Binance Coin (BNB) has surged from around $264 to over $288 in the past 24 hours, an increase of 9%, according to data from Coingecko. Binance’s flagship cryptocurrency began showing an upward trend in mid-December after a bearish month. As of press time, BNB’s market capitalization is $42.41 billion, ranking fourth.
Binance Coin is in the spotlight again, with its price surging 9% in the last 24 hours. BNB remains under pressure, but investors seem to be flocking to the token amid a broad rally across cryptocurrencies.
BNB was previously one of the third largest altcoins, behind Ethereum (ETH) and the stablecoin Tether (USDT). However, Solana (SOL)’s growth has recently surpassed BNB and Ripple (XRP).
BNB Bulls Shooting for SOL
SOL took the 4th place in market capitalization as its price continued to rise. Over the past year, Solana has surged more than 600%, an impressive resurgence compared to other top cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency is currently trading around $114.90.
Likewise, Solana’s market capitalization is approaching $50 billion. Today’s rally has analysts weighing the opportunity for Binance Coin to challenge Solana’s position.
After CZ decided to step down as CEO of Binance on November 22, BNB briefly plunged from $269 to $230. Meanwhile, data from Coingecko shows that payments news ripples through the market, impacting major players such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Cryptocurrency markets plummeted, with Bitcoin down 20% to below $36,000 and ETH down 15% to below $2,000.
However, most cryptocurrencies showed strength in December, lighting up the charts. However, BNB has remained sluggish until recently, seemingly late to the party.
Binance Coin is Binance’s native token designed to fuel the ecosystem. Initially built on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token, Binance Coin later transitioned to Binance Smart Chain. Despite market volatility and a changing regulatory environment, cryptocurrencies continue to hold a strong position among major cryptocurrencies.
Will Binance be able to overcome its legal challenges in 2024?
The future of Binance Coin is tied to the future of the company and the continued advancement of technology. Although Binance has reached a landmark settlement with US authorities, the legal battle between Binance and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is still ongoing.
Binance has reached agreements with other U.S. authorities, including the Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, to resolve issues related to AML/KYC and certain platform features. However, this settlement does not resolve the ongoing litigation with the SEC.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) in July 2023. Both parties have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, and the legal battle is in the pretrial stage. The United States was harsh on cryptocurrency and did not give up.
Meanwhile, Binance has also faced regulatory scrutiny and challenges in other jurisdictions. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning to Binance in June 2021, saying it does not have permission to operate in the UK.
Binance is reportedly working to address the FCA’s concerns and gain regulatory approval. The exchange has announced a partnership with Rebuildingsociety.com as part of its efforts to comply with the FCA’s updated regime. Unfortunately, the UK watchdog has ordered Binance’s partners to remove cryptocurrency ads soon.
Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has ordered Binance to stop providing services to Dutch residents in July 2022, citing concerns over AML/KYC compliance. The exchange decided to suspend domestic operations in July this year after failing to receive permission from DNB.
BaFin, Germany’s federal financial regulator, issued a similar order to Binance in July 2022, banning it from providing cryptocurrency custody services to German users. Initially, the cryptocurrency exchange appealed this decision, seeking regulatory clarity in Germany. However, Bloomberg reported that the request was withdrawn in July 2023.