What the Binance and SEC’s temporary ceasefire means for other crypto cases

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So Binance and the SEC jointly filed for a stay on their ongoing court battle, which would — if approved — give the two parties two months to pause and figure out this new era. 

Shocked? You shouldn’t be.

Last month, Haynes Boone partner Matthew Frankle told Empire that he wouldn’t be surprised to see a bunch of the crypto-focused cases filed by a former SEC focused on regulation by enforcement dropped. 

So it also wouldn’t be surprising to see this type of stay filed in a case like Coinbase’s. After all, both Binance and Coinbase have been fighting the SEC for a few years now, and while there are distinct differences in the cases, there are also some similarities. 

Back to the filing: both sides argue that the 60-day pause would allow the SEC’s shiny new crypto task force to focus on a potential “resolution” to the case. Importantly, it sounds like the SEC was the first one to knock on Binance’s door asking for the stay. 

Oh, how times have changed. 

If I’m reading the tea leaves — or legalese if you’d prefer — then it sounds like one of the Task Force’s first orders of business is going to be sorting through the Binance case if they think a 60-day pause is enough time for both sides to figure out how to proceed. 

“Many cases remain in litigation, many rules remain in the proposal stage, and many market participants remain in limbo,” SEC Commissioner and task force head Hester Peirce wrote earlier this month. ”Please be patient.”

If the SEC is already starting to make moves, then times really have changed and a brighter future is on the horizon.

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