Category Archives: Binance
Is Binance going bust? Spot market outages and BTC outflows spark fears – CNBCTV18
Over the past few days, the crypto community has witnessed multiple changes in Binances bitcoin balance. The abrupt flow of bitcoins occurred shortly after Binance temporarily halted BTC withdrawals on its platform. The series of events has led some to believe that whales were jumping ship, raising concerns about the overall health of Binance. But is that really the case?Is Binance about to go bust? Lets discuss.
What has happened so far?
The sequence of events commenced on May 8, when Binance temporarily suspended Bitcoin withdrawals on its platform due to congestion issues affecting the Bitcoin network. During the same day, a number of bitcoin inflows and outflows were noted on the exchange. As per CryptoQuant, the changes consisted of an outflow of 117,359 BTC, an inflow of 10,036 BTC, and an outflow of 40,184 BTC. The same accounted for nearly $4 billion, representing almost 30 percent of Binance's net bitcoin reserved balance.
As BTC withdrawals remained halted, rumors started circulating on social media platforms that Binance could possibly be financial trouble. A crypto analyst said, Billions of dollars have been withdrawn from Binance while the price of Bitcoin continues to plummet. This is a big red flag. This sort of behavior happens during insolvency/legal risks.
However, Binance later clarified that it halted BTC withdrawals since there was a glut of pending transactions. This had happened since miners were not rewarded with a high enough fee to log the trades on the blockchain, leading to a backlog.
It also clarified that its BTC outflows was a result of internal movements between Binance's hot and cold wallets, necessitated by BTC address adjustments.Currently, Bitcoin withdrawals have been re-enabled on Binance.
In the Bitcoin blockchain, transactions are broadcasted to the mempool, where miners select transactions to include in the next block. It was observed that a significant backlog of Bitcoin transactions had resulted in a surge in transaction fees. On May 7, the mempool held a staggering 395,000 unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions, in contrast to just 56,500 on April 26, according to data from Blockchain.com.
This incident coincided with another event on Friday, where Bitcoin transaction fees reached its highest levels in nearly two years, averaging around $9.5 per transaction. Although fees slightly decreased to about $8.8 on Saturday, they were still 500 percent higher compared to the past six months when Bitcoin transactions averaged around $1.4.
Many analysts have attributed this incident to a combination of factors, including congestion in the Bitcoin network, higher transaction fees, and the increasing number of inscriptions (NFT-like assets) created through Ordinals.
Bitcoin network's core developer, Peter Todd, presented a different perspective. He stated that Bitcoin is not encountering congestion but rather high demand. He suggested that Binance should enable users to specify the fee they are willing to pay for withdrawals and process transactions accordingly. Todd mentioned that it costs approximately $5 to ensure inclusion in the next block, which should not be a significant issue for Binance, considering it likely operates with fractional reserves.
Crypto community response
Meanwhile, another data point emerged from Coinglass on May 9, revealing over 183,080 Bitcoin outflows from Binance.
One author from CryptoQuant voiced his concerns on Twitter, questioning whether these actions were intentionally done to create panic. He highlighted the perspective of users, who witnessed the movement of 170k BTC to another address while their ability to withdraw was temporarily blocked. He also asked if there were any responsible managers who would think before taking such irresponsible actions again.
A Bitcoin analyst named Jan Wustenfeld responded to the tweet, expressing his belief that the movements and the temporary withdrawal closure were likely related. He suggested that the funds were moved to address the increasing transaction fees, which led to the temporary measure.
Reflecting on the recent FUD surrounding Binance, a crypto educator named Crypto Busy emphasized the importance of scalability solutions for exchanges and wallets. He stated that Bitcoin itself remains stable but highlighted the need for improved scalability. He concluded with the reminder, "Remember not your keys, not your crypto," emphasising the importance of self-custody in the crypto space.
Conclusion
Given that Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world, such unusual movements can be worrisome. Similar instances have occurred in the past but Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has dismissed them as saying "business as usual."
However, according to what experts have said, the aforementioned events appear to relate to difficulties in the Bitcoin blockchain rather than concerns at Binance.
So, while the string of incidents may be interconnected, there isn't much evidence to imply that Binance will go bankrupt anytime soon. For the time being, its answers regarding the aforementioned incidents appear to have alleviated concerns that the exchange is in financial danger.
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Is Binance going bust? Spot market outages and BTC outflows spark fears - CNBCTV18
Binance bosses mount charm offensive to restore relations with FCA – Yahoo Eurosport UK
(REUTERS)
Binance has mounted a fresh charm offensive in a bid to restore the crypto firms fraught relationship with the UKs finance watchdog.
The companys bosses hailed the Financial Conduct Authoritys reasonable and responsible approach to crypto regulation after they renewed discussions to secure licenses in the wake of its concerns over attempts to gain access to UK customers.
In an interview with the Standard, Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann said: Our intention and our hope is to be able to get licensed and registered in the UK.
Were having those discussions right now. Building trust over time is going to be really important for us to be able to do that so thats where our focus is.
In 2021, the FCA ordered Binance to stop all regulated activity in the UK and issued a warning to consumers about the site, adding: Be wary of adverts online and on social media promising high returns on investments in cryptoasset or cryptoasset-related products.
The following year, the watchdog expressed its concerns over a deal struck with fintech firm Paysafe, through which its users could deposit sterling into Pay.UK bank accounts.
But despite the FCAs crackdown, Binance bosses signalled their support for the FCAs hardline approach.
Our view is that the FCA wants this industry to grow, they just want to make sure its done in a responsible way, Hillmann said.
They should take their time in doing that and make sure that anyone who is being approved today is going to stand the test of time for when they do have a policy framework in place.
So I do think they are taking a very reasonable, rational approach to the industry right now.
Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman said: I think there is a general increased scrutiny in this area given some of the well-publicised issues that this industry has had.
[But] wherever we are we want to be in sync and collaborative with the regulators and make sure were delivering what they need in a transparent way, to ensure that were not operating in grey area.
Story continues
The comments stand in contrast to remarks by Binance co-founder He Yi, who previously slammed the UK as the most stressful country for crypto regulation, while co-founder Changpeng Zhao had warned only novice regulatorswant to be the most strict regulator.
Luckily, I have not met any novice ones this year, he added.
Last year, Binance poached former FCA regulator Steven McWhirter in a bid to strengthen its credentials to gain regulatory approval. So far, though, there has been no indication from the FCA that the firm will be granted further regulatory approval.
Earlier in May, the watchdog teamed up with police to crackdown on illegal crypto ATMs, with warnings by police that the machines were a key component in the facilitation of money laundering and the movement of funds acquired through criminal activity.
The amount of money thats laundered through traditional means far eclipses both in notional terms and as a percentage that thats going on in crypto, Perlman said.
Crypto like anything else has its downsides, but criticising it for being a vehicle for money laundering seems like a pretty lazy analysis.
Binance has grown to become the biggest crypto exchange in the world, with spot trading volumes of more than $7 billion per day.
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Binance bosses mount charm offensive to restore relations with FCA - Yahoo Eurosport UK
Exclusive: Israel seized Binance crypto accounts to ‘thwart’ Islamic … – Reuters
LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Israel has seized around 190 crypto accounts at crypto exchange Binance since 2021, including two it said were linked to Islamic State and dozens of others it said were owned by Palestinian firms connected to the Islamist Hamas group, documents released by the country's counter-terror authorities show.
Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) on Jan. 12 confiscated two Binance accounts and their contents, one of the documents on the NBCTF's website showed. The seizure was to "thwart the activity" of Islamic State and "impair its ability to further its goals," the NBCTF said on its website.
The NBCTF document, which has not been previously reported, did not give any details on the value of the crypto seized, nor how the accounts were connected to Islamic State.
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, did not respond to Reuters' calls and emails seeking comment before this article was published on Thursday.
In a blog post after its publication, Binance said that Reuters was "deliberately leaving out critical facts".
The exchange has been "working closely with international counter-terrorism authorities" on the seizures, Binance said. "With regard to the specific organizations mentioned in the article, it's important to clarify that bad actors don't register accounts under the names of their criminal enterprises," it said.
Israel's defence ministry, which is responsible for the NBCTF, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Under Israeli law, the country's defence minister can order the seizure and confiscation of assets that the ministry deems related to terrorism.
Regulators globally have long called for tighter controls on crypto exchanges to prevent illegal activities, from money laundering to the financing of terrorism. The seizures by Israel's NBCTF highlight how governments are targeting crypto companies in their efforts to prevent illegal activity.
Binance, founded in 2017 by CEO Changpeng Zhao, says on its website it reviews information requests from governments and law enforcement agencies on a case-by-case basis, disclosing information as legally required.
Binance has also said it checks users for connections to terrorism and has "continued to invest tremendous resources to enhance its compliance program," it told U.S. senators in March in response to their requests for information on Binance's regulatory compliance and finances.
The exchange's policies and processes comply with European Union anti-money laundering and counter terrorism-financing requirements, Binance said in its blog on Thursday.
Islamic State emerged in Syria after Iraq's civil war. At its 2014 peak, it controlled a third of Iraq and Syria, before being beaten back. Now forced underground, Islamic State militants continue to wage insurgent attacks.
The U.S. Treasury said in a report last year that Islamic State had received crypto donations it later converted to cash, accessing funds via crypto trading platforms. The Treasury did not specify which platforms and declined to comment for this article.
The owner of the two Islamic State-linked Binance accounts seized by Israel was a 28-year old Palestinian called Osama Abuobayda, the NBCTF document shows. Abuoyada did not respond to requests for comment via email addresses and a phone number listed in the NBCTF document.
In a series of investigations last year, Reuters reported that Binance intentionally kept weak anti-money laundering controls. Since 2017, Binance has processed over $10 billion in payments for criminals and companies seeking to evade U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported. Binance disputed the articles, calling the illicit-fund calculations inaccurate and the descriptions of its compliance controls "outdated."
Two men suspected by Germany of assisting an Islamist gunman who killed four people in Vienna in 2020 used Binance, a letter from German police to the company said. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Binance shared information with the police on the clients, its legal representatives said last year. Reuters could not independently establish this.
Nearly all of the 189 Binance accounts seized by Israel since Dec. 2021 were owned by three Palestinian currency exchange firms, the NBCTF documents showed.
The three are designated by Israel as "terrorist organizations," according to a list on the NBCTF's website, for their alleged involvement in the transfer of funds by Hamas, which runs the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Last month, the NBCTF said in a document it had seized crypto worth over 500,000 shekels ($137,870) from over 80 Binance accounts belonging to the three Gaza-based companies, Al Mutahadun For Exchange, Dubai Company for Exchange and Al Wefaq Co. For Exchange.
The accounts were the property of "terrorist organizations" or used for a "severe terror crime," the document said, without elaborating. Local media outlets in Israel previously reported the April seizures.
A person with direct knowledge of Al Mutahadun said it did not work "at all" with crypto or cooperate with Hamas. "We are a money exchange company. Israeli allegations are all lies and are foundless," the person said.
Al Mutahadun was designated as a "terrorist organization" in May 2021 by Israel, the NBCTF list shows.
Al Wefaq and Dubai Co. did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment via email and WhatsApp.
Binance did not respond to Reuters' questions on the accounts owned by the three currency exchange companies.
In its blog post, Binance said it works with law enforcement and "leverages information that is only available to them in order to identify individuals operating accounts for illicit organizations."
Hamas does not have any connection with the money exchange companies, spokesperson Hazem Qassem said. The allegations of links to the companies were an attempt by Israel to "justify its economic war against Gaza and its people," Qassem said.
Hamas's armed wing said last week it would stop receiving funds in bitcoin after an increase in "hostile" activity against donors.
Binance, its CEO Zhao and its former compliance chief Samuel Lim are facing civil charges from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for "wilful evasion" of U.S. commodities laws.
Zhao has called the charges an "incomplete recitation of the facts."
In its complaint, the CFTC said Lim received information in 2019 on Hamas' transactions at Binance. Lim told a colleague that "terrorists" usually send small sums of funds, as "large sums constitute money laundering," according to the CFTC complaint.
Lim has not publicly responded to the charges. He did not respond to messages sent via Telegram seeking comment for this article.
($1 = 3.6266 shekels)
Reporting by Tom Wilson and Angus Berwick in London; additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza. Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Jane Merriman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Thomson Reuters
Tom covers crypto companies, regulation and markets from London, focusing through 2022 on the Binance crypto exchange. He has worked at Reuters since 2014, with a previous posting to Tokyo where he uncovered abuses in Japans immigration system and won a joint Overseas Press Club award for reporting on the tobacco giant Philip Morris.
Thomson Reuters
Award-winning investigative reporter based in London, focused on financial enterprise journalism. He was previously a correspondent in Spain and Venezuela, where he reported on the Maduro government's efforts to retain power. He was Reuters' Reporter of the Year in 2019 and has won two Overseas Press Club awards.
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Exclusive: Israel seized Binance crypto accounts to 'thwart' Islamic ... - Reuters
Binance Coins [BNB] bearish breakout shows $300 is the next target – AMBCrypto News
Disclaimer: The information presented does not constitute financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice and is solely the writers opinion.
Bitcoin [BTC] fell below the $27.8k level of support and has retested it as resistance over the past two days. This was accompanied by Binance Coin [BNB] prices diving on the price charts, with further losses anticipated.
Is your portfolio green? Check the Binance Coin Profit Calculator
The bearish breakout beneath the triangle pattern meant that Binance Coin traders can anticipate further losses in the coming days. The psychologically important level of $300 could be tested as support.
Since its mid-April surge to $350, Binance Coin has oscillated between the $320 and $340 areas. The past three weeks of trading showed BNB that it has formed a symmetrical triangle pattern (yellow). Over the past few days, the lower trendline support was broken and retested by the price.
This showed that bears had the upper hand, and it was followed by a quick descent from $324 to $311. The move represented losses of 4.39% within 32 hours. To the south, the $309 and $301 are levels of support that have been important since February.
The RSI was beneath neutral 50 and showed strong downward momentum. Meanwhile, the OBV was inching lower in May, underlining that sellers had a slight edge over the buyers.
On higher timeframes, the $300-$315 region was a strong demand zone. Hence, short-sellers should be wary of sudden short-term rallies. A rising OBV could warn BNB traders of an impending bounce.
On 8 May the Open Interest surged higher by close to $6 million. During that time Binance Coin fell from $324 to $316, which showed speculators were shorting the asset in large numbers.
Realistic or not, heres BNBs market cap in BTCs terms
This reinforced the idea that the breakdown beneath the triangle fed the bearish momentum. Coinglass Liquidation Data showed Binance Coin saw a large number of long positions liquidated on 8 May.
In the past two days, the Open Interest has been flat while prices continued to slump. The trading session in the two hours before the time of writing saw rising OI alongside falling prices again. Hence bears are likely to drive the prices to $308 and $301 within this week.
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Binance Coins [BNB] bearish breakout shows $300 is the next target - AMBCrypto News
Bitcoin tumbles as Binance pauses withdrawels | Business News … – 69News WFMZ-TV
If you know of local business openings or closings, please notify us here.
-Air Products & Chemicals Inc. plans to invest a half-billion dollars to produce environmentally friendly hydrogen in New York state.
- The Trexlertown Chick-Fil-A plans to add a second drive-thru lane as part of a plan to reduce traffic congestion.
-The Harrisburg-based Mid Penn bank has opened its first full-service branch in the Lehigh Valley in South Whitehall.
-The Allentown Planning Commission put off a decision on a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at the site of the former Nostos Greek restaurant.
-The former Star Crete concrete plant at the intersection of Farmersville Road and Easton Avenue has been sold for $1.58 million, and that may clear the way for a medical office building.
-The local business SuperSets Gym will open its third location in Allentown's South Mall, with no opening date set yet.
- The jewelry boutique Versant will close later this year, but the business will be consolidated at Gary Werkheiser's other location in Saucon Valley Square.
-The DSW Woodmill Commons has moved to Berkshire West, 1101 Woodland Road in Wyomissing.
- Trainer Michael Melendez has opened his new Reading Extreme Boxing Club where PacSun used to operate in the Berkshire Mall.
-Frackville NAPA Auto Parts held a grand opening with the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and Frackville Business & Professional Association.
-Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers in North Manheim Township held a grand opening, in conjunction with the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce and Pottsville Business Association.
- PDC Machines, amaker of hydrogen compressors, showed off a new plant in Lower Salford.
- Maya Capital Partners has acquired Amwell Valley Self Storage, a265-unit storage business on Route 31 in Ringoes, New Jersey.
-Norwescap is buying the former Sullivan's on the Main restaurant in Phillipsburg to renovate the building and then use it for programs to help educate and feed people.
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Bitcoin tumbles as Binance pauses withdrawels | Business News ... - 69News WFMZ-TV
How do Ordinals affect BTC’s price and the crypto market? Binance … – Cryptopolitan
In merely eight days, the number of Ordinals inscriptions on the Bitcoin network nearly doubled from 2.5 million to 4.78 million. Initially, the Ordinals protocol was used to mint images as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). However, users soon realized that they could use text-based inscriptions to create fungible tokens, similar to how the ERC-20 token standard on the Ethereum (ETH) network mints fungible tokens.
According to data from Dune Analytics, the overwhelming majority of Bitcoin ordinals inscriptions consisted of text-based inscriptions, also known as the BRC-20 token standard. At the time of writing, its dominance accounted for 86.52 percent. Image-based inscriptions, on the other hand, left a footprint of 9.5% reduced.
At the time of writing, the total market capitalization of BRC-20 tokens was estimated to be $690 million. There are currently 14,200 new tokens hosted on the Bitcoin blockchain. Even a Bitcoin-based version of the meme coin rose to the third position in terms of market capitalization, riding the buzz of PEPE. The first two positions were held by ordi and nals Bitcoin-based tokens.
Ordinal Inscriptions are digital assets comparable to NFTs that are engraved on a satoshi in the Bitcoin network, a process made possible by the activation of Taproot in 2021. Its introduction has expanded the networks utility beyond simple value transfers.
According to reports, the network hash rate reached a record high of 356 million TH/s on Friday. However, it must be questioned whether the influx of ordinals and BRC-20 tokens detracts from Bitcoins central purpose solid money. Some users have labeled the increased network activity as a DoS (denial of service) attack.
In theory, malicious agents might spend millions of dollars minting BRC-20 tokens and ordinals indefinitely to strain the network, making it prohibitively expensive for regular users. Nonetheless, this is a personal preference.
All that is occurring is that consumers have to pay extra to get their transactions included in miner blocks. As a result, Bitcoins self-correcting incentive system functions as designed. Anything other than BTC on the Bitcoin network, on the other hand, could be considered useless and redundant.
Bitcoin, like the Ethereum blockchain, requires multiple layer-2 networks to transfer traffic. Lightning Network has a capacity of 5,456 BTC ($159 million) across 74,000 unique channels that connect its nodes.
Lightning Network reduces traffic by maintaining open and off-chain transaction channels. When channels are closed, aggregated transactions are returned to Bitcoins mainnet for confirmation. In addition, these transactions are nearly instantaneous and incur negligible fees, as there is no need to disseminate each transaction to miners as it is executed.
For widespread Bitcoin adoption, ordinals included, the LNs capacity must be significantly increased. This is something that centralized exchanges will also be required to do, beginning with Binances announcement at the start of the week
Following an upsurge in Bitcoin fees and record-high unconfirmed transactions, the worlds largest exchange temporarily halted BTC withdrawals early Monday. Bitcoin withdrawals resumed as Binance boosted transaction fees to expedite them.
Except for Binance, Coinbase, and Bithumb, practically all exchanges, including Jack Dorseys Cash App, have already included Lightning functionality.
For the first time since 2017, some bitcoin (BTC) miners are being paid more to process transactions on the blockchain than they are for creating new BTC, which could be a welcome move given the industrys recent thrashing. Ordinals appear to explain at least part of the shift.
The recent large increase in transaction processing income may thus be a welcome development, especially given the extreme pain including many bankruptcies that has rocked the mining business during this crypto winter. On numerous occasions on Monday, mining pools such as Luxor Technologies and AntPool received larger transaction fees from newly added blocks than the 6.25 BTC mining incentive.
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How do Ordinals affect BTC's price and the crypto market? Binance ... - Cryptopolitan
Crypto Market Analysis: Heres What Next For Ethereum (ETH) & Binance (BNB) Price – Coinpedia Fintech News
The crypto market has been ablaze with activity lately, with many coins demonstrating massive growth potential.
However, two of the largest projects, Binance Coin (BNB) and Ethereum (ETH), have been struggling to surpass $335 and $2,000, respectively. Why? Do they have a future ahead? Weve answered all your queries. Read on.
Bluntz, a crypto expert who predicted the 2018 Bitcoin (BTC) bear market bottom, says Ethereum is displaying signs of bearish exhaustion. After surging to $2,000 last week, the analyst told his Twitter followers that Ethereum may have printed a bearish lower-high pattern.
His chart suggests ETH will climb for a few days before falling to $1,700.
I dunno about yall, but ETH definitely isnt looking too crash hot to me, he tweeted. Im hearing lower high. Ill probably re-evaluate at $1,700.
ETH had been fluttering around the $1,800 mark, but struck a low of $1,812 and now, the price is consolidating losses. The 100-hourly Simple Moving Average and $1,860 level remain below it. ETH/USDs hourly chart shows a critical bearish trend line with resistance near $1,860.
Ethereum is currently trading at $1,852.
Read more: Ethereum is Flashing Extreme Sell Signals! Heres Next Level for ETH Price Coinpedia Fintech News
Ethereums USD price has declined below $1,850 again and it could fall to $1,650 soon. The 100-hourly Simple Moving Average or $1,888 appears to be the first important resistance level. It is around the 61.8% Fib retracement of the drop from $1,936 to $1,812.
Following Bitcoin and Ethereum, Binance Coin (BNB) surpassed $325 last week. Bulls pushed the price above $335 and $340, but it hit resistance at $345. BNB is bearish on USD and BTC, according to Bluntz.
It feels like the market is trying to price something in on this pair, probably an FTX clawback or more regulatory bodyslams, not sure but it doesnt look too crash hot to me.
Overall, BNB may correct to $260, according to Bluntzs chart. Binance Coin (BNB) fell 1.55% to $325.97 in 24 hours. BNB gained 2.58% last week, showing a neutral outlook.
Its intriguing to see how Binance Coin and ETH will do against the surging meme coins. Only time will tell!
This Might Interest You: Bitcoin News: Bullish or Bearish, How Will BTC Price React To CPI Reports Today?
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Jane Street and Jump Crypto Crushed by Regulatory Crackdown, Binance and Coinbase Brace for Impact – Coinpedia Fintech News
As the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues its regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry, major players are feeling the heat. Just days after Coinbase made its exit from the USA, two of the leading market makers for the crypto market Jane Street and Jump Crypto announced their departure as well.
The reason? A lack of regulatory clarity and heightened scrutiny have made it increasingly difficult for these entities to operate within the US. What does this mean for the future of crypto in the US? Lets take a closer look
Two prominent market-making firms, Jane Street and Jump Crypto, are discontinuing their crypto trading activities in the US due to increasing regulatory pressure. However, both companies will continue to engage in market-making activities in the crypto industry.
Jane Street has decided to scrap its plans for global crypto expansion due to regulatory uncertainty making it challenging for the firm to comply with its internal standards. Meanwhile, Jump Crypto, the digital asset division of Jump Trading, will no longer operate in the US but is planning to expand globally.
The regulatory crackdown in the US against the crypto market has intensified following recent crises involving FTX and Terra-LUNA, in which Jane Street and Jump Crypto were involved. Jump Crypto provided liquidity and funds for the TerraUSD algorithmic stablecoin, while Jane Street is mentioned in the US CFTCs lawsuit against Binance and has links to FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried, whose executives previously worked at Jane Street.
Liquidity plays a crucial role in the stability of the crypto market, and market makers like Jane Street and Jump Crypto provide the necessary support. Unfortunately, the market has been losing liquidity throughout the year, and the exit of these two major market makers is likely to further intensify this trend.
This could spell trouble for crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance, which have already witnessed reduced liquidity in recent months. The shortage of liquidity was one of the main reasons behind the crypto contagion that occurred last year, highlighting the importance of maintaining sufficient liquidity in the market.
In the first quarter of 2023, US-licensed crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance.US, have experienced a significant drop in market share. Specifically, Coinbase accounted for 1.31%, Kraken 0.60%, and Binance.US 0.37% of the market share. The decline in trading volume on Coinbase from 7% in January to 5% in March is further proof of the downward trend.
These losses in market share are in sharp contrast to the rise in trading volume on crypto exchanges located outside the US. This trend is mainly due to the regulatory crackdown against crypto in the US, which is causing traders to look beyond US-based exchanges for more favorable trading conditions.
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Binance claims to be target of ChatGPT-based smear campaign in Washington, D.C. – Fortune
The worlds biggest crypto exchange, Binance, says someone is using A.I. to wage a disinformation campaign against it. The company told Fortune it has received numerous requests in recent weeks asking if Binances founder, Changpeng Zhao, was an official in the Chinese Communist Party. This included a flurry of inquiries from congressional offices on Thursday that pointed to a purported conversation in which the popular A.I. program ChatGPT reported that Zhao developed a social media platform for the China National Petroleum Corp.
According to chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann, Binance tried without success to replicate the conversation using queries like Is Changpeng Zhao a Communist? but finally did so with a very specific question referring to the state-run petroleum corporation. When the company asked for the source of the information, ChatGPT pointed to a fake LinkedIn page for Zhao and a Forbes web page from 2018.
The Forbes page currently displays a not found error, according to a screenshot supplied by Binance, but the URL for the story suggests it was written by investor and former journalist Pamela Ambler. It is unclear whether Forbes ever published the story in question, or if it ever existed. Forbes and Ambler did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the pages authenticity.
Binance, which has long insisted that its founder has no ties to the Chinese Communist Party, claims ChatGPTs assertion that Zhao served in a role at a state-run oil company is ludicrous, and points out he would have been in high school at the time. It is especially sad to see this type of misinformation being shared by a few people in power when it would have been debunked with even the most basic level of fact-checking, Hillmann said.
If Binances account of disinformation is accurate, it would mark a new and troubling milestone. While lies and dirty-trick campaigns are not uncommon in the world of politics and business, this would be one of the first times that A.I. has been harnessed to smear a company in the halls of power in Washington. Experts have already warned that tools like ChatGPT will soon be weaponized to create fake media stories and other bogus content at an unprecedented scale and to influence or corrupt the political process. Based on what Binance has to say, that era is already upon us.
Jeff John Robertsjeff.roberts@fortune.com@jeffjohnroberts
Bitcoin eked out a small gain for April, the fourth month in a row the currency has climbed. (Bloomberg)
Binances venture arm says its portfolio has grown to $9 billion, and that it has no plan to scale back amid intense regulatory pressure. (The Block)
Mastercard is launching a service called Crypto Credential that will offer a means to confirm the identity of the parties in wallet-based transactions. (CoinDesk)
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued a circular telling the citys banks they should provide services to crypto firms. (Bloomberg)
Jack Dorsey reversed his stance on Elon Musks taking over Twitter, saying that it all went south in the hands of his onetime ally and fellow crypto supporter. (Washington Post)
Haters gonna hate:
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Binance claims to be target of ChatGPT-based smear campaign in Washington, D.C. - Fortune
Binance Continues Its Expansion: Now In Japan on June 2023 – Blockzeit
The crypto exchange is poised to return to Japan with the launch of Binance Japan next month after acquiring SEBC last year.
Binance is getting ready to re-enter the Japanese market by buying a 100% share in Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), a registered supplier of crypto services. The move marks Binances re-entry into Japan after a four-year absence, during which the countrys financial authorities issued a warning that the exchange was operating in the country without permission.
To ensure regulatory compliance, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that the new service, provisionally named Binance Japan, would launch after June 2023. Existing services on SEBC will terminate on May 31, 2023, ahead of the new launch.
SEBC Exchange has recently announced a significant change in its operational policy. According to the new directive, users of the platform must withdraw their cryptocurrency assets by May 28; failing to do so will result in the automatic conversion of assets into Japanese yen.
This change is expected to take effect on June 5, with the transferred funds going directly to the users bank accounts. However, users who wish to continue using the platform under the Binance name must undergo a new round of identity verification and KYC checks. These new guidelines are a proactive measure to enhance the platforms and its users safety and security.
Japan is known for its high regulatory standards for cryptocurrency exchanges, including the segregation of customer and exchange assets, keeping most exchange assets in cold wallets, and keeping customers fiat with a Japanese trust company or bank trust. As a result, Binances acquisition of a regulated entity to enter the Japanese market is not surprising.
Binances acquisition of regulated entities to enter new markets is a strategy introduced previously. Earlier, the exchange managed to re-enter the Malaysian market after acquiring a stake in a regulated entity, and it re-entered the Singapore market with an 18% stake in a regulated stock exchange.
Similarly, the exchange partnered with Paysafe to access the United Kingdoms sterling payment network after regulators denied it access.
Binances re-entry into the Japanese market signals the exchanges commitment to complying with regulatory requirements and expanding its presence in Asia. The move will likely increase competition among cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan, benefitting consumers through better services and lower fees.
As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, exchanges need to navigate regulatory challenges to ensure the safety and protection of their customers assets. Binances re-entry into the Japanese market exemplifies how crypto exchanges can work with regulatory bodies to achieve compliance and establish themselves in new markets.
Overall, Binances expansion and efforts to comply with regulations demonstrate the continued growth and maturation of the cryptocurrency industry, and it will be interesting to see how this trend continues in the coming years.
She is a freelance writer specializing in cryptocurrency news with a strong background in finance and a passion for technology. With several years of experience covering the latest trends and analysis in the rapidly evolving crypto market, she is dedicated to providing accurate and insightful coverage of the industry. Their goal is to help readers stay informed and up-to-date on the latest developments in the world of cryptocurrency.
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Binance Continues Its Expansion: Now In Japan on June 2023 - Blockzeit