Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions, that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is offering more than $4 billion to Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, as part of a settlement to its year-long investigation into the exchange. It is reported that they are seeking a settlement.
The cryptocurrency market initially fell on the news, but has since recovered.
Bitcoin (BTC) briefly fell below $37,000, but has since recovered above $37,500, and Binance-linked BNB (BNB) briefly fell below $240 before rising to the $260 level.
The Justice Department and Binance could reach a settlement by the end of this month, according to reports, but the settlement could reportedly include the prospect of Binance founder Zhou Changpeng facing criminal charges in the United States. ing.
A deal would end an investigation into Binance, which the Justice Department has accused of engaging in money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations.
*US seeks more than $4 billion from Binance to end criminal case
Source: Bloomberg | Coin: BNB
— db (@tier10k) November 20, 2023
Explaining the turmoil in the virtual currency market
The crypto market's volatile reaction to the Binance/DoJ headline highlights how sensitive the market is to news about the world's dominant crypto exchange, Binance.
According to data presented by The Block, Binance has accounted for about 37% of global crypto spot trading volume so far this month.
Traders have long feared that Binance's dominance is a major weakness in the crypto market, and could be severely affected if something like what happened to FTX about a year ago happened to the exchange. I've been doing it.
In 2023, when the SEC charged Binance with operating as an unregistered securities exchange in the United States and other charges of investor fraud, and when the U.S. Department of Justice considered bringing felony charges against Binance, These concerns became even more serious when news broke that the
Binance denies all accusations and has always maintained that customer debts are more than adequately backed by reserves, avoiding the possibility of a “run on the run” that sentenced FTX to death last year.
The sudden drop in cryptocurrencies with Binance/Department of Justice headlines highlights how nervous the market is on the subject.
However, if a resolution is reached between Binance and the Department of Justice soon, this is definitely a positive as it would mean more certainty for Binance, which probably explains the market's rapid recovery. There will be.
