The SEC's lawsuit against Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) will move forward after a ruling on Friday. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia allowed 10 out of 13 counts in the lawsuit to proceed.

According to Bloomberg, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that 10 counts could proceed entirely, while two counts could proceed partially.

The SEC filed the lawsuit against Binance and CZ last year after the exchange reached a plea deal with other regulatory bodies, including FinCEN and the DOJ, resulting in a $4.3 billion fine. The SEC used the details of these plea deals to support its claims.

The SEC's allegations against Binance and CZ include mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, and violating securities laws. Binance and CZ have been seeking to dismiss these claims.

Regarding the counts dismissed, one concerned the sale of the stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD), which faced regulatory scrutiny last year. Paxos, the issuer of BUSD, ceased minting the coin in February following actions by the NYDFS. Binance announced it would phase out BUSD support by December 2023.

Another dismissed part of a count related to the secondary sale of Binance’s native token, BNB, by parties other than Binance. BNB has a market cap exceeding $84 billion with over 147 million tokens in circulation.

Additionally, the judge dismissed part of a claim concerning Binance's Simple Earn program, which allows users to earn interest by lending tokens.

The SEC's lawsuit against Binance is part of a broader effort to classify cryptocurrencies as securities under its jurisdiction, a move criticized by many in the crypto industry and Congress. Recently, the SEC also sued Consensys, alleging that its MetaMask wallet and its swapping and staking features violate securities laws.