The Wall Street Journal suggested in a private conversation with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao that affiliates of the crypto exchange were ‘wash trading’ a few years ago. After that, Bitcoin briefly dropped below $29,000 for the first time in a long time.
Bitcoin ‘wash trading’ claim from WSJ for Binance!
Bitcoin fell more than 2.5% shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported it. In this move, it fell to about $ 29,000. Later in the day, it dropped as low as $28,872. Afterwards, BTC recovered and started trading around $29,100.
In a report released Monday, the WSJ reported that Zhao said in an internal message that the exchange’s affiliates could be responsible for trading $70,000 worth of Bitcoin when Binance.US debuted in 2019. “I think we did it,” Zhao said in an internal message, according to the Journal. ‘Wash Trading’ refers to the process of artificially inflating trading volumes by trading with yourself or an affiliate.
Meanwhile, cryptocoin.com Earlier last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against Binance for allegedly violating securities law and using Sigma Chain, a CZ-run company, to manipulate volume. The USA banned Wash Trading in conventional markets in 1936. A Binance spokesperson told the newspaper that neither the company nor Zhao is doing Wash Trading. He also stated that he did not tolerate it. Binance denied the Wash Trading allegations in an email to a news channel. In this context, he made the following statement:
Binance does not engage in or tolerate wash trading that violates our terms of use. Binance has a dedicated Market Surveillance team responsible for reviewing surveillance for potential abusive and/or manipulative behavior, including wash trading and price manipulation. The Market Surveillance team utilizes surveillance models and a team of experienced surveillance experts to detect and prevent market abuse.
The WSJ report also stated that Binance’s representative dismissed the SEC’s accusation as unfounded. Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Therefore, the regulatory uncertainty surrounding Binance tends to put pressure on crypto prices.
BTC targets $27,000
Meanwhile, analysts say the lack of positive catalysts in the short term and generally quiet summer trading activity could lead to a drop in BTC prices. FxPro senior market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich points to this level:
If the bearish pressure intensifies, the next key level of support will be the lower border of the ascending channel from November lows and $27,000, the 200-week moving average.
“Bitcoin is currently experiencing a slow pullback,” said Simon Peters, market analyst at eToro. Because the price continues its downward trend from recent highs. During the summer, market dynamics tend to fluctuate with lower transaction flows. That said, the last period has been pretty quiet for the best crypto assets in the market,” he shares.
