‘Stand With Crypto’ — Crypto community unites in response to SEC lawsuits

The crypto community has united under the “Stand With Crypto” movement in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits targeting prominent players in the industry.

As news circulated about the legal actions against crypto exchange Binance, its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and leading exchange Coinbase, individuals within the Twitter community have come together to show their support and demand regulatory clarity.

The lawsuits, alleging violations of federal securities laws, have sent shockwaves through the crypto industry, leading to a significant drop in the value of tokens mentioned in the filings.

Amid the uncertainty and frustration surrounding the lack of policy clarity in the U.S., figures across the crypto space have turned to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to express their commitment to the ecosystem.

The “Stand With Crypto” NFT was originally launched by Coinbase in April. This commemorative NFT, available for free minting on the Zora platform, has become a powerful symbol of unity for the crypto community.

Coinbase has often underlined the importance of sensible crypto policy in the U.S. It also said that mint fees from the NFTs would be donated to vetted organizations through the Crypto Advocacy Round on Gitcoin to support crypto advocacy efforts.

Since its launch, the Stand With Crypto NFT has gained significant traction, with over 138,000 minted at the time of writing. Influential figures within the NFT and crypto space have joined the movement. These include the founder of the popular NFT collection Azuki, Alex Xu.

“Coinbase has been the most compliant exchange and has onboarded millions of people into crypto,” Xu said on Twitter. “I support [Coinbase CEO] Brian Armstrong for standing up to the SEC and hope this fight brings more regulatory clarity for the entire space.”

Grim situation for Binance

It has been reported that SEC has recently taken legal action against Binance.US, Binance’s U.S.-based entity, seeking a temporary restraining order to freeze assets connected to the company.

This move follows the SEC’s recent lawsuit against Binance and CZ. The agency’s allegations revolve around multiple compliance and control failures, including accusations that Zhao-affiliated firms accessed Binance.US customer funds without authorization.

In a court filing submitted to the D.C. District Court, the SEC requested approval to freeze assets tied to BAM Management US Holdings and BAM Trading Services, the holding and operating companies for Binance.US.

The filing underlined the need for expedited action to protect customer assets and prevent the dissipation of available funds due to the defendants’ history of non-compliance and evasion of regulatory oversight.

One aspect of the SEC’s filing seeks an order for a preliminary injunction and urges defendants to repatriate assets held on behalf of BAM customers. Additionally, the agency requests an order to prevent the destruction of records and addresses various financial transfers and concerns surrounding the custody and control of customer assets.

If the court were to grant the restraining order, Binance.US would have a five-day window to ensure that only the company itself has access to customer funds. Within 30 days, all customer assets would need to be transferred to new wallets accessible exclusively by Binance.US.

Binance.US has taken to Twitter to reassure its users that their assets remain secure and that its legal team has provided information to address the SEC’s concerns.