A noteworthy event for the cryptocurrency sector occurred as the First District Court of Appeals in Florida issued a unanimous decision against a permanent prohibition on Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally.
As per a report from Bloomberg Law, the court concluded that the state's financial regulators had failed to adhere to appropriate protocols when issuing an emergency suspension order. Consequently, this ruling denies the regulators' attempt to prevent Binance from conducting operations within the state.
Binance Wins Court Case
The Florida Office of Financial Regulation implemented the restriction in November 2023, not long after Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance Holdings, entered a guilty plea to federal financial charges.
But the authorities did not provide evidence to support their legal judgments, the court pointed out, especially when it came to Zhao's supposed threat to public safety.
The court's decision highlighted the lack of a clear legal foundation for the immediate suspension order because Zhao's activities were not sufficiently demonstrated by the regulators to pose a risk to the public's health, safety, or welfare.
Although Binance has gained a lot from the court's ruling, the exchange has also run into regulatory issues in other states. For example, the Alaskan Banking Division declined to extend Binance. US's license to conduct business in the state during the same time.
Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, the founder of Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges associated with enabling money laundering activities on the cryptocurrency exchange.
Interestingly, the sentence handed down to Zhao was less severe than the three-year prison term requested by federal prosecutors. In contrast, the defense had proposed five months of probation, a request that was ultimately granted.
As part of the settlement, Binance was directed to pay a hefty fine of $4.3 billion and forfeiture. Furthermore, Changpeng Zhao personally agreed to pay a substantial fine of $50 million.
BNB Approaches Record High Amid Uptrend in Market
As this was happening, Binance's native coin, BNB, showed fresh signs of bullishness, following the general market upswing that was driven by major cryptocurrencies over the previous week.
BNB has shown tremendous growth over the last month, rising 4% over the last 30 days and soaring by a remarkable 7% in just the last week. As a result, its trading price is at $620.
This is significant because it brings the fourth-largest cryptocurrency closer to its all-time high (ATH), which was reached in the bull market of 2021 at $686.
According to data from CoinGecko, BNB has seen a significant decrease in trading volume, dropping by 66% in recent days to a total of $1 billion over the past 24 hours. However, despite this decline, if the current upward trend persists, there are only a few resistance levels to watch before a potential retest of its all-time high (ATH).
Upon analyzing the BNB/USD 4-hour chart, the next notable resistance levels at $621.5 and $633 are the key obstacles that need to be surpassed for the token to continue its upward movement towards higher levels.
On the other hand, BNB bulls should remain attentive to the support levels at $614 and $605 to prevent a potential downturn that could lead to testing the crucial support level at $600.
May 2024, Cryptoniteuae