आरोप और निकासी – क्या Binance SEC से बच पाएगा?

Less than a week in to June, and it has already proven to be a tumultuous month for the digital asset sector.  While there have been a few bumps in the road experienced by service providers like Atomic Wallet, it is Binance that hit the largest pothole when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a litany of charges against the world’s largest exchange.

आरोप और परिणाम

Charges levied against Binance by the SEC are numerous, and extend beyond just securities listing violations.  The charges, which total 13, include allegations of “…धोखा, हितों का टकराव, खुलासे की कमी, और कानून से जानबूझकर बचाव,”.

इन धोखों और हितों के टकराव में ग्राहक और कंपनी के फंडों का मिश्रण, धनी ग्राहकों के लिए भौगोलिक प्रतिबंधों का परहेज, और अन्य कई बातें शामिल हैं।

With regards to the alleged securities listing violations, the SEC puts forth that the exchange is guilty of offering unregistered securities with the sale of BUSD, through staking services, and support for various assets that boast a central controlling body or foundation.

निकासी और गिरावट

Unsurprisingly, news of the SEC taking Binance to task has resulted in increased market volatility.  In fact, users of the platform have withdrawn roughly $1 billion in a 24hour span.  The result is decreasing liquidity on the exchange, paired with scores of sellers looking to decrease exposure to assets listed as securities by the SEC.

संदर्भ में, Binance द्वारा प्रदान की गई सेवाएँ बड़े पूंजी निकास के बावजूद बिना किसी समस्या के जारी रहने की प्रतीत हुई हैं।

Despite the widespread drop in market values, the fallout from the SEC’s actions against Binance and Coinbase is relatively tame compared to events of the past year (ie. FTX).  This is most likely due to the fact that investors, traders, and the exchanges themselves were already anticipating such moves.

समुदाय की प्रतिक्रिया

Despite being tasked with protecting investors, perception of the SEC by the public at large is not the greatest.  Interestingly, Binance CEO ‘CZ’ hosted a twitter poll in the hours after news broke of the situation which asked ‘who protects you more? the SEC or Binance?’

While no doubt a skewed poll, as it is much more likely that fans of Binance will take part in polls hosted by the exchange and its CEO, the resulting numbers showed a staggering divide.

स्रोत: Twitter @cz_binance

वास्तविकता में, सार्वजनिक धारणा का SEC द्वारा किए गए निर्णयों पर बहुत कम या कोई प्रभाव नहीं पड़ेगा। इसलिए जबकि आम जनता नियामक की तुलना में Binance पर अधिक भरोसा कर सकती है, दुनिया के सबसे बड़े एक्सचेंज का भविष्य निश्चित रूप से थोड़ा अधिक धुंधला हो गया है।

ARK36 Chairman Mikkel Morch took the time to elaborate on this and the consequences that Binance may soon face.  He states that,

He states that,

“…Binance के लिए, ये आरोप अत्यधिक हानिकारक हो सकते हैं। Binance विश्व स्तर पर सबसे बड़े और प्रमुख क्रिप्टो एसेट ट्रेडिंग प्लेटफ़ॉर्म में से एक है। यदि दोषी पाया जाता है, तो केवल प्रतिष्ठा को नुकसान ही महत्वपूर्ण हो सकता है, जिससे उपयोगकर्ताओं और समर्थकों का भरोसा खो सकता है। अतिरिक्त रूप से, संभावित कानूनी परिणामों में भारी जुर्माने, दंड, और यहाँ तक कि अमेरिकी बाजार में संचालन का निलंबन या समाप्ति शामिल हो सकते हैं। Binance को अन्य न्यायक्षेत्रों में नियामक प्राधिकरणों की बढ़ती जांच का भी सामना करना पड़ सकता है, जो इसके संचालन और विस्तार योजनाओं को और अधिक प्रभावित करेगा।”

He continues, noting that in addition to a need for greater transparency and regulatory compliance within the digital asset market, the current approach being taken by U.S. regulators may continue resulting in an exodus of businesses, fleeing towards more welcoming jurisdictions.

रक्षा में

In response to all of this, Binance itself has already taken the time to share its early thoughts on the situation.  Its overall stance is that the ‘SEC complain aims to unilaterally define crypto market structure’.

Echoing similar responses by other companies which find themselves in a similar situation, Binance expressed disappointment with the SEC in filing the charges without ever, allegedly, attempting to actually sit down and engage with the company.

The exchange further underscores its stance that user funds are, and have always been, completely safe.

व्यापक जाल बुनना

As previously mentioned, Binance is not alone in its struggle with the SEC.  Mere months ago, Kraken was forced to shut down its staking services and pay a hefty fine.  Only a day after filing charges against Binance, the SEC did the same with Coinbase.

In the aforementioned response to the SEC shared by Binance, the exchange notes that,

“आज की कार्रवाई उन कई उदाहरणों में से एक है जहाँ, अन्य क्रिप्टो प्रोजेक्ट्स के समान मुकदमों का सामना करने पर, आयोग ने इस गतिशील और जटिल तकनीक द्वारा मांगी गई विचारशील, सूक्ष्म दृष्टिकोण के बजाय प्रवर्तन और मुकदमेबाजी के कठोर हथियारों से नियमन करने का निर्णय लिया है। कुछ टोकन और सेवाओं को एकतरफ़ा सिक्योरिटीज़ के रूप में लेबल करना – यहाँ तक कि उन पर भी जिन पर अन्य अमेरिकी प्राधिकरणों ने अधिकार का दावा किया है – केवल इन समस्याओं को बढ़ाता है।”

It should be noted that while each of the aforementioned exchanges have become targets of the SEC, the charges faced by Binance have the potential to hurt its brand to a much greater extent.

While Coinbase and Kraken were/are being targeted primarily due to staking services, there were no allegations of co-mingling investor funds and intentionally duplicitous activity involving offshore entities.

धमाकेदार बनाने का लक्ष्य

With regards to digital assets, the SEC has taken an interesting approach that many feel is one meant to sensationalize hurtful industry narratives.

One will be hard pressed to find another regulator that opts to leverage social media to such an extent.  An example of this is its decision to widely publish select quotes made by a Binance employee years ago – which was no doubt done to sway public opinion and paint Binance as guilty, despite not having been found as such at this time.

Meanwhile, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has yet again drawn the ire of digital asset enthusiasts in his most recent TV outing.  Speaking on CNBC, Chair Gensler appeared to contradict himself कहते हुए,

“देखिए, हम एक एजेंसी के रूप में मेरिट न्यूट्रल होने के लिए बने हैं…”

This was promptly followed by Gensler proclaiming that,

“…देखिए, हमें और अधिक उह्ह, डिजिटल मुद्रा की जरूरत नहीं है – हमारे पास पहले से ही डिजिटल मुद्रा है। इसे US डॉलर कहा जाता है, इसे यूरो कहा जाता है, इसे येन कहा जाता है।”

Many feel that while the SEC is a self-proclaimed ‘merit neutral’ agency, such statements suggest otherwise.  Furthermore, to dismiss an industry as young and potential laden as this one – which has attracted the attention and interest of millions across the globe – is either purposeful ignorance, or being driven by an agenda to protect the status quo.

Naturally, Binance feels much the same, sharing in its response to the allegations that,

“ऐसा लगता है कि इन विकासों के आधार पर SEC का लक्ष्य यहाँ निवेशकों की रक्षा करना कभी नहीं था; यदि यह वास्तव में ऐसा होता, तो स्टाफ तथ्यों पर हमारे साथ विचारशील रूप से जुड़ता और Binance.US प्लेटफ़ॉर्म की सुरक्षा और सुरक्षा को प्रदर्शित करने के हमारे प्रयासों में सहयोग करता। इसके बजाय, SEC का वास्तविक इरादा यहाँ सुर्ख़ियाँ बनाना प्रतीत होता है।”

क्या यह बिटकॉइन और प्रूफ़-ऑफ़-वर्क के लाभ में है?

Without a doubt, there will be short-term pain for the entire digital asset market as a result of these developments.  For the Bitcoin maximalists out there however, such charges may end up being a boon as trading activity flees to what is widely viewed as the only asset safe from being deemed a security by the SEC.

Over the past few years, the market as a whole has become unfocused, with scores of scams and poorly executed projects sapping attention away from Bitcoin as investors gambled on ‘hitting it big’.  Recent actions by the SEC may end up being the catalyst for Bitcoin ramping up its already sizable lead and dominance over the rest of the market, hastening its adoption and the development of scaling solutions.

While Bitcoin is the obvious choice for being a safe asset, there are a few others – eg. Litecoin (LTC), and Monero (XMR) – that are structured in a similar manner that most believe will exempt them from the scrutiny now being placed on Proof-of-Stake assets.

क्या Binance बच पाएगा?

Binance as a whole will most likely survive.  If found guilty on the charges levied by the SEC though, there will also most definitely be major changes abound.  Binance has already pulled out of Canada, will the United States be next? Will CZ remain CEO? The scenarios that may come to pass are plentiful, and while most exchanges would be doomed in the current situation being faced by Binance, the worlds largest exchange is well-resourced and maintains that its U.S. operations represent only a fraction of its cumulative offerings.

It is important to remember though that, while the SEC may seem like the bad guy in situations like these, digital asset enthusiasts would be wise to tread with caution.  FTX was an industry darling – until it wasn’t.  While no one is saying that Binance is running its operations similar to FTX, the point remains that it is hard to know who to trust.