Binance responds to the SEC: COO says "operating unlicensed securities exchange" | Invezz

In what seems like a leaked communication between Binance Chief Compliance Officers (COOs), a COO was quoted saying “We are operating a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.”

The SEC had earlier today announced it had charged “Binance Holdings Ltd. (Binance); U.S-based affiliate BAM Trading Services Inc., which, together with Binance operates and their Binance US; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations.”

The crypto community stands with Binance and CZ

The COO comment was captured by @unusual_whales in a tweet that stated: “The SEC has officially tweeted their charges against Binance and CZ, with the line from their CCO: We are operating a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.”

@unusual_whales tweet was followed by many tweets from community members expressing their dissatisfaction with the way the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) was dealing with crypto entities in the country. Others expressed their support for CZ and Binance.

Crypto exchanges and trading platforms in the US have come under harsh scrutiny in the recent past both from the SEC and regulatory authorities in various states. However, Binance, which is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, seems prepared to fight o the end.

Going by the sentiments from various people on Twitter after the COO’s tweet, there is a general feeling within the crypto community that the SEC is being unfair when it comes to cryptocurrencies especially seeing that it has been fighting Ripple in court for several years trying to prove that the XRP is a security.

The official Binance response to the SEC charges

Earlier today, Binance tweeted its official reply to the US SEC allegations against Binance its affiliate and founder. In the reply, the crypto exchange said:

“For nearly two and a half years, http://Binance.US has engaged in good faith with the SEC. All along, the objective of our engagement has been consistent: work constructively toward a clear, practical regulatory framework that enables businesses like ours to grow, create jobs, and provide American consumers safe access to digital assets.”

The cryptocurrency exchange further went ahead to state that they are calling on ‘Congress to step in and pass bipartisan legislation that creates a workable regulatory regime for digital assets and reins in the bureaucratic overreach of which our industry is the victim.”

According to Binance, today’s charges are “unjustified by the facts, by the law, or by the Commission’s own precedent. The relief sought by the Commission would harm the very investors the SEC is charged with protecting.”