Latest news with #Binance
Express Tribune
9 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Bitcoin Strategic Reserve
Listen to article Pakistan's recent announcement of a state-backed Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is the latest in a series of major shifts in global crypto policy and is earning simultaneous praise and consternation. Though the policy change comes on the heels of the US setting up its own strategic crypto reserve — the largest in the world — the US reserve has been populated with only recovered and seized crypto, and the country has been clear that it does not intend to get involved in mining. Pakistan, on the other hand, must learn from the experiences of El Salvador, which became the first country to fully legalise crypto in 2021 and the first to have a crypto-induced economic crash a year later. Despite Bitcoin having recovered its price since El Salvador has had to scale back crypto purchases and mining to meet the terms of an IMF bailout that was necessitated by the failure of crypto to help improve its teetering economy, which advocates had promised was a sure thing — something that should ring familiar for Pakistanis. Our Bitcoin czar, Bilal Bin Saqib, recently said assets would "never, ever be sold" as a long-term bet on decentralised finance. While this may help a country benefit from price appreciation in the long run, Pakistan's foreign reserves are often little more than pocket change, leaving little wiggle room to spend on crypto without sacrificing elsewhere. Also, Bilal skipped over the point that Bitcoin is still technically illegal in Pakistan under SBP and SECP rules. The pivot to crypto is a high-stakes gamble which, if executed transparently, could attract foreign investment and foster financial inclusion. But the current approach feels more like a technocratic fantasy, that could prove to be two steps back for the economy and a great leap forward for corruption. After all, the Bitcoin advisors include Binance, which does business with the children and companies of President Trump, and World Liberty Financial, which is majority-owned by the Trump family and includes investors who faced fraud charges until the Trump administration dropped the cases against them. Or maybe that is the goal — investors have dropped billions into Trump-owned crypto products. Most of that money will end up in the Trump family's pockets, while the investors have seen benefits ranging from pardons to favourable White House policies.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin price today: dips to $105k as Trump tariff uncertainty spurs profit-taking
Bitcoin retreated on Friday, extending a recent decline from record highs as heightened uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs spurred sustained profit-taking in crypto. The world's largest crypto was set for mild weekly losses, as it retreated from last week's peaks. More corporate buying action failed to lift prices, after Gamestop announced it had purchased over $500 million worth of coins. Positive regulatory developments also offered limited support, as the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was dropping its lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance. Bitcoin fell 1.8% to $105,580 by 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT). Bitcoin faced extended profit-taking this week after it raced to a record high of over $111,000 last week. Risk appetite was dented by vastly contrasting signals on Trump's tariff plans. An appeals court ruled on Thursday to temporarily allow Trump's tariff agenda, after a federal trade court ruled to block his tariffs earlier this week. Trump lashed out against the judges involved in the trade court decision, and said he hoped that the Supreme Court will back his tariffs. But analysts warned that prolonged legal sparring over Trump's tariffs only stood to increase market uncertainty over their impact. Concerns over the economic impact of Trump's tariffs were a key weight on risk-driven assets this year, especially as a swathe of economic data pointed to U.S. weakness. But this notion was marginally offset by a revised reading on first quarter gross domestic product, which showed the U.S. economy shrank slightly less than initially estimated. The U.S. SEC on Thursday voluntarily dismissed its civil lawsuit against Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, reflecting a shift at the regulator from new management under the Trump administration. The SEC dropped its case against Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao with prejudice, meaning that it cannot pursue the case again. The regulator, under former Chair Gary Gensler, had sued Binance and Zhao in June 2023 on allegations of artificially inflation trading volumes, diverting customer funds, and unlawfully facilitating the trading of several crypto tokens that should have been registered as securities. The case was separate from Binance's November 2023 guilty plea, which saw the exchange slapped with a $4.32 billion penalty for violating federal anti money laundering laws. Zhao had served a four-month sentence in prison. Binance's token, BNB, showed little reaction to the SEC news, falling 1.1% to $674.20. Piper Sandler came away from the 2025 Bitcoin conference with a more upbeat view on the momentum building across Bitcoin and digital assets. The broker highlighted several key developments that could accelerate broader adoption, particularly among traditional financial institutions. One major theme was the expected passage of stablecoin legislation in the U.S., which Piper said 'will likely be a stepping stone for market structure legislation and could set off a domino effect of Bitcoin/digital asset adoption among traditional financial firms.' The firm also noted that corporate interest in holding Bitcoin on balance sheets is stronger than previously assumed. Other takeaways included the growing push to tokenize traditional financial assets to improve liquidity and efficiency, as well as increasing investor demand for Bitcoin-linked products. Piper analysts pointed to innovations like Bitcoin-backed bonds and gold-protected Bitcoin funds, and observed that MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy is inspiring 'copycats.' On the political front, both Senator JD Vance and Senator Cynthia Lummis reiterated their support for establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve. Losses in Bitcoin spilled over into broader crypto markets. World no.2 crypto Ether fell roughly 3% to $2,584.70, while XRP fell 5% to $2.17. Solana and Cardano dipped 5% and 5.5%, respectively, while Polygon shed 4.7%. Among meme tokens, Dogecoin plunged 8.7%, while $TRUMP slid 7.5%. (Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.) Related articles Bitcoin price today: dips to $105k as Trump tariff uncertainty spurs profit-taking What's next for Bitcoin? Analysts react to Trump Media's $2.5B Treasury plan Stablecoin firm Circle targets $6.71B valuation in New York IPO Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Binance founder applies for presidential pardon
In a recent interview and a candid conversation from the immediate post-TOKEN2049, Binance founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao said he has asked President Trump for a pardon—and that's because he genuinely believes President Trump is crypto's best chance at real institutional support. In one of his first public appearances since spending time in prison due to Binance's legal settlement, CZ looked back at what it was like to see Trump's pro-crypto stance from behind bars. 'I certainly wouldn't mind one [a pardon],' he said, 'I got lawyers applying… we only applied two weeks ago after the Bloomberg article.' While CZ said he's never communicated with Trump personally, he added, 'He's pro-crypto. Not just talking — he actually is. This will be a good guy for our industry.' He also weighed in on Trump's contentious tariff policy, characterizing it more as a practice of business than as traditional geopolitical calculus. 'Trump understands business… It's not typical geopolitical negotiation, it's business-style negotiation,' CZ continued. Asked if he would return as chief executive of Binance, CZ was unequivocal 'I don't think I'll go back to Binance as a CEO. There are strong leaders in the company. The company's been running well for the last year and a half without much involvement from me,' and that he is a shareholder. When asked about the future of crypto markets, CZ forecast that the whole crypto market cap would be worth $5 trillion by the end of the year. As for Bitcoin, CZ believes Bitcoin will reach 'somewhere between $500K to a million'. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
SEC drops Binance lawsuit
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. The Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its 2023 lawsuit against Binance, its U.S. affiliate and its founder Changpeng Zhao Thursday, continuing its trend of vacating lawsuits against cryptocurrency firms filed by the SEC of yesteryear. This brings to an end a nearly two-year legal battle, in which the SEC accused the crypto exchange of illegally serving high-value U.S. customers and commingling and diverting customer funds. Under the leadership of then-Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC filed numerous lawsuits against crypto firms such as Binance, accusing them of, among other things, offering unregistered securities. But the SEC of today, led by Chair Paul Atkins, has done an about-face, dropping cases against Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple and Robinhood, and hosting industry roundtables with its new crypto task force. 'The dismissal of the SEC's case against Binance is a landmark moment. We're deeply grateful to Chairman Paul Atkins and the Trump administration for recognizing that innovation can't thrive under regulation by enforcement. The U.S. is back - leading from the front in the future of blockchain,' a Binance spokesperson told Banking Dive via email. A spokesperson for the exchange's U.S. affiliate, said the dismissal 'confirm[s] what we have always known—that the company did not violate U.S. securities laws.' The dismissal, a major milestone, allows to 'work on restoring our relationships that were impacted by the SEC,' the spokesperson said. The SEC had no further comment beyond its litigation release. Prior to the SEC lawsuit, Binance and Zhao were sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over compliance 'evasion,' and in late 2023 the Justice Department charged Zhao with violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He pleaded guilty to the charge, paid a $50 million fine and was sentenced to four months in federal prison in 2024. The abandonment of the SEC's lawsuit against Binance comes one week after the international crypto exchange, the world's largest by trading volume, announced it would list World Liberty Financial USD on May 22. WLF is owned by the family of President Donald Trump, and was created two months before Trump won the presidential election. Trump, a former crypto skeptic, is involved in the crypto sector through WLF and the more recent launch of his meme coin. He has laid out his intentions to make the U.S. 'the crypto capital of the planet' through executive orders and the nomination of several crypto-friendly regulators, including Atkins. Amanda Fischer, policy director and chief operations officer of financial policy group Better Markets, said that the SEC ending its legal pursuit of Binance 'marks a new low in the SEC's already disgraceful recent history of surrendering in crypto cases, regardless of the merits and even when the agency is winning in court.' 'By dropping all charges notwithstanding prevailing in the early stages of the litigation, the SEC is dangerously sullying its own reputation,' Fischer said. 'In an almost comical admission, Binance's own Chief Compliance Officer confessed in private chats that the firm was 'operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.' And while the Department of Justice's previous case against Binance and CZ resulted in a minimalist charge not nearly commensurate with the harm caused, it is even more shocking that the SEC has surrendered even though the Binance founder has already admitted to myriad violations and spent time in jail for those crimes.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Binance walks free but crypto's future still hangs on politics
Binance walks free but crypto's future still hangs on politics originally appeared on TheStreet. [From the Editor's desk] Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, just walked out of one of the biggest crypto lawsuits in U.S. history, clean. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially dropped its case against the exchange and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, bringing a messy, drawn-out legal fight to a quiet end. On paper, it's a massive win for Binance. But zoom out a bit, and the picture gets more complicated. For the industry, this is a relief. A big one. But it's also a reminder that just because the storm is passing doesn't mean the skies are clear. Let's rewind. Back in June 2023, the SEC came down hard on Binance, accusing the platform of operating illegally, commingling customer funds, and basically playing fast and loose with U.S. securities laws. It wasn't a great look, especially after Binance's global entity admitted to anti-money laundering violations and paid a jaw-dropping $4.3 billion fine. Zhao even got a four-month sentence. So yeah, this week's court filing? Big deal. The SEC dropped the case. immediately posted that this proves what they've always said: they didn't break U.S. securities they're talking growth, trust, and 'getting back to business.' But here's the thing — getting let off the hook doesn't erase the past two years. The lawsuits, the reputational hits, the lost partnerships, those scars don't just vanish overnight. Well, a lot, actually. Gensler is out. The SEC now has a new crypto task force, a new chair (Paul Atkins), and a new approach, one that's less about 'regulation by enforcement' and more about creating an actual rulebook for crypto. That's a huge shift. And yes, it's coming under Trump's administration. Love him or hate him, Trump has been good for crypto prices. Bitcoin has shot up more than 50% since his win. Vice President JD Vance is endorsing Bitcoin at conferences. And the shift is real—regulators seem more willing to work with the industry than against it. But let's not kid ourselves. Just because the SEC backed off this time doesn't mean everything's fixed. Gensler's crackdown did real damage. Builders fled. Banks shut their doors. Token listings dried up. And trust? Still shaky. Here's where things get a little murky. Reports surfaced earlier this year that Trump's family members were exploring investing in the U.S. arm of Binance. There were even whispers that Zhao was seeking a pardon. He later confirmed it. If crypto's fate in the U.S. depends on who's in office, we're not building a stable future. We're just playing a different kind of game. Regulation has to be bigger than politics. Otherwise, the industry's just one election away from getting back to the square said, this is a massive opportunity. The SEC stepping back gives the U.S. crypto industry room to breathe. Room to build. Room to finally show that it can grow responsibly, without regulators breathing down its neck. gets a second chance. So does the rest of the industry. But this time, the burden's on crypto to show it can play it straight: protect users, follow rules, and actually earn back the trust it lost. Because yeah, beating the SEC is a big deal. But it's not the end of the story, it's just the end of the first chapter. And if crypto really wants to win in America, this is where the hard part walks free but crypto's future still hangs on politics first appeared on TheStreet on May 30, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on May 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
