A US federal magistrate judge has reportedly opted not to grant the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permission to inspect the technological infrastructure of Binance’s US branch, a setback for the regulator.
A new report from Bloomberg shows that the SEC on Monday asked Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui for permission to search Binance.US’ software, but Faruqui dismissed the idea, saying he was not inclined to conduct the inspection “at this time.” to allow.
According to Bloomberg, the judge told the regulator to come up with more specific requests.
The SEC reportedly wanted to inspect the software to potentially establish more ties between Binance.US and Binance’s global business, which is the world’s largest exchange by trading volume.
The SEC first charged Binance, exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao and Binance.US in June, alleging the companies violated securities laws. Just a day later, the regulator also filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US, for similar reasons.
Later that month, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland accused Binance of lying to Congress after lawmakers questioned company officials about its business practices. The senators asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the exchange.
Binance.US halted US dollar deposits and withdrawals a few days after the SEC charges were announced.
Don’t miss a beat – Subscribe to receive email alerts straight to your inbox
Check price action
follow us on TweetFacebook and Telegram
Surf to the Daily Hodl mix
Generated image: Midjourney