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Binance Will Halt These 39 Liquidity Mining Pools This Week

On Sunday, Binance announced that it will halt 39 liquidity mining pools this week following the latest assessment. As a result of a supposed failure to pass this assessment, these 39 liquidity pools are expected to stop operating on September 1, 2023.

Liquidity Pools Stopped By Binance

This decision was made due to the platform’s recent liquidity mining performance. The announcement said Binance Liquid Swap will “periodically review listed liquidity pools to concentrate liquidity for our users and ensure optimized trading experience, price and slippage.”

As a result of the most recent review, the 39 liquidity pools listed below are expected to cease operation on Friday: 

ADA/BNB, ALICE/BTC, APE/BTC, AVA/USDT, AVAX/BNB, BTC/TUSD, CHZ /BNB, CHZ/BTC, CTSI/BNB, DOT/BUSD, ENJ/USDT, FIL/BNB, FRONT/BUSD, GALA/BNB, ICP/BNB, ID /BTC, KDA/USDT, LIT/USDT, MATIC/BNB, NEO/BNB, PAXG/USDT, PEPE/USDT, SANTOS/USDT, SUSHI/BNB, SUSHI/BTC, SXP/BNB, SXP/BTC, THETA/BNB, THETA/BTC, TKO/USDT, TLM/USDT, TRX /BNB, TRX/ETH, WBTC/ETH, XMR/ETH, XMR/USDT, XVS/BTC, XVS/USDT, ZEN/USDT.

For now, users will not be able to add liquidity to these liquidity pools from today. However, the liquidity of the liquidity pools listed above will still remain accessible to ensure that users are provided with a trading experience. 

Users will also still be able to redeem and withdraw their assets from the respective pairs on Binance Spot before the closing date on September 1, 2023. User deposits in the liquidity pool will be calculated following the current composition of the respective pool and then it will be converted to the user’s Spot wallet automatically.

According to the announcement, the removal of the liquidity pools listed above will not hinder other trading respective pairs on Binance Spot and users will still be able to trade on other liquidity pools that are currently available on Binance Liquid Swap.

This marks the second time Binance has eliminated liquidity pools this month. On August 9, 2023, Binance also announced that the exchange would stop about 38 liquidity pools on August 18, 2023.

Binance Coin (BNB) price chart from Tradingview.com

Multiple Charges Hinder Binance’s Business

Amid these developments, the Binance crypto exchange continues to deal with regulatory pressures that seem to be affecting its business. Firstly, Visa and Mastercard are slowly cutting their ties with Balance due to the multiple regulatory actions from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the exchange.

One of the allegations brought against Binance is that the exchange has been operating under an unregistered business and misled investors about the company’s risk.

Also, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in May brought multiple charges against the exchange for what it calls a “willful evasion” of US law.

Among the hurdles the exchange is also facing include allegations that the US Department of Justice is looking into the exchange and is considering charging Binance for fraudulent activities.

On August 23, 2023, Binance announced on X (formerly Twitter),  that the exchange’s card known as the Binance Card will no longer be available to users in Latin America and the Middle East.

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MasterCard Axes Partnership With Binance Amid Regulatory Pressures

The crypto space is in pandemonium after MasterCard, a global payment service giant, announced the imminent termination of its services and alliance with the Binance crypto exchange.  

Mastercard To Sever All Ties To Binance

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is facing new challenges that could impact its reputation and growth rate. According to reports, Mastercard will discontinue its services on Binance, ending a years-old relationship and crypto cards programs starting Friday, September 22. 

The reason for the abrupt termination has not been clarified by Mastercard. Some have attributed the news to the recent regulatory challenges and lawsuits Binance has been up against since this year. 

Binance has refrained from making any comments regarding the reason for the suspension or who initiated the decision first. However, the crypto exchange has reassured users around the globe, stating that their Binance accounts are not affected by the news and they can continue their crypto transactions per usual. 

“Binance accounts around the world are not affected. Where available, users can also shop with crypto and send crypto using Binance Pay, a contactless, borderless, and secure cryptocurrency payment technology designed by Binance,” Binance stated.

Mastercard and Binance have been working together as partners for about four years. Around August 2022, they both joined hands to initiate debit card programs for four major countries, allowing users in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Bahrain to have access to cryptocurrency assets via their Mastercards linked to a cryptocurrency wallet. 

Binance first partnered with Mastercard to launch crypto card payments in Brazil and Latin America at the beginning of 2023. The crypto exchange then made a similar announcement and launched prepaid crypto cards in Argentina in August 2022. 

Binance Coin (BNB) price chart from Tradingview.com (MasterCard)

Financial Service Companies Break Away Following SEC Lawsuit

Binance has been in a legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since June when the SEC sued the crypto exchange for allegedly offering unregistered securities. The regulator further attempted to freeze all Binance assets stating that the crypto exchange was operating a “web of deception” and filing 13 charges against Binance. 

Since then, Binance has been facing regulatory hurdles and industry challenges with many companies ending year-long partnerships and the price of BNB declining as a result. 

The cryptocurrency exchange has also ended several projects in the course of a month and carried out massive layoffs following the SEC’s Lawsuits. 

Recently, Binance shut down all cryptocurrency service operations on its official fiat-to-cryptocurrency payments provider, Binance Connect. The cryptocurrency exchange also discontinued its partnership with Checkout.com, a global payment service, after Checkout’s CEO terminated its contract this month.  

Visa, another payment service giant, also cut ties with Binance in July and stopped supplying co-branded cards with Binance in Europe. 

At the moment, it is unsure what the outcome of the SEC and Binance case would be. However, the results will undoubtedly impact the crypto industry and financial sector.

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Is Binance Really Selling Bitcoin To Prop The Price Of BNB?

Crypto exchange Binance has had a tough few months in terms of market news and pressure from regulatory bodies. Just a few days ago, Binance lost another payment processing partner after Checkout.com terminated its contract with the crypto exchange. And now, another rumor that appears to be spreading is that Binance is selling Bitcoin on the spot market to sustain the price of its native token, BNB.

Is Binance Really Selling Its Bitcoin To Buy BNB?

The rumor originated from a post made by @WhaleChart on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that Binance is allegedly selling Bitcoin on the spot market to support the price of its own token, BNB. 

This rumor seems to be gaining ground since the tweet first went live, especially as the price of BNB continues to struggle in the market. This is because as one of the biggest holders of both Bitcoin and BNB, Binance is in a unique position to manipulate the market if it wanted. 

However, this remains only a rumor as there are currently no signs the crypto exchange is manipulating the price for short-term gains in BNB. 

Additionally, data from Coinmarketcap shows that the prices of both cryptocurrencies have been falling together in the past week, with Bitcoin also down by 11.20% in a 7-day timeframe.

This will not be the first time such allegations are being brought against the exchange. Binance has faced similar claims in the past, with crypto analyst JW claiming Binance was selling Bitcoin to prop up the price of BNB in June of this year. 

BNB price chart from Tradingview.com (Binance Bitcoin)

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), however, denied the allegations, dismissing them as an attempt to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). 

Whether or not the theories are true, Binance has surely been under intense scrutiny, but it continues to stand strong as the biggest exchange in the world. 

BNB and other cryptocurrencies that rely on the BEP20 and BEP2 token standards are very dependent on Binance, as news surrounding the exchange has led to price pumps and dumps in the past. But there has been no solid evidence that the exchange has been manipulating the prices of any of these tokens.

The price of BNB has seen a drastic reduction in the past few days as the entire market goes through corrections signaled by BTC falling by more than 8% in a couple of minutes last week. As a result, BNB has seen its price drop to $209.44, a reduction of 12.33% in the past few days. 

To combat a further price drop, the BNB Chain had to manually liquidate a $200 million position on the Venus DEFI protocol, which would have been liquidated after BNB dropped below $220.

At the time of writing, BNB is the fourth biggest crypto with a market cap of $32.2 billion.

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Binance Celebrates Significant Milestone After Six Years In Operation

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has achieved another significant milestone. The firm, which recently turned six, keeps racking up several achievements despite the FUD that has surrounded it in recent times. 

A Worthy Feat For Binance

The world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume has recently disclosed that its registered users now stand at a whopping 150 million. This was revealed in a tweet by its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, on Thursday. 

In the tweet, CZ noted his company’s milestone amidst growing regulatory scrutiny of its operations the world over. However, despite navigating through different challenges, Binance has managed to captivate the interest of several millions of users around the globe. So this is a testament to the platform’s quality service delivery and amazing features. 

Just over a year ago, in July 2022, the exchange’s user base stood at about 120 million. The astonishing growth of 30 million users within the span of just 12 months tells of Binance’s undeniable hold in the constantly evolving cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

A cursory look at the platform’s traffic data for the last three months shows that the top five nations contributing to this spike are Vietnam, India, Russia, Turkey, and Argentina. The increased expansion across various diverse geographies demonstrates the heightened acceptance and penetration of digital currencies. 

Binance Coin (BNB) price chart from Tradingview.com

Navigating Regulatory Challenges

As expected, with growth comes challenges and Binance’s journey has not always been all growth and triumph. The platform has been the subject of various legal challenges across diverse jurisdictions. 

The exchange was recently charged with “will evasion” and fraud by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June this year. In Europe, Binance is under probe by French regulators who accused the platform of engaging in money laundering. It has also been ordered to cease rendering crypto services by Belgium’s financial watchdog. 

In China, the services of the platform are restricted and inaccessible to millions of users within the country. Binance has also withdrawn its license applications and canceled its registration bids in several countries. 

However, Binance has been able to make some gains in recent times. Earlier this month, it restored services in Japan, following the purchase of the local exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) in November 2022. It has also been given a license to render cryptocurrency services in Dubai. 

All these hurdles make the latest milestone not only remarkable but testamentary. The road to 150 million registered users has been paved with various challenges, but Binance has so far emerged victorious and triumphant. 

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Will Binance’s Zero-Fee Trading Help Bitcoin And Ethereum Prices

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, recently added the BTC/FDUSD and ETH/FDUSD trading pairs to its zero-fee trading program. Binance recently listed FDUSD, a 1:1 USD stablecoin on the BNB smart chain issued by Hong Kong-based licensed trust company, First Digital. With the new zero-fee trading program, users can buy and sell supported cryptocurrencies using FDUSD without paying transaction fees. 

Binance Introduces Zero-Fee Trading Program

The zero-fee trading program is part of Binance’s efforts to increase trading volumes between stablecoin pairs. The company currently has a zero-fee bitcoin trading & BUSD zero maker fee promotion for supported stablecoins. With its latest move, Binance is adding FDUSD to the fray of supported stablecoins on both spot & margin trading pairs.

Taker fees are paid when the trade order is executed, while maker fees are paid when users make limit orders. According to the announcement on its blog, starting August 8, users will be able to enjoy zero maker and taker fees on the BTC/FDUSD spot and margin trading pairs. 

Users will also enjoy zero maker fees on all FDUSD spot and margin trading pairs, but takers will continue to pay standard fees based on the existing trading structure. 

The Potential Impact On Prices

Binance’s announcement to waive trading fees could significantly impact the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum. As the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance wields a lot of influence over the crypto market. In the past, Binance’s fee reductions and zero-fee promotions have preceded price pumps and increases in trading volume for the included cryptocurrencies, even if they are only temporary.

Bitcoin, on its own, seems to have found a footing just below $30,000, but the influx of new money and traders could support a higher price push for Bitcoin. The same goes for Ethereum, which is currently ranging around $1,800.

Bitcoin (BTC) price chart from Tradingview.com (Binance)

With no trading fees, investors can also move money in and out of stablecoins freely to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities across exchanges or trade pairs. 

In March, Binance’s decided to implement zero maker and taker fees on the BTC-TUSD. As a result, the TUSD stablecoin surged 10x in trading volume, surpassing $1 billion in less than 24 hours. During this time period, the BTC-TUSD pair on Binance alone exceeded $700 million in trading volume. 

It is unclear when the zero-fee trading promotion will end on the BTC/FDUSD and ETH/FDUSD trading pairs, but it is expected to increase the volume of FDUSD being traded on the exchange.

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Binance To Enter Japan With A Bang, Will List More Tokens Than Any Local Exchange

According to Japanese-based crypto media outlet Coinpost, Binance will launch in Japan fully this month and intends to list 34 tokens on its exchange. This means the platform will offer more tokens than its local competitors in Japan, with major domestic exchanges Bitbank, GMO Coin, and Coincheck listing 30, 36, and 22 tokens, respectively. 

The largest crypto exchange by trading volume intends to list its native BNB token, making this the first time it will be available in the country. Some of the other tokens expected to be listed include Axie Infinity (AXS), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX).

A Remarkable Re-entry

News of the re-entry into Japan was announced by the CEO of Binance via a Twitter video. According to him, the platform has been making efforts to re-enter the Japanese market for a while now. He was effusive with his praises and noted that since 2017, Japan had established crypto exchange regulations, including the recent stablecoin regulations enacted in June. He also stated it was “fantastic to see Japan being a leader in the Web3 regulatory environment.”

He further added that Binance was glad to once again partake in the Japanese market after its purchase of the Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) platform in November last year. Following the acquisition, SEBC changed its name to Binance Japan Inc. 

The purchase of the exchange was instrumental in paving the way for the re-entrance of Binance in Japan. Binance will initially offer sport trading services. However, the exchange will not render leveraged trading services since this will require a Type 1 Financial Instruments Business license, with more restrictive standards. 

Additionally, cryptocurrency users in Japan will also be offered access to Binance Earn, a specially designed program that enables participants to earn interest on their cryptocurrency deposits. The exchange will also render Japanese crypto traders an opportunity to trade on its NFT marketplace.

Binance Coin (BNB) price chart from Tradingview.com

Major Regulatory Win for Binance

This recent announcement marks a major regulatory win for Binance. In the recent past, the platform has faced various regulatory challenges and was recently made to drop its license application in Germany. 

In France, the exchange also faces regulatory investigations, with French authorities accusing Binance of being involved in offering illegal digital assets services and failing to curtail money laundering. 

Therefore, this latest announcement of a re-entry into the Japanese market heralds a major regulatory win for the embattled exchange.

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Dogecoin Bears Unshaken Despite New Trading Pair Addition On Top Exchange

Dogecoin bears dealt a blow on the Shiba Inu-inspired meme-coin yesterday after a sudden Bitcoin rally which saw the alpha coin reclaim the $30,000 price level and instantly crash to previous support levels. Several cryptocurrencies, including DOGE, recorded losses after what looked to be bullish sentiments returned to the market as Bitcoin rallied.

However, today’s trade session looked positive for Dogecoin after a leading cryptocurrency exchange announced the addition of a new trading pair for DOGE. While trading pair additions can boost liquidity and positively impact the trading volume of a cryptocurrency, DOGE is yet to be impacted positively in price.

Binance Exchange Pairs Up Dogecoin With TrueUSD (TUSD)

On Thursday, April 27, 2023, the Binance exchange announced on their website and mobile trading application about the TrueUSD (TUSD) stablecoin addition as a DOGE trading pair.

This addition is programmed to go live tomorrow, April 28, 2023, at 08:00 UTC. However, the Binance spot grid for DOGE/TUSD will be enabled within 48 hours of the trading start time. The TrueUSD(TUSD) team confirmed this development via their official Twitter handle.

Due to this positive announcement and development, Dogecoin has seen some gains and could continue to extend them in the coming days. Trading pair additions to a cryptocurrency can boost liquidity, price growth, and exchange trading volume.

A potential hurdle for the bullish price action could come from Shibetoshi Nakamoto, who took to Twitter to say he does not represent DOGE. Shibetoshi, once again, established some distance between himself and the project, which could be detrimental to the long term due to the founder’s popularity and influence. 

Doge Technical Analysis On The Daily Timeframe

When writing, Dogecoin is trading at $0.079 and stands close to resistance levels on the daily chart timeframe. While Doge rallied and broke resistance yesterday due to Bitcoin’s sharp price movements from sub $27,000 to $30,000, the bullish price action was short-lived.

Today’s trading session turned positive for Dogecoin, forming a bullish candle following the Binance announcement of a new stablecoin trading pair, TrueUSD.

However, Dogecoin is yet to notably move in price as it trades below its immediate resistance level of $0.08.
DOGE, which trades at $0.079 when writing, is on a negative 24-hour price change of -3% and looks to struggle with a price.

Bitcoin’s unstable and sideways movements provide Dogecoin bears more room to impact. However, Dogecoin still has upside potential if Bitcoin picks up momentum.

Dogecoin

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UK Regulators Prohibit Binance, What’s Ahead For The Crypto Exchange?

Binance has been the largest crypto exchange in the whole world. However, although not minding its reputation, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned it from operating in the country.

According to the regulatory body, Binance is no longer permitted to carry out regulated activities in the country from June 30, 2021.

“BINANCE MARKETS LIMITED IS NOT PERMITTED TO UNDERTAKE ANY REGULATED ACTIVITY IN THE U.K.”

British residents who expected to utilize the cryptocurrency exchange platform to engage in derivatives trading may no longer access it. Speaking with CNBC, the Binance spokesperson stated:

“The FCA U.K. notice has no direct impact on the services provided on Binance.com … Our relationship with our users has not changed. We take a collaborative approach in working with regulators and we take our compliance obligations very seriously,” the spokesperson added. “We are actively keeping abreast of changing policies, rules and laws in this new space.”

However, crypto trading might still be possible since such activities are unregulated. But, the financial watchdog has warned the Brits against unregulated players and encourages them to withdraw their assets from such companies.

Apart from the recent UK action, financial regulators in the USA, Japan, and Canada have also been probing the exchange for not complying with regulatory requirements. The US Security and Exchange Commission also took the same action against Binance last April 2021.

Background Of The Binance Ban

The Financial Conduct Authority requires every company offering financial services in the UK to register with them. The cryptocurrency exchange has not fulfilled this requirement and, as such, cannot operate in the country.

Binance and many other crypto exchanges submitted their applications to the FCA to launch digital assets in the British market. However, many of the exchanges, including Binance, withdrew the applications. The reason was that they couldn’t meet the FCA’s anti-money laundering requirements.

Related Reading | Parabolic Bitcoin Indicator Points To Dangerous Collapse To Below $20K

Binance specifically withdrew its application on May 17, 2021. However, according to the FCA’s spokesperson, Binance has been under the watchdog’s radar for quite some time now.

So, the decision to ban them from conducting regulated activities in the UK market is not a spontaneous one. They also stated that the ban didn’t cover every Binance’s activities in the market.

The cryptocurrency exchange might still provide crypto trading services to British residents through its official exchange, which is not based in London.

Regardless, the financial regulator forbids the cryptocurrency exchange from establishing a crypto exchange in the UK. Also, they’ve given directives for the UK division to close down every advertisement going on in the country by June 30, 2021.

What Does The Ban Mean For The Crypto Industry?

From the recent actions against Binance by financial regulators, the crypto industry must prepare for more regulatory battles with the authorities. Before the UK ban, the USA SEC has been probing the exchange for tax and money laundering accusations.

Binance even disclosed that it is halting its activities in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario Securities Commission accused Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges of not abiding by laid down regulations to operate in the country.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Bulls Bring Out Hammer Of Thor Reversal, But Support Must Hold

Also, the cryptocurrency exchange received another warning from the Financial Service Agency in Japan for its unauthorized operations in the country. All these pressures from the regulatory authorities are shaking the foundation of what cryptocurrency and blockchain technology represents.

UK Financial Regulators Prohibit Binance, What’s Ahead for the Top Cryptocurrency Exchange?
BNB is recovering from last week’s destruction | Source: BNBUSD on TradingView.com

The cryptocurrency industry aims at facilitating transactions without the interference of third parties or intermediaries. Now, mandating the operators to operate based on financial regulations is becoming a worry for crypto enthusiasts.

Despite the ban, the Binance Coin (BNB) shows resilience and seems to be recovering from the dreadful last week.

Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com