The US Securities and Exchange Commission has requested a temporary freeze of all Binance assets in the US, according to statements filed with the court.
Bitcoin has now risen by more than 5% after the news, reaching levels of $27,000 per currency, after its strong decline since last night when the authority began prosecuting Binance. It has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion.
Data indicated that investors have withdrawn $780 million from Binance since the agency announced the prosecution.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Binance of trading unlicensed securities, including 61 cryptocurrencies.
Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, announced in a statement that Changbang Zhao and entities affiliated with Binance are responsible for fraud, conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, and willful circumvention of the law.
Not only did Zhao and his platform know the rules, he explained, he chose to deliberately circumvent them, putting clients and investors at risk.
Gensler months ago adopted a punitive approach with major cryptocurrency platforms that are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Meanwhile, Zhao downplayed the allegations, sending a message on Twitter referring to the number 4, which he used to refer to the acronym FUD, the acronyms for fear, uncertainty, and doubt, to describe the waves of anxiety that can flare up. in the cryptocurrency space following last year's market crash.
The commission also accuses Coinbase of operating in the field of trading without obtaining licenses, as the stock fell by more than 12% during today's session.