Cryptocurrencies slumped across the board after the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Binance Holdings Ltd. of mishandling funds and lying to regulators.
Data from tracker Coinglass shows that nearly $250 million worth of trading positions – mostly from traders who were betting on higher prices, were liquidated during the past 4 hours. Binance stated in a blog post that the SEC allegations shouldn’t be subject to an enforcement action and that it intended to “defend our platform vigorously.”
Binance called the complaint “disappointing,” saying it had engaged with the SEC in good-faith negotiations to settle the matter. The exchange“While we take the SEC’s allegations seriously, they should not be the subject of an SEC enforcement action, let alone on an emergency basis,” the firm said. “We intend to defend our platform vigorously.”
The case follows a lawsuit from the US derivatives watchdog in March that alleges Binance and Zhao routinely broke its rules.