Crypto Exchanges Binance, OKX Used By Criminals To Disguise Illicit Funds, ICIJ Investigation Finds

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as 'CZ', faced a surprising inquiry about the potential refund of a $4.3 billion settlement by the US government following his presidential pardon. His response has sparked significant interest within the cryptocurrency community, adding complexity to ongoing discussions about regulatory actions and their implications for crypto exchanges.

The recent downturn in cryptocurrency markets has resulted in a significant pullback, with October witnessing $2 billion in liquidations. Despite this, only Binance has encountered serious issues. Cecilia Hsueh from MEXC asserts that this crash does not resemble the catastrophic collapses of Luna and FTX in 2022.

Ethereum's price is currently at a critical juncture, trading at $3,079 with signs of instability as market activity declines. Despite a slight daily gain of 1%, the cryptocurrency faces pressure as traders withdraw and the support level around $3,000 is at risk amid record high leverage and inflows on Binance.

Democratic senators are calling for an investigation into WLFI, a cryptocurrency firm linked to former President Trump, due to allegations of token sales to wallets associated with North Korea and Russia. Researchers have indicated that some of these claims may be based on false positives.

Binance has reported an increase in short-term Bitcoin trading activity, driven by traders and automated bots employing volatility-focused strategies rather than long-term holding patterns. This shift indicates a growing interest in short-term gains amid fluctuating market conditions.

Binance has announced that it will accept BlackRock's tokenized fund, BUIDL, as collateral on its platform. This development marks a significant expansion for the tokenized fund as it integrates with the BNB chain. The move has been positively received by Binance's former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, indicating a strengthening relationship between the cryptocurrency exchange and the asset management giant.

Dogecoin is currently at a critical juncture as market conditions weaken while on-chain risk metrics show extreme values. Analyst Cryptollica has shared charts that compare the DOGE/USDT price channel with Alphafractal’s Reserve Risk framework, questioning whether this signals a breakdown or a long-term bottom. The Reserve Risk metric assesses the conviction of long-term holders against market pricing, indicating potential volatility in Dogecoin's future.

Dogecoin's recovery trend is facing significant pressure as its price has fallen below a critical ascending support level, resting on a historic horizontal support, according to analyst Rekt Capital. In a recent post, Rekt Capital shared a chart indicating that Dogecoin must maintain its multi-year technical uptrend to avoid a potential return to a bear market. Currently, Dogecoin is trading around $0.16355, just below the trendline that has defined its recovery since the bear market lows of 2022–2023.