Here are all the details of the SEC’s lawsuit against the cryptocurrency giant Binance.

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance, and I must say, I enjoy reading legal documents. Follow me as I live blog my favorite quotes from the complaint.

From my perspective, the best part of any legal case is the juicy gossip. Having grown up in a small town where gossip was rampant, I have found that government lawyers uncover more interesting gossip because of their more extensive discovery methods. Since crypto communicates through group chats, it’s highly likely that there are some really stupid things written by Binance. This has already been confirmed in the CFTC complaint.

To be clear, I don’t believe that Binance is the only entity to have ever skirted US law to gain more customers. US pharma companies have paid billion-dollar settlements for making the same decision. However, explicitly writing that you are deliberately doing so is a foolish move. A government body cannot hold you accountable for conversations they cannot hear. However, anything you put in writing can be used against you. Mens rea matters, and calling something a mistake when you have written proof that it was a business decision doesn’t work.

Will the SEC be able to reveal more interesting facts than the CFTC? We will have to wait and see.