2023-11-22 02:31

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters The cryptocurrency market experienced a jolt today as Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the CEO of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, stepped down from his position. This move came in the wake of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations that Binance facilitated funding for Hamas. Following the announcement, Binance Coin (BNB), the native cryptocurrency of the Binance platform, saw its price fall sharply to $239, with the market capitalization declining to $36.4 billion. The departure of Zhao has instigated a significant reaction in the crypto market, with Binance Coin's daily trading volume dropping by 11.2% to $389.5 million on Tuesday. Analysts have conducted technical analysis on BNB and suggest that there could be an additional drop of about 12%. Such a decline would breach the support level at $234.6 and potentially push prices towards the lower boundary of its symmetrical triangle pattern near $200 on the weekly chart. This level has historically been a strong support zone where buyers have stepped in to drive up prices. To fill the leadership vacuum left by Zhao, Richard Teng has been appointed as the new CEO. With Binance serving a vast user base of 150 million and managing a considerable workforce, Teng's expertise will be crucial in maintaining trust and stability within the organization. Following the news of Zhao's resignation, Coinglass reported that $3 million in BNB long positions were liquidated quickly. Additionally, there was a significant decrease in the Perpetual Funding Rate, which dropped from 0.025% to 0.0093%, indicating that market participants might be bracing for further declines in price and liquidity relative to the spot price index. The market is now closely watching how Teng will navigate this tumultuous period for Binance. His actions could either mitigate bearish sentiments and help stabilize BNB's market value or fail to reassure investors, potentially leading to further downward pressure on the cryptocurrency's price. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/binance-ceo-steps-down-bnb-price-drops-amid-doj-settlement-93CH-3240636

2023-11-22 01:53

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com -- Oil prices settled lower Wednesday despite fighting back against a wave selling pressure following a much larger than expected increase in weekly U.S. crude stockpiles and easing optimism about deeper supply cuts after major oil producing nations delayed a meeting to set output policy. By 14:30 ET (19:30 GMT), the U.S. crude futures settled 0.86% lower at $77.10 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.6% to $81.96 a barrel. Both benchmarks were more than 4% lower intraday. U.S. crude stockpiles jump U.S. weekly crude inventories increased by 8.7 million barrels last week, well above forecasts for a 1.2 million increase, adding to worries about crude oversupply. Gasoline inventories, one of the products that crude is refined into, rose by 749,000 barrels, confounding expectations for a draw of 150,000 barrels while distillate stockpiles fell by about 1 million barrels, compared to expectations of a decline of 761,000 barrels. U.S. crude output remained at a record level of 13.2 million barrels per day, up from 12.10 million bpd a year earlier, the Energy Information Agency reported. This record level of U.S. supply is proving a headwind for the market, and posing a problem for OPEC+, as the U.S. appears to be taking market share away from the cartel’s top producers as they, and Saudi Arabia in particular, cut output to boost prices. OPEC+ meeting postponed The crude market had started the week on a firm note following reports that Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, was set to discuss cutting output levels further in their meeting over the weekend. However, the news that the meeting has been postponed to Nov. 26 has created a great deal of uncertainty over future production levels, with traders seeing the postponement as evidence of disagreement between the principal players. Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ have already pledged oil output cuts of about 5 million barrels per day, or about 5% of daily global demand, in a series of steps that started in late 2022. This figure includes a voluntary reduction by Saudi Arabia of one million barrels per day and a 300,000 barrels a day cut in Russian oil exports, both of which last until the end of 2023. That said, even if OPEC+ extends the cuts into next year, the global oil market will still see a slight surplus of supply in 2024, said Toril Bosoni, the head of the International Energy Agency's oil markets and industry division on Tuesday. Dollar rebound weighs on crude Also weighing on the market Wednesday was a rebound in the U.S. dollar after the publication of the minutes from the early November Federal Reserve meeting. As oil is priced in dollars, a stronger greenback makes the commodity more expensive for foreign buyers. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-muted-as-markets-weigh-massive-us-inventory-build-opec-cuts-3240623

2023-11-22 00:29

Investing.com-- The price of Bitcoin fell sharply on Wednesday after Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance, resigned from the world’s largest crypto exchange and pleaded guilty to several criminal charges from the Department of Justice. This saw BNB, Binance’s native token, slump nearly 11%, with Binance now facing an over $4 billion fine for breaking several U.S. anti-money laundering laws and skirting financial regulations. Bitcoin fell nearly 5% to $35,714- erasing a bulk of its gains made over the past two weeks, while world no. 2 crypto Ethereum sank 4.5%. CZ pleaded guilty in a Seattle court on Tuesday, and announced his resignation on social media platform X. Richard Teng, former head of Abu Dhabi’s financial authority and currently the head of Binance’s regional markets, will take his place as CEO. CZ is now barred from any involvement in Binance, faces a personal $50 million fine and could potentially face prison time. His resignation, along with Binance’s settlement, ends a years-long probe into the world’s largest crypto exchange over its alleged fostering of money laundering activities, particularly for entities under U.S. sanctions. The DOJ, along with a series of investigative pieces by Reuters, had alleged that Binance knowingly skirted regulations and even encouraged its users to bypass government restrictions on the exchange. The settlement also deals another blow to the credibility of the crypto industry, coming just a few weeks after FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of committing fraud and misusing customer funds at the now-defunct crypto exchange. The crypto industry has been grappling with a severe loss of faith over the past year, which was marked by several high-profile bankruptcies. This was followed by several apparent figureheads of the industry- including Bankman-Fried and CZ- facing accusations of criminal activity on their respective exchanges. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission leveled similar charges against crypto exchange Kraken, alleging that it commingled customer funds. The regulator has ongoing cases against other crypto players as well, most notably Gemini, which is owned by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), the biggest crypto exchange in the U.S.. Bitcoin trading volumes plummeted over the past year as retail traders exited the space, and were now trading at a fraction of their 2021 highs. But the token saw some resurgence in interest over the past few weeks, amid growing speculation that the SEC was close to approving an exchange-traded fund that directly tracks the price of Bitcoin. But the regulator has given no such signals, and has regularly rejected applications for a spot-Bitcoin ETF on the grounds that the currency is prone to price manipulation. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-bnb-slide-as-binance-ceo-resigns-pleads-guilty-to-doj-charges-3240612

2023-11-21 21:58

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters The recent surge in Bitcoin's value, now standing at $37,581, has been tied to a global uptick in liquidity, according to former Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal. He asserts that this trend is set to continue into 2024 and points to the ISM index, commonly used to predict economic cycles, as evidence that Bitcoin could be an early indicator of broader economic movements. Pal's analysis aligns the current boom in technology equities and cryptocurrency valuations with the year-over-year enhancements observed in the global M2 money supply—encompassing cash and other liquid assets. The M2 money supply, which "bottomed" last year, is a critical factor in understanding the market surges happening today. While Pal draws on his expertise from his tenure at Goldman Sachs to provide a macroeconomic perspective on these trends, it is emphasized that his insights should not be construed as investment advice. This caution comes alongside reminders about email alert subscriptions and disclosures of affiliate marketing participation by the platform presenting his analysis. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-rally-linked-to-global-liquidity-increase-says-exgoldman-exec-raoul-pal-93CH-3240574

2023-11-21 21:33

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. The euro fell sharply against the British pound on Tuesday, trading near a low of 0.8700 after officials from the Bank of England delivered hawkish remarks during a UK Parliament testimony. The central bank's unified policy stance against persistent inflation and warnings about increasing inflation pressures in the coming years contributed to the currency movement. Looking ahead, market participants are eyeing upcoming economic indicators with a slight improvement expected in EU Consumer Confidence, which is forecasted to rise from -17.9 to -17.6. This comes ahead of significant Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) releases, where anticipation is building for both EU and UK data. For Thursday, analysts predict a slight climb in the EU's HCOB Composite PMI to 46.9, while the UK's S&P Global/CIPS Composite PMI is expected to remain steady at 48.7. The manufacturing sector in particular is forecasted to show an increase from previous figures. Investors and traders are closely monitoring these developments as they could signal further movements in the currency markets, particularly between the euro and pound sterling. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/euro-falters-against-pound-as-bank-of-england-takes-hawkish-stance-93CH-3240552

2023-11-21 21:32

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. The GBP/EUR exchange rate climbed to €1.1453 today, bolstered by hawkish comments from Bank of England (BoE) officials during a UK Treasury committee session. Governor Andrew Bailey and Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden discussed measures to combat persistent service inflation, targeting a strict 2% goal. The Pound's strength was further supported by the UK's public borrowing falling £16.9 billion short of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts, suggesting potential tax reductions from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to stimulate economic growth. In contrast, the Euro weakened as traders shifted towards riskier assets and began pricing in expected interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank (ECB) by mid-2024 amid signs of cooling inflation and a slowing Eurozone economy. The Euro's decline also reflects its negative correlation with the underperforming US dollar. Adding to the Euro's woes, it experienced a significant drop just above the 0.8700 handle against the Pound following further hawkish insights from BoE members about potential interest rate hikes in response to high inflation expectations. BoE's Jonathan Haskel indicated that current Consumer Price Index (CPI) data might not accurately capture the actual inflationary trends. Looking ahead, market participants are anticipating a slight improvement in November’s EU Consumer Confidence index from -17.9 to -17.6, with attention turning to upcoming Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) announcements. Forecasts suggest a modest increase in the EU's High-frequency Composite Output PMI (HCOB Composite PMI) to nearly 46.9, while expectations for the UK S&P Global/CIPS Composite PMI remain unchanged at around 48.7, barring unexpected manufacturing sector data. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/pound-gains-on-boes-hawkish-stance-euro-slips-on-ecb-rate-cut-prospects-93CH-3240548