Cryptocurrency
Binance exit aftershock: Can one resignation tip the crypto trust scales?
On Sept. 13, news broke of yet another high-level executive parting ways with Binance.US.
This time, it was none other than Brian Shroder, the CEO and president of the exchange, who, after two years in the hot seat, was heading for a “deserved break,” as Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was quick to announce on X (formerly Twitter) that same day.
There has been some speculation regarding recent management changes at @BinanceUS. Brian Shroder is taking a deserved break after accomplishing what he set out to do when he joined two years ago. Under his leadership, https://t.co/hSHrrlF7o7 raised capital, improved its product…
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) September 15, 2023
The news coincided with the announcement that around 100 people had also lost their jobs that day — about a third of the workforce.
A massive outflow of funds followed, with the highest being just over $66 million in a single transaction. Zhao was keen to underline that Shroder’s departure was amicable and that he had achieved everything he had set out to do.
“Ignore the FUD,” was the call from the parapets, the common plea for calm when any kind of disruption occurs.
In an industry strained and battered by tales of fraud and wrongdoing, however, this call went unheeded once again. The days since the news broke have seen significant outflows from Binance to platforms such as Jump, AU21 Capital, QCP Capital and Wintermute.
Once again, it raises issues that have long dogged the cryptosphere, chiefly those of influence and trust. There are few other sectors where layoffs or a change at the top of a company can have such an impact.
Such things are generally accepted as the natural ebb and flow of the business world, and while there may be a momentary blip, more often than not, things are back on track fairly soon afterward.
Even in this instance, from the chart, it is apparent that there were still sizeable inflows to Binance during the period. The two incidents may be completely unrelated. With so many factors involved, no one can say for sure.
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Jim Graham, a cryptocurrency analyst at think tank PsyBold, told Cointelegraph: “While we can’t attribute the shift in funds wholly to last week’s announcement, we most certainly can’t reject it, either. There have been several key managerial changes in the past few months, and virtually all of them have been accompanied by a dip in holdings on the platform. Trust remains a massive obstacle for crypto platforms, and it’s an obstacle they are failing to overcome.”
Money is a valuable commodity, and even the hint that it may be in jeopardy is reason enough to react quickly and decisively.
As the saying goes, trust is earned, not given away, and the recent negative events involving crypto platforms have done little to raise that level of trust. Graham added:
“Crypto platforms need to be on par with banks regarding trust. Investors need to know that entrusting their money to them is a good, safe idea, not a risky one. Unfortunately, they are nowhere near that, and until we reach that level, these spikes are inevitable.”
So, how do the platforms get to that level of trust? Most people would simply say, stop doing bad things. Once crypto platforms act more like banks, people may trust them more.
But this is much easier said than done. For one, most banks have been around for years, some even hundreds of years. Trust has an element of longevity to it, which people like. The general feeling is if something or someone has acted responsibly and transparently for a long time, there is more of a chance that they will continue to do so.
Crypto platforms don’t have that luxury, of course. Most can only look back on a few years of existence; the only pledge they can give is their word.
On top of that, there is the age-old discussion of regulation. Licensed banks are regulated. That means an authority monitors what they do and is there to step in if things go wrong.
The last thing such an authority or the bank wants is a bank run, as this represents a complete breakdown in trust for all concerned, with the consequences that go with that. Once that has happened, it is tough to win that trust back, as witnessed during the economic crisis of 2008.
In the unregulated world of crypto exchanges, there is currently a stalemate. Some investors are in the middle, clamoring for regulation, fearing for their investments. In contrast, others are vehemently opposed, stating regulation is the very thing cryptocurrency was created to avoid.
And on either side are the exchanges and the authorities, each accusing the other of this and that in what seems like an endless spiral, with neither ready to back down.Sandra McAllister, an attorney specializing in tech litigation with Clifford Chance, told Cointelegraph:
“The need to clarify the legalities around trading cryptocurrencies, particularly in the U.S., is vitally important for the future of the industry, but the protracted processes and tactics being employed are damaging, for both sides, and that, in turn, is turning investors away.”
“The power of social media is also a pressure on the market. The bounce in the Ripple price we saw in July following the court ruling on XRP underlines that perfectly. The decision was anything but conclusive and, in reality, nothing more than a step along the path, but it was blown up on social media as a huge victory that drove up prices. We only have to see where the Ripple price is today to see how much of a victory it actually was,” she said.
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Moving assets around between different exchanges or different assets is nothing new or unusual, of course. In times of economic downturn, funds tend to flow toward the “safer” havens, such as bonds and gold, before reverting to more profitable areas when things pick up.
Graham commented, “While diversifying holdings and being ready to react to ensure you are not unduly affected by negative pressures is sound financial advice, the problem facing crypto holders right now is which platform is safer than another. The FTX demise showed us that ‘too big to fail’ does not apply, so what remains?”
Dormant tokens in the XRP Ledger have begun to stir, setting the stage for May’s market activity.
New data suggest the blockchain is seeing another “huge blast” in dormant XRP movement, alongside increasing open interest (AI).
Surge in Old XRP Coin Movement
According to Santiment’s Token Age Consumed metric, there has been a significant surge in the movement of old XRP coins on the ledger, similar to the spike observed just before the market downturn on April 13th, during which the cryptocurrency plummeted by 16%.
However, in this particular case, there’s a compelling argument suggesting that this movement is tied to potential “buy the dip” interest from influential stakeholders, the crypto-analytic platform said in its latest findings.
“This time around, however, there is an argument that this old coin movement is related to potential #buythedip interest from key stakeholders, and prices have been climbing mildly since this May spike occurred. Also, keep in mind the increasing open interest on exchanges, which has just reached a 3-week high.”
Interestingly, despite this movement, XRP prices have shown a mild climb since the May spike occurred. Moreover, the increasing open interest in exchanges, which hit $483.4 million, reaching a 3-week high, also needs to be taken into account. As such, investors rushing to rake in XRP coins amidst the asset’s ongoing relief rally could potentially increase confidence among market players.
The latest development follows XRP Ledger developers’ recent proposal which suggested implementing direct lending to users through the blockchain.
They propose a system for offering fixed-term loans with interest, using pooled funds, and without the need for on-chain collateral. This method depends on off-chain underwriting and risk management, as well as what developers call a “First-Loss Capital protection scheme” to safeguard the protocol.
Introducing XRPL Solutions in Japan
Last month, Ripple, which uses XRP Ledger for its cross-border payment settlement, announced a strategic partnership with HashKey DX to introduce XRPL-based blockchain solutions to the Japanese market.
With this joint venture, SBI Group will become the first Japanese corporation to leverage this supply chain finance solution.
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This week, we take a closer look at Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Shiba Inu, and Polkadot.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum broke under $3,000 and closes this week with a 5% loss. This latest crash in the price made a lower low which shows bears are still in control of the price action.
The current support is at $2,900 and buyers have to protect this level at all costs. If they fail, then the next major support will be found at $2,500.
Looking ahead, ETH was quickly rejected at the $3,350 resistance in late April. Since then, the price has been in a downtrend. The bias remains bearish, but hopefully May can bring better news for this cryptocurrency.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple continues to move sideways and closes the week with a 1% loss. While this is not much, volatility was higher this week when the price briefly dropped to 48 cents before bouncing.
The resistance is found at 54 cents and the price seems unable to break this level at this time. Therefore, XRP is more likely to move sideways under the key resistance.
Looking ahead, if sellers decide to return in force, then the next key level of support is at 50 cents. While the chart is bearish, the hope is that sellers will become exhausted after they dominated in April.
Cardano (ADA)
ADA was rejected by the resistance at 46 cents and appears to still struggle. The price is in a downtrend and has fallen by 4% this week.
If buyers don’t return soon, then ADA may make new lows and approach the key support at 40 cents. If that also falls, then buyers could return at 37 cents where ADA had strong demand in the past.
Looking ahead, sell volume has been declining even if the price is falling. This could be an early sign that selling may subside and bulls could be provided with an opportunity to recover some of the recent losses.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Shiba Inu lost it’s support at $0.000025 which has now turned into a resistance. For that reason, the price dropped by 11% this week.
The most important support on the chart is at $0.000018, and if nothing changes in the current momentum, then this meme coin will likely test this level.
Looking ahead, SHIB’s correction does not appear to be ending any time soon and may continue well into May. As long as the overall market remains bearish, SHIB will likely follow with lower lows.
Polkadot (DOT)
DOT’s price bounced on the support at $6.3 which allowed it to close the week with a 3% price increase. This is impressive considering all the other coins on our list are in red.
As long as this key support holds, Polkadot has a good chance to challenge the resistance at $7.6 which has so far stopped any attempt from buyers to move the price higher.
Looking ahead, DOT has been moving sideways since mid-April which bring optimism that this downtrend may be coming to an end. To confirm this, buyers have break the resistance at $7.6
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Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Experts now suggest that bitcoin may have reached a local bottom and will gradually recover over the coming months.
BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, for one, noted that the leading cryptocurrency might see a surge in value if, as he predicts, liquidity increases in the economy next week due to Janet Yellen’s policies.
Bitcoin May Have Hit a Local Bottom
In his latest blog post, Hayes said bitcoin’s latest slump has “played out” as he anticipated, attributing it to various factors such as the US tax season, uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s actions, the halving “sell the news” event, and a slowdown in the growth of assets under management (AUM) for the spot ETFs in the US. The BitMEX founder sees these “coalesced” events as a necessary cleansing for the market.
He even implied that casual investors, or “tourists,” may opt to stay out of the market for a while, possibly enjoying the sidelines. On the other hand, the exec believes serious investors will continue to hold their positions and even accumulate more of their preferred cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, and potentially high-risk altcoins such as Solana, Dogecoin, and others.
Shedding further light on the recent market activity, Hayes said bitcoin hit a local low at around $56,500 earlier this week and he even expects a rally for the asset that could drive its price above $60,000 once again. This has indeed been the case in the past few hours as BTC jumped above $60,000. Following this surge, Hayes anticipates that there could be a period of range-bound price action between $60,000 and $70,000 until August.
“I expect prices to bottom, chop, and begin a slow grind higher.”
Sideways for Now?
Bitcoin surpassed $61,800 on Friday after gaining approximately 5% over the past 24 hours, showing signs of recovery from a midweek decline that pushed its price below $57,000. The recent uptick in price and recovery suggests that bitcoin is attempting to regain its footing after a period of volatility and downward pressure. However, experts believe that the asset would trade sideways.
Pseudonymous crypto analyst Kaleo said that BTC’s sideways movement is typical following a halving event, mirroring patterns seen in previous cycles. Kaelo explained that after the halving, it’s common for bitcoin to undergo a few months of sideways price action as miners now receive essentially half the revenue they did previously.
A similar sentiment was echoed by Jeff Ross, Founder and CEO of Vailshire Capital Management, while addressing the ongoing sentiment of pessimism surrounding bitcoin. Despite the “doom and gloom,” Ross maintained his bullish stance referring to the ongoing market as a “bullcrab.”
The exec also said that predicting the end of the bitcoin bull market may be premature, indicating that the actual one has yet to start. Ross sees the upcoming weeks and months as a prime opportunity to accumulate BTC at lower prices as the cryptocurrency trades sideways.
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