Florida regulators shouldn’t have denied Binance the ability to operate in the state since they failed to follow proper procedures for blocking the crypto exchange, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
A state affiliate of the world’s largest online exchange firm can’t be blocked from operation in the state under an emergency suspension order issued by state financial regulators that failed to back up their legal conclusions, the First District Court of Appeals unanimously ruled.
The state’s November 2023 order came on the heels of former Binance Holdings CEO Changpeng Zhao pleading guilty to federal finance charges. The court said that the Florida Office of Financial Regulation never backed up a conclusion of law that Zhao’s conduct constituted grounds for suspending the license of the company’s Florida affiliate because Zhao’s conduct allegedly “constituted an immediate danger to the public health, safety, and welfare necessitating an emergency suspension.”
The case is BAM Trading Services, Inc. v. Florida Off. of Fin. Regul., Fla. Dist. Ct. App., 1st Dist., No. 1D2023-3371, 5/22/24.
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