Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, stated in a tweet on Tuesday that the company has not sold any bitcoin or Binance Coin (BNB). This declaration comes after Binance was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. The SEC levied 13 charges against the exchange, Zhao, and the operator of Binance’s purportedly independent US platform.
The lawsuits filed against Binance and Coinbase Global have raised concerns that the cryptocurrency market’s troubles could be prolonged further. The sector has already faced several setbacks, including the bankruptcy of FTX, Binance’s major competitor, last year.
Following the SEC’s action, the value of Binance Coin has declined by over 20%. In an effort to maintain the liquidity of the stablecoin tether, Binance had planned to swap 750 million tether-tron token pairs for tether-ether. The exchange hopes that this move will help mitigate some of the recent challenges, including the SEC lawsuit.
The swap, scheduled to commence after 12 pm UTC (05:30 pm IST) on Monday, will be conducted directly with the tether team, according to a tweet by Binance.
Tether is the largest stablecoin, aiming to maintain a 1:1 peg with the US dollar. Tron, with a market value of approximately $6.3 billion (around Rs. 51,900 crore), is the ninth-largest cryptocurrency. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, holds a market capitalization of about $210 billion (nearly Rs. 17,30,500 crore).
Last week, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao, and Binance.US, alleging 13 charges that included accusations of deceptive practices, artificial inflation of trading volumes, diversion of customer funds, and the hidden control of the US entity by Binance and Zhao, despite public claims of independence.
