Daily News | CZ Confessed and Resigned; A Blue Whale Sold All BTC Before the Crash; Multiple Orders’ Liquidation in Crypto Network Was Nearly $200M in the Past 24H

Crypto Daily Digest: CZ Confesses and Resigns, A Blue Whale Sells All Bitcoins Before a Crash

According to Bloomberg, Binance Holdings Limited and its CEO CZ have admitted criminal charges of money laundering and violating US sanctions, including allowing transactions with Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Binance agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay a fine exceeding $4.3 billion. CZ agreed to resign and pay a fine of $50 million.

In a document released on Tuesday, Binance was charged with three counts, including violating money laundering regulations, conspiring to carry out unlicensed transfer business, and violating US sanctions. Binance will pay a criminal fine of $1.8 billion and be confiscated of $2.5 billion. The $4.3 billion fine includes $3.4 billion paid to the Financial Crime Enforcement Network of the US Treasury Department and $968 million paid to the Treasury Department’s sanctions department.

The US Treasury Department stated that the violations of Binance include the failure to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. According to court documents, Binance allowed at least 1.1 million related transactions, totaling over $898 million, involving Iranian customers.

US Treasury Secretary Yellen stated in a press release that “Binance has turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profits. Binance chooses to prioritize growth rather than complying with US legal requirements. Binance completed billions of dollars in transactions without collecting necessary customer information or monitoring transactions.” CZ will also face up to 10 years in prison. His lawyer stated in court on Tuesday that his verdict will be postponed for six months.

The judge stated during the plea hearing that CZ’s settlement agreement includes waiving his right to appeal, provided that his sentence does not exceed 18 months.

In addition, the US Treasury Department will retain access to Binance’s books, records, and s for five years.

According to a statement by the US Treasury Department, to ensure that Binance complies with its settlement terms, including not providing services to Americans, and to ensure that illegal activities are resolved, the Treasury Department will retain access to Binance’s books, records, and s through supervisors for a period of five years.

If Binance fails to fulfill these obligations, it may face additional significant fines, including a suspended fine of $150 million. If it fails to comply with the required compliance commitments and regulatory provisions, FinCEN will charge this fine.

The inspector will oversee necessary remedial measures to address Binance’s failure to comply with anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations. The regulatory agency will also conduct regular reviews and report its findings and recommendations to FinCEN, OFAC, and CFTC to ensure Binance continues to comply with the terms of the settlement protocol.

It is understood that CZ has been released for paying a personal guarantee of $175 million, and the sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9:00 Pacific time on February 23, 2024 (1:00 Beijing time on February 24).

CZ’s release clause prohibits him from violating the law, flirting with witnesses or victims, or taking any over-the-counter controlled drugs, which is a normal rule in bail. CZ was allowed to leave the United States and stated that he must return 14 days before sentencing. Bloomberg reported that CZ’s sentence is expected to not exceed 18 months.

Caroline Pham, a member of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated that in addition to the fines imposed on Binance and CZ, if a federal judge approves the proposed settlement plan, former Binance Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim will also pay a fine of $1.5 million. He is also prohibited from serving as an unregistered futures broker or operating any illegal crypto derivative platform. Caroline Pham stated that this is the first time CFTC has pursued personal responsibility with compliance utives.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, a blue whale sold all 636 BTCs (approximately $23.46 million) before the US Department of Justice announced a major crypto enforcement action. The giant whale address previously earned over $40 million in BTC by buying low and selling high.

Impacted by the above events, Coinglass data shows that over the past 24 hours, the crypto market’s entire network contract liquidation reached $231 million, with a total of 96943 people liquidated.

Among them, multiple orders’ liquidation is $190 million, and short orders’ liquidation is $41.7498 million. By currency, BTC’s liquidation is approximately $64.9583 million, accounting for the largest proportion. ETH’s liquidation is approximately $269.775 million, SOL’s liquidation is approximately $11.252 million, BNB‘s liquidation is approximately $6.0435 million, and XRP‘s liquidation is approximately $5.9157 million.

There was FTT before, and Binance after. Although the backgrounds of the incidents on the two platforms were different, the final outcome was the same, which was to be more compliant and serve global users under strict regulatory frameworks.

We believe that future trading platforms such as Gate.io will also be more responsible and compliant, because only in this way will users be more confident in keeping their funds on the platform.

Today’s Main Token Trends

BTC

Yesterday’s attempted upward movement in the early morning was unsuccessful, and with a prevailing bearish sentiment in the overall market, there is a continued downward trend below the $36,000 support level. It is crucial to note that the four-hour chart has formed a head and shoulders pattern, with a key support level at $36,000. If it falls below $34,795, it may mark the end of this year’s bullish trend, ushering in a medium-term trend correction. It is advisable to monitor the stability of the white dashed upward trend line.

ETH

The four-hour chart has successfully broken through a largely downward trend, forming an M-shaped structure in the short term with ongoing consolidation and fluctuations. If a bearish structure is established, it may test the $1,857 support level for a second time. Aggressive bearish positions can be continued, but attention should be paid to maintaining upward pressure. The bullish trend continues to monitor whether it pulls back to the $2,037 neckline. Failure to hold this level this month may indicate a medium-term correction trend.

BNB

In the past 24 hours, there have been four occurrences of doji candlestick patterns. With the secondary market sentiment spreading, the four-hour chart precisely hit the resistance level at $267.5, the expected high point for the year. After touching the long-term downward trend line, there was a substantial volume-driven pullback. If the short-term does not recover to $246, a medium-term bearish trend may emerge, with interim bearish targets at $183.7 and $118.8.

Macro: Slow progress in reducing inflation, the Federal Reserve may still raise interest rates again

On Tuesday, as the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting indicated that the Fed would maintain a restrictive policy for the long term, the US dollar index stopped falling. It briefly fell to a new low since August 31, 103.17, during the session. Later, it recovered most of its losses and turned higher during the US session, ultimately closing 0.16% higher at 103.60. US bond yields have fallen slightly. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell to 4.398%; The two-year US Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to the Federal Reserve’s policy interest rates, failed to stabilize above 4.9%, and ultimately closed at 4.883%.

Spot gold rose significantly during the day, breaking the $2,000 mark during the US session and reaching the intraday high of $2,007.63, but failed to stabilize at this point and ultimately closed up 1.02% at $1,998.31 per ounce; Spot silver briefly broke through the $24 barrier within the day, but failed to stabilize here, ultimately closing up 1.3% at $23.74 per ounce.

After rising for two consecutive days, the two oils took a breather. WTI crude oil remained above $77 and ended up 0.22% higher at $77.78 per barrel; Brent crude oil recovered some of its losses during the US session and turned higher, ultimately rising 0.55% to $82.42 per barrel.

The three major US stock indices collectively closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.18% lower, the Nasdaq down 0.59%, and the S&P 500 Index down 0.2%. Tesla (TSLA. O) closed up over 2%, while INVIDIA (NVDA.O) and Microsoft (MSFT. O) fell 1%.

The Federal Reserve released the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting from October 31 to November 1, during which participants discussed the development of financial markets, expectations for monetary policy, and the development of the money market. The minutes indicate that participants believe that in order to achieve the goal of maximizing employment and maintaining inflation at 2% in the long term, they agree to maintain the target range of the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%.

All FOMC members agree to “exercise caution” on interest rate issues and agree that it is appropriate to maintain a restrictive monetary policy for a period of time until inflation clearly drops significantly toward the target. If the information received suggests insufficient progress in achieving inflation targets, it is appropriate to further tighten the currency.

Nick Timiraos, a journalist regarded as the “mouthpiece” of the Federal Reserve and known as the “New Federal Reserve News Agency,” commented that when the recent meeting decided to suspend interest rate hikes, Federal Reserve officials were unwilling to conclude that they had completed the hike. But the minutes suggest that officials may be willing to keep interest rates unchanged for at least this year.