U.S. Government Sold $216M of Seized Silk Road Bitcoin This Month; BUSD Trading Temporarily Halted by Binance.US After CFTC Allegations

Binance US temporarily halted trading of BUSD (Binance USD) after allegations from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that Binance had engaged in illegal activities. The allegations relate to Binance's failure to register with the CFTC as a derivatives exchange, and the trading of futures contracts without proper authorization.

Binance.US has temporarily halted some of its services, including BUSD stablecoin pairs via One Common Billing System, due to an ongoing investigation into the issue. The affected services include BUSD crypto deposits and withdrawals, buying, selling, and converting crypto options. The company has also temporarily suspended Apple Pay and Google Pay deposits to transition to new banking and payment service providers over the next several weeks. Additionally, Binance.US has halted debit card deposits for up to 5% of its customers. The news comes as Binance.US' global affiliate, Binance, faces legal action from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for alleged trading violations.

Binance, one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges globally, has around 0.67 million users in the US as of February 2023.

New York Judge Michael Wiles of the District Court of the Southern District of New York has denied the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) appeal to stay the $1 billion asset-sale plan between bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital and Binance.US.

The District Court of the Southern District of New York declined the United States government’s reasonings for halting the acquisition of bankrupt brokerage company Voyager by Binance.US. According to Judge Michael Wiles, any protractions with the deal will harm the interests of Voyager’s former clients, who are waiting to return their funds. 

A $1 billion bid by Binance.US to buy up Voyager’s assets should go ahead, a bankruptcy judge ruled in a Wednesday court filing, denying a bid by the U.S. government to put proceedings on hold pending appeal.

Helium’s HNT token dropped to the lowest level in two months after crypto exchange Binance.US said it will delist the cryptocurrency as of March 21.

The $1 billion deal offered by Binance.US to buy assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager should be put on hold while key legal objections are ironed out, the U.S. government said in a filing on Tuesday.

A new study shows that payments via CBDCs are expected to reach $213 billion annually by 2030.