Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she would take a joint motion from Binance and Binance.US to dismiss under advisement following arguments on whether certain tokens were securities.
Lawyers representing cryptocurrency exchange Binance in a lawsuit brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission called on a judge to dismiss the case after arguing whether specific tokens qualified as securities.
In a Jan. 22 hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Binance’s legal team presented arguments on how the SEC treated cryptocurrencies under current regulatory and legal frameworks. According to a Reuters report, a Binance lawyer said the SEC was taking a contradictory approach to crypto firms, “telling the industry [to] come in and register, while simultaneously with their other hand holding the door closed and preventing any viable path to do that.”
Reports from the courtroom suggested the SEC said the Howey test for securities was “clear” for all assets, including crypto, and regulators were not obligated to warn firms that they could be violating securities laws. Judge Amy Berman Jackson reportedly said she would take the SEC’s and Binance’s arguments under advisement.
