Crypto exchange giant Binance is allegedly under investigation by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as well as the Department of Justice (DOJ) for money laundering and tax evasion.

BREAKING: Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, is under investigation by the Justice Department and IRS https://t.co/mk0Njo7tUE

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) May 13, 2021

According to Bloomberg, the federal probe is confidential, with both the DOJ and IRS having “sought information from individuals with insight into Binance’s business.” The report accused Binance of succeeding without strong government oversight, with its lack of corporate headquarters and incorporation in the Cayman Islands — which levies no taxes and offers more lenient business practices. 

“We take our legal obligations very seriously and engage with regulators and law enforcement in a collaborative fashion. We have worked hard to build a robust compliance program that incorporates anti-money laundering principles and tools used by financial institutions to detect and address suspicious activity,” said a Binance spokesperson in response to the recent probe. 

Binance and Crypto Markets Continue to Face Regulatory Scrutiny

One of the biggest criticisms of Bitcoin and the crypto space at large has been their use for criminal activity. Back in January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised concerns over cryptocurrencies being used in terrorist and illegal financing, with other major financial figures like Charlie Munger associating the industry with “kidnappers” and “extortionists.” 

Chainalysis, a blockchain-based data analytics firm used by U.S. federal agencies, reported in 2019 that Binance saw more funds tied to criminal activity than any other exchanges based on the transactions that it had analyzed.

“Binance and Huobi lead all exchanges in illicit Bitcoin received by a significant margin. That may come as a surprise given that Binance and Huobi are two of the largest exchanges operating, and are subject to KYC regulations. How can they be receiving so much Bitcoin from criminal sources? Let’s start by looking at the specific accounts receiving illicit funds at both exchanges.”

This is certainly not the first time Binance has been embroiled in legal troubles. Recently, the exchange’s venture into tradable stock tokens landed the company under the scrutiny of European regulators, including the U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Germany’s BaFin. In March, Binance hired former U.S. senator Max Baucus as a regulatory advisor. 

Featured image from UnSplash 

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://bitcoinist.com/crypto-exchange-binance-under-investigation-by-irs-and-doj/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=crypto-exchange-binance-under-investigation-by-irs-and-doj

Overview

• Total spot trading volume at $3.17 billion, 5.3% higher than the 30-day average of $3.01 billion.
• Total futures notional at $638.8 million.
• The top five traded coins were, respectively, Ethereum (+2.3%), Bitcoin (-1.4%), Tether (0%), Dogecoin (12%), and Polkadot (-0.6%).
• Strong returns from Dogecoin (+12%) and Synthetix (8.5%).

#####################. Trading Volume by Asset. ##########################################

Trading Volume by Asset

The figures below break down the trading volume of the largest, mid-size, and smallest assets. Cryptos are in purple, fiats are in blue. For each asset, the chart contains the daily trading volume in USD, and the percentage of the total trading volume. The percentages for fiats and cryptos are treated separately, so that they both add up to 100%.

Figure 1: Largest trading assets: trading volume (measured in USD) and its percentage of the total trading volume (May 14 2021)



Figure 2: Mid-size trading assets: (measured in USD) (May 14 2021)



Figure 3: Smallest trading assets: (measured in USD) (May 14 2021)

#####################. Spread %. ##########################################

Spread %

Spread percentage is the width of the bid/ask spread divided by the bid/ask midpoint. The values are generated by taking the median spread percentage over each minute, then the average of the medians over the day.

Figure 4: Average spread % by pair (May 14 2021)



.

#########. Returns and Volume ############################################

Returns and Volume

Figure 5: Returns of the four highest volume pairs (May 14 2021)

Figure 6: Volume of the major currencies and an average line that fits the data to a sinusoidal curve to show the daily volume highs and lows (May 14 2021)

###########. Daily Returns. #################################################

Daily Returns %

Figure 7: Returns over USD and XBT. Relative volume and return size is indicated by the size of the font. (May 14 2021)

###########. Disclaimer #################################################

The values generated in this report are from public market data distributed from Kraken WebSockets api. The total volumes and returns are calculated over the reporting day using UTC time.

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://blog.kraken.com/post/9130/kraken-daily-market-report-for-may-14-2021/

Ternoa Blockchain has found a new partner as it introduces its NFT-based data transmission service to the market.

The company received an investment from Australia-based private equity firm LVT Capital to form a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing the sustainability, innovation, competitiveness, and dependability of Ternoa’s services that allow users to build time capsules for safely transmitting their memories and important data to their descendants even after death.

Building on LVT’s Expertise

With its focus on blockchain, crypto, and tech projects, LVT Capital has already proven its expertise in these areas with its numerous collaborations and investments. The company has already made investments in more than 40 top-caliber crypto, real estate, finance, education, and cybersecurity firms with 200 more under evaluation for potential collaborations.

LVT Capital has the market and technology expertise as well as the resources to enhance Ternoa’s unique service and promote it to boost the company’s competitiveness. For instance, LVT Capital has its own media & marketing services and an online publishing arm focused on blockchain, technology, and business, which makes the firm a perfect fit for Ternoa.

Ternoa Blockchain Offers Customizable Time Capsules

Ternoa Blockchain found a new way to use NFT and blockchain technologies to help people handle their data storage and transmission needs, which is one of the reasons for LVT Capital’s decision to invest in its business. With its Polkadot-powered, NFT-based customizable time capsules, people can securely transmit their memories such as photos, videos, and other important data to future generations or simply use the platform as a secure storage solution.

Ternoa’s platform is flexible enough and gives users several options on how they wish their data to be retrieved by their intended recipients. The available transmission protocols are Safe Protocol, Consent Protocol, Death Protocol, D-day Protocol, and Countdown Protocol.

• Safe Protocol – Data owners can retrieve data at any time, which makes use of Ternoa as a secure and portable storage solution.
• Consent Protocol – Recipients can access the time capsule as long as the original owner does not use his veto option.
• Death Protocol – The time capsule will be delivered to the beneficiaries upon the death of the creator based on local death registries APIs.
• Countdown Protocol – Introduces a countdown feature which can be set to1 month, 1 year, or 10 years. The time capsule will be delivered to the recipient if the countdown reaches the limit. The creator can reset the countdown at any time.
• D-day Protocol – Time capsule can only be accessed on a specific date, which is set by the creator.

While the loss of data is always an issue for other data storage solutions, Ternoa eliminated this risk by making copies of the files inside the time capsule, which are stored in other dex storage blockchains. At the moment, Ternoa sends these copies to Aerweave, Sia, and Storj while keeping the original version in its network. To learn more about the project, click here.

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://bitcoinerx.com/blockchain/ternoa-blockchains-nft-based-data-transmission-project-gets-lvt-capital-as-a-partner/