FreeCryptoCurrency.Me

China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, aired the news that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission sued crypto exchange Binance, its co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao and its American affiliate, Binance.US, in a rare moment of crypto coverage.

The segment briefed the news, saying the SEC filed the lawsuit alleging the defendants violated U.S. securities laws. It also mentioned that the prices of bitcoin and Binance’s native BNB coin fell after the news broke.

The SEC lawsuit gained significant media attention due to Binance’s status as the world’s largest crypto exchange. The crypto sector has faced increased scrutiny in the U.S. since the downfall of FTX. Prosecutors have alleged that FTX engaged in fraudulent activities that harmed its users.

Notably, the CCTV broadcast also mentioned the lawsuit by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Binance and Zhao in March — similar to the SEC’s but focusing on the sale of crypto derivatives. It is not immediately clear whether CCTV covered the CFTC lawsuit also in March.

Source: CCTV

CCTV rarely covers crypto-related news, which makes this broadcast appear significant — capturing wider attention. The outcome of the lawsuit could have wide-ranging implications for the regulatory landscape of cryptocurrencies.

Last month, CCTV broadcast a segment about cryptocurrencies that featured the Bitcoin logo — a “big deal,” according to Binance’s Zhao, as “historically, coverages like these led to bull runs.”

The segment featured what appeared to be a Bitcoin ATM in Hong Kong. Besides a large blue Bitcoin logo, an option that said “Buy Bitcoins” was visible. NFTs were also highlighted in the segment — which has since been taken down.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The amount of bitcoin held on exchanges fell 12%, while ether supply saw a slight gain, the report said.

News that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance over multiple alleged violations of the country’s securities laws rocked the blockchain and crypto industry yesterday — but some large players appear to have taken the opportunity to buy the dip.

Firstly, on-chain data shared by Lookonchain suggests that specialized crypto trading and market making firm Cumberland withdrew 67.9 million USDC from the stablecoin’s issuer, Circle, and deposited 67.1 million USDC to crypto exchange Coinbase. That’s an indication that the firm might be gearing up to deploy into the market. 

Institutional crypto trading platform FalconX also appears to have received 37 million USDC from Circle before depositing 29.5 million USDC to Binance.

Meanwhile, blockchain investment firm FBG Capital appears to have deposited 44 million USDT to Binance following the initial reports that the SEC is suing Binance.

Furthermore, a historically successful trader identified by Lookonchain appears to have deposited 15.9 million USDT into Binance before withdrawing 8,800 ether — creating an average buy price of roughly $1,808.

Finally, a crypto whale — also identified by Lookonchain — appears to have withdrawn 703,871 USDC and more than 2.5 million USDT from decentralized finance platform Aave before buying some $3.35 million in ether at an average price of $1,810.

Crypto volatility remains low

In related news, the crypto market’s period of low volatility remained largely unaffected by yesterday’s news of Binance’s impending legal battle against the SEC.

Though crypto prices fell across the board, volatility remains low and implied options volatility compressed — signaling a belief that market volatility will remain low.

With seasonality also potentially playing a part — summers are historically flat and not volatile — such a belief may be even more pervasive. “Traders are already positioned,” LedgerPrime’s Laura Vidiella told The Block earlier Tuesday.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The firm said it is the first bank-owned custodian to offer staking services to institutional clients.

OKX is the first client to use Komainu Connect, a regulated settlement and custody system for institutional customers.

The crypto market has been locked in one of the least-volatile periods of its history, and it appears that not even the United States Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against Binance can shake up a sleepy trading regime.

Crypto prices fell in the wake of the agency’s announcement of its lawsuit against exchange behemoth Binance. The SEC alleges the firm misled customers and misdirected funds to a separate investment fund owned by the firm’s chief executive officer, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao. 

Still, volatility in the wake of the news remains low, with implied options volatility — a gauge for the market’s expectation of future volatility throughout an options contract’s lifetime — compressed. The dynamic reflects the belief in the market that volatility will remain low — a bet that’s proven profitable for large traders in recent months. 

The Block’s data dashboard shows that the so-called BTC DVol Index picked up slightly, rising from 39 on June 3 — its lowest level of the year — to 41 on June 5. 

One trader at a large options and volatility trading shop lamented: “I’ve been shitting blood with the decay so tell me about it.”

Seasonality may also be at play. “We should consider the summer factor,” noted Laura Vidiella of LedgerPrime. “Vols are already lowest since 2020 — historically, summers are always flat and low Vol, so traders are already positioned.”

The lack of volatility following the SEC’s announcement may also be tied to large traders having already expected some form of regulatory action against the firm. Still, unlike the meltdown of defunct giant FTX, there is no indication that customer funds have been impacted, Vidiella added. Nor is it clear if the SEC’s authority will extend to Binance.

“With FTX, the consequence of events was more obvious because of the connection with Alameda and the leaked financials,” she said, adding: “There were a few billion the market knew there was a chance were missing, and so the market reacted accordingly. With Binance, the market reacted with an obvious drop. But that’s all the information we have.”

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The unprecedented withdrawals only reflect a small amount of Binance’s reserves, according to data from CryptoQuant.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday said it had approved an amended order of registration for Cboe Clear Digital to clear additional products as a derivatives clearing organization.

The amended order permits Cboe Clear to “provide clearing services for digital asset futures on a margined basis for futures commission merchants, in addition to the fully collateralized futures and fully collateralized swaps previously authorized,” the U.S. regulator said in a statement.

Cboe Digital Exchange, Cboe Clear’s parent company, is registered as a designated contract market with the CFTC. The measure authorizes Cboe to expand its clearing of futures contracts on crypto assets “while staying within the traditional U.S. futures intermediated market structure,” CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero said in a separate statement.

“The Order is accompanied by prudent risk-mitigation measures implemented by Cboe,” Romero said, adding that the application had stood in “stark contrast” to one from collapsed crypto exchange FTX “for a bespoke disintermediated direct-to customer market structure.”

“I have been vocal about the benefits of bringing appropriate crypto activities into the regulated space in order to protect customers, but in a way that supports oversight, accountability, transparency, and risk management,” Romero said. “Too often in recent years, crypto firms have sought to take a business model or market structure that exists in an unregulated environment and port it over to the regulated environment.”

“Cboe has not done that, instead operating within the parameters of the traditional futures market structure and regulatory framework,” Romero continued. “It has constructively engaged with the staff and my office to address concerns related to risk, and implement risk-mitigating measures.”

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

ALSO: Lido’s stETH token has become the seventh largest token by market cap, right ahead of Cardano and just behind XRP, according to data from CoinGecko. What’s behind its ascent?

Apple on Monday announced its Vision Pro headset, which it says “seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world.” What could this mean for the future of Web3?