SEC Secures Emergency Relief to Protect Binance.US Customers’ Assets
The U
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency court order against Binance Holdings Ltd., its U.S. affiliates BAM Management US Holdings Inc. and BAM Trading Services Inc., and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the companies commingled and diverted customer assets on the Binance.US platform in violation of securities laws. The district court barred BAM from moving or spending corporate assets except for ordinary business, required all defendants to repatriate U.S. customer assets to the United States, and forced expedited accounting and discovery to protect those funds. No specific dollar figures were disclosed, but the order was intended to ensure that U.S. customers could withdraw their holdings while the SEC’s civil enforcement action proceeds. On May 29, 2025 the parties entered a joint stipulation dismissing the SEC’s civil case with prejudice, effectively ending the litigation.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency court order against Binance Holdings Ltd., its U.S. affiliates BAM Management US Holdings Inc. and BAM Trading Services Inc., and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the companies commingled and diverted customer assets on the Binance.US platform in violation of securities laws. The district court barred BAM from moving or spending corporate assets except for ordinary business, required all defendants to repatriate U.S. customer assets to the United States, and forced expedited accounting and discovery to protect those funds. No specific dollar figures were disclosed, but the order was intended to ensure that U.S. customers could withdraw their holdings while the SEC’s civil enforcement action proceeds. On May 29, 2025 the parties entered a joint stipulation dismissing the SEC’s civil case with prejudice, effectively ending the litigation. The SEC secured emergency relief requiring Binance Holdings, BAM Trading Services, BAM Management US, and CEO Changpeng Zhao to repatriate and safeguard U.S. customer assets on the Binance.US platform, prohibiting transfers to offshore entities and restricting BAM’s spending to ordinary business expenses under SEC oversight. The court order mandated asset protection, customer withdrawal access, record preservation, and expedited accounting and discovery to prevent asset dissipation amid allegations of commingling and misappropriation of customer funds. On May 29, 2025, the parties filed a joint stipulation to dismiss the SEC’s civil enforcement action with prejudice, ending the litigation without admission of guilt or final adjudication of the underlying fraud claims. No monetary penalties or admissions were disclosed as part of the dismissal.
Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)
Extracted insights
- person emergency relief
- person gurbir s. grewal
- agency Securities and Exchange Commission
- Securities and Exchange Commission secured emergency relief
- Defendants Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Management US Holdings Inc., BAM Trading Services Inc., and Changpeng Zhao agreed to repatriate assets held for the benefit of customers of Binance.US to the United States
- Order prohibits BAM from spending corporate assets other than in the ordinary course of business
- Order helps ensure Binance.US customers are permitted to withdraw their assets
- Gurbir S. Grewal said prohibitions are essential to protecting investor assets
- Securities and Exchange Commission filed joint stipulation to dismiss civil enforcement action with prejudice
The Securities and Exchange Commission today secured emergency relief in which the all the defendants in its litigation against Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Management US Holdings Inc., BAM Trading Services Inc., and Changpeng Zhao agreed to repatriate to the United States assets held for the benefit of customers of the Binance.US crypto trading platform. The order from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia also prohibits defendants BAM Trading Services Inc. and BAM Management US Holdings, Inc. (together, “BAM”) from spending corporate assets other than in the ordinary course of business. The order helps ensure that Binance.US customers are permitted to withdraw their assets from the platform and that those assets that remain on the platform are protected and remain in the United States through the resolution of the SEC’s pending litigation against Binance Holdings Ltd., BAM, and their founder, Zhao.“Given that Changpeng Zhao and Binance have control of the platforms’ customers’ assets and have been able to commingle customer assets or divert customer assets as they please, as we have alleged, these prohibitions are essential to protecting investor assets,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Further, we ensured that U.S. customers will be able to withdraw their assets from the platform while we work to resolve the alleged underlying misconduct and hold Zhao and the Binance entities accountable for their alleged securities law violations.”Specifically, the order (1) requires all of the defendants to repatriate to the United States assets held for the benefit of BAM’s U.S. customers; (2) requires BAM to maintain U.S. customer assets in the United States for the duration of the litigation and to facilitate customer withdrawals; (3) expressly prohibits BAM from transferring any assets or funds, or from providing control over such assets or funds, to co-defendants Binance Holdings Limited, Changpeng Zhao, or their affiliates; (4) restricts BAM from spending assets or funds except for ordinary course business expenses and requires BAM to provide the SEC with oversight over such expenses; (5) prohibits all of the defendants from destroying records; (6) requires all of the defendants to submit expedited sworn accountings of certain assets to the SEC; and (7) requires all of the defendants to submit to expedited discovery by the SEC on the custody and security of customer assets.*On May 29, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a joint stipulation with Defendants Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Trading Services Inc., BAM Management US Holdings Inc., and Changpeng Zhao to dismiss, with prejudice, the Commission’s civil enforcement action against them.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today secured emergency relief in which the all the defendants in its litigation against Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Management US Holdings Inc., BAM Trading Services Inc., and Changpeng Zhao agreed to repatriate to the United States assets held for the benefit of customers of the Binance.US crypto trading platform. The order from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia also prohibits defendants BAM Trading Services Inc. and BAM Management US Holdings, Inc. (together, “BAM”) from spending corporate assets other than in the ordinary course of business. The order helps ensure that Binance.US customers are permitted to withdraw their assets from the platform and that those assets that remain on the platform are protected and remain in the United States through the resolution of the SEC’s pending litigation against Binance Holdings Ltd., BAM, and their founder, Zhao.“Given that Changpeng Zhao and Binance have control of the platforms’ customers’ assets and have been able to commingle customer assets or divert customer assets as they please, as we have alleged, these prohibitions are essential to protecting investor assets,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Further, we ensured that U.S. customers will be able to withdraw their assets from the platform while we work to resolve the alleged underlying misconduct and hold Zhao and the Binance entities accountable for their alleged securities law violations.”Specifically, the order (1) requires all of the defendants to repatriate to the United States assets held for the benefit of BAM’s U.S. customers; (2) requires BAM to maintain U.S. customer assets in the United States for the duration of the litigation and to facilitate customer withdrawals; (3) expressly prohibits BAM from transferring any assets or funds, or from providing control over such assets or funds, to co-defendants Binance Holdings Limited, Changpeng Zhao, or their affiliates; (4) restricts BAM from spending assets or funds except for ordinary course business expenses and requires BAM to provide the SEC with oversight over such expenses; (5) prohibits all of the defendants from destroying records; (6) requires all of the defendants to submit expedited sworn accountings of certain assets to the SEC; and (7) requires all of the defendants to submit to expedited discovery by the SEC on the custody and security of customer assets.*On May 29, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a joint stipulation with Defendants Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Trading Services Inc., BAM Management US Holdings Inc., and Changpeng Zhao to dismiss, with prejudice, the Commission’s civil enforcement action against them.