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US Department of Justice (DoJ) Mulling Fraud Charges Against Binance
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is considering pressing fraud charges against Binance, as reported by Semafor. They worry that if it does, it could trigger a rush to withdraw balances on the exchange, similar to the rush that brought down FTX last November.
They also fear this could result in customers losing money, as well as cause a fresh panic in the broader crypto market.
Crypto markets came under modest sell pressure in wake of the report breaking across newswires.
Bitcoin dropped from the $29,300s to test the $29,000 level.
Ether dropped from around $1,845 to fresh daily lows near $1,820 before recovering somewhat to the $1,830s.
BNB the cryptocurrency that powers the smart-contract-enabled Binance Smart Chain, fell as much as 3% on the reports, before recovering around 2%.
DoJ prosecutors are considering compromise options such as fines and deferred or non-deferred prosecution agreements that would reduce harm to the consumer