Welcome to This Week in Crypto, where we cover the top trending headlines in the cryptocurrency industry. The world of crypto news moves fast, and we’re here to bring it to you for your weekly digest. This week, we’re looking at the CFTC’s lawsuit with Binance, the growth of crypto philanthropy, and CBDCs driving mass adoption of blockchain technology. Enjoy this week’s top stories!
Binance Sued by CFTC, Sees $850M in Withdrawals
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is being sued by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for violating trading regulations and failure to register. Binance is also being investigated by both the Internal Revenue Service and Securities Exchange Commission for violating Anti-Money Laundering rule violations and allowing US customers to trade unregistered securities. The CFTC’s lawsuit states that Binance allegedly allowed customers in the US to trade cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, despite having restrictions set on allowing them to access Binance’s services. Shortly after the lawsuit was made public, over $850 million in crypto left Binance, according to Thanefield Capital.
In a blog, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) called the lawsuit “unexpected and disappointing”, saying that they had been working in conjunction with the CFTC for over two years. He added that the exchange holds itself to high regulatory standards and will not “shy away from challenges”. This lawsuit may be one of the largest in crypto history, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Crypto Philanthropy Donations to Exceed $10 Billion in the Next Decade
A report from crypto philanthropy platform The Giving Block forecasted that cryptocurrency donations would exceed $10 billion by 2032, highlighting the use case of cryptocurrency’s cross-border payments without restrictions. The report also included statistics for the most-used cryptocurrencies in donations made in the last year, with USDC making up 44%, Ethereum 24%, and Bitcoin 17%. Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin holds the top spot for largest donation amount in a year with over $9.4 million! The Giving Block’s report also gave predictions as to what Bitcoin’s price would be in the future – $100,000 by 2026 and $250,000 by 2029. While these predictions are merely speculation, it’s interesting to see what different organizations think Bitcoin’s price is heading to. Cryptocurrency has shown to be very useful in cross-border donations for many charitable organizations, and its popularity is only going to grow over the next few years.
Mass Adoption of Crypto & Blockchain Driven by CBDCs and Tokenization, According to Citi
An article from financial services and banking group Citi predicted that a combination of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and the tokenization of real-world assets will drive mass adoption of blockchain technology. The firm predicted that the industry is approaching an “inflection point” where blockchain will have “billions of users and trillions of dollars in value”. Blockchain technology has a particularly useful place in financial business models for quick and secure transactions, much like Bitcoin. With many countries either piloting or developing their own CBDCs this year, mass adoption of blockchain technology may be only six to eight years away, according to Citi. CBDCs remain a controversial topic in political and crypto communities, and their place in modern economics has yet to be established.
