of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, many of the agency’s significant cryptocurrency-related lawsuits have been dropped or suspended. With the start of the Trump administration, the SEC has begun reviewing its regulations concerning the cryptocurrency sector. In this context, the SEC has dropped or suspended lawsuits against major crypto companies such as Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, ConsenSys, and Immutable. However, not all cases have been terminated. For instance, Ripple’s case with the SEC will be closed following court approval. Additionally, investigations into companies like Unicoin, Crypto.com, and Immutable are still ongoing. The SEC has yet to announce its decisions regarding these firms.
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