avatarJessica Doosan

Summary

The US government, through the CFTC, is targeting crypto exchanges like Binance for alleged market manipulation, while also considering regulations that could shift crypto asset custody to traditional financial institutions, and the SEC is pursuing legal action against entities like Coinbase and TRON's founder, amidst broader concerns about the fundamental value and inflation-hedging capabilities of crypto assets.

Abstract

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Binance, accusing it of market manipulation through 300 related accounts. Binance's CEO, CZ, denies the allegations and has not appeared in court, with potential outcomes including a shutdown or a settlement with the CFTC. Despite the legal actions, the market has not significantly dropped, although there have been withdrawals from Binance. The SEC has also targeted Coinbase and TRON's founder, reflecting a broader crackdown on crypto exchanges. This crackdown is set against the backdrop of the US government's consideration of new regulations that would see crypto custody services being offered by established financial entities like Nasdaq, which plans to launch its own crypto custody service. These moves come amidst an economic report suggesting that crypto assets lack fundamental value and do not serve as effective hedges against inflation, which contrasts with the introduction of CBDCs by countries like the UAE, indicating a shift in how digital assets are being perceived and regulated by authorities worldwide.

Opinions

  • The author suggests that the US government's actions against crypto exchanges may be part of a larger strategy to control the crypto market and ensure that regulated financial institutions maintain custody of crypto assets.
  • There is a perception that the US is aiming to centralize control over the crypto industry by potentially forcing exchanges to partner with traditional financial platforms like Nasdaq for asset custody.
  • The article implies that the US government's skepticism about the value of cryptocurrencies is growing, as evidenced by the economic report stating that crypto assets have no fundamental value and are ineffective against inflation.
  • The author hints at the potential benefits of CBDCs for governments, as they would provide better control over monetary and fiscal policy, including the ability to freeze funds and employ a burn mechanism.
  • The legal troubles faced by Binance, Coinbase, and TRON's founder are seen as part of the US's continuous targeting of crypto entities, which could lead to a reshaping of the crypto landscape with more government oversight.
  • The article notes that despite the legal challenges, there are opportunities for profit, as seen with Microstrategy's settlement with Silvergate Bank, which allowed them to purchase additional bitcoins.
  • The author emphasizes that the information provided is for educational purposes and not financial advice, encouraging readers to engage with the content by sharing, commenting, and joining Medium through a referral link.

Why the US is Continuously Targeting Crypto Exchanges? — Seize Power

CBDC | TRON | Coinbase

Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash

CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) of the US has sued Binance and CZ. The reason for suing is that there are 300 such accounts on Binance which are directly or indirectly related to CZ. The relation of these accounts has been linked with future trading. By trading futures on the Binance exchange with these 300 accounts, they manipulate the market so that they can make maximum profit.

In response to these charges, CZ stated that binance.com will never manipulate the market in order to maximize profits. He also stated that there are two personal accounts on Binance, one for the Binance card and the other for cryptocurrency holding. Launchpad, Earn, or Futures Trade have never been utilized by CZ from his own account.

He strictly prohibited his employees from trading futures on the Binance exchange.

CZ will not appear in court to defend himself against this lawsuit. They have already hired lawyers and they will try to engage with the court.

There are two possible outcomes here:

  1. The US government can shutdown
  2. Can settle with CFTC in Millions of Dollars and will get out of the case after paying the penalty.

Surprisingly, despite such big news, the market did not fall significantly. The United States already has the Coinbase exchange; if Binance is banned in the United States, everyone may switch to Coinbase. Yet, because of this news, there have been several fund withdrawals.

As soon as the news of the lawsuit hit Binance, the BNB coin, and the market began to fall because it is the largest cryptocurrency exchange.

TRON

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase a few days ago. In addition, a lawsuit has been launched against Tron’s founder and the influencer of his coins. The influencers do not warn anybody about this because as soon as the influencer gets a little sum of money, they would not reveal anything about the coins.

Why the US is Continuously Targeting Crypto?

Nasdaq has stated that it would launch crypto custody in Q2 2023. From when Fidelity and BNY have been preparing to introduce bitcoin custody. The SEC has previously said that custody exchanges cannot accept cryptocurrency. This may require the acquisition of a license. Because it will be difficult for crypto exchanges to obtain such licenses, institutions, and businesses will obtain them.

Photo by Meriç Dağlı on Unsplash

What is this Crypto Custody Which was Nasdaq Planning to Launch?

If Nasdaq launches crypto custody, then all crypto assets will be handled by Nasdaq because Nasdaq itself is a financial services corporation. Just coins will be purchased and sold on the exchange, but all cryptos will stay in Nasdaq. When the FTX exchange collapsed, users did not get their funds or cryptocurrency, which belonged to them rather than FTX.

Consumers did not get their funds back since all of these cryptos were in the custody of the FTX exchange. Customers’ assets remain in their hands during all transactions. To avoid another incident like FTX, the government will hand over custody of all crypto assets to legally regulated businesses through their new license law.

Perhaps such a rule may come that people’s funds on the crypto exchange will be kept in the custody of the exchange and they will have to partner with big platforms like Nasdaq, and Fidelity.

El Salvador will introduce laws in Parliament that they will eliminate all taxes. As a result of this action, El Salvador may likely attract a lot of businesses and cryptocurrency projects.

Economic Report

In the year 2023, regulations and restrictions will be seen from the government side in every country. Recently the US released an Economic report that might endanger cryptocurrency. This report said that crypto assets have no fundamental value and are not an alternative to fiat currency. The only thing unique about cryptocurrency is its limited supply.

Inflation cannot be hedged with crypto assets. As global inflation began to rise in 2021 and 2022, crypto should have been hedged with inflation, causing the price of cryptos to rise, but this did not occur. Cryptos, like other markets, continued to decline. As a result, the government has a vague idea that cryptocurrency is ineffective against inflation. Ethereum has switched to Proof of Stake, while Bitcoin has yet to release a POS. In certain ways, POW is not seen positively.

Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash

CBDC Model

The UAE announced plans to launch a CBDC by the middle of 2024. In this, 2 types of CBDC will be launched, in which 1 will be for the wholesale market and the other will be for the retail market. This kind of CBDC model is being considered by many countries.

According to the President of the European Central Bank, if the bank wants to survive, the Central Bank should create its own CBDC. Digital Euro Associations has released a CBDC whitepaper, which is being forwarded to Ripple’s director.

The reason for focusing on CBDC is that it is easier to control monetary policy and fiscal policy with CBDC. Through this, any person’s fund can be frozen. It is also possible to employ the burn mechanism.

Countries will be able to use CBDC to transfer payments in the future. This concept has the potential to produce both positive and negative outcomes. Many people are worried about their privacy.

Stripe has launched zero-fee Lightning Network bitcoin payments in Vietnam. They have joined with Getbit to ensure that the request for payment reaches the bank account. Stripe users will be able to send money to Vietnamese bank accounts. Because Vietnam is among the top ten in terms of global remittances, many individuals transfer money from the United States to Vietnam.

Benefits

Microstrategy firms benefitted from the collapse of Silvergate Bank. Microstrategy had a loan of $ 205 million from Silvergate Bank, however owing to bankruptcy, they received an offer to settle the amount at 22% off, which they accepted. They purchased 150 million dollar worth of bitcoins using the profit they got from paying off the loan.

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Disclaimer

This is not Financial Advice. This article is meant only for educational purposes. I am just sharing my thoughts and analysis based on my many years of experience.

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Cryptocurrency
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