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The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. A top Binance executive told the Wall Street Journal in February that the company expected to pay penalties to resolve U.S. investigations.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao, Yi He, Yi, Noah Perlman, Morgan Stanley, Richard Teng, Teng, Elon Musk's, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Wilson, Hannah Lang, Marguerita Choy, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Binance, Reuters, Twitter, Lazio, Argentina national, of Nations, U.S, Justice, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Shanghai, Tokyo, Malta, Cayman Islands, Canadian, China, United States, Italian, London, Washington

June 6 (Reuters) - It's a tense time for bitcoin investors. The capricious cryptocurrency's been uncommonly quiet over the past four weeks, bound in the range of $28,452 and $25,800. Bitcoin's volatility index is near 64, well below the 2023 peak of 116.5 touched in January, according to CryptoCompare. "Trading volatility, buying options in the absence of a price move, that's what people might do in this market." Market positioning indicates the maximum pain level for the June 2023 options expiry for bitcoin is at around $24,000, which could act as a support or resistance level, according to analysts at Bitfinex.

Persons: CryptoCompare, Noelle Acheson, Matthew Weller, Luuk Strijers, Strijers, Thomas Kralow, Medha Singh, Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Pravin Organizations: bitcoin, BULLS, Kralow, Pravin Char, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Bengaluru

What is the bitcoin halving? The event cuts the rewards to bitcoin miners — volunteers running specialized equipment to validate transactions on the network and mint new tokens — by 50%. Currently, bitcoin miners receive 6.25 bitcoin for each block they successfully mine. Once the next bitcoin halving occurs, this reward will be reduced to 3.125 bitcoin. This would correlate with the next expected Bitcoin halving date, which is another 378 days ahead."

April 4 (Reuters) - Even as bitcoin flies high, investors are keeping their options open, judging by a record race to derivatives. Most options traders are betting on bitcoin prices jumping higher, with open interest in call options at 206,979 contracts on Deribit, more than double the bearish put options of 93,857. "We have reached the same levels of open interest as 2021 at half the prices, which means we have doubled." Options contracts give their buyers the right, but not an obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a fixed price in the future. Open interest in ether on Deribit features 1.7 million call options versus 656,158 puts.

Yet investors aiming to amp up their bets face an ominous obstacle: a lack of liquidity that could trigger wild price swings. Slippage, a liquidity measure describing how much prices change between the placement and execution of a trade, has also increased. The vanishing liquidity can be traced back to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research. Until then, "liquidity is probably going to get worse and worse", said Joseph Edwards, investment adviser at Enigma Securities. "Even if some players haven't left the place, they are on the sidelines right now because of what's happening with banking turmoil," Edwards said.

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Binance founder Changpeng Zhao could never be accused of thinking small. The 46-year-old CEO didn't waver in his belief as he built up his crypto exchange. Binance and Zhao did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Binance became the world's biggest crypto exchange within six months, and now accounts for about 60% of global crypto trading volumes, according to research firm CryptoCompare. While Binance has hired widely from the traditional financial and regulatory worlds in recent years, Zhao's tight control over his company has continued.

March 27 (Reuters) - Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and executives, including CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao, have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. Binance's compliance program has been "ineffective" and the firm, under the direction of Zhao, told employees and customers to go around compliance controls, the CFTC said. It also accused Binance's former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim of aiding and abetting Binance's violations. "For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. Its core Binance.com exchange, the world's biggest, processed trades worth about $23 trillion last year, according to data provider CryptoCompare.

☆ Factbox: Binance, world's top crypto exchange, at the center of US investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Tom Wilson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.

The CFTC sued Binance, Zhao and its former top compliance executive with "willful evasion" of U.S. law, "while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit." "Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint," Zhao said in a statement. Firms such as brokers that facilitate U.S. customers' trading of such products are required to register with the agency. 'PIRATE SHIP'Founded in Shanghai in 2017, Binance sits at the heart of the global crypto industry. With a holding company based in the Cayman Islands, Binance has never revealed the location of its core exchange.

☆ Binance continues to get more popular with Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX out of the picture, despite increased regulatory scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Binance is extending its dominance in crypto trading since FTX collapsed in November. Its market share grew to 61.8% in February from 59.4% in January, CryptoCompare data showed. According to data from CryptoCompare cited by CoinDesk, Binance increased its market share for the fourth consecutive month in February, growing to 61.8% from 59.4% in January. Coinbase was a distant second with trading volume of $39.9 billion, down 29% from the prior month, and Kraken was third with $19.3 billion, down 11%. Meanwhile, former rival exchange FTX continues to wade through bankruptcy procedures and is effectively out of the picture as far as competition.

[1/2] A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen in this picture illustration taken October 19, 2021. Crypto payment specialists have also seen strong volumes. Nonetheless, proponents say bitcoin offers lower transaction costs and quicker speeds than traditional cash, especially for cross-border transfers. For others, though, growing interest in CBDCs is evidence that blockchain payments tech is here to stay. Traditional finance firms looking to embrace crypto payments have also shrugged off recent market volatility.

☆ Bitcoin's 2023 rally gathers steam as cryptocurrency briefly tops $23,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

1 token briefly topped $23,000 for the first time since Aug. 19, 2022, according to data from CoinGecko. The Fed and other central banks began cutting interest rates in 2022, shocking holders of risky asset classes, like stocks and digital tokens. Economists previously told CNBC they predict a Fed rate cut could happen as soon as this year. The Fed is likely to keep interest rates high for the time being. Bitcoin short sellers have been squeezed by sudden upward moves in prices, according to Ayyar.

☆ Cryptoverse: Bitcoin digs in for a bumpy new year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Lisa Pauline Mattackal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Bitcoin are seen in this illustration picture taken September 27, 2017. The overall global crypto market cap has risen 5% to $871 billion since Jan. 1, but it's still down over 57% from this time last year. Bitcoin itself has gained 4.3% since the start of 2023, though stuck in a narrow range between $16,500 and $17,300. For some market players, though, subdued sounds pretty good after the bitcoin bloodbath of 2022. Reuters GraphicsTHE BULL'S TALEMarcus Sotiriou, analyst at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, pointed to tightening Bollinger bands - a technical indicator tracking price and volatility - on bitcoin charts.

☆ Binance grabbed 66% of crypto trading volumes on centralized exchanges in the 4th quarter of 2022 as the industry consolidated following the fall of FTX
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Binance captured 66.7% of all trading volume on centralized crypto exchanges in the last quarter of 2022. Trading volumes on centralized exchanges declined 46.2% last year amid a harsh macro environment and crypto bear market. Even as spot trading volumes on Binance fell 45.3% to $5.29 trillion, the rise in the exchange's market dominance continued throughout 2022. Amid a lengthy crypto bear market, trading volumes on centralized exchanges declined 46.2% in 2022. Volumes across centralized exchanges, or CEXs, stayed well above decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, according to the report.

☆ Crypto Giant Binance Offers Little Transparency After FTX Collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Patricia Kowsmann | Caitlin Ostroff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao says the crypto exchange has taken no loans and is profitable. The collapse of the crypto exchange FTX has triggered calls for transparency in the industry. To many investors, the industry’s biggest player, Binance, remains a black box. Crypto exchange Binance processes more transactions than most of its rivals combined, accounting for roughly half of crypto spot trading and two-thirds of derivatives trading, according to the research firm CryptoCompare.

The article was one of a series of reports this year by the news agency on Binance's financial compliance and relationship with regulators across the world. Reuters also asked representatives of the local Binance units and affiliates about their relationship with the main Binance exchange. In Italy, Binance's public corporate filings detail just the unit's capital base and its ownership by a separate Binance company in Ireland. The Italian company, Binance Italy S.R.L., has its listed address in a block of shops and apartments in the southern city of Lecce. Just two of the Binance units analysed by Reuters offer more substantial details in their filings.

☆ FTX's collapse prompted the largest-ever outflow of bitcoin from crypto exchanges, with investors pulling $1.5 billion last month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In November, investors pulled nearly $1.5 billion in bitcoin from crypto exchanges. The fallout of FTX's collapse has rocked the crypto market, and November's bitcoin outflows were the highest ever. Meanwhile, in the first week of December, investors pulled 4,545 bitcoin from centralized exchanges, up from 3,846 in the same period in 2021. Former FTX Group CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's downfall has renewed concerns about the safety of user funds held in centralized exchanges. All this has weighed on public confidence in crypto, and traders have grown more wary over security.

☆ U.S. Justice Department reportedly split over charging Binance as crypto world falters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Binance's defense attorneys at U.S. law firm Gibson Dunn have held meetings in recent months with Justice Department officials, the four people said. Faced with the Justice Department investigation, Binance hired an external lawyer from U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, Roberto Gonzalez, who was previously Treasury's deputy general counsel. The Justice Department appointed Eun Young Choi, previously Monaco's senior counsel, as NCET's first director. MLARS has a reputation in the Justice Department for moving slowly in reaching prosecution decisions, people familiar with its activities said.

Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Binance's defense attorneys at U.S. law firm Gibson Dunn have held meetings in recent months with Justice Department officials, the four people said. Faced with the Justice Department investigation, Binance hired an external lawyer from U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, Roberto Gonzalez, who was previously Treasury's deputy general counsel. MLARS has a reputation in the Justice Department for moving slowly in reaching prosecution decisions, people familiar with its activities said. Day met with Justice officials in Washington in recent months, three of the people said.

Nov 22 (Reuters) - As the crypto castle crumbles, some true believers say the answer is to double down on DEX. Decentralized exchanges, that is. "It is now clear that there can be risk associated with holding assets in a centralized entity," said Varun Kumar, CEO of decentralized crypto exchange Hashflow. "Data is showing that users are turning to decentralized trading solutions." Many market participants see both centralized and decentralized exchanges coexisting.

Nov 1 (Reuters) - After months of tears and tantrums, bitcoin wants to split up with stock markets. The cryptocurrency, which has been closely correlated with tech stocks for much of its torrid 2022, is staging one of its strongest efforts yet to break away. For some crypto backers, any bitcoin break-up from Big Tech is a sign of strength. Bitcoin and crypto is one of those 'next' growth industries," said Santiago Portela, CEO of FITCHIN, a Web3 gaming ecosystem. Yet it's anyone's guess whether fickle bitcoin will begin to rally, or slide anew, or if it will swiftly rebound to the embrace of technology stocks.

☆ Cryptoverse: British pound fiasco boosts bitcoin's hedge appeal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Lisa Pauline Mattackal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - As a developed nation, you know your currency's in a spot of bother when investors start to hedge with bitcoin. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"It was the first time we've seen such a huge increase in (bitcoin) volumes for the currency of a developed country," said Ed Hindi, chief investment officer at Tyr Capital. In fact, over the past month of market ructions, U.S. Treasuries have been equally or more volatile than bitcoin, according to Refinitiv data. The pound volumes echoed similar instances of investors jumping into bitcoin when fiat money came under pressure, including in Russia and Ukraine this year. Some crypto watchers say the September surge was nonetheless a reflection of bitcoin's enduring appeal as an asset outside mainstream finance.

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