Binance boss plans to seek dismissal of CFTC complaint, filing shows

Binance Holdings and its founder are seeking to dismiss a complaint filed in March by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A Monday court filing shows that Binance entities and Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive officer of Binance, plan to submit a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by the CFTC in a Chicago federal court. They are accused of numerous violations including operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange in the U.S. 

Samuel Lim, Binance’s former chief compliance officer, also intends to seek to dismiss the lawsuit, according to the filing. 

As things stand, Binance, Zhao and Lim have until July 27 to submit their responses to the CFTC complaint. They also requested an expansion of the page limit of their memoranda of law, "given the complexity of the CFTC’s Complaint and the number of arguments Defendants anticipate making in support of their Motions to Dismiss," according to the filing.

Ongoing legal battles

In March, the CFTC sued Binance and Zhao for allegedly breaking derivatives rules and unregistered trading activities in the U.S. The agency said in its complaint that Binance had “taken a calculated, phased approach to increase its United States presence despite publicly stating its purported intent to ‘block’ or ‘restrict’ customers located in the United States from accessing its platform.” 

Binance called the CFTC lawsuit “unexpected and disappointing,” claiming it has been working collaboratively with the agency for more than two years.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also sued the exchange and Zhao last month for allegedly violating securities laws.