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SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

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Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#211

The SEC and CFTC missed FTX being the worlds largest fraud. Now they are desperately going after Binance for... being above board but not getting the right license, during a period when no licenses were offered (and still aren't). At what point is this just pointless bullshit, let exchanges register, regulate them like other exchanges (segregated funds etc) and fuck off already.

“ The S.E.C. said the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange mixed “billions of dollars” in customer funds and secretly sent them to a separate company controlled by Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao.”

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#212
post #185
post #110

I remember the last post from Fred Wilson: "The Freedom To Innovate" [1]. Even if the SEC is right about Binance and others, and there are without doubt blatant and huge frauds in Web3, there are huge problems with the financial modernization within the US (and the world). Domestic wire transfers in US takes longer and are more expensive than in Europe and developing countries such as Brazil and Argentina. The SEC is…

Domestic wire transfers in US takes longer and are more expensive than in Europe and developing countries such as Brazil and Argentina Do you think the US is incapable of sending an immediate message transferring money? Of course the US has that technical capability. AML, BSA, KYC, Anti-Fraud. These are a few of the things that slow down the transfers and add to the cost. A lot of people think they're a feature, not…

Technical capabilities could be shadow by political capabilities.

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My theory is that Binance execs were having these chats in an encrypted medium (e.g. WA or Signal) but didn't secure themselves against a defector. I think someone on the inside took screenshots and went to the feds (or started cooperating under legal pressure). There's even a leading candidate [0]. What's funny about this is it's a fine metaphor for what ails crypto as a whole. The technology is cryptographically se…

> but didn't secure themselves against a defector Still a surprisingly amateur move. Once worked for the Federal Government where literally everything you write is potentially subject to a FOIA request. The message all new hires were told was, very clearly: "Never put anything into writing you wouldn't be happy to be see published on the front page of the Washington Post" Anything that was even vaguely close to faili…

How does one FOIA request for the written communications of government officials like that? Asking for a friend

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#215
post #166

The SEC and CFTC missed FTX being the worlds largest fraud. Now they are desperately going after Binance for... being above board but not getting the right license, during a period when no licenses were offered (and still aren't). At what point is this just pointless bullshit, let exchanges register, regulate them like other exchanges (segregated funds etc) and fuck off already.

> being above board SEC has alleged multiple efforts to lie and deceive both regulators and users. It's hard to see how that qualifies as "above board".

The burden is on SEC to prove these allegations. If they took YOU to court, calling YOU a thief, you would expect the burden to be on them, right?

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but didn't secure themselves against a defector Still a surprisingly amateur move. Once worked for the Federal Government where literally everything you write is potentially subject to a FOIA request. The message all new hires were told was, very clearly: "Never put anything into writing you wouldn't be happy to be see published on the front page of the Washington Post" Anything that was even vaguely close to faili…

How does one FOIA request for the written communications of government officials like that? Asking for a friend

The government has done a pretty good job of making the process very easy: https://www.foia.gov/

But, just like with ChatGPT, you'll likely have to do a bit of "prompt engineering" to get a specific document. "Give me all the stuff you guys got on UFOS1!!" will likely be less fruitful then "I am requesting the email correspondence between X and Y related to the documented observation of an atmospheric event occurring on ..."

In my experience these requests are taken quite seriously.

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one FOIA request for the written communications of government officials like that? Asking for a friend

The government has done a pretty good job of making the process very easy: https://www.foia.gov/ But, just like with ChatGPT, you'll likely have to do a bit of "prompt engineering" to get a specific document. "Give me all the stuff you guys got on UFOS1!!" will likely be less fruitful then "I am requesting the email correspondence between X and Y related to the documented observation of an atmospheric event occurring…

How broad can the request get? Can I ask for any communications that are related to a decision made or drafting of something that goes into the CFR?

How much should I expect to pay for these requests, especially while figuring out the prompt engineering?

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#219
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and 77.34% of statistics are made up on the spot. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2019-economic-we... 6%

Parsed generously, 94% of Americans is about 300mm people. That's 4% of the human population. (It's a nonsense argument nonetheless: it's not America's job to bank the world.)

I commend you taking a generous view of that, as I was unable to with a straight face. Agree with your second comment.

Re: SEC Sues Binance and CEO Zhao for Breaking US Securities Rules

#220
post #40

> In one instance, the Binance chief compliance officer messaged a colleague that, “[w]e are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.” Source: https://twitter.com/JohnReedStark/status/1665748594421297152 This is a legendary quote from the filing.

My theory is that Binance execs were having these chats in an encrypted medium (e.g. WA or Signal) but didn't secure themselves against a defector. I think someone on the inside took screenshots and went to the feds (or started cooperating under legal pressure). There's even a leading candidate [0]. What's funny about this is it's a fine metaphor for what ails crypto as a whole. The technology is cryptographically se…

The main purpose of not to put things in writing and instead to discuss face to face has always been not to create incriminating evidence rather than avoiding and "unsecured channel".

When you're using Signal or WhatsApp or whatever you're still putting things in writing to someone else and the risk, as we see again and again, is that this is leaked by the receipient(s). Plus ça change...

This is almost the raison-d'être of posh private members clubs.

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