Cryptocurrency

The exchange has not only kept its position as one of the top five in global market cap rankings but also as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. CEO Richard Teng has been spearheading compliance overhauls to ensure customer fund safety and adhere to regulatory standards. This focus on compliance comes as the Department of Justice (DOJ) has granted Binance a transitional window to continue operations across borders while it retracts from certain markets including Russia, Canada, and the Netherlands.Despite these market exits affecting trading volumes negatively, Binance’s BNB token shows resilience, trading around $230 with significant support at the $200 level. This suggests a short-term bullish trend from October lows, although it still falls short of its all-time high of approximately $670 from 2021.The exchange’s commitment to navigating regulatory requirements while maintaining its dominant market position illustrates the evolving nature of cryptocurrency markets and the importance of robust compliance frameworks in sustaining operations and investor confidence.In light of Binance’s efforts to navigate the complex regulatory environment and maintain its market dominance, InvestingPro data reveals some key financial metrics that could be of interest to investors and industry observers. The company boasts a substantial market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, underscoring its significant presence in the digital asset industry. Moreover, the exchange has demonstrated robust revenue growth, with a 10.32% increase over the last twelve months as of Q3 2023, and an even more impressive quarterly revenue growth of 12.57% for Q3 2023.InvestingPro Tips suggest that Binance’s resilience is also reflected in its price performance, with the BNB token showing a strong year-to-date price total return of 74.65% as of the end of 2023. This performance is indicative of the exchange’s ability to attract and retain investors despite the regulatory challenges and market exits it has faced. Additionally, with a P/E ratio adjusted for the last twelve months standing at 69.27, Binance is positioned in a competitive spot relative to industry benchmarks.For those considering a deeper dive into Binance’s financial health and future prospects, InvestingPro offers a wealth of additional tips, with a total of 23 more tips available exclusively for subscribers. Now is an excellent time to explore these insights, as InvestingPro subscription is currently on a special Black Friday sale, offering discounts of up to 55%. This promotion provides a valuable opportunity for investors to access comprehensive analysis and data that can guide their investment decisions in the dynamic cryptocurrency market.This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C. More

In a Nov. 21 mandate, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said Bankman-Fried’s previous attempts to tamper with two witnesses while on pretrial release was a major reason behind rejecting his request.Continue Reading on Cointelegraph More

(Reuters) -Investors pulled about $956 million from crypto exchange Binance over the past 24 hours, market data showed, after its chief, Changpeng Zhao, stepped down and faced prison time after pleading guilty on Tuesday to settle a years-long U.S. illicit finance probe.The deal, in which Binance will pay $4.3 billion to U.S. authorities, raises questions over the future of the world’s largest crypto exchange and marks another blow for an industry beset by scandals. Zhao has been replaced by Richard Teng, a senior Binance executive who joined in 2021, the company said.It remained unclear on Wednesday how much jail time, if any, Zhao would ultimately serve, and how much influence he – as Binance’s founder and major shareholder – could continue to exert on Binance under the terms of the settlement. Some analysts also noted that the deal was unlikely to end the exchange’s U.S. legal woes, with Securities and Exchange Commission charges alleging Binance broke U.S. securities laws still unresolved.”Binance is not entirely out of the woods. The ongoing civil lawsuit with the SEC remains a concern for the exchange, which (is) likely to result in further fines,” wrote Robert Le, a crypto analyst at data firm PitchBook.Data from crypto analytics platform Nansen, which does not include bitcoin flows, signaled some investors had been rattled by the news, pulling $956 million from the exchange. Still, the outflows were small relative to the more than $65 billion of assets that remain on Binance, Nansen said.As it strived for market dominance, Binance shunned key checks Zhao believed would turn customers off, authorities said. It failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions, including with organizations the U.S. described as terrorist groups such as Palestinian militant group Hamas, and never reported transactions with websites dedicated to selling child sexual abuse materials.Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said on Tuesday it had worked hard to make Binance “safer and even more secure.” Lawyers for Zhao did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he conceded “I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility.”PRISON TIMEWhile authorities have probed Zhao and Binance since at least 2018, Zhao’s exit marks a dramatic development for one of the most powerful figures in the crypto industry. Zhao, who resides in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), entered his plea in a Seattle court on Tuesday. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 18 months under federal guidelines and has agreed not to appeal any sentence up to that length. Prosecutors will take a position on how much jail time to seek closer to Zhao’s Feb. 23 sentencing hearing in Seattle, a Justice Department spokesperson said on Wednesday. “But we do reserve the right to seek a sentence above the guidelines.”Zhao paid a $175 million bail bond, with another $15 million held in a trust account, a court filing showed. He has agreed to return to the United States 14 days before sentencing. Reuters could not immediately ascertain his whereabouts on Wednesday. At Tuesday’s hearing, Zhao’s lawyers said he would remain in the Seattle area through Monday evening, and would be able to then return to the UAE, provided the district judge did not object to his agreement with the government, another DOJ spokesperson said. Later on Wednesday, federal prosecutors urged a federal judge to block Zhao from leaving the continental United States prior to his February sentencing, saying in a court filing that Zhao posed a serious flight risk despite his bail conditions.”There is no combination of conditions sufficient to protect against the risk of flight and ensure Zhao’s return” for sentencing, the prosecutors said.Some legal experts said they did not expect Zhao to spend more than a year in prison, maybe less, citing Arthur Hayes, former chief of crypto exchange BitMEX, who likewise pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering violations. Hayes was ultimately sentenced to six months of house arrest in 2022, even though the government sought prison time. Other senior BitMEX executives charged did not serve time.However, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried could spend decades in prison after being found guilty this month of defrauding customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange.Based on the alleged facts, prosecutors likely could have charged Zhao with more serious crimes carrying heavier sentences, but had to weigh that against the probability that he would have stayed abroad to avoid capture, legal experts said.”To get the CEO to plead guilty should not be scoffed at,” said Daniel Silva, a partner at law firm Buchalter and former federal prosecutor.The settlement also bars Zhao from “any present or future involvement in operating or managing” Binance, which he founded in 2017 and has maintained a tight grip on since. He remains a major shareholder and said on Tuesday he will be “available to the team to consult as needed, consistent” with the deal.”This could give him a hook on which to exercise control – through the usual corporate governance channels (e.g., shareholder voting,” Yesha Yadav, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, wrote in an email to Reuters.”At the same time, I imagine that the Binance will be looking to be very careful.” More

The debacle — and its associated lack of transparency — highlighted the need to regulate AI development, particularly when it comes to security and privacy. Companies are developing their artificial intelligence divisions rapidly and a reshuffling of talent could propel one company ahead of others and existing laws. While President Joe Biden has taken steps to that effect, he has been relying on executive orders, which do not require input from Congress. Instead, they rely on agency bureaucrats to interpret them — and could change when a new president is inaugurated.Continue Reading on Cointelegraph More

A recent report from blockchain gaming accelerator Game7 suggests that many game developers had an enforced nap instead of pumping out new games.Continue Reading on Cointelegraph More

In a Nov. 22 X post, Nansen said roughly 24 hours after the United States Department of Justice announced a $4.3-billion settlement with Binance, the exchange has experienced a $956 million net outflow on Ethereum. However, Binance’s total holdings increased to more than $65 billion. Continue Reading on Cointelegraph More

Aurelien Michel, the creator of the Mutant Ape Planet NFT collection, which copies the popular MAYC collection by Yuga Labs, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a New York federal court. Michel admitted to defrauding investors of $3 million and performing a rug pull. Continue Reading on Cointelegraph More

The lawsuit alleges that during the 90-day period before Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January, Gemini withdrew an “aggregate gross amount of no less than approximately $689,302,000” at the expense of other creditors and continues to benefit through retaining the property Genesis seeks to recover. Genesis’s council requested the court to use the remedies provided by the United States Bankruptcy Code to correct the “unfairness and return Defendants to the same position as Plaintiff’s other similarly-situated creditors.”Continue Reading on Cointelegraph More