By
Bena Ilyas
May 13th, 2024
The Binance Coin (BNB) has recently dropped below its 200-week Moving Average, raising apprehensions regarding potential substantial declines among altcoins.
Binance‘s native cryptocurrency BNB has recently come under significant selling pressure with the BNB price dropping under $210 on Tuesday, August 22. Binance Coin (BNB) has come under significant selling pressure amid the ongoing regulatory scrutiny on the crypto exchange.
Since the beginning of the year, the Binance Coin (BNB) price is already down by more than 30%. On Tuesday, the token experienced a decline of approximately 3.6%, reaching a value of $203.59. This drop contributes to a year-to-date loss of approximately 15%. Interestingly, this decline occurred despite the notable resurgence of the crypto bellwether, Bitcoin, which has witnessed an increase of over 50% since December.
Notably, Bitcoin holds sway over approximately half of the $1 trillion cryptocurrency market. As of now, BNB holds a market capitalization of approximately $32 billion, securing its position as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency asset.
Binance Facing Regulatory Hurdles
Over the past few months, Binance has been facing major regulatory hurdles! In June 2023, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated a lawsuit against both Binance and its American affiliate, Binance.US, citing a range of securities law violations.
Despite the counterarguments presented by Binance.com, Binance.US, and its founder Changpeng Zhao, the platform has witnessed an exodus of customers from its US operations. Prior to this, the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission had already lodged charges against the company.
Additionally, the US Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation into Binance’s activities and violating US sanctions on Russia. Last year, Binance joined other exchanges amid US sanctions to dial back its business activities in Russia.
However, Binance’s exchange still manages significant trading volumes involving the Russian ruble, as indicated by externally sourced data, reports WSJ. Through a network of intermediaries, clients have the ability to convert funds from sanctioned banks into Binance balances.
Moreover, Binance facilitates peer-to-peer transactions involving rubles and digital tokens, often entailing banks that are included on Western blacklists. Evidence such as company websites, user screenshots, and messages within official chat groups supports this observation.
Binance Selling Bitcoins to Save BNB?
There’s a strong talk within the crypto community that Binance has been selling its Bitcoin holdings in order to protect the BNB price from falling further. The claims were initially brought to light by the crypto influencer WhaleChart on social media platform X. Subsequently, a number of Binance users raised concerns about their inability to withdraw their BTC as a result of a temporary suspension of withdrawals. Although there hasn’t been any official verification of these claims, the cryptocurrency community is currently polarized on this matter.
BREAKING:
Binance is allegedly selling Bitcoin to support the price of their own token BNB
— WhaleFUD (@WhaleFUD) August 22, 2023
Binance chief CZ has yet to come up with an explanation amid all the developments in the market. Binance Coin (BNB) has recently dropped below its 200-week Moving Average, raising apprehensions regarding potential substantial declines among altcoins, especially those dependent on the BEP20 and BEP2 token systems.