In light of its ongoing lawsuit in the United States, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and its US arm have made an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to keep its American customers’ assets within the country.
In a filing made on Friday, June 16th, Binance and Binace.US agreed that only its employees will have access to the said assets to ensure that these are not taken out of the country.
The agreement also states that Binance.US needs to ensure that no officials from Binance Holdings are given access to the keys to virtual wallets, hardware wallets, let alone root access to the firm’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) tool suite.
In a statement released on Saturday, June 17th, Binance officials pointed out that this agreement does not resolve its current legal battle with the SEC. However, it does resolve the previous issue regarding the security of its American customers’ assets.
It added that, under other provisions in the filing, Binance.US will create several new digital wallets which may not be accessed by its parent company’s employees. It will also provide the SEC with additional information and sign off on an expedited discovery schedule.
The agreement, however, still needs the approval of the federal judge currently heading the litigation.
What Came Before
Earlier this month, on June 5th, the SEC sued Binance, the operator of its US exchange, as well as its founder-chief executive Changpeng Zhao, for several offenses, including the way it misled investors regarding market surveillance controls and the diverting of customer assets to offshore platforms.
Binance.US has since halted dollar deposits following a SEC-initiated court order to freeze its assets. The firm also gave its customers until June 13 to withdraw its funds.
