By Matteo Greco, Research Analyst at the publicly listed digital asset and fintech investment business Fineqia International
BTC closed last week at about $27,000, a 3.5% decrease from the $28,000 price at the end of last week. It dropped to about $25,500 on Monday, slightly moving upwards to $26.394 late Tuesday, after the SEC announced it is suing Binance and Coinbase, the world’s largest crypto exchanges by volume, for trading securities it deemed as being unlicensed in the US. Trading volumes remain at low levels, with BTC on-chain volume decreasing by 13% during May. The data suggests a difficult moment for the digital asset market in attracting investors and maintaining high trading volumes.
This can be attributed to two main factors. First, the difficult macroeconomic conditions are leading investors to adjust their positions in anticipation of announcements at the next FED meeting on June 14. While the CME futures expects with 80% probability that there will be no new rate hike at the next meeting, investors are still cautious as monetary policy expectations have changed rapidly from one day to another.
Second, the SEC is bearing down hard against exchanges. The US regulator contends that most digital assets qualify as securities and exchanges have been selling them to American investors without being appropriately registered in the U.S. The recent action being taken by the SEC against Binance and Coinbase caused a decline in the market, followed by a slight rebound during Tuesday.
The actions of the US regulator could push many exchanges outside the country, similar to what has transpired in Canada. It could benefit the Asian market, which is moving toward a friendlier environment for digital assets. As of June 1, the Japanese government lifted a ban on stablecoins and the Hong Kong government legalised the trading of cryptocurrencies by retail investors. Hong Kong asset manager First Digital is introducing a new stablecoin, for example, that will be pegged to the U.S. dollar.
These moves underlie attempts by Asian regulators to attract new investors in the digital asset market, a shift in attitude to the recent past, especially in China where cryptocurrency trading and bitcoin mining have been restricted.
On-chain data shows that Bitcoin retail buyers have been loading up the recent dip, a move that also coincided with price gains above $26,000, relieving traders and holders. Early this week, BTC prices crashed to as low as $24,820 before recovering to spot rates, adding 8% in four days.
Retail Investors Are Buying The Dip
Following a turbulent week in the crypto space, which involved the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Binance and “crypto” securities-related drama, the price of Bitcoin dipped below $25,000 after the Federal Reserve paused their rate hikes and keeping the US fund rate within the 5% and 5.25% zone, increasing the uncertainty within the market.
However, the crypto market has since rebounded, with retail bitcoin investors, characterized by those holding 0.01 to 1 BTC, stepping in to buy up the dip.
Interestingly, the dip-buying behavior exhibited by retail investors is similar in level to that observed during the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse earlier in the year, but less than that of the post FTX collapse crash which saw Bitcoin’s price tank below $16,000.
With retailers loading up, it could indicate that traders and holders are confident of what lies ahead despite recent unfavorable fundamentals.
Bitcoin Whales On The Move
Meanwhile, with active Bitcoin retail buyers ramping up, “whales” have also been on the move. Crypto whales are addresses holding large amount of coins.
A Twitter user also noted that a user with 50 BTC worth around $1.2 million recently moved his coins after being dormant since 2010.
The batch of coins was originally mined in June 2010 and had remained untouched since then before being moved.
Following the trend, another previously dormant Bitcoin wallet, that has been dormant for a decade, transferred $7.8 million worth of BTC to a new wallet. Another long-term holder moved $11 million worth of BTC after more than 11 years of inactivity.
At the pivotal moment of BTC’s price and the crypto space, speculators are raising questions about the motives behind such massive movements of BTC. It is known that the trading activities resulting from the transfers can impact the coin’s supply and demand dynamics of Bitcoin, potentially exerting short-term influence on prices.
As of writing on June 18, Bitcoin is firm above $26,500, and has reversed losses of June 14. With retailers appearing to be buying the dip, prices may recover in the days ahead, even rallying to $30,000.
Even so, Bitcoin remains under pressure and traders should watch how fundamental events, including the SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, would shape price action.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has announced that Binance has officially issued a cease and desist notice to the fraudulent entity known as Binance Nigeria Limited.
On Sunday, June 18, Zhao took to Twitter to make the announcement. On June 9, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a circular stating the illegality of Binance Nigeria Limited in the country.
According to reports, a Binance spokesperson responded that the entity mentioned in the circular is not affiliated with the company. The spokesperson expressed the company’s intention to seek clarity from the Nigerian SEC and reiterated its commitment to cooperating with it on the next steps.
Binance have issued cease & desist notice to the scammer entity “Binance Nigeria Limited”.
Don’t believe everything you read in the news. ♂️
Although Binance claimed no affiliation with Binance Nigeria Limited, as mentioned in the SEC’s circular, the company is concurrently facing a lawsuit from the United States Securities Exchange Commission. The U.S. SEC has filed 13 charges against Binance entities and Zhao.
Related: Binance CEO CZ deems SEC’s request for emergency relief unwarranted
Some charges include operating as an unregistered exchange, broker-dealer, clearing agency and misrepresenting trading controls. The U.S. SEC stated that despite earning $11.6 billion from U.S. customers, Binance and Zhao failed to register as an exchange, broker-dealer or clearing agency.
In a recent development on June 17, U.S. Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved an agreement between Binance.US, Binance, and the U.S. SEC. This agreement resulted in the dismissal of a previous temporary restraining order that aimed to freeze all Binance.US assets.
Binance, which is available in about 100 countries, registered its headquarters in George Town, Cayman Islands, in 2017. In 2019, it also registered a subsidiary in Mahe, Seychelles.
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Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao expressed his happiness and relief as a prolonged dispute with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was successfully resolved. The SEC’s ongoing scrutiny had created a tense and uncertain period for the company, making the resolution a welcome development.
As the regulatory uncertainty begins to fade, CZ can now concentrate on Binance’s future. In a tweet, the veteran crypto entrepreneur emphasized that the SEC’s emergency relief request was unnecessary, affirming that the mutually agreed resolution would enable Binance to progress unhindered.
In a noteworthy turn of events, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia gave her approval to the “Proposed Stipulation and Consent Order” that was reached between Binance, Binance.US and the SEC on Saturday, June 18.
Although we maintain that the SEC’s request for emergency relief was entirely unwarranted, we are pleased that the disagreement over this request was resolved on mutually acceptable terms.
User funds have been and always will be safe and secure on all Binance-affiliated…
As per the consent order, Binance is obligated to “repatriate” all fiat currency and cryptocurrency assets associated with Binance.US by the date specified in the court’s ruling. Additionally, the agreement imposes restrictions on Binance global officials, disallowing them from accessing the private keys of all wallets, including cold and hot wallets.
In spite of the challenges and regulatory hurdles faced by Binance in recent times, CZ emphasized the company’s unwavering dedication to ongoing operations. While expressing content regarding the resolution of the SEC issue, the CEO of Binance underlined the assurance that users’ funds have remained, and will continue to remain, safe and secure across all Binance-associated services.
Related: CZ, Powell and more rally to fund legal fees for on-chain sleuth ZachXBT, surpassing $1M
During the period, Binance prioritized the safety and security of user funds, implementing strong security measures across all associated platforms. Moreover, Binance has indicated that its BNB Smart Chain is currently exploring the possibility of developing and launching a layer-2 blockchain scaling solution.
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