Crypto Market Reacts to Shock CZ Resignation and Binance DOJ Settlement: BNB Leads Market Losses
The news has rocked the crypto markets, leading to broad price declines.
Still, many remain optimistic that the resolution of Binance and Zhao’s criminal charges is good for crypto. Late on Monday, November 20, crypto asset prices jumped as industry participants expressed excitement at the possible resolution of the U.S.’s criminal investigation into Binance. However, as stunning details of the settlement deal unfolded on Tuesday, several of these assets are retreating with Binance’s BNB leading the charge.Crypto Market Reacts to Binance CEO CZ’s Resignation On Tuesday, November 21, the U.S. DOJ unsealed its indictment of Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, revealing that the crypto exchange and its founder had plead guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions and failing to register as a money transmitter business in the U.S. The indictment revealed penalties of up to $4.3 billion as part of a settlement deal that would see the exchange completely exit the U.S. confirming Bloomberg’s Monday report.For many, however, the shocker was the revelation that Zhao would step down as CEO of the firm as part of the plea deal. Crypto asset prices have taken a dive following the revelation.
Binance’s BNB has completely erased its Monday gains to trade 4.68% lower over the past 24 hours at $242.25, per CoinMarketCap data at the time of writing. Other popular crypto assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana are also down 1.31%, 1.63%, 2.61%, and 4.75% in the past 24 hours.Despite the recent price declines, several industry participants maintain that the resolution of Binance’s criminal charges bodes well for the crypto markets.Is the Resolution of Binance’s DOJ Case Bullish?The looming threat of criminal indictments against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, had weighed heavily on the market. Industry participants have hailed the recent resolution of these charges in a way that allows the exchange to operate with minimal impact on the market and harm to customers as good news.
Citing analysts, independent reporter Colin Wu, contended that the resolution of the case eliminated the biggest obstacle to the next crypto bull run.On the Flipside Binance has named Richard Teng as CEO after Zhao.
The recent criminal case does not indict Binance.US. Why This MattersThe recent dip in crypto asset prices underscores the uncertainty surrounding the market following Binance and Zhao’s guilty pleas.Read this to learn more about what Binance’s settlement and Zhao’s resignation mean for the industry: