Tag: binance

Binance to halt Chinese yuan trading amid Beijing’s crypto crackdown, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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SHANGHAI, – Binance will stop the use of the Chinese yuan on its peer-to-peer trading platform, the latest move by major global cryptocurrency exchanges to cut their ties with mainland Chinese investors following an intense crackdown on the sector.

Binance, one of the world’s largest exchange by trading volumes, said in a Wednesday statement it will remove the Chinese yuan section of its consumer-to-consumer platform on Dec. 31 this year, and mainland Chinese users will have their accounts switched to “withdraw only mode”

China‘s most powerful regulators last month intensified a crackdown on cryptocurrencies with a blanket ban on all crypto transactions and mining, causing crypto exchanges and service providers scrambling to sever business ties with mainland Chinese clients.

Binance’s origins lie in China, though it emphasised in Wednesday’s statement that it withdrew from mainland China in 2017, the time of a previous regulatory crackdown.

Also on Wednesday, OKEX, another major cryptocurrency exchange with its origins in China said in a statement it had shifted its core business to international markets since 2017 and stopped promoting and providing services to the mainland China market.

In its latest move, China added cryptocurrency mining to a draft list of industries in which investment is restricted or prohibited.

(Reporting by Jason Xue and Andrew Galbraith, Editing by Louise Heavens)



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Solana, Cardano, XRP shed up to 12%, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: Major cryptocurrencies bled on Monday, thanks to a strong inflow of negative updates across the globe. Investors turned cautious over another meltdown in the crypto cart.

Barring stablecoins, eight out of top 10 cryptocurrencies were trading lower at 9.30 hours IST. Solana tanked as much as 12 per cent, whereas Cardano and XRP gave up over 8 per cent each.

The global crypto market cap tanked up to 6 per cent to $2.02 trillion compared to the last day. However, the total crypto market volume gained as much as 4 per cent to $91.91 billion.

“The past 24 hours were relatively quiet for the cryptocurrency market. As institutional investors become more active progressing into the new week, we would likely witness more volatility. Crypto bluechips faced minor profit booking over the weekend,” said Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder of Mudrex.

In the meantime, US officials are examining possible insider trading and market manipulation at Binance, Bloomberg News reported, potentially adding more heat to the cryptocurrency exchange that has become a target of regulatory scrutiny in many countries.



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Binance removes Singapore products on main platform after regulator’s warning, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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HONG KONG: Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it will restrict its services in Singapore days after the city state’s central bank said it should stop offering payment services.

Binance will stop offering Singapore dollar payment options and Singapore dollar trading pairs from Sep. 10 and remove the app from the Singapore iOs and Google Play stores, it said in a post on its website.

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London court orders Binance to trace cryptocurrency hackers, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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LONDON -London’s High Court has ordered Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, to identify hackers and freeze their accounts after one user said it was the victim of a $2.6 million hack.

In a judgment made public this week, a High Court judge granted requests by artificial intelligence (AI) company Fetch.ai for Binance to take steps to identify the hackers and track and seize the assets.

While involving a relatively small sum, the case is one of the first public ones involving Binance and will be a test of the English court system’s ability to tackle fraud on cryptocurrency platforms.

“We can confirm that we are helping Fetch.ai in the recovery of assets,” a Binance spokesperson said.

“Binance routinely freezes accounts that are identified as having suspicious activity occurring in line with our security policies and commitment to ensuring that users are protected while using our platform.”

Binance, which has an opaque corporate structure, has faced intense regulatory scrutiny amid a worldwide crackdown on cryptocurrencies over concerns that such exchanges could be used for money laundering or to allow consumers to fall victim to scams or runaway bets.

Binance has said it is committed to complying with appropriate local rules wherever it operates and has expanded its international compliance team and advisory board.

“We need to dispel the myth that cryptoassets are anonymous. The reality is that with the right rules and applications they can be tracked, traced and recovered,” Syedur Rahman, a partner at Rahman Ravelli, which is representing Fetch.ai, told Reuters.

Fetch.ai, which is incorporated in England and Singapore and develops AI projects for blockchain databases, alleges fraudsters hacked their way into its cryptocurrency accounts on the Binance exchange on June 6.

Unable to remove the assets because of account restrictions, they allegedly sold them to a linked third party at a fraction of their value in under an hour.

Rahman said Binance, which had notified Fetch.ai of unusual activity in its account, had already frozen a sum and had indicated it would comply with the orders. The claimants will have to prove they are victims of fraud before seeking a recovery order.

“We have been working closely with Binance and local enforcement to obtain details about the hacker,” Fetch.ai said in an emailed statement. “Issuing a court order for the release of this information is a standard process.”

(Reporting by Kirstin RidleyEditing by Mark Potter and Richard Chang)



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Indian crypto firms to command high valuation as big VC firms enter M&A rac, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The anointing of CoinDCX, a crypto exchange, as the first Indian crypto unicorn, ironically happened on the day the government vowed in Parliament to eliminate crypto assets.

CoinDCX was valued at $1.1 billion in a funding round to raise $90 million, surprising many as it came amid huge regulatory risks and the government’ stiff opposition to cryptocurrencies.

However, experts say many such deals would be cracked as larger players from venture capital, private equity and pension funds are outplaying smaller boutique firms and family offices from participating in the latest innovations around crypto.

boutique investment firms and family offices are being elbowed out by big venture capitalists, private equity funds, and even some pension funds. He noted that smaller venture capital firms are unhappy about this trend.

“Let’s say they’re looking at a deal and they believe it’s worth $10 million, and you’re seeing large VCs come in and put a bid in for a higher valuation. This is happening a lot with very early-stage companies, say, $5 million to $20 million — the prices are being inflated, says Henri Arslanian, Crypto Leader at professional accounting and financial services firm PWC.

Valuations rocket

According to the State of Crypto M&A 2021 report, even though deal activity in 2020 increased only 10% from the previous year, total deal value doubled to $1.7 billion. This was primarily due to a handful of large acquisitions in the crypto exchange space, including the $400 million acquisition of Coinmarketcap by Binance and FTX-Blockfolio transaction for $125 million. This trend has continued this year, with Galaxy Digital acquiring Bitgo for $1.2 billion.

In July, derivatives exchange FTX’s valuation rose to $18 billion after the company raised $900 million from investors. In addition, the Digital asset platform Fireblocks raised $310 million to achieve a value of $2 billion.

Pricing challenges

There are some challenges in pricing cryptocurrency startups. They include how to discount for regulatory risk in such a nascent industry and how to assess the valuation of businesses. There is also an issue of the lack of companies to invest in since most firms in the crypto space are still small and not well developed yet.

“If the minimum ticket size of an investor is around $50 million, there aren’t that many companies that have that status yet. If you’re a large pension fund and you decided to make a crypto allocation, there are no more than two dozen companies around the world that are investable, looking for capital and could absorb $100 million,” Arslanian said.

According to Delhi-based data intelligence platform VCC Edge, VC firms poured in more than $176.9 million via 13 deals in the sector. This is a significant jump from $44 million in 10 deals that were cracked by VC firms in the previous year.

The investment accounts for 50% of all deals pertaining to crypto firms this year but industry insiders say more such deals are expected as per reports.



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New crypto threatens to dethrone Ethereum after its latest upgrade, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: A fresh update on the Ethereum blockchain has provided fresh ammunition to a new cryptocurrency, Solana, to challenge the former – a more popular and established token – and take its place of pride.

The new update, called ‘London Hard Fork’, on the Ethereum blockchain includes five Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs). The exact date of its release could not ascertained.

There was no limit on Ethereum mining so far. Miners used to be rewarded with brand-new coins every time they validated a block and were compensated with the transaction fees paid by users. ‘London Hard Fork’ aims to fix this, and says miners will no longer receive transaction fees.

This upgrade will most certainly enhance the Ethereum blockchain, and the way in which the asset is priced, as supplies will become limited. It will increase the transaction speed per second, leading to less congestion and significantly reduced fees.

On the contrary, miners will be affected, as it will burn a portion of the fees generated on the blockchain, which will in turn reduce their revenue and may prompt some of them to go for possible migration.

“Solana would be a key beneficiary of a possible migration, if there is any, as it can process transactions at a much faster pace even after the updated Ethereum,” said Nirmal Ranga, Vice President (Trading), ZebPay. “Solana is favoured due its fast, secure and censorship-resistant blockchain that provides an open infrastructure.”

Crypto experts said Solana is not the only prominent successor, as it faces fierce competition from the likes of Algorand, Cardano, Tezos and Polkadot, and a few others. A prudent approach is to assess the token on its own fundamentals and strength.

Solana, launched in April 2020, is a relatively nascent cryptocurrency. It has gained a lot of attraction, bragging about its scalable technology. The USP of this crypto is the huge transaction speeds on its blockchain network at dirt-cheap fees, experts said.

The recent sensation of the crypto world has surged over 4,500 per cent since its inception. In 2021 so far, the digital token has delivered over 2,200 per cent return. Currently, the token is trading at $34.5, about 40 per cent below its peak value hit in May 2021.

“Solana is not the usual ‘pump and dump’ crypto, but more of a platform that can be used to build several applications. Decentralised apps — also known as DApps — are built on these blockchain networks,” said Edul Patel, CEO & Co-founder, Mudrex.

One of the most significant competitors to the Ethereum network is Solana. The transaction speed and scalability of the Solana network are what set it apart from a lot of other cryptos, Patel said.

In terms of scalability, the Solana network can handle more than 50,000 transactions per second. Also, it is more cost efficient, which is adding to its traction.

Some people drew comparisons between Solana and Internet Computers (ICP), but the recent crash in prices in ICP and the buzz about major dumping by the founders made several ICP investors unhappy. Thus, many people moved to Solana.

Hitesh Malviya, crypto guru and founder of itsblockchain.com said the Solana ecosystem introduces a number of new, efficient technologies that cooperate so as to enable the Solana blockchain to facilitate greater transaction speeds and a highly secure platform.

“This fund will supercharge the building of the DeFi ecosystem on the back of the Solana blockchain,” said Ranga of ZebPay. “It can be anticipated that this fundraising will help the token to climb higher on the ladder.”

The fundraising has already had its impact on the price of the native token. The volume of Solana has risen by almost 150% in just six months.

Differences with Ethereum
Solana and Ethereum cater to different audiences of the blockchain. Ethereum is a community-run technology-powered cryptocurrency, whereas Solana is for those who are interested in a fast, secure and censorship-resistant blockchain providing the open infrastructure required for global adoption.

Even though Solana is achieving great heights, Ethereum has the first mover advantage of sorts, given its reach and legacy.

Solana does not support integration with Binance smart chain, Meta mask, Rarible and other services. There are about 88 softwares that integrate with ethereum. Transaction per second and cost efficiency are the other differences between the two challengers.

Who emerges victorious?
Solana is a key challenge to Ethereum’s throne, as the former has the potential to make some big plays and become the preferred blockchain among DeFi applications and NFT offerings.

However, these are early days for Solana. “Developers might be struggling over the Solana, but for investors looking to build wealth in the crypto space, the token price needs to go up,” said Patel of Mudrex.

Despite the technological superiority, Solana’s adoption is lagging far behind Ethereum, even when the latter has been facing issues with network congestion, high transaction fees and is struggling to meet booming demand for DeFi products.

Solana does away with the scalability issues that most existing blockchain platforms suffer from, said Malviya of itsblockchain.com. “The Solana ecosystem has made great progress towards achieving interoperability, and it is already connected to the Ethereum ecosystem through the Wormhole bridge, which allows users to do intratrade,” he said.

“Yet, it would very difficult for Solana to replace Ethereum, mainly because Ethereum has a better hold on the market, thanks to its early entry and eventually having very high brand recognition. Solana, no doubt, has better technology, but it takes time for people to adopt new technology,” said Ranga of Zebpay.



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Malaysia regulator takes enforcement action against Binance, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Malaysia has taken enforcement action against cryptocurrency platform Binance to stop it operating in the country, the Securities Commission said on Friday.

The Commission said it had issued a public reprimand against Binance Holdings Limited, its CEO Zhao Changpeng and three other entities registered in the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Singapore, for continuing to operate in Malaysia despite being added to the regulator‘s investor alert list a year ago.

The regulator ordered Binance to disable its website and mobile applications, cease media and marketing activities, as well as restrict Malaysian investors from accessing its Telegram group.

“Those who currently have accounts with Binance are strongly urged to immediately cease trading through its platforms and to withdraw all their investments immediately,” it said.

Binance said on Friday it would wind down its futures and derivatives products offerings across Europe as the platform faces growing pressure from regulators across the world.

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Crypto exchange Binance to wind down derivatives in Europe, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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* Binance to exit derivatives in Europe

* Users in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy immediately affected

* Binance has been under concerted regulatory pressure (Adds context, Binance comment)

LONDON, – Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance said on Friday it would wind down its futures and derivatives products offerings across Europe, the latest move by the platform as pressure grows from regulators across the world.

With immediate effect, Binance users in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands would be unable to open new futures or derivatives products accounts, the exchange said in a statement on its website.

Increasingly worried over consumer protection and the standard of anti-money laundering checks at crypto exchanges, a string of regulators across the world – including Britain, Germany, Hong Kong and Italy – have in recent weeks ratcheted up pressure on Binance, one of the world’s largest exchanges by trading volumes.

“The European region is a very important market for Binance, and it is taking proactive steps towards harmonizing crypto regulations, which is a positive sign for the industry,” the exchange said on Twitter https://twitter.com/binance/status/1421033044337729536.

“We understand that many regulators at local levels may have their own positions on crypto, and we welcome the opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue on local requirements.”

Users in the three countries will, from a date to be announced later, have 90 days to close any open derivatives positions, Binance said.

Germany’s regulator BaFin declined to comment on Binance’s move.

REGULATORY PRESSURE

Binance’s exit from derivatives in Europe is its latest exit from specific crypto products after growing regulatory pressure.

Malaysia’s securities regulator became the latest watchdog to target Binance on Friday, reprimanding it for illegally operating a digital asset exchange https://www.sc.com.my/resources/media/media-release/sc-takes-enforcement-actions-on-binance-for-illegally-operating-in-malaysia in the country.

It was not immediately clear how big Binance’s derivatives business in Europe was, though UK researcher CryptoCompare said in June it was the largest derivatives exchange with volumes of $1.7 trillion, down around 30% from a month earlier.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said this week he wanted to improve relations with regulators, adding the exchange would seek their approval and establish regional headquarters.

On Monday, Binance said it would stop offering cryptocurrency margin trading involving the Australian dollar, euro and sterling.

Earlier this month, it said it stopped selling digital tokens linked to shares, after regulators cracked down on the cryptocurrency exchange platform’s “stock tokens” offerings.

Bitcoin was on Friday morning down 3.4% at $38,674.

Market players said the move may contribute to wider concerns about the future of cryptocurrency derivatives trading for retail players.

“A huge amount of money in crypto markets is floating around exclusively because of the existence and availability of such products,” said Joseph Edwards of Enigma Securities, a cryptocurrency broker in London.

“Binance have crowded out large sections of the derivatives market over the last couple of years – if their retreat from said market deepens, the medium-term impact is unlikely to be positive.”



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Next stop $50,000 or $150,000?, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: While equity investors are nervous about weak market sentiments, crypto investors are cheering the recent rally in the digital token market.

Bitcoin and ace digital tokens have gained as much as 30 per cent in the last seven days. The cryptocurrency hit the $40,000 mark on Wednesday and investors have set their eyes on $50,000 as the next target.

Analysts have varied opinions on Bitcoin and other digital tokens. However, they say investors should not fall prey to market cycles. Their long-term bullish view remains intact.

“If you believe in the Internet with its own money and governance, then the industry is just getting started,” said Siddharth Menon, COO, Wazir X. “Bitcoin could play a significant role as adoption goes up. Many institutional investors are getting greedy.”

However, they also have a word of caution for the new age investor.

Edul Patel, CEO & Co-founder, Mudrex, advises crypto investors be prudent in differentiating greed and fear in the financial markets.

“The recent rally has lured several inexperienced retail investors and traders into the markets, who have joined the frenzy to make a quick buck. However, they may get trapped if the larger players keep dumping,” he cautioned.

Market watchers are worried over the sustainability of this bull market. The crypto market is on a roll, despite weaker volumes. This suggests the party may get over soon, said market watchers.

There are multiple halts after a quick rally. Patel of Mudrex is advising investors to be extra-cautious in such markets and keenly track the volumes for further upside.

However, healthy corrections are good for the market as they give investors a decent opportunity to enter the markets. Bitcoin rose to $40,700 from $29,600 in just 10 days. Investors are now expecting $50,000 level, which is further 20 per cent up from current levels.

“The brief halt was more of market cycle correction after having a month-on-month bull run since March 2020. The $50,000 level could be a local top in a few months, but in a longer time period, the sky’s the limit,” said Menon.

Several analysts have predicted that Bitcoin could hit the $150,000 mark by 2022. However, Bitcoin is trading about 35-40 per cent down from its all-time high of $64,865.

“There are certain significant upgrades in the pipeline for both Bitcoin and Ethereum. These are expected to roll out by the end of this year, which can be game changer of the top crypto tokens,” said Patel of Mudrex.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO, Binance, is bullish on Bitcoin in the long run as a store of value and its potential to change the world for the better.



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Why China may be the ‘reason’ crypto currencies are in a slump, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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It seems like a slew of negative stories have led to crypto currencies in a slump. According to a report by CNBC, the trading values at some of the largest exchanges have dropped 40% in June. The report cites data from CryptoCompare, a crypto market data provider, that suggests trading volumes at Binance, Kraken, Coinbase and Bitstamp have reduced due to lower prices and lower volatility.

The report says that the price of Bitcoin was down by 6% and hit a monthly low of $28,908.

The China factor in cryptocurrency

As per a report by Reuters, China has been making an attempt to crackdown on the crypto industry. And it seems like it has finally made an impact. The fear of a Chinese crackdown may have led to fear in the market, which is why it has gone in a slump like situation.

China is gearing up to launch its own state-backed digital currency. This has led to mining operations in the country to close down. Almost 50% of bitcoin’s mining power was hosted by these operators in China.

The Chinese government had announced tougher restrictions on cryptocurrency in May. A report by Nikkei says that mining is an energy-intensive process which is not in tune with China’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

The Chinese crackdown on bitcoin as well as crypto mining has forced many using high-powered computers to secure the bitcoin network and validate transactions out of the country to other locations like Kazakhstan among others. Bitcoin’s hash rate — a measure to check how much computing power is being used by bitcoin network — has fallen down to a 13-month low over the last few weeks, according to a report by Forbes.

It’s not just the bitcoin network which has seen a crash. The ethereum — other most popular crypto network — has seen its hash rate drop by 20% in the last two months.



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