With Binance Coin (BNB) on the rise again, people want to know how high it will go. The crypto odds say not much higher – just yet.
It’s been a very interesting ride these past few months for crypto investors. The arrow’s been trending upwards for most of the digital coins on the market – including Binance Coin (BNB), which is trading at just under US$354 as we go to press. That’s up more than $100 from this past November, when Binance agreed to pay $4 billion in fines for assorted violations.
If you’re thinking the price of Binance Coin will continue its upward trajectory, hold your horses: The crypto odds at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) aren’t so sure. They have Under $360 pegged at –130 for BNB’s price at the end of February, and Under $380.50 at the same –130 for BNB’s price at the end of 2024.
Why the skepticism?
After a little digging, it’s obvious there are still both pros and cons when it comes to Binance Coin – enough to make it a dicey proposition at crypto betting sites whether BNB will stay above $350 by the end of the calendar year.
What Is Binance Coin?
Binance Coin is the cryptocurrency launched in July 2017 by Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume. At first, Binance Coin was an Ethereum token; Binance moved it onto their own blockchain, now known as BNB Chain, in September 2020.
BNB’s a pretty big deal, too.
It has the fourth largest market cap on the crypto coin list at $52.9 billion – still about 5% the size of Bitcoin, and just over half the size of USD Tether in third place, but plenty big enough to carve out an important place in the market.
In the beginning, Binance Coin was used as a token for discounted trading fees, but now you can use it for general financial transactions. Want to invest in stocks or ETFs? Need some collateral for a loan? You can do it with BNB, where accepted.
What About Binance USD?
That’s a separate stablecoin that Binance launched in 2019 in partnership with Paxos Trust Company, which issues Binance USD (BUSD) on the Ethereum blockchain – although the New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos last February to stop minting new tokens.
It’s easy to get BNB and BUSD mixed up given that they’re both digital coins from Binance, but if you remember the “USD” part of BUSD, you’ll remember that this coin is pegged to the U.S. dollar, unlike its close cousin.
Why Was Binance Fined $4 Billion?
After a years-long investigation, the U.S. Justice Department ruled that Binance had willfully violated anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, giving bad actors from Iran, Cuba, Syria and Russia access to the U.S. financial system.
Specifically, Binance ran afoul of the Bank Secrecy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act – and for failing to register as a money transmitting business. In response, co-founder Changpeng Zhao (a Canadian national, so his family name is his last name) agreed to the fine, paying $200 million out of his own pocket – $50 million in criminal fines, plus a $150-million civil penalty – while stepping down as CEO.
Is Binance Okay Now?
Yes and no. Despite having to pay through the nose, Zhao and Binance were given a slap on the wrist compared to Sam Bankman-Fried and the doomed FTX exchange.
It was seen as a tacit admission that Binance was “too big to fail.” Be that as it may, there are still some issues with their coin.
You can’t use it in New York, where the Justice Department made its ruling; you also can’t use BNB or trade on Binance in Connecticut, Georgia, Washington, New Mexico or Hawaii, let alone China and several other international jurisdictions.
It’s also important to note that Binance runs an entirely separate exchange for those American customers it does accept: Binance.US, which was formed after the original Binance exchange was banned in the U.S. in 2019. This isn’t a problem for traders in and of itself, but it does point to the regulatory issues Binance has encountered during these early Wild West days of crypto.
On the pro side of things, at least from a price perspective, Binance does “burn” a certain amount of tokens, removing them from circulation to keep the supply low and the price high. These burns used to be stand-alone events every business quarter, but now they’re also done automatically with each block.
You’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for the upcoming Q1 2024 burn if you’re thinking of placing any bets on Binance Coin at crypto betting sites. The latest leap over the $350 mark may have already priced in with this burn – but there will be more to follow before 2024 is through.
