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Major coins traded in the red on Monday evening after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao for allegedly offering unregistered cryptocurrency derivatives products to U.S. clients in violation of federal law.

What Happened: Apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD plummeted to $26,525, its lowest point since March 17.

At the time of writing, the global crypto market capitalization stood at $1.13 trillion, a decrease of 2.84% over the last day.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday afternoon as investors welcomed the news that First Citizens BancShares would be acquiring most of the business of Silicon Valley Bank. The S&P 500 was up a modest 0.16%, and the Nasdaq, which is heavily focused on tech companies, was up 0.34%.

See More: Best Crypto Day Trading Strategies

News Highlights: According to data from Coinglass, over $39 million worth of long BTC positions were liquidated as a result of the CFTC lawsuit against Binance news.

CFTC proclaimed that several cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tetherand Binance USD are commodities. This news came as a surprise to traders who had presumed these cryptos were securities, as suggested earlier by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler.

MicroStrategy MSTR on Monday said it invested another 6,455 Bitcoin at an average price of $23,238 per coin over the last five weeks, bringing its total number of coins held to 91,579.

Analyst Notes: As we approach Bitcoin halving, which is due in May 2024, we can expect Bitcoin to touch $30,000 as a short-term price target. The price appreciation across crypto assets will encourage users to create fresh positions and accumulate more digital assets. The overall outlook is looking positive and current momentum may sustain if macroeconomic factors remain favourable in the coming weeks, said Dhruvil Shah, SVP of Technology at Liminal, a wallet infrastructure and custody platform.

Pseudonymous crypto analyst Rekt Capital said BTC is about to form its first "Bullish Engulfing Quarterly Candlesince Spring/Summer 2020. This could be an exceptionally special market event, as a Bullish Engulfing Candle signifies the potential start of a long-term uptrend.

The latest data from Santiment reveals that Ethereum is now being held in self-custody away from exchanges at the highest level since the token was introduced nearly 8 years ago. Over 10.31% of ETH is now held on exchanges, indicating serious confidence from long-term holders - an essential all-time low.

Read Next: Web3 Token Surpasses Bitcoin, Ethereum In Weekly Gains With 33% Surge On Microsoft Tie-Up

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Slide After CFTC Lawsuit Against Binance: Analyst Expects Apex Crypto To Touch $30K If ... - Benzinga

The leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Binance, and its CEO Changpeng Zhao were sued Monday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The U.S. regulator alleged that Zhao and his company violated trading and derivatives rules, according to a lawsuit filed by the CFTC in a Chicago federal court.

The two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ethereum, fell on the news, according to CoinGecko. Over the past hour, Bitcoin had fallen 3.3% to $26,800, and Ethereum had stumbled 2.9% to under $1,700.

Zhao responded to the lawsuit's announcement by tweeting 4, alluding to a tweet he made in January that connects the number to Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc.

The lawsuit alleges that Binance has operated a facility for trading digital asset derivatives in the U.S. since at least July 2019, allowing residents to trade futures, swaps, and options on cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Binance also made attempts to grow its footprint in the U.S. despite claims that the exchange would prevent U.S. residents from accessing Binances platform, the lawsuit claims.

Binance has taken a calculated, phased approach to increase its United States presence despite publicly stating its purported intent to block or restrict customers located in the United States from accessing its platform, it states.

Though Binance, Zhao, and other employees at the exchange knew they were required to register Binance with the CFTC after soliciting customers in the U.S., the lawsuit claims they have all chosen to ignore those requirements and undermined Binances ineffective compliance program.

One of the ways that Binance undermined its compliance program was by having its officers, employees, and agents assist users in using a virtual private network (VPN) to obscure their location. CNBC reported last week that the exchange played a role in helping people bypass restrictions in China to access the exchange.

The lawsuit went on to claim that Binances reluctance to disclose the location of its executive offices is reflective of the exchanges attempts to avoid regulation. It states that Binance failed to comply with laws designed to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

Binance has never been registered with the CFTC in any capacity and has disregarded federal laws essential to the integrity and vitality of the U.S. financial markets, the lawsuit states. Unless restrained and enjoined by this Court, Defendants are likely to continue to engage in the acts and practices alleged in this Complaint.

The lawsuit includes messages sent via the encrypted messaging app Signal that were collected from Zhaos telephone. It added that Zhao instructed Binance representatives to use Signal to communicate with customers based in the U.S.

The defendants own emails and chats reflect that Binances compliance efforts have been a sham and Binance deliberately choseover and overto place profits over following the law, acting director of the division of enforcement at the CFTC Gretchen Lowe said in a press release. The CFTC and its Enforcement Division will pursue those digital asset platforms and individuals who flout and actively attempt to circumvent CFTC regulatory requirements.

As part of its lawsuit, the CFTC seeks to compel Binance to repay allegedly ill-gotten gains that stem from the misconduct it is accused of. It also wants Binance to pay civil penalties and accept bans on trading as well as its ability to register within the U.S.

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Bitcoin, Ethereum Fall as CFTC Sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao - Decrypt

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin says the strength of the crypto ecosystem has never been better or stronger. He believes more clarity from regulators would be helpful for the crypto industry. I think our industry has suffered from having two major factions lumped into one: the money-crypto faction and the tech-crypto faction, he explained.

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin discussed the state of the crypto ecosystem, regulation, and whether ether (ETH) is a security in an interview with CNBC last Wednesday.

The strength of our ecosystem has never been better or stronger, he began. While noting that There are certainly headwinds some microeconomic, financial headwinds out in the world, as well as banking issues for a small number of companies in the crypto space, he emphasized: The sizes of the conferences that are going on in Paris and Denver and Los Angeles have never been bigger. The Ethereum co-founder added:

Once the builders come into our ecosystem to build essentially an alternative economy, they dont leave. The speculators run in and they run out, but the building has never been better.

Commenting on why the prices of bitcoin and ether have been rising, he said: Because theyre sound. Bitcoin is sound money. Ether is ultrasound money the development, the use cases, the usability, the scalability in the Ethereum ecosystem its never been better. Its accelerating. Lubin also noted that the possibility of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates less aggressively in the future has helped boost the prices of cryptocurrencies. Its an inflation hedge, he stressed.

Regarding cryptocurrency regulation and the aggressive enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Ethereum co-founder opined:

I think more clarity, being more explicit would be helpful to our industry. I think our industry has suffered from having two major factions lumped into one: the money crypto faction and the tech crypto faction, which is just building decentralized protocols infrastructure.

While noting that Money crypto absolutely should be regulated and Money crypto people issued tokens that are rightly seen as securities, he argued: Tech crypto people are just technologists. We are just building infrastructure that the traditional economy can use, and our economy can use, and you dont want to regulate innovation.

Lubin also commented on regulators alleging that ether is a security. Responding to the claim made by the New York Attorney General in its lawsuit against crypto exchange Kucoin that ETH is a security, the Ethereum co-founder said: Anybody can say anything, it doesnt make it true.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has stated several times that all crypto tokens besides bitcoin are securities because theres a group in the middle and the public is anticipating profits based on that group. Lubin argued:

People buy barrels of oil with the expectation of profit.

When asked whether he is confident that ether is not a security, the Ethereum co-founder replied: I dont think theres any point to speculate on something that is extremely unlikely.

There are differing opinions among U.S. regulators about whether ether should be classified as a security. SEC Chair Gensler believes that ETH is a security, while the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has stated multiple times that it is a commodity. However, both regulators agree that bitcoin is a commodity.

What do you think about the statements by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin? Let us know in the comments section below.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Ethereum Co-Founder Says Crypto Ecosystem Has Never Been Better or Stronger Regulation Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Ripple XRP/USDwas up 5% in the past 24 hours despite a negative day for Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD, as news of the Commodities and Future Trade Commission, orCFTC, filing a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao spreads.

What Happened: XRP Network is witnessing a surge in popularity, with its social dominance reaching its highest point in a year. This resulted in XRP soaring above $0.49 for the first time since Nov.6, 2022,according to the Santiment data tracker.

See Also: Top Indian Apps That Give Bitcoin, NFT Rewards

The data analytics platform said that increased crowd recognition for XRP has driven greater volatility in prices, fueled by an influx of greater trading volume and mainstream attention.

At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.47. The trading volume of XRP has increased by 55% reaching $2.1 billion in the last 24 hours, according to LunarCrush Data.

In the past 24 hours, data from CoinGlass reveals that a staggering $7.65 million worth of XRP was liquidated.

Overall 52,674 traders were liquidated inthe past 24 hours, with the total liquidations standing at $149.92 million.

Price Action: BTC was trading at $26,966, down 3.50%. ETH at $1,713 down 3.07% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Read Next: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Slide After CFTC Lawsuit Against Binance: Analyst Expects Apex Crypto To Touch $30K If Macroeconomics Remains Favorable

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Ripple Soars 5% As Social Sentiment Peaks Even As Bitcoin, Ethereum Sink - Benzinga

gopixa

While ethereum (ETH-USD) remains the dominant blockchain in decentralized finance (DeFi), the adoption and usage of the operating system could retreat if it's unable to boost transaction speed, according to a recent note from Bank of America.

We view Ethereums long-term viability as dependent on its ability to fulfill the vision laid out in its road map, which includes implementing sharding architecture to expand its throughput capacity significantly, analyst Alkesh Shah wrote.

In the cryptocurrency world, throughput is a metric that measures how many transactions a blockchain can process per second. So, if ether's (ETH-USD) throughput isn't increased, then application developers will likely tap other blockchains to build on, he contended. So-called sharding refers to the splitting of the blockchain into smaller pieces, or "shards," to support a larger number of users.

The solana (SOL-USD) blockchain, meantime, can complete "way more transactions per second than Ethereum," Bradley Duke, co-CEO at digital asset investment firm ETC Group, told Seeking Alpha via email. But the former "has not gained greater market share of DeFi because far more people trust Ethereum to run smoothly, stay secure and keep its state data in sync than they do for Solana.

BofA's Shah explained that the smart contract-enabled platform of ether (ETH-USD) gave the blockchain a "first-mover advantage as developers building applications gravitated to it." That, in turn, led to network effects, he added, as the number of decentralized applications and users both expanded. Smart contracts are programs stored on a blockchain that automate certain actions required in an agreement (think of if-then logic).

All in, the ecosystem's early success "became a double-edged sword as the number of transactions became so large that network congestion occurred," driving up average transaction fees.

Ether (ETH-USD), changing hands at $1.76K as of Friday afternoon, has shot up 45.5% since the start of 2023 after enduring one of its worst years on record. From a year ago, the token was still down 44%, battered by a series of high-profile bankruptcies in the industry, increased regulatory scrutiny and economic uncertainty.

See why SA contributor Dhierin Bechai thinks ETH is a Buy.

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Ethereum is at risk of losing its dominant status in DeFi here's why (ETH-USD) - Seeking Alpha