Binance Seems Fine, They’re Just Paying a Fine

As far as I can tell, the US government was just shaking Binance down for money. They’re paying the money, and everything is fine.

Maybe I’m reading this wrong, but I’m not seeing a collapse of Binance or a collapse of the crypto industry here.

RT:

Binance Holdings Ltd. and its Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao are set to plead guilty to criminal and civil charges in a deal brokered with the Justice Department on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

As part of the settlement, Zhao will step down from his position and acknowledge violations of anti-money laundering requirements. The agreement spans multiple regulatory bodies, including the Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

This resolution enables Binance to maintain its operations, addressing a spectrum of allegations ranging from money laundering to bank fraud and sanctions violations. The development unfolds against a backdrop of increased scrutiny on the cryptocurrency industry by the Justice Department, governmental entities, and lawmakers.

Binance Coin (BNB), the cryptocurrency associated with the Binance ecosystem, witnessed a significant decline of more than 8% in response to news of the imminent settlement. The digital asset had achieved a five-month peak earlier in the day, fueled by anticipations that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would formally announce a deal with the exchange.

It’s not really a significant drop.

If Binance was actually collapsing, Bitcoin would drop to at least the $16,000 it dropped to when FTX collapsed, and probably significantly lower – $12,000 or even $8,000.

Binance does not appear to be collapsing at all. What it looks like is that Binance was subject to a shakedown, and they’re paying off the man.

I don’t see any other shoes here.