"Through thirteen charges, we allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law." This is the official announcement of Gary Gensler regarding the latest FUD in the crypto market".
So, yesterday, on a dull Monday with no wind blowing from any direction and no signs of Bitcoin looking to dive its nose into the mud, out of nowhere, the SEC came out with a bold statement that sent shockwaves through the market:
SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Entities and Founder Changpeng Zhao. Charges include operating unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies; misrepresenting trading controls and oversight on the Binance.US platform; and the unregistered offer and sale of securities. So, in case you were wondering what is the SEC there for?
It is there to protect you, American investors and traders, and to enforce the law against market manipulation... The way this institution has done its job over time (cough Nancy Pelosi) is highly subjective, but let's look at something interesting about this event.
On June 1st, 2023, the Hong Kong government approved trading for the following tokens: $SAND, $ADA, $MATIC, $SOL, $AXS, $ATOM, $DOT, $UNI, $LINK, $LTC, $AVAX, $XLM, $ETH, and five years later, we have the SEC suing Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for having markets for altcoins such as $SAND, $ADA, $MATIC, $SOL, $AXS, $ATOM, $FIL, $MANA, $ALGO, $COTI...
What a coincidence, right?
Well, I wouldn't call it a coincidence at all. The way it seems, America is becoming what China used to be for the crypto industry until a few months ago, cracking down and stifling the expansion of the crypto industry. Why would the US embrace such a stance? Hmm, I don't know... I'd say they're frustrated with not having enough control over crypto assets and exchanges and the whole digital economies that are emerging in crypto.
Or they might simply be desperate to eliminate competition for CBDCs, the true rat poison of digital money that the bankers and governments have been working on for a few years already.
While events like the recent FUD regarding Binance have a negative impact on the crypto market, the industry is a whole different thing, and it often works separately from the markets. They can try to stop it, but they don't have the speed, the understanding, nor the means to "kill" at the pace crypto is expanding.
What Gary Gensler, the man who himself talked about ALGO during some conference, did with this one was to further strengthen the crypto community and draw more hate upon themselves (the SEC) as a so-called governmental institution. Binance responded to the allegations, and personally, I have no doubt they will win the lawsuit.
In my opinion, Binance is stupidly compliant, and I don't see this exchange risking anything for the sake of money. It has too much, CZ is too wealthy, and it's simply not worth it. As mentioned above, however, quite a few of the "influencing crypto heads" have shown support for Binance and CZ on Twitter as soon as the SEC-created FUD came out.
Among many of those who showed their support for CZ and Binance, Justin Sun included, I will share with you the tweet of Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Cardano, who managed to briefly sum up the reasoning and agenda behind the recent crackdown on crypto by the SEC and other American entities.
With respect to Binance, I'm reading through the SEC complaint. It's over 130 pages, but seems like the next in a series of steps to implement chokepoint 2.0 in the United States. The end goal is a agenda based CBDC partnered with a handful of massive banks and end-to-end control over every aspect of your financial life.
A regulatory event is where you have a debate about compliance with a law or guidance. This event seems to be a polticial philosophical disagreement with the very existence of cryptocurrencies and what they represent. An unelected group of people have decided that concepts like self-sovereign identity, owning your wallet, and the freedom to control your economic agency should be removed from the masses and given to the "enlightened" few.
Honestly, what is happening isn't anything new. It's always the same fight between freedom and authoritarianism just with different players, technology, and words. It does seem like this event is a perfect opportunity for the entire industry to set aside it's fragmented nature and unite for a common sense set of rules and guidelines that can prevent the United States from slipping into a distopia that would make 1984 look like a vacation.
I'll have more to say later, but will close with we are going to be fine. Everything's alright and the future is bright for the industry.
-Charles Hoskinson source
I will beat the old conspiracy drum once again now, just as Hoskinson did with his tweet. I'll say that the only logical explanation for the authorities in America being so determined to stifle the crypto industry is that they are against the freedom that crypto provides to its users. They don't care about protecting anyone from anything. Their sole focus is on strengthening their control and influence over the masses.
That's it... Bad move, America... Not the best way to show China who's the boss...
Thanks for your attention,
Adrian