A bombshell allegation was made at the Voyager Digital bankruptcy hearing in the Southern District Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Senior SEC Trial Attorney William Uptegrove had this to say: "The staff believes – based solely on the facts and circumstances currently known to the staff – that the offering and sale of VGX tokens has the attributes of a securities transaction. The staff also believes that Binance.US is operating an unregistered securities exchange in the United States."

It is unclear if the SEC has any enforcement actions in the works tied to Uptegrove's declaration which does not necessarily reflect the views of the five commissioners at the head of the agency.

A spokesperson from Binance.US said: "It is regrettable that an SEC staff member would make allegations, that Binance.US and platforms like ours are operating an unregistered exchange, without specifying the assets listed on our exchange that the SEC considers to be securities."

The SEC Chair Gary Gensler has noted in the past that he believes a majority of crypto trading platforms should be registered as national securities exchanges.

Voyager plans to sell its assets to Binance.US as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring plan. Most of Voyager's creditors have supported the proposal and a hearing to discuss the plan is ongoing.

Key Points

  • A U.S. Securities and Exchange official said agency staff believe Binance.US is operating an unregistered securities exchange.
  • The sale of VGX tokens by Voyager Digital might have violated federal securities laws.
  • SEC staff's views don't necessarily reflect the views of the five commissioners.
  • SEC Chair Gary Gensler believes majority of crypto trading platforms should be registered as national securities exchanges.
  • Voyager plans to sell its assets to Binance.US as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring plan.

TL;DR

The SEC has alleged that Binance.US is operating an unregistered securities exchange and the sale of VGX tokens by Voyager Digital may have violated federal securities laws. The SEC Chair Gary Gensler believes most crypto trading platforms should be registered as national securities exchanges.