Binance SEC Hearing Goes Much Less Well Than Coinbase Hearing
Jan 23, 2024
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Binance crypto team's court battle with the SEC goes worse than Coinbase's. Judge's skepticism on crypto tokens as securities. Critique of SEC's tactics and a promotion for Kraken. Updates on the Binance case and the SEC Twitter hack. Discussion on Ethereum's client diversity and the upcoming Denkoon upgrade.
The Binance SEC hearing did not go well for the crypto team, highlighting the SEC's need for a clear limiting principle in their legal theories.
The SEC's Twitter hack, caused by a sim swap attack, emphasizes the rampant issue of sim swap attacks and the need for better security measures at cell phone carriers.
Deep dives
Legal battle between Binance and SEC continues
The ongoing legal case between Binance and the SEC took center stage as arguments were presented in court. Binance, like Coinbase, argued for the dismissal of the case early on, claiming that crypto tokens should not be subject to securities law. However, Judge Amy Jackson appeared less willing to give Binance the benefit of the doubt and questioned their arguments. The focus of the case is on BNB, with the judge indicating that it was initially offered as a security but expressed uncertainty about secondary sales. The case highlights the SEC's need for a clear limiting principle in their legal theories and the significant implications for the crypto market.
SEC Twitter account hack raises security concerns
The SEC provided an update on the hack of their Twitter account, revealing that a sim swap attack was used to gain control. The incident resulted in a fake tweet causing significant price action in Bitcoin and allegations of price manipulation. The SEC admitted to having disabled two-factor authentication, a decision deemed worse than not having it at all. This attack highlights the rampant issue of sim swap attacks and the need for better security measures at cell phone carriers.
Client diversity and bug concerns in the Ethereum network
An issue with the Nethermind client raised concerns about client diversity in the Ethereum network. Geth has become the majority choice for validators, representing around 85% of Ethereum validators, making it a single point of failure. The bug in Nethermind and the potential for a bug in Geth underscore the necessity to address client diversity to avoid major network disruptions. Despite these concerns, Ethereum's resilience has been strong, and previous issues have been resolved without protocol downtime. The upcoming Denkoon upgrade aims to improve Ethereum's scalability and cost efficiency, but raises questions about its impact on gas fees and deflationary factors.
Binance was in court arguing that the SEC lawsuit against them should be thrown out, in an echo of Coinbase's hearing with the SEC last week. This one seemed to go significantly worse for the crypto team.