FX168 Financial News (Asia Pacific) News On Thursday (April 25), Bitcoin fell back to $64,500. The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has listed Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs and stock codes for Huaxia, Bosch, and Harvest. Morgan Stanley is exploring allowing brokers to actively promote Bitcoin ETFs to customers, but tension in the Middle East still suppresses the rise in currency prices. Analysts attributed the recent decline to Israel's announcement of an air strike on southern Lebanon.
There is an uproar in the crypto community: Zhao Changpeng is afraid of being locked up for 3 years!
According to a sentencing memorandum submitted by the US Department of Justice on Tuesday local time, it is argued that Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) should be jailed for 36 months (3 years) and fined 50 million US dollars after admitting to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in November 2023.
(Source: CourtListener)
The document said, “The judgment in this case not only sends a message to Zhao Changpeng, but also sends a message to the world. Mr. Zhao received huge rewards for violating US law, and the cost of such violation must be significant in order to effectively punish Mr. Zhao's criminal acts and deter those trying to establish a wealth and commercial empire by breaking US law.”
Originally, according to Zhao Changpeng's plea agreement, he could be imprisoned for up to 18 months (1 year and a half). However, the US Department of Justice stated in this document that “the scope and consequences of Zhao Changpeng's misconduct are enormous, so it is appropriate to increase the sentence here.”
The sudden change in judgment caused an uproar in the coin industry, and discussions in the crypto community were intense.
The memorandum also criticized Zhao Changpeng's failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program on Binance. Illegal actors used the Binance Exchange in various ways, including operating hybrid services to conceal the origin and ownership of cryptocurrencies, trading illegal proceeds from extortion software attacks, transferring proceeds from dark web proceeds, exchange hacking, and various internet-related scams.
However, according to Zhao Changpeng's defense documents, he did not know and was not clearly informed of specific transactions involving criminal funds on Binance.
The document emphasizes: “Although the probation sentence mentioned a conversation, Binance's Chief Compliance Officer warned Zhao Changpeng that there are users from countries sanctioned by the US on the Binance platform. However, the reality is that Binance, as a non-US company, is not prohibited from having users from countries sanctioned by the US on its platform.”
“In contrast, the sanctions charge the company pleaded guilty to is a novel and narrowly defined allegation that an algorithm matching engine violates US sanctions laws by randomly pairing users from sanctioned countries with US users.”
Also, regarding these transactions that are alleged to be in violation of sanctions, the document also states that they only account for a small portion of Binance's trading volume, which is almost negligible. Therefore, the defense lawyer argued that Zhao Changpeng should be given a suspended sentence rather than a prison sentence, and emphasized that there is no risk that he will commit another offense.
Bitcoin's Long and Short War: China and US ETF Profits Attack, Escalating Situation in the Middle East Threats Suppression
The official website of the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has listed Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs from three fund companies, Huaxia, Bosch, and Harvest. The approval dates are all April 23, 2024, and none of the relevant funds are derivatives funds. #现货比特币ETF #
(Source: SFC)
These include: Huaxia Bitcoin ETF (BUU163), stock codes 03042, 09042, 83042; Huaxia Ether ETF (BUU164), stock codes 03046, 09046, 83046; Bosch Hashkey Bitcoin ETF (BUU104), stock codes 03008, 09008; Bosch HashKey Ether ETF (BUU105), stock codes 03009, 09009; Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF (BUT244), stock code 03439, 09439; Harvest Ethereum Spot ETF (BUU885), stock codes 03179, 09179.
A spokesman for China's unicorn Hashkey Capital said on Wednesday that Hong Kong's Bitcoin and Ether spot ETF products launched in cooperation with Bosch Fund will begin trading on April 30.
Additionally, it is reported that Zetrix Foundation and MyEG have signed a memorandum of understanding with MaiCapital, a licensed virtual asset management company in Hong Kong, to jointly launch virtual asset funds or Hong Kong ETF products. It is worth noting that MYEG is a Malaysian company.
However, there are also doubts in the market, believing that there will be no “BlackRock” (BlackRock) effect in Hong Kong, and demand may be less than that of the US market.
According to Advisorhub, two executives familiar with Morgan Stanley's plans revealed that the company is exploring expanding Bitcoin sales to allow its approximately 15,000 brokers to solicit customers to buy. Like other peers, the company began providing related products after the Bitcoin ETF received regulatory approval in January of this year, but until now it has only been offered in the form of non-active marketing, which means that customers must actively seek investment from their advisors. Allowing consultants to recommend these products may expand demand, but it also exposes the company to additional liability risks.
(Source: Advisor Hub)
According to one of the executives, Morgan Stanley is still trying to establish “protective rules” for promoted purchases, including risk tolerance requirements and restrictions on investment allocation and transaction frequency. Both executives did not provide a time frame for the company to likely change its policies. “We'll be very careful,” the first executive added. “We want to make sure everyone has access to it. We just wanted to do this in a controlled way.”
Morgan Stanley's peers have taken a similar cautious approach. Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Securities and Wells Fargo launched related products soon after the Bitcoin ETF was approved, but they also only accept unsolicited purchases, and in some cases only ultra-wealthy customers. For example, Merrill Lynch requires clients to have at least $10 million or more in assets to buy a Bitcoin ETF.
Analysts, including Joe Consorti, attributed Bitcoin's negative performance on Wednesday to Israel's announcement of air strikes on southern Lebanon. #中东局势 #
(Source: Twitter)
However, establishing a direct causal relationship for such events is challenging. Bitcoin's value stems in part from its lack of correlation with traditional markets.
Market participants expressed concern that Bitcoin is vulnerable to stock market fluctuations, particularly after the April correction of the S&P 500 index. Although the index has partially recovered from falling below 5,000 points on April 19, investors are still wary that corporate profits may be disappointing given the continued interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. The adjusted EBITDA announced by Tesla on Tuesday fell 21% year over year due to price cuts and lower sales volume.
Bitcoin technical analysis
CMTrade said that Bitcoin's RSI is above the neutral zone of 50, and the MACD is above the signal line and has a positive value, and the configuration is positive.
Furthermore, the price is below the 20- and 50-period moving averages, which are $66,605 and $66,497, respectively.
“Our pivot point is at $65,330, and our preference is that as long as $65,330 is the support level, the upside will prevail.”
“Another scenario is below $65,330, which is expected to test $63,720 and $62,760.” #比特日报 #
(Source: CMTrade)