What pushed the price of Binance up?

A federal judge has ordered a 60-day stay on the SEC’s lawsuit against Binance, in response to a joint request from both parties.

This comes amid the formation of a new task force to review cryptocurrency regulations within the SEC, led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is known for her support of the crypto sector.

The SEC’s leadership has recently changed after Gary Gensler resigned, to be replaced by Mark Ueda on an interim basis, while awaiting the appointment of Paul Atkins as a permanent chairman. Atkins is seen as more open to cryptocurrencies than Gensler, who has filed several lawsuits against crypto companies, including Binance.

As a reminder, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance in 2023, accusing it of inflating trading volumes, misusing customer funds, and deceiving investors.

In separate cases, the company has paid more than $7.1 billion in settlements with the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), agreed to exit the United States, and its founder Changpeng Zhao resigned as CEO and spent four months in prison.

Under the new administration, the SEC is reportedly planning to downsize its crypto division, which has more than 50 lawyers, potentially signaling a shift in its approach to regulating the sector.

Following the official announcement that the SEC and Binance case has been put on hold, the price of BNB soared in the hours following the announcement before falling back in line with the market and trading at press time at $666.