Law Decoded: Green lights of the SEC, black flags of Binance

[Cordillerabit]

Amid a political news cycle that has been stuck in a nauseating loop, covering crypto is often refreshing. Partisan forces have yet to dig out the trenches. A lot of the current task is just getting working definitions in play.

Meanwhile, the technology advances at a mind-boggling rate, and there are still enough outrageous scams, absurd tomfoolery and indeed general skulduggery to keep everything from getting dull.

Speaking of skulduggery, I will begin this week with a comment on a challenge to journalism in the crypto industry that has wide-spanning implications. Not many people think about the relationship between the law and journalism. At its best, journalism is egalitarian in whose toes it steps on — whether they’re bigwigs in government or private industry, with obvious bonus points for size. Just so long as you’re exposing what those people want to keep hidden.

The concept of the strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP suit, is that you don’t need to win to shut someone up — whether that’s a public whistleblower or, often, a journalist. It’s a nasty legal invention that depends on an entity having more resources to burn on a lawsuit than the defendant has to defend him or herself. With that bit of prologue, we’re starting with a defamation lawsuit from one of the biggest names in crypto.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/law-decoded-green-lights-of-the-sec-black-flags-of-binance-nov-13-20