A senior judge in the Columbian district court has reportedly signed multiple orders to clear pending motions in the ongoing lawsuit filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against the crypto exchange Binance ahead of the crucial hearing.
Among the key orders, the judge cleared an amicus brief filed by USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin issuer Circle right before the key hearing on Oct. 12. Circle filed a court motion on Sept. 29 in the ongoing SEC vs Binance lawsuit and had argued that assets pegged to the U.S. dollar, such as USDC, are not securities.
Circle at the time said that the buyers of these stablecoins do not expect any profit from acquiring them. According to Circle, payment stablecoins do not have the “features of an investment contract” on their own.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson accepted Circle as amicus curiae in support of neither party in the defendants Binance and CEO CZ’s motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The court also reminded that the amicus curiae may only participate in oral argument after the court’s permission.
An amicus curiae is a person or group that is not a party to a legal dispute but is permitted to assist the court by providing information, expertise, or insight into the problems in the case. The court has the power to decide whether to consider an amicus brief.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance on June 5, filing a total of 13 charges against the cryptocurrency exchange. Charges include unregistered securities sales of BNB and BUSD tokens. The SEC also argues that Binance failed to register as a broker-dealer clearing service and that it operated illegally in the United States.
On Sept. 22, Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, petitioned the court to dismiss the SEC lawsuit alleging that the SEC had overstepped its powers. Binance and Zhao’s lawyers stated in a petition that the SEC failed to establish clear norms for the sector before the exchange’s litigation and imposed its jurisdiction over the business retrospectively.
The US is seeking the forfeiture of 20.2 BTC seized by the Dallas FBI from the Chaos ransomware group, adding to the country’s proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Donald Trump has reignited his row with London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan after calling him a “nasty person” who has done “a terrible job”.
During an hour-long news conference with Sir Keir Starmer in Scotland, the US president hit out at the Labour mayor, who has responded with his own snipey remarks.
Asked if he would visit London during his state visit in September, Mr Trump said: “I will, I’m not a fan of your mayor, I think he’s done a terrible job.
“A nasty person, I think.”
The prime minister then interrupted and said: “He’s a friend of mine.”
But the president added: “I think he’s done a terrible job but I will certainly visit London, I hope so.”
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Sir Sadiq’s spokesperson then released a statement saying: “Sadiq is delighted that President Trump wants to come to the greatest city in the world.
“He’d see how our diversity makes us stronger not weaker; richer, not poorer.
“Perhaps these are the reasons why a record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship under his presidency.”
Image: Sir Sadiq Khan was knighted in June. Pic: PA
They noted that Sir Sadiq has won three mayoral elections, including when Mr Trump lost the US election in 2020.
This is not the first time Mr Trump and Sir Sadiq have locked horns.
Sir Sadiq then described Mr Trump as a “poster boy for racists”.
And in November 2024, after Mr Trump won his second term, Sir Sadiq said many Londoners would be “fearful” about what it would “mean for democracy”.
However, as Sir Keir tried to show diplomacy with Mr Trump after becoming PM, Sir Sadiq said he “wanted to work closely with the American president” ahead of his inauguration in January.
The London mayor said as somebody “who believes in democracy, and voting and elections, we should recognise the fact that Donald Trump is the elected president of the United States”.
But he added: “Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this president is different from the last time he was president.”