June was a difficult month for Binance as it faced a global stress test after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange and its executives.
In short, in the last 30 days, the Belgian financial regulator ordered Binance to stop all crypto services, the exchange was unable to obtain a license in the Netherlands, the CEO of Binance in Brazil was subpoenaed before Congress by an investigation of pyramid scheme, and just a few days ago another investigation was revealed in France.
Furthermore, Binance's UK subsidiary has withdrawn its registration with the Financial Conduct Authority, and in the US the exchange still has a long way to go in its battle with regulators. Furthermore, the exchange was denied a crypto custody license in Germany and lost its euro banking partner.
Despite all these developments, however, Binance remains the top-performing centralized exchange with a value of $58.11 billion, an increase of $63.8 billion since June 1, according to data from DefiLlama. The next big focus for the exchange is the United Arab Emirates, the so-called “place of choice” for cryptocurrency companies looking for a clear path.
“We continue to build,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet on June 28 after a long and eventful month.
This week, CryptoBiz discusses Binance's de-banking in Australia, preparations for the upcoming Bitcoin (BTC) mining semi-fication, MicroStrategy's recent Bitcoin purchase, and Bitfinex's expansion into Latin America.
According to the CEO, Binance Australia was notified 12 hours before the bank account was withdrawn.
There was no advance notice, advice or remedy. In the middle of the night, the Binance Australia team was suddenly informed that it was going to be “cut off” from the country's banking system. Binance regional director Ben Rose shared details of the trading ban in the country during Australia Blockchain Week on June 26. In May, the company announced that its dollar service was suspended after its payment provider, Zepto, was ordered to stop supporting Binance. According to Rose, the move affected around 1 million Australian-based clients, and Binance is now looking for another payment provider.
Riot Platforms to add 33,000 Bitcoin miners by 2024 Hale
Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms is gearing up for the next half year, purchasing 33,280 state-of-the-art hardware for its Texas facility for $162.9 million. Microbit miners will increase the company's automatic mining capacity from 7.6 EH/s to 20.1 EH/s when the machines are installed in Q1 2024. Of the machines, 8,320 M56S+ models have a speed of 220 Terahash/s, while the remaining 24,960 M56S++ are slightly more powerful at 230 TH/s.
Microstrategy Buys $347 Million in Bitcoin Amid Market Frenzy
On June 28, MicroStrategy announced the purchase of 12,333 bitcoins for a published value of $347 million. MicroStrategy now owns 152,333 BTC worth $4.52 billion at an average purchase price of $29,668 per coin. The coins were purchased between April 27 and June 27 and the purchase was partially financed through the issuance of new shares. MicroStrategy has actively bought bitcoins with cash and stocks during crypto bear markets, sometimes regardless of price. In the first quarter of 2023, the company reported its first profitable quarter since 2020, thanks to a one-time tax break.
Bitfinex has launched P2P trading platforms in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia
Digital asset exchange Bitfinex is expanding its operations in Latin America. The crypto company has launched a peer-to-peer trading platform in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia, allowing users from South American countries to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), the euro-pegged stablecoin of Tether, Tether. allows EURt (EURT) and Tether Gold (XAUT). In April, the Salvadoran branch of Bitfinex received a digital asset services license from the Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales. Last month, the exchange partnered with Chile-based crypto platform OrionX to support local financial education and education programs.
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