Binance.US has achieved a victory in its battle against the suspension of its money-services business license in Florida. The Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled that the emergency suspension order issued by the state Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) lacked legal justification.
The suspension of Binance.US’s Florida license was a consequence of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s guilty plea in federal court for violating U.S. Anti-Money Laundering law on November 21, 2023.
The appeals court referred to state law, which stated that the OFR “may” suspend a money-services business license “by any procedure that is fair under the circumstances” if the agency provides reasons to demonstrate the fairness of the decision. Additionally, the agency did not explore less severe alternatives to suspension. The court concluded that the suspension of Binance.US’s license put more than 170,000 state account holders at risk of significant financial losses and tax liabilities.
It should be noted that the decision of the appeal court can still be appealed.
The OFR suspended Binance.US’s license one week after Zhao’s guilty plea, making it the first of several states to do so. Binance filed an appeal against the OFR decision on March 25, but the details of the appeal document are not available to the public. Binance.US’s website stated that new user onboarding is temporarily paused in Florida.
Binance.US also faced license suspensions or denials of license renewal in Alaska, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon this year. Its status in Georgia and Ohio remains uncertain. Furthermore, Binance.US never operated as a cryptocurrency exchange in Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and Vermont.
The Florida OFR did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment from Cointelegraph regarding the case.