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16 Jun 2023

French Authorities Investigating Binance for ‘Aggravated Money Laundering’

The regulatory challenges facing crypto exchange Binance continue to mount, now from Europe. French newspaper Le Monde today reported that Binance is under investigation by the judicial finance investigation service under the direction of the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Paris (JIRS) for “illegal” acts relating to the function of service provider on digital assets, as well as "aggravated money laundering." Source: Decrypt

15 Jun 2023

USDT selling sets off alarm bells as Curve, Uniswap pools flooded with tethers

Speculation is mounting that Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization at around $83.4 billion, may be under pressure. Specific liquidity pools on the Uniswap and Curve protocols — the deepest pools in the DeFi ecosystem — currently seem to be flooded with USDT sellers. When sellers flood the market it can cause a rapid depeg, a situation noted during the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, when the well-regarded USDC stablecoin (issued by Circle and Coinbase) lost its peg and fell as low as $0.93 before regaining its dollar parity within a couple of days. Source Blockworks

14 Jun 2023

SEC and Binance.US to negotiate deal avoiding total asset freeze

Binance.US and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have agreed to work on an arrangement that will allow the exchange to avoid freezing all of its assets.On June 14, Bloomberg reported that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson referred the two organizations to a magistrate judge to work toward a compromise arrangement to protect customer funds without having to shut down the exchange. “Shutting it down completely would create significant consequences not only for the company but for the digital asset markets in general,” Jackson said at a June 13 hearing. Source Cointelegrah

9 Jun 2023

Moody’s warns Coinbase faces serious consequences

Ratings agency Moody’s slashed Coinbase’s outlook to “negative” from “stable” two days after the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that the exchange operated as an unregistered broker and sold unregistered securities since 2019. A negative outlook suggests that the agency could downgrade Coinbase’s rating in the future. Moody’s decision to change the outlook stems from uncertainty about how much the SEC’s charges will affect Coinbase’s business model and cash flows, the agency said in a statement published Thursday. Source: Blockworks

7 Jun 2023

SEC Seeks Emergency Order to Freeze Binance US Assets

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a judge to freeze assets held by Binance.US, according to an emergency motion filed by the agency on Tuesday. The freeze would impact two holding companies associated with Binance.US’s operations: BAM Management US Holdings and BAM Trading Services. Binance has claimed the SEC's lawsuit is "misguided" and "unreasonable," and the agency's regulatory posture is undermining America's role as a global financial hub. Source Decrypt

6 Jun 2023

Binance Users Pull $1.5B Amid Sweeping SEC Charges

Data indicates Binance users have overall withdrawn almost $1.5 billion from the crypto exchange over the past day, as the firm grapples with a fresh Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over alleged securities violations. The SEC claimed the exchange and its CEO Changpeng Zhao lured US customers to their unregulated platform and mixed investors’ funds with their own.

5 Jun 2023

Do Kwon's Bail Approved After Property Verified to Be 'Worth Millions'

Do Kwon will be released from Montenegro detention after his bail request of approximately $427,900 (€400,000) was accepted.nThis comes after the court verified his property to be "worth millions." Another reason why bail was considered is that, due to the nature of the case, the duration of the procedure is uncertain. Source Decrypt

2 Jun 2023

US debt ceiling, declining trust in banks send ETH staking to record highs

The number of staked Ether in May reached a new all-time high of 2.96 million ETH, approximately 2.46% of the total supply. The significant surge comes within a month of the Shapella, allowing validators to withdraw their staked ETH after two years. Many then believed the heavy unstaking of ETH could be a bearish event for the Ethereum network. However, an estimated less than 1% of all staked ETH was sold after Shapella. source: Cointelegraph

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