💀 SEC Hunts Down CEXs, 🇺🇸 Binance.US Cut Off From US, 🆘 BitGo Saves Prime Core

12 June 2023 Update

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission woke up last week and chose blood, suing Centralized Exchanges Binance and Coinbase for their “blatant disregard” of federal securities laws. The US government has made a clear distinction between Bitcoin and “crypto” as asset classes (the former deemed to be a commodity, and the latter, securities). Essentially, all “cryptos” are unregistered securities introduced by centralized groups of people pretending they are not corporations, while Bitcoin conversely has an anonymous founder, no CEO, no board of directors, no “product road map”, no promise of profits, and no single entity capable of changing the protocol.

Binance.US is being cut off from the US banking system in the fallout from the SEC lawsuit. The company suspended US dollar deposits and announced an upcoming pause for fiat withdrawals as early as June 13. According to the centralized exchange, it was forced to take action amid “extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics” from American regulators. Binance.US, faces significant challenges as its banking partners plan to withdraw support, leading to a loss of liquidity and customer asset withdrawals. [Editor: While the SEC's crackdown on cryptos can indeed focus more attention on what truly matters (i.e., Bitcoin), these measures also pose significant liquidity challenges for Bitcoin and restrict retail investors' access to it].

BitGo is set to acquire Prime Core Technologies, the parent company of financially-struggling Prime Trust. The acquisition is expected to bring business continuity and long-term stability. While the terms remain undisclosed, the acquisition involves Prime Trust’s Nevada-based trust company integrating into BitGo's own regulated crypto-oriented trusts. BitGo will also gain access to Prime Trust's banking partners, payment rails, and wealth management offerings. The deal is still pending regulatory approval, and specific details regarding the transaction have not yet been disclosed. Recent announcements from bitcoin-only exchanges Strike and Swan, stating their move away from custody through Prime Trust, raised questions about the company's financial situation.