The top daily news from the cryptocurrency and blockchain space:
- Binance to launch Binance U.S. as it bans U.S. residents from Binance.com.
- CryptoCompare Launches New Benchmark Tool to Rank Exchange Legitimacy.
- Fundstrat’s Tom Lee explains what’s needed for $40,000 bitcoin (BTC).
At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are trading at $8,234.3 (+1.3%) and $255.5 (-1.8%), respectively. As for the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index, it is currently tracking at 4,017.4 (-1.6%).
Binance to Launch Binance U.S., Bans U.S. Residents from Binance.com
Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is set to launch Binance U.S. in cooperation with BAM Trading Services, a San Francisco-based company registered as a money services business with the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
In a tweet early Friday morning (CET), Binance co-founder and chief executive Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao noted that “there will be a few restrictions on Binance.com accompanying [the launch of Binance U.S.]. But some short term (sic) pains may be necessary for long term (sic) gains.”
Various Twitter users were left confused by Binance’s decision to launch Binance U.S., given U.S. citizens can already trade on Binance.com. To this, CZ expressed approval of the below tweet put forward by @kobratrading:
Negative. @cz_binance is making this move so he can be in legal compliance with our dumb laws, as well as potentially be able to offer leverage like Kraken does and be their competitor here.
— Kobra Trading (@kobratrading) June 14, 2019
Indeed, just a couple of hours after the official announcement of Binance U.S., the exchange released an another announcement that informed the public it had revised its Terms of Use. Notably, the section three (i.e., ‘Prohibition of use’) notes that “Binance is unable to provide services to any U.S. person.”
What’s more, section fourteen (i.e., ‘RESOLVING DISPUTES: FORUM, ARBITRATION, CLASS ACTION WAIVER, GOVERNING LAW’) stipulates a waiver of certain rights to bring legal proceedings, including as a class action for residents of the U.S.
CryptoCompare Launches New Benchmark Tool to Rank Exchange Legitimacy
Crypto data and indices provider, CryptoCompare, has announced the launch of a new Benchmark Tool to rank the legitimacy of cryptoasset exchanges. Launched in response to growing concern about the reliability of reported volume figures from exchanges, the framework ranks 100 spot exchanges according to seven – harder to fake – metrics, and is used to generate a new metric of “trusted volume.”
The first report reveals that the top 10 most trusted exchanges are (in order): Coinbase, Poloniex, Bitstamp, bitFlyer, Liquid, itBit, Kraken, Binance, Gemini and Bithumb.
Tom Lee on What is Needed for Bitcoin Breakout
Speaking at the CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit in London, Fundstrat Global Advisors' Thomas Lee presented on a hypothetical scenario wherein bitcoin (BTC) would “very likely” quadruple in the five months proceeding a would-be upward price movement to $10,000.
During his talk, Lee recapped thirteen events that transpired between November 2018 and May 2019; the culmination of which suggested the so-called ‘crypto winter’ has come to a close.
Despite his bullish outlook for the leading cryptocurrency, Lee reiterated that a strong price breakout would only ensue if bitcoin firstly surpassed $10,000; a price not seen in over fifteen months.
