Week in review: Fed holds rate, Binance.US escapes asset freeze

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) kept its key rate for the first time since March 2022, Binance.US avoided an asset freeze, losses from the Atomic Wallet hack exceeded $100 million, and other developments of the past week.

Bitcoin rebounds after slide as Fed keeps rates unchanged

On June 13, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published a consumer-price index report. The reading came in below analysts’ expectations—the year-on-year rise in May slowed from 4.9% to 4%.

On June 14, the Fed for the first time since March 2022 held the target range for the federal funds rate at 5–5.25% per annum. The decision was in line with market expectations. In the wake of the news, Bitcoin briefly fell below $25,000 before rebounding to around $26,000.

At the time of writing, the first cryptocurrency was trading at about $26,500. Over the past week the asset rose by 2.9%.

Over the past week, Bitcoin’s broader cohort saw gains led by BNB (+4.7%). XRP fell the most, down 3.7%.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at about $1.1 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 49.6%.

What’s happening with Binance?

On June 13, Binance.US challenged the SEC’s emergency motion to freeze assets of the exchange, calling it “draconian and unduly burdensome.”

On June 14, a court ordered the regulator and the trading platform to reach an agreement to safeguard client funds, with the ability for the company to continue operating normally.

On June 17, the parties entered into an agreement to limit access by employees of the parent exchange to Binance.US customer assets. The court approved the deal.

This week Binance withdrew Cyprus registration to focus on engaging with fewer regulators in Europe. The regulator is reviewing the platform’s request.

Binance also announced its exit from the Netherlands after failing to obtain a local virtual asset service provider license.

According to Le Monde, since February 2022 the French Binance has been under preliminary investigation for alleged illicit provision of crypto services and failure to comply with anti-money-laundering obligations.

Michael Saylor forecasts multi-fold Bitcoin upside on regulation

The founder of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor said that the SEC’s statements and actions are laying the groundwork for the next bullish phase for Bitcoin. In his view, most of the regulator’s claims relate to tokens with security characteristics.

«People are starting to realise the near-term future of Bitcoin. The next logical step for cryptocurrency is a tenfold rise, and then another tenfold,” said Saylor.

In Congress, bill introduced to remove Gary Gensler

The Republican House Leader Tom Emmer and fellow Republican Warren Davidson introduced a bill to remove SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and restructure the agency.

According to Emmer, the proposed “SEC Stabilisation Act” would end the regulator’s ongoing abuses under the current Commission structure.

What to discuss with friends?

• Chatbots answered questions about Bitcoin’s future.
• Crypto bot earned $3 after taking out a $200 million flash loan.
• The number of subscribers to Bitcoin and Ethereum subreddits reached a record high.

Bitcoin mining difficulty climbs to a new high

In the latest adjustment on June 14 mining difficulty for Bitcoin rose by 2.18%. The metric reached a new high of 52.35 T.

On June 12 the Bitcoin network hash rate (seven-day moving average) reached a record high of 393.9 EH/s.

Former SEC official urges asset withdrawal from crypto platforms

Former SEC attorney John Reed Stark forecast a prolonged battle between crypto exchanges and the regulator and urged clients of trading platforms to abandon their use “now.”

The specialist explained that his position rests on the lack of registration of exchange operators with the SEC, which points to a lack of oversight. Stark cited problems with exchanges’ accounting and their failure to meet order-flow requirements.

Atomic Wallet hack losses surpass $100 million

Elliptic analysts said user losses from the non-custodial Atomic Wallet wallet exceeded $100 million.

The company tracks more than 5,500 crypto wallets believed to have been compromised in the attack. Elliptic measures have allowed the freezing of assets worth over $1 million.

Also on ForkLog:

• Kit sold $2.3 million worth of BNB after two years of inactivity.
• Apple threatened to remove the Damus decentralised social network app.
• Prime Trust’s payments division filed for bankruptcy.
• The court allowed Bittrex to withdraw funds for US customers.

BNB Chain team rolls out Luban update

The BNB Chain developers activated the network upgrade named Luban, which enhances the security and reliability of transactions.

The upgrade included three Improvement Proposals: BEP-126, BEP-174, BEP-221. The most significant was BEP-126, which implemented the first part of the FastFinality mechanism to speed up block finalisation.

Bakkt will delist SOL, MATIC and ADA

The American institutional platform Bakkt will delist Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC) and Cardano (ADA) due to “regulatory uncertainty.”

The company will take necessary safety measures until clarity regarding compliance requirements for offering a broader list of coins emerges.

What else to read?

In our traditional digest, we’ve collected the week’s main cybersecurity-related events. the digest.

The decentralised finance sector continues to attract heightened attention from crypto investors. ForkLog has compiled the most important events and news of recent weeks in the digest.