New Delhi

In what seems to be one more step toward mainstreaming the cryptocurrency sector, cryptocurrency exchange Binance's US affiliate, Binance.US, scored an important court victory when a federal judge allowed it to proceed with plans for investing certain customer assets in US Treasury bills. This ruling effectively lifts restrictions previously placed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

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The court order enables Binance.US to transfer crypto assets to an unaffiliated third-party custodian. Further, the operator of Binance.US, BAM, is now allowed to invest certain customer fiat funds held by crypto custodian firm BitGo, in US Treasury bills. These funds will mature every four weeks on a rolling basis, without the involvement of any third party, including other Binance entities, involved in the investment, according to the court order.

It is a tremendous regulatory turn of events for Binance.US, which has been hammered by the U.S. securities regulator. It was only in June last year that the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance, its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao, and the operator of Binance.US. The regulator claimed that Binance artificially inflated trading volumes, misappropriated customer funds, failed to restrict US customers from its platform and misled investors about the ways in which it was policing its markets.

On the back of such allegations, Binance and Binance.US reached an agreement with the SEC in the same month. Under such an agreement, US customer assets would stay within the country to further comply with regulatory and investor protection authorities.

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This recent court order not only relieves some of the pressures that Binance.US is under by way of regulations, but it also puts in a nutshell its uncompromising stance towards keeping customer assets safe and following financial regulations in the United States. Aiming at providing a secure and stable investment avenue for customer funds through investment in treasury bills of the United States, Binance.US makes a strategic pivot towards higher transparency and alignment with regulations.