Binance.US will take steps to make sure that no Binance Holdings officials have access to private keys for its various wallets, hardware wallets, or root access to Binance.US’s Amazon Web Services tools, Binance and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a deal late Friday to ensure that only Binance.US employees can access customer funds.
The proposed agreement, which still needs approval from the federal judge overseeing the case, will see Binance.US create new crypto wallets that the global exchange’s employees have no access to, provide additional information to the SEC, and agree to an expedited discovery schedule. U.S.-based customers will still be allowed to withdraw funds during this time.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, of the District Court for the District of Columbia, said it would be better for the parties to come to an agreement on a proposed stipulation than to have her craft a restraining order, noting that a TRO comes with a two-week limit for a more in-depth hearing.
The proposed deal comes in response to an SEC motion to freeze all of Binance.US’s assets. The regulator said it was concerned that funds could be moved offshore or records destroyed if it was not granted a temporary restraining order (TRO). Binance.US’s attorneys pushed back, saying that freezing all of its assets would amount to the death penalty.