Last week's decline in the cryptocurrency market has finally buried the Binance coin. This year, it resulted in a -14% yield and a drop in capitalisation from $39 billion to $33 billion. By comparison, Ethereum has seen a 32% jump in its price during the same period.

In 2023, the crypto exchange's problems started when US regulators banned the issuer of Paxos from minting BUSD, Binance's stablecoin. A few months later, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued it for violating securities law. Further down, the crypto exchange came under pressure from regulators around the world, including getting its licence revoked and facing challenges with euro transactions.

This all resulted in Binance's market share dropping in the US and international markets.

In late March, we warned that BNB's price might drop to $200 if it experienced stricter regulatory scrutiny. In June, we talked about derivatives traders building up their selling positions. Despite the latest price decline, the situation is no better.

The key problem for BNB investors is the decisive legal against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, could still be to come. Bloomberg reports that the US Justice Department is preparing to bring an indictment. It will include charges of tax evasion and assisting Iranians and Russians to circumvent sanctions.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an article outlining accusations. According to the article's writers, the volume of operations involving the Russian rouble on Binance's P2P Platform reached $8 billion in July, part of which evaded sanctions. The crypto platform stated that it fully observes international requirements. 

The media's regular return to talks that crypto exchanges are potentially violating sanctions could speed up the investigation. If rumours that the US Justice Department will bring charges prove true, BNB's price will continue to fall.

StormGain Analytical Group
(platform for trading, exchanging and storing cryptocurrency)