By
Temitope Olatunji
April 26th, 2024
Binance reportedly assisted United States law enforcement in freezing and seizing over $125 million in 2022 and more than $160 million YTD.
It was a choppy Monday for the market of crypto-related stocks and top digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB, after the United States Commodity and Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) in a civil action. According to the civil action, the CFTC alleged Binance cryptocurrency exchange offered unregistered crypto derivatives products and directed United States customers to evade compliance controls through VPNs.
Notably, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement action in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, charging Changpeng Zhao and Samuel Lim, Binance’s former chief compliance officer, among other entities, for abetting the laws.
“The defendants’ own emails and chats reflect that Binance’s compliance efforts have been a sham and Binance deliberately chose – over and over – to place profits over following the law,” Gretchen Lowe, CFTC’s Enforcement Division Principal Deputy Director and Chief Counsel, stated.
In their defense, Binance and CEO Zhao indicated that the crypto trading firm is extremely compliant with the set law and regulations. In a blog post, CZ noted that the firm has over 750 compliance team members. As a result, Binance has managed to handle over 55k law enforcement requests.
Most importantly, Binance was reported to have assisted United States law enforcement in freezing and seizing over $125 million in 2022 and more than $160 million YTD.
Effect of Binance and CZ’s Charges on the Broader Stock and Crypto Market
Following the civil action on the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily traded volume, crypto-related stocks, and top digital assets edged lower by the end of the day. According to market data provided by MarketWatch, Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN), Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT), and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: MARA) closed Monday down approximately 7.8%, 6.84%, and 8.96% respectively.
Interestingly, MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR) saw its shares drop 6.9 percent from the day’s opening value despite disclosing a purchase of 6,500 Bitcoins. Moreover, the entire crypto market capitalization is down approximately 3 percent in the past 24 hours to stand at about $1.17 trillion on Tuesday.
Notably, Bitcoin and Ethereum prices dropped by 3 percent in the past 24 hours. The largest hit was BNB price, which declined approximately 6 percent in the past 24 hours to trade around $309.
Nevertheless, Ripple-backed XRP registered gains of approximately 5 percent during the past 24 to trade around $0.48 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, over $149 million was liquidated from the crypto market in the past 24 hours.