A US court has given Binance's American arm the thumbs up to invest customer funds in Treasury bills. The move marks a significant shift for the crypto exchange.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia issued the order on July 19th. It allows Binance.US to put "certain customer fiat funds" into T-bills. These funds are currently held by BitGo, a digital asset trust firm.
The court set some ground rules. Binance.US can't involve third parties in the investments. The T-bills must have a rolling maturity of four weeks.
The exchange must keep enough cash on hand. This is to cover expected customer withdrawals during the investment period.
Binance.US also got the go-ahead to invest its own corporate assets. It can use third-party advisors for this. But it can't put money back into Binance-related entities.
The court gave another nod to the exchange. Binance.US can now move crypto assets to wallets provided by US-based third-party custodians.
There's a catch, though. All transfers and withdrawals need dual approval. Both the exchange and the custodian must sign off.
The court order is clear on one point. Binance entities can't have any control over assets in these wallets.
This decision is a big deal for Binance.US. It gives the company more flexibility with customer funds. But it also comes with strings attached.
The move could set a precedent for other crypto exchanges. It's a sign that courts are willing to let these firms operate more like traditional financial institutions.