Where will Binance head next after the SEC’s stealth move? 

• The SEC recently filed a sealed motion against Binance involving more evidence.
• BNB has been unable to regain the $300 price range since the June lawsuit.

A significant development occurred on 29 August within the ongoing legal battle between Binance [BNB] and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC introduced a new element to the case with its latest action. 

Read Binance Coin’s [BNB] Price Prediction 2023-24

Notably, a recent court filing revealed that the SEC submitted a motion under seal. This allowed the SEC to present sensitive or private information without disclosing the details. The filing indicated that the SEC’s motion included an extensive collection of over 35 exhibits.

The move by the SEC has triggered a wave of conjecture, and a former staff member of the SEC has provided insights into the potential implications of this maneuver.

Binance in more trouble?

John Reed Stark, a former SEC official, has outlined two potential reasons behind the SEC’s utilization of this uncommon tactic. According to Stark, this tactic might have been employed to prevent interference with the ongoing investigation led by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ had previously initiated a lawsuit against Binance, which included allegations of assisting Russians in evading sanctions. 

What’s Up With The Secret U.S. SEC Motion Relating to Binance?

In the U.S. SEC/Binance litigation, the U.S. SEC has filed a sealed motion for leave to file documents under seal, according to an SEC court filing late yesterday. Filing a court document “under seal” allows… pic.twitter.com/cmx6gdh2so

— John Reed Stark (@JohnReedStark) August 29, 2023

Stark further posited that the DOJ could be collaborating with whistleblowers and employ active surveillance devices, thus necessitating the sealing of the recent motion.

Additionally, the decision to seal the motion could have been made to safeguard a company or a witness from potential risks. This analysis implies that the SEC and the DOJ could possess substantial and possibly incriminating evidence against the exchange.

How Binance got here

On 5 June, the SEC initiated legal proceedings against Binance. The lawsuit alleged that Binance engaged in the sale of unregistered securities.

Also, the SEC’s 136-page complaint implicated Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), in a complex scheme involving fraudulent activities, conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, and intentional disregard for legal regulations. 

Furthermore, the allegations revolved around misleading investors regarding risk controls, manipulation of trade volumes, concealing critical operational data, and violating U.S. securities laws.

To evade regulatory oversight, Binance purportedly established weak controls while secretly flouting them, particularly to retain its highly valuable U.S. clientele. 

However, on 14 August, Binance filed for a protective court order against the SEC. Binance argued that the regulator’s requests for information were excessively broad and excessively burdensome.

The protective order sought various restrictions on the SEC’s actions, including limiting the number of depositions from employees of BAM (Binance’s U.S. arm) to four and excluding depositions of BAM’s CEO and CFO without specifically identifying individuals. 

How have all these developments impacted BNB?

The trend of BNB

The daily timeframe chart for Binance Coin (BNB) revealed a noticeable drop in its value after the SEC’s lawsuit on 5 June. Furthermore, the chart showed that BNB has been unable to recover its position above the $300 price level, which it fell from in June.

As of this writing, it was trading at approximately $224, indicating a decline of 27% from its June price range. Additionally, following a price increase of over 3% on 29 August, the press time value had incurred a loss of over 1% by the time of writing.

Source: TradingView

Regarding technical indicators, the previous trading session’s price action brought the coin closer to the neutral line on the Relative Strength Index (RSI), signaling a potential balance between buying and selling pressures.

However, the ongoing trading session has moved the coin further from this neutral line, suggesting an alteration in this balance.

Furthermore, analyzing market sentiment using data from Coinglass revealed a delicate balance. It indicated that Binance Coin’s market sentiment has been quite cautious. Over the past few weeks, the coin consistently displayed a negative funding rate.

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Although a brief period of relief was observed recently, the negative funding rate promptly resurfaced. This trend suggested that traders were anticipating and placing bets on a decline in the price of BNB.

This scenario might not be entirely unexpected, given the FUD generated by the Binance’s ongoing legal challenges.