The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is still looking for evidence that Binance.US had a backdoor to potentially control customer assets in a similar style to FTX, according to a Nov. 27 report by the Wall Street Journal.
In June, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and Binance.US, alleging that the exchange was involved in the sale of unregistered securities and accused Binance and its founder of participating in a complex conspiracy that involved fraud, conflicts of interest, a lack of disclosure and willful disregard for the law.
One of the allegations was that the exchange diverted customer assets at their discretion, including sending money to the Switzerland-based Sigma Chain under that was Zhao’s control.
During a Nov. 27 hearing in federal court, attorneys for Binance.US reportedly argued the securities regulator has no evidence that assets have been misused, asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui to consider ceasing the securities regulator’s investigation for potential fraud.
X (Twitter) post from an observer about the Binance, SEC situation. Source: X
Binance.US attorney Matthew Laroche also cited ballooning costs of the lawsuit, noting that Binance.US assets have plunged almost 90% and that its user base has halved since the SEC filed the lawsuit.
The request came as Binance and CZ agreed to plead guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, Treasury and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week.
However, the U.S. Justice Department’s case didn’t include any of the SEC’s fraud-related claims stemming from its lawsuit with the cryptocurrency exchange in June.
Binance.US, SEC asked to resolve dispute
Judge Faruqui, who is presiding over the Binance and SEC case, reportedly said the guilty pleas make it less likely that Binance.US and CZ misappropriated customer assets.
“At some point, I have to make a leap of faith and say enough is enough,” Faruqui reportedly told the SEC’s lawyers.
Faruqui has asked Binance.US and the SEC to resolve the dispute and update him by Dec. 15.
Meanwhile, CZ is currently awaiting a court review to find out whether he can leave the U.S. now and return two weeks before his sentencing date, scheduled for sometime in February.
The judge ordered that CZ would not be permitted to travel to the United Arab Emirates — where CZ is primarily based — until a court ruled on a motion for review from the U.S. government.
Breaking News: Judge Orders That The Condition Permitting CZ To Return To The UAE Pending Sentencing Is STAYED (i.e. CZ Must Remain in the Continental U.S. For Now)
(See Updated Compendium Below With Links To All Relevant DOJ/Binance/CZ Court Filings)
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.