Today Bitcoin and ether rise to close Out the week with Bitcoin hitting Another 2023 high and core Dow Contributor Rich ryes discusses Binance's settlement with US government Officials and what it means for the Crypto [Music] Industry welcome to cnbc's crypto world I'm T mck digital currencies held steady Through the Thanksgiving holiday having Recovered from a big dip earlier in the Week with Bitcoin hitting a new high for 2023 on Friday Bitcoin touched the $ 38,400 level for the first time since May 2022 that's according to coin Metrics by noon Eastern it was higher by Almost 2% at about $37,500 and ending The week Higher by 4% meanwhile ether Has moved back above the key Psychological level of $2,000 trading More than 2% higher to end the day at Just about $2,100 the second largest token by Market cap outperformed the crypto Market this week ending up more than 8% And then salana the big outperformer on The year it's up more than 476 for the year compared to bitcoin's 130% it trailed the major tokens this Week it's hovering at about the Flatline all right let's jump right into Our main story broker Bernstein came out With a research report on Wednesday
Arguing that binance will still remain The dominant Exchange in international Markets this is despite the outflows Following news earlier this week that The world's largest crypto exchange Settled with US government officials its CEO Chang Pang Xiao also pleaded guilt To charges against him and step down From his role crypto world's Talia Kaplan spoke with cow contributor Rich Ryes about that research and what he Thinks will change following binance's Settlement the world's largest crypto Exchange was charged with breaking Sanctions and money transmitting laws And agreed to pay more than $4 billion Do in fines to the US government to Settle the allegations the founder of Binance Shang Pang jaao pleaded guilty In the US to the charges against him and Stepped down from his role as CEO now Data from nonsense shows that binance Users pulled more than $1 billion doar From The Exchange in the 24 hours after The news so do you think binance will Survive all of This I think I think binance Will Survive and I think a little bit of you Know Market Panic after big news like This is to be expected I think if you Saw like that the days leading into the FTX crash for example you saw many Orders of magnitude or may not orders of Magnitude but many multiple higher in
Terms of capital kind of fleeing the Exchanges I think there's also like a US Regulatory angle here where a lot of you Know customers might not want the US Government in that data pool Etc so I Think some amount of this is is to be Expected Finance volume still remain Strong and again they are the the Largest uh exchange by market share we Learned that binance's VIP users were Granted a set of special privileges Including an early heads up if they were Under investigation that's according to The US Tre treasuries Financial crimes Enforcement Network what do you think About that Revelation do you think that Helped binance establish its dominance As the world's largest crypto Exchange I think they were you know very Aggressive the the the crypto exchange Landscape you know primarily since 2017 When when binance really came to Prominence has been you know uh Different levels of aggression you know Originally with with bitmax then you saw Binance and others you know start to Compete with that you see still see Smaller upstart exchanges doing that Today so so I do think some amount of That is just endemic to the space but I Do think as the space matures we're Going to see more more of that kind of Cruff you know wash out as time goes on Th those Revelations certainly were were
Very interesting and and I think Unexpected but I do think that are Positive elements to that where they Didn't find you know more damaging Pieces that could have been you know More similar to customer fund Mismanagement like FTX Etc so I think With some of the bad that there was some Of the good as well Bernstein argues That binance will retain its International dominance after the Settlement in the US but acknowledges That it now expects increased Competition from companies like coinbase And other exchanges in regulated markets Including Singapore and Hong Kong do you Agree I think competition is is good for The space I I think this will I think Binance will continue to remain the the Leader and this settlement helps ensure That but but I think the the competition As the space continues to grow and Mature will get more competitive there's Of exchanges like coinbase that have Have been above board since you know Their founding and will probably make Inroads in some of these other markets As they you know get to further Regulatory Clarity but I think in General like we'll watch this continue To grow and and get more mature as a Space and competition uh amongst major Players is to be Expected so what do you think will
Change following the binance settlement What does this all mean for the crypto Industry as a Whole so so I think JP Morgan put it the Best when they said you know one of the Biggest systemic risks in crypto is is Is now behind us and I think that is the The positive andc correct way to view This I think there was a lot of fear in The crypto Market that they were going To find you know customer fund Mismanagement or other more serious Things under the hood to question the The general solvency of of finance and It's great to see that those are all put To bed Finance being able to continue to Operate is also quite big because it is That fundamental crypto Market uh Infrastructure layer that all the other Pieces really are built P so I I think That's very good and it really does pave The way to to the ETF and some of these Other developments as as crypto takes Center stage and of course you know next Year should be a big year for crypto With the Bitcoin happening as well now You touched on this but some other Industry insiders argue that the Settlement could be viewed as a partial Victory for binance and CZ given that The crypto exchange will be able to Continue operating some say that the Settlement is a pivotal moment for the Crypto industry highlighting the need
For crypto exchanges to prioritize Regulatory Compliance and to adhere to Established Financial laws and standards What do you think about those statements And what do you think comes next so I do Think it's a win for binance in this Case and a win for the crypto industry As a whole as we see again the Maturation of of the industry I and I Think that maturation again does lead to To further acceptance of major players Whether via the ETF or otherwise but but I think in general like if you look at Binance you look at other major Exchanges like coinbase and Now kraken Which is better than news recently Everybody's asking for regulatory Clarity in just the rules of the road Whether it's in the US or or otherwise And I do think that's on the horizon We've seen some inroads from from Europe And some other regions that are starting To lay best practices Singapore as well Recently and I think all of that is is Now inevitable and the space has now Gotten to a point where it's going to Exist and now it's all about figuring Out how the Legacy infrastructure in the New infrastructure play in a legally Compliant Way now we learned that on top of paying Billions ions and fines binance will be Monitored for 5 years to settle charges With the US Treasury Department's money
Laundering and sanctions Watchdogs but Is that enough to restore trust in the Crypto exchange what do you think it Will take for people to trust crypto Again following what we learned about Binance this week coupled with the trial Of St bman freed that just wrapped up in All the details that came out related to What was going on at FTX the crypto Exchange SBF Founded so crypto like most Industries Es and flows and and crypto has kind of A savior complex like like many other Industries do and with every cycle you Get different actors that that come to Prominence and then some of those turn Out to be bad actors they wash out and Then the space continues to to grow and Develop and and and I think that that's No surprise that that we've seen that Again and this was crypto's biggest Cycle to to date so we saw kind of the The the problems get to to unprecedented Levels but in some ways that's also a Positive because now you're seeing the Clar the clarity be Uh you know more desired and now coming Into to play for the first time which is Really important because this is what Will help us get to to a long-term Stasis overall versus this kind of Uncertainty and crypto as a whole is you Know is no longer in the cowboy days of You know of yester year it's now a fully
Developed space and it's important that It matures and Grows how would you compare the binance Situation to the collapse of FDX I think they're very very different And I think it's important to to think About you know FTX was was just pure Fraud and get getting rid of FTX was Again very very net positive for the Space bance again had you know a lot of Issues that have now been have now been Settled with with the US and there's a Lot of pieces there that that could Definitely be improved upon but I think It's very different to to watch how These are going to manifest you know FTX Is gone binance will will continue to to Exist and I think that's really Important and they shouldn't be Overlapped they're very different sets Of of charges that were leved against e A dip both groups and I think it's also Important to compare like the FTX and Binance situations again are very Different to like the Kraken or the Coinbase situations all crypto exchanges Are are not the same and have been Accused of very very different things And it's important to to not convolute All all these different charges that Have been happening the coinbase in the Krakens of the world is more regulation By enforcement regulatory Clarity issues Versus these criminal charges that we've
Seen on the other Side so in a nutshell what's your Outlook for crypto and 2024 do you Expect we'll see more charges against Crypto companies and Executives and do You think there will be more scandals And bankruptcies coming to the surface Or do you expect things will turn around Next Year it's always hard to talk in in in The crypto landscape anything of like You know a month or so out but but I Think if you look at you know 2024 I'm Very optimistic I I think we'll see an ETF I think that's a when not an if at This point I I think we'll see Major Market events like the Bitcoin happening Which which draws a lot of Interest into The space hopefully in a positive way I Think the US election cycle will also Play a role in that hopefully as we get To Greater regulatory CL Clarity in the US and then also overseas so I'm very Bullish that crypto as a space is now Past that point of no return where it Can no longer be ignored and then I Think it's also important that in Election years you you see a general Distrust of Institutions and all those Other you know instabilities that Society has to deal with that crypto Offers a viable solution to if you go Back to what Bitcoin was originally Founded on it was a reaction to the
Great financial crisis and all of the The issues there and and I think people Want to go back to to hard assets and Freedom preserving technology and that's What crypto offers at its Core okay that's all for crypto world This week we'll be back again on Monday And we'll see you [Music] Then
