The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has widened its legal case against Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, by adding several more digital tokens to its list of assets it considers securities.
This expansion includes popular tokens such as Axie Infinity (AXS), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos (ATOM), Sandbox (SAND), and Decentraland (MANA), signalling the SEC’s continued push to regulate the rapidly growing cryptocurrency industry.
The SEC alleges that Binance and its U.S. partner, BAM Trading, facilitated transactions using these newly classified securities without the required registration.
The agency claims Binance misled investors by promoting these tokens as legitimate investments while failing to disclose associated risks properly. This move is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to establish clearer regulatory oversight in the cryptocurrency space.
In its updated filing, the SEC reiterated its stance that Binance does not have the proper licenses to operate as a clearing agency, broker-dealer, or exchange in the U.S. The agency further alleges that Binance used interstate commerce to conduct unauthorized securities transactions, putting both its international and U.S. platforms under scrutiny.
The expanded lawsuit has drawn fresh criticism from industry insiders who argue the SEC’s regulatory approach is inconsistent.
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, accused the SEC of making contradictory claims, while Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, raised concerns about the SEC’s shifting stance on what constitutes a security, referencing its previous lawsuit against Ripple over the XRP token.
