The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to pause its high-profile lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange Binance as the regulator tries to present itself as more crypto-friendly.

The SEC regulator in June 2023 sued Binance, its U.S. unit and founder Changpeng Zhao, accusing them of artificially inflating trading volumes, diverting customer funds and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls.

There has been a lot of debate the past few months about what the SEC would do with its ongoing crypto litigation and now we have the answer,” said Am Law 10 firm partner Ladan Stewart.

The parties say the SEC’s new task force on cryptocurrency regulations may ‘impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case’.

Binance and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have jointly asked a federal judge to stay the regulator's lawsuit against the crypto exchange, according to a court filing, citing the potential impact of a newly launched task force.