Binance & CZ petition to dismiss SEC lawsuit + other stories for the week

The largest world crypto exchange, Binance has been in the spotlight for a regulatory scandal all year which has led to a massive upheaval in the space.

But this week, Binance, Binance.US, and CEO Changpeng Zhao filed a request to dismiss all the counts in the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) lawsuit.

Also, Sam Bankman-Fried's attempt to get out of jail before the start of his trial next month has been rejected by an appeals court.

Here are the major crypto stories from around the world this week

CoinEx resumes service following hack

Crypto exchange CoinEx has resumed deposits and withdrawals for its users more than a week after it was a victim of a $70 million hack.

In a statement earlier in the week, the exchange announced the resumption of deposit and withdrawal services of Bitcoin and other tokens. Per the announcement, CoinEx will update deposit addresses for the listed tokens and will generate new deposit addresses for its users.

CoinEx customers are advised not to deposit into old addresses on the platform, as this would result in assets being permanently lost.

India to combat crypto fraud with dark net monitoring tool

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reportedly developing a crypto intelligence tool in response to a rise in illegal activities around cryptocurrencies in the country.

Per a CNBC report on Thursday, the MHA aims to combat crypto-related crime through the Cryptocurrency Intelligence and Analysis Tool (CIAT). The project is spearheaded by an MHA division called the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, which is dedicated to investigating and addressing cybercrime.

With CIAT, the MHA will monitor crypto wallet addresses in the dark net. This will facilitate the compilation of transaction records, including timestamps, dates, exchanges used and which services were done.

Binance ask court to dismiss SEC lawsuit

Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao and his cryptocurrency exchange have filed a joint motion to dismiss the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against them.

In a Thursday filing in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, both Binance Holdings and Zhao claimed that the SEC had overstepped its authority in the lawsuit against them.

In the 60-page petition, lawyers for Binance and Zhao accused the SEC of failing to introduce clear guidelines for the sector ahead of its lawsuit against the crypto exchange and, as a result, had imposed its regulatory authority over the crypto sector retroactively.

Recall that the SEC sued Binance in June, pressing charges claiming Binance offers the sale of unregistered securities and operates illegally in the United States. The move came at the back of a lawsuit against Binance by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Mt Gox delays customers' repayment by one year

Per reports on Thursday, Mt. Gox, the crypto exchange from which bitcoin worth almost $23 billion was stolen nearly a decade ago, has delayed the deadline for repaying people by a year. The new deadline for the now-defunct exchange is Oct. 31, 2024, instead of Oct. 31 this year.

Recall that the creditors of Mt. Gox have been looking for some relief for a decade. The prominent crypto exchange was hacked in 2014, which led to 850,000 bitcoin being taken. The exchange ultimately managed to recover around 20% of the stolen tokens.

SBF will remain in jail till his trial

Bankman-Fried, the Founder of FTX, has faced another legal setback as an appeals court rejected his attempt to secure pre-trial release ahead of his upcoming trial scheduled for October 3rd.

Recall that last month. SBF's release on bond was revoked by a judge who ruled that he had allegedly attempted to tamper with witnesses in his ongoing legal case. Earlier this month, his request to overturn this decision was also denied. On Thursday, an appeals court upheld that denial.

Bankman-Fried faces charges of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the operation and subsequent collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. His criminal trial is set for October 2nd.