Bitcoin, other cryptos fall as US sues Binance; US stocks rise as banks stabilize
Bitcoin fell in trading on Tuesday morning in Asia along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies after US regulators filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, alleging violations of trading rules. XRP was the only token to get. U.S. stocks rose on Monday as the government extended support to troubled banks and First Citizens Bank said it would buy failed Silicon Valley Bank.
Bitcoin fell 3.84% to US$26,935 in the 24 hours to 09:00 in Hong Kong as details of the lawsuit against Binance emerged. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is down 3.53% in the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data. Despite the drop, the token is up 62.7% year-to-date.
Ethereum fell 4.09% to USD 1,707, for a weekly loss of 2.67%.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, for allegedly violating derivatives rules, adding to the growing tension between US regulators and crypto exchanges.
The lawsuit alleges that Binance’s senior management actively facilitated violations of US law, including aiding and abetting customers located in the US to avoid compliance checks.
In response to the lawsuit, Zhao tweeted the number “4”, a reference to his January 2nd chirpingwhere he said “4” means “ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc.”
BNB, the native token of Bianca’s ecosystem, fell 5.74% to $309.96, losing 7.27% in the past seven days.
XRP was the only top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrency to gain in the last 24 hours, jumping 5.49% to US$0.4735 for a gain of 24.95% on the week. The token has risen on expectations that Ripple Labs, whose crypto payment network is powered by XRP, may prevail in a lawsuit filed against the company by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The case – the SEC accuses Ripple of selling an unregistered security in the form of XRP – has been ongoing for more than two years and is expected to end in the middle of this year. Ripple Labs president Monica Long told CNBC last week that she was optimistic the court would rule in the company’s favor.
Crypto firms are seeking to build new banking relationships following the recent collapse of US crypto-friendly banks, and have been welcomed by some regional banks, including Pennsylvania-based Customers Bancorp, and Ohio-based Fifth Third Bancorp, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday.
In a similar move, Chinese banks with branches in Hong Kong are reportedly offering financial services to crypto firms as the city seeks to become a hub for the digital asset industry in Asia.
The total crypto market cap fell 3.35% in the last 24 hours to $1.13 trillion. Total trading volume in the last 24 hours rose 35.24% to 42.55 billion USD.
In the non-fungible token (NFT) market, the Forkast 500 NFT index fell 0.60% in the last 24 hours to 4,009.66 as of 09:00 in Hong Kong, and was down 3.15% for the week. The index is a proxy measure of the performance of the global NFT market and includes 500 eligible smart contracts on a given day. It is managed by Forkast’s sister company, CryptoSlam.
U.S. stocks closed mixed higher on Monday as the government sought to stabilize the banking system and expand an emergency lending facility, according to a Bloomberg report on Sunday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.60%, the S&P 500 rose 0.16%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.47%.
Shares of beleaguered First Republic Bank rose 11.81% on Monday, but were still down nearly 90% from the start of the month, according to data from Yahoo Finance.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Monday it had agreed with First Citizens Bancshares to buy the failed Silicon Valley Bank.
U.S. stocks could be headed for another bullish day on Tuesday as stock futures rose at 09.00 in Hong Kong. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.10% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.12% and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.18%.
On the inflation front, the Federal Reserve will meet on May 3 to make its next move on interest rates. Analysts at CME Group expect a 58.3% chance that the Fed will keep interest rates at 4.75% to 5%. The chance of another 25 basis point increase is 41.7%, up from 16.8% on Monday.
The Fed last week reaffirmed its long-term goal of keeping annual inflation below 2%. The US consumer price index (CPI) rose 6% year-on-year in February, down from 6.4% in January, but still well above the target.
