U.S. judge urges Binance, SEC to reach deal over asset freeze - report

District Judge Amy Berman Jackson urged Binance and the Securities and Exchange Commission to confer on a possible deal that would enable the cryptocurrency exchange's purported U.S. affiliate to keep operating in the U.S., the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing a hearing in Washington. The news comes as Binance fights a civil lawsuit filed last week by the Wall Street regulator. The SEC charged Binance and Binance.US with deceiving investors about the sufficiency of its systems to detect and control manipulative trading, and taking insufficient steps to prohibit U.S. investors from accessing its unregulated exchange. The regulator also wants to freeze billions of dollars of Binance.US's assets, a move that Binance claimed would cripple the company as it wouldn't be able to pay employees, vendors and suppliers or to maintain the platform. According to the SEC, Binance.US oversees $2.2B in crypto holdings. Judge Jackson ordered the Binance, which is not allowed to operate in the U.S., and the SEC, which has scrutinized the trading platform since the summer of 2020, to keep negotiating and to submit an update by Thursday, the NYT reported . In the days following the SEC suit, Binance.US was forced to halt U.S. dollar trading as its banking partners prepared to stop offering vital payment channels. More on Binance and the Crypto Clampdown Binance: The SEC Strikes (Again) Two senators want DOJ to probe whether crypto giant Binance lied to lawmakers - report Canada's OSC probes Binance over whether crypto exchange tried to skirt rules SEC sues Coinbase for operating as unregistered broker; stock slumps (updated) Coinbase willing to take fight with SEC to the Supreme Court - report