Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has hit back at critics and conspiracy theorists who claim Binance to be a Chinese-based “criminal entity” that “secretly [belongs] in the pocket of the Chinese government.” CZ's response to critics came from a Sept. 1 blog post via Binance, and stems from a Twitter spat with a former Washington Post journalist who asked him; “While I have you here, who's Guangying Chen?” He explained that the question is in reference to a conspiracy theory alleging that his personal friend and Chinese national Guangying Chen is the secret owner of Bijie Tech (a company he …

From a bearish perspective, there's a fair probability that the crypto market entered a descending channel (or wedge) on Aug. 15 after it failed to break above the $1.2 trillion total market capitalization resistance. Even if the pattern isn't yet clearly distinguishable, the last couple of weeks have not been positive. For example, the $940 billion total market cap seen on Aug. 29 was the lowest in 43 days. The worsening conditions have been accompanied by a steep correction in traditional markets, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index has declined by 12% since Aug. 15 and even WTI oil prices …

The government of Indonesia returned to its plan to set up a digital assets exchange, publicly announced first time back in 2021. A so-called “crypto bourse” is planned to be established by the end of 2022. According to DealStreetAsia, Indonesia’s deputy trade minister Jerry Sambuaga confirmed during the NXC International Summit 2022 in Bali that the country is still planning on the crypto bourse’ launch, while the whole project has been delayed due to additional preparations: “We will make sure that every requirement, procedure and the necessary steps have been taken.” Sambuaga also described some inevitable preparatory tasks ahead of …

After much speculation, the wallet hodling more than 22 billion of Axie Infinity’s total supply of in-game token Smooth Love Potion (SLP) has been identified as an address belonging to Binance. The wallet was first highlighted by Axie Infinity player and tech co-founder Michael Benko, who raised concerns about it having over 50% of SLP’s total circulating supply, which could potentially have an impact on the game's ecosystem. Following a Cointelegraph report on the matter, Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff Zirlin confirmed on Twitter that the address is a “Binance Ronin gateway contract.” A previous statement to Cointelegraph from Sky Mavis …

The decentralized application industry pushed above $40 billion in smart contract deposits in February 2021, and currently the figure stands at $59 billion. To date, “real money” continues to flow into the sector, and on Aug. 29, gaming startup Limit Break raised $200 million. The project gained popularity after the successful launch of its DigiDaigaku free-mint NFT collection. According to a report by Dove Metrics and Messari, the crypto industry saw $30.3 billion in funds raised in H1 2022. This amount surpassed the $30.2 billion seen in 2021. Excluding the $10.2 billion in funding raised for the centralized finance sector …

Brian Shroder, the president and CEO of Binance US, received a federal letter requesting the urgent disclosure of official documents that prove the exchange’s adherence to various investor-centric safety protocols. The request comes from a Subcommittee chairman under the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In the letter addressed to Shroder, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy highlighted the lack of participation from crypto exchanges in helping the US government curb financial fraud and protect investors, stating: “I am concerned by the rapid growth of fraud and consumer abuse. I am also …

Binance marked its presence among the Middle East investors by running various licensed operations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other regions. Targeting efforts in United Arab Emirate's (UAE) mainstream corporate sector, Binance partnered with business lender Virtuzone, allowing new entrepreneurs to repay loans using cryptocurrencies. Virtuzone joins the list of mainstream businesses in the UAE, such as JA Resorts and Hotels and Majid Al Futtaim, to officially accept cryptocurrencies after integrating Binance Pay into its payment gateway. In addition, by providing businesses the option to repay seed and other forms of funding through cryptocurrencies, the company intends to reduce barriers …

Binance Australia is tightening up its onboarding process for new users as part of a push to protect users it's flagged as most vulnerable to financial crypto crime. The new measures were mentioned in Binance Australia’s June quarter Economic, Social, and Governance (ESG) report on Aug. 29, which noted that the exchange was working on a “stringent and user-focused onboarding experience” aimed at groups with a higher occurrence of financial crime. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Binance Aus CEO Leigh Travers and Zachary Lu from the exchange’s Financial Crime, Risk and Compliance unit, noted the company has been actively working on ways …

Bitcoin whales: who are the largest BTC holders? Satoshi Nakamoto has more than 1 million BTC, making him the largest Bitcoin holder. He is followed by the founders of Grayscale and Binance, who together have about the same amount of BTC as Satoshi Nakamoto. When looking at the largest Bitcoin holders, there are a few parties that stand out. Of course, Satoshi Nakamoto, with a total of 1,100,000 BTC, has more significant holdings than number two and three holders of Bitcoin, namely Grayscale and Binance. These companies have over 600,000 BTC and 400,000 BTC, respectively, numbers that most Bitcoin investors …

Major crypto exchange Binance has confirmed it restricted account access to $1 million in crypto for a Tezos tool contributor after being called out on social media. In a Thursday Twitter thread, Binance said it had restricted the account of Tezos staking rewards auditor Baking Bad “as the result of a law enforcement request.” The Tezos contributor alleged that the crypto exchange had blocked access to its corporate account containing Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Polgyon (MATIC), Tether (USDT) and other tokens since July 1 “without any explanations” — a claim Binance denied. “BakingBad is well aware of [Binance’s actions], as …

XRP price saw a major spike on Aug. 26, hinting at a possible effect from some big traders. Large XRP transfers, Ripple Swell Global event Notably, XRP's price jumped 6% to $0.37, a two-week high, during the early London hours. The token's upside move occurred hours after its network processed three massive transfers worth $51 million involving crypto exchanges Bitso and FTX, as highlighted by Whale Alert. XRP's gains also came as a part of a broader upside move that started on Aug. 25, a day after Ripple announced its flagship event, "Ripple Swell Global," to be held in London …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will suspend deposits and withdrawals of Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 tokens during the blockchain's transition to its proof-of-stake (PoS) Beacon chain in September. The world's largest exchange by transaction volume announced the move in a bid to provide stability during ‘The Merge’ which is touted to take place in mid-September 2022. Binance becomes the second major exchange to announce the suspension of ETH deposits and withdrawals, following Coinbase earlier in August 2022. According to an announcement from Binance, the exchange is timing suspensions with two important upgrades that will facilitate Ethereum’s switch from proof-of-work (PoW) to PoS. …