Bitcoin Soars to 18-Month High Above $38K Despite Changpeng Zhao’s Departure From Binance: This Week’s Recap

A lot can happen in seven days in a volatile industry like the crypto sector, and it indeed did over the past week. Arguably, the most significant piece of news came a few days ago when the US Department of Justice announced a massive settlement deal with the world’s largest crypto exchange – Binance – that had severe consequences.

On the one hand, the company had to depart with $4.3 billion in the form of a fine without admitting any guilt. On the other hand, though, the exchange’s founder and CEO – Changpeng Zhao – among the most popular industry names, had to step down from his position while also pleading guilty to failing to implement proper anti-money laundering policies. You can find more on the matter later in this article.

Somewhat expectedly, these developments impacted Binance Coin and the rest of the market. BNB dumped by 20% at one point.

Bitcoin also felt the negative consequences, falling by roughly $2,000 in hours after the news broke. Nevertheless, the primary cryptocurrency started to recover some ground almost immediately and jumped above $37,000 by the following day.

Even more gains came today, Friday, as the asset added several hundred dollars more and soared past $38,000 for the first time in over a year and a half. As of now, BTC still trades above $38,000, with its market cap jumping to nearly $750 billion as the asset is up by 6% weekly.

The same 7-day timeframe has BLUR as the top performer. The NFT platform’s native token has skyrocketed by more than 100% now despite the recent token unlock. FTT, FET, KLAY, MINA, and IMX follow suit with gains of around 30%.

Market Data

Market Cap: $1.508T | 24H Vol: $112B | BTC Dominance: 49.5%

BTC: $38,202 (+6%) | ETH: $2,121 (+9.6%) | BNB: $235 (-2.7%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

DOJ Announces $4.3 Billion Settlement With Binance As CZ Resigns From Company. In what’s easily the most important news this month, the US Department of Justice struck a deal with Binance. The exchange had to pay a combined fine of some $4.3 billion, while Changpeng Zhao had to step down as the company’s CEO.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Binance’s New CEO. Richard Teng is the new CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – Binance. Here’s everything you need to know about him.

Major Bank to Launch Crypto Trading Services for Retail Customers: Report. Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International recently announced plans to begin offering cryptocurrency services to its retail customers. The move is scheduled to start in January 2024, marking what seems to be a new era in the bank’s history.

Sacked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Reinstated Just Days After Departure. Sam Altman, who was previously sacked as OpenAI’s CEO, has been reinstated. This comes after a week-long fiasco where the expert briefly joined Microsoft alongside some of his team members, only to return to OpenAI days later.

Tron Founder Justin Sun Confirms Exploit on HTX and HECO Cross-Chain Bridge. The founder of Tron, Justin Sun, has confirmed an exploit on HTX and the cross-chain bridge of the HECO chain. It was worth some $86.6 million, and Sun confirmed that the users would be reimbursed by HTX in full.

More Than 80% of Bitcoin (BTC) Supply Has Returned to Profit: Glassnode. According to a recent report by Glassnode, more than 80% of the entire Bitcoin (BTC) mined supply has returned to being in profit. This comes despite the news that Binance had to pay a whopping $4.3 billion in fines, and CZ stepped down as CEO.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Solana, and Binance Coin – click here for the complete price analysis.