• The US Justice Department is reportedly weighing down options to level criminal charges against Binance. 

• This has caused the market to stage a marginal fall in the past 24 hours as BTC, LTC, ETH, XRP, and SHIB lose gains. 

The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance is in “hot water” as the U.S. Department of Justice officials are weighing options to level a fraud charge against the Founder Changpeng Zhao and the entities. However, prosecutors are considering alternatives such as fines and deferred or non-prosecution agreements to avoid sending the entire market plummeting just as it happened in the FTX case.

In this case, the authorities are concerned about the cost to consumers according to people familiar with the matter. They want to reduce consumer harm while holding Binance responsible for alleged criminal behavior. 

It is important to note that the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have already raised charges against the exchange and its founder. As stated in the court document, the Binance employees allegedly assisted high-value US traders to circumvent restrictions to transact on the platform despite claiming that it is not accessible to US customers.

Zhao is also accused of operating an unregistered exchange in the US. On top of that, Binance is accused of using a secret market-making firm called Sigma Chain to mislead traders and investors by manipulating trades on the Binance.US platform. 

According to legal experts, criminal charges could follow due to the seriousness of the charges. 

Crypto Market React to the Binance Issue With Regulators

This whole Binance issue with regulators is having little effect on the market as almost all the big assets are in red. Bitcoin is down by almost 1.8 percent in the last 24 hours, sending its seven-day run to negative to trade at $29,076.26 as of press time. This means investors have cast aside the Fitch downgrade of U.S. Treasury and the MicroStrategy plan to purchase more Bitcoin.

According to Jeff Feng, co-founder of Sei Labs, several market factors are currently at play to settle a price for Bitcoin. 

We’re seeing a multitude of influential factors at play, which include corporate investments, regulatory advancements, macroeconomic shifts, and potential for increased accessibility through financial products like ETFs. MicroStrategy’s continued investment in Bitcoin certainly underscores their commitment, helping solidify corporate interest in digital assets. This, in tandem with anticipation around the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, is influencing market behavior, as traders often view such milestones as potential catalysts…These periods that may seem range-bound could indeed be precursors to more substantial market movements. Staying informed about…multifaceted influences is key for any market participant, from individual traders to institutional investors.

Ethereum is also in red after falling by 1.3 percent in the last 24 hours and falling by 2 percent in the last seven days to trade at $1,833.57. According to market data, XRP which nearly doubled its price to hit $0.93 is in a decline. In the last 24 fours, XRP has fallen by 3.2 percent and declined by 5 percent in the last seven days. Litecoin (LTC) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have not been spared either as they fall by 5 percent and 0.9 percent respectively in the last 24 hours. LTC is currently trading at $86 while SHIB trades at $0.000008.

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