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Binance Crypto News Investing Markets

Binance Adds Apple (AAPL) as Fourth Stock Token

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance listed the tokenized version of Apple stock (AAPL) on its new “stock token” market. At the moment, the crypto exchange supports four stock tokens for trading on its platform.

Binance is Bringing the Stock Market Closer to Crypto

Binance confirmed the listing of the Apple stock in a tweet on Wednesday, which means crypto users interested in buying AAPL can now access it in the form of a token. These stock tokens are pegged in the ratio of 1:1 to the underlying stock. Holders of these tokens will qualify for economic returns on the underlying shares, as well as potential dividends.

At the time of writing, the AAPL token was trading at the price of $133.51 USD, which represents about a 0.60 percent decrease over the last 24 hours.

Binance Stock Tokens are tokens of stocks (i.e., shares of public companies) that trade on traditional stock exchanges. Each Stock Token represents one ordinary share of the relevant stock. These Stock Tokens are fully backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities held by CM-Equity AG, Germany (“CM-E”).

Binance

Binance Now Supports Four Stock Tokens

So far, the crypto exchange supports four stock tokens, which include Apple (AAPL), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and Tesla (TSLA). Binance is open to tokenizing more stocks on its new market. On Friday, the exchange will list Microsoft stock (MSFT) tokens for trading, according to an announcement earlier this week.

All these coins are available for trading with Binance’s USD-backed stablecoin, BUSD.

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Binance Bitcoin

What Is Fuelling The Current Bitcoin Price Instability?

The price of Bitcoin has been on a roller-coaster of instability in recent days, but what is fuelling the dramatic slumps and surges? 

Whenever the price of a trillion dollar asset takes a sizeable tumble, speculation will abound as to the drivers of such instability. Are whales driving down the Bitcoin price so they can increase their vast holdings at discounted rates? Are Chinese electrical blackouts to blame for the falls? Or are possible changes to US capital gain taxation laws spooking crypto investors? 

Biden’s Proposed Tax Laws

Under President Biden’s proposed changes, capital gains taxes rates could hit over 43% for high income earners. This is a huge disincentive for investors who have profited from the surge in crypto markets as they may have to hand over a huge slice of any windfalls to Uncle Sam. Trading crypto is a volatile enough exercise without capital gain taxes, especially for newcomers who are not accustomed to the manic swings like unflappable long-term Bitcoin holders.

While there is no single answer, large and sudden falls generally indicate heavily leveraged trading positions being cleaned out. Unlike the stock market, crypto markets trade 24/7, and a fall in price while an investor sleeps has the potential to wipe out his/her positions. Rapidly falling stocks can also be suspended by an exchange so investors can pump liquidity into their trading accounts, but crypto markets are not equipped with the same circuit-breakers. Short positions are therefore ruthlessly liquidated, thus exacerbating the downward momentum.  

Bitcoin perpetual graph for leveraged traders via TradingView

Options To Short Bitcoin

What we know for sure is that there are many more options to short Bitcoin than ever before. Bearish investors can now short sell Coinbase, Tesla, MicroStrategy, or the Bitcoin itself to drive prices lower. For large institutional investors, this provides a massive opportunity to profit from the growing crypto space.  Investment banks have long used their financial weight and extreme leverage to drive down prices of stocks and commodities such as gold. Bitcoin is now big enough to attract their attention. Much can be gained by short-selling assets that then decline precipitously. 

For long-term crypto investors, wild swings are of mild concern. But for leveraged traders on Binance or other platforms, they are make or break occurrences. A correction of 2% or 3% has the potential to wipe them out. As crypto markets continue to expand and gain wider exposure, and large institutional investors enter the game, we can expect more not less of the roller-coaster style swings.   

Jackson Byrne – Crypto News Guest Author

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Binance Crypto News NFTs

Major Crypto Exchange, Binance Prepares to Launch its NFT Marketplace

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, is planning to launch a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace amid the growing interest of creators and crypto enthusiasts in the market. The crypto exchange wants to build “the world’s leading NFT marketplace and trading platform”, according to their announcement.

Binance NFT to launch in June 2021

The NFT marketplace known as Binance NFT is slated to launch in the next two months, bringing together global content creators to make NFT contents and digital collectibles at minimal fees. The marketplace will support content from diverse spaces, including visual arts, gaming, music, and sports.

Our aim is to provide the largest NFT trading platform in the world with the best minting, buying, and exchanging experience by leveraging the fastest and cheapest solutions powered by Binance blockchain infrastructure and community.

Helen Hai, Head of Binance NFT

Binance wants its NFT marketplace to launch as the cheapest platform for creators to mint and auction their contents with high liquidity. As announced, Binance NFT will debut with two trading venues, namely Premium Event and Trading Market.

Under “Premium Event”, which is dedicated to the most sought-after collaborations, creators will receive about 90 percent of profits from sales. “Trading Market” instead is designed for everyday artists – the creators will only have to pay a nominal one percent processing fee.

Binance serves millions of users around the world, many of whom will now be able to access the booming NFT space. In line with our commitment to the freedom of money globally and building an inclusive ecosystem, the Binance NFT marketplace will also support small value creators by providing the highest liquidity and cheapest fees for users.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance

Major Crypto Firms are Joining NFT

Binance’s announcement today indicates how active and big the NFT market is growing. Crypto.com and Gemini are two other major crypto companies already involved in the NFT market.

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Australia Binance Charity

Binance Charity launches Tree Tokens to plant 100,000 trees to restore wildlife habitats in Australia

Binance Charity, Binance Australia, and the Koala Clancy Foundation have, on Earth Day, launched a new cryptocurrency, Tree Token, in an effort to help restore the wildlife habitats impacted by the 2019 Australian Bushfires. The collaborative blockchain project aims to raise $1 million AUD worth of Tree Tokens to plant 100,000 trees in Australia.

The 2019 bushfires are being recorded as one of the worst fire seasons on record, incinerating 27 million acres of Australia and impacting almost 3 billion animals.

Koala mother with joey [Koala Clancy Foundation]

In the first phase of the joint philanthropic project, Binance Charity will commit $400,000 AUD worth of Tree Tokens, a cryptocurrency issued on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), for the specific use of supporting the environmental restoration of the disaster’s aftermath.

The Tree Token is pegged 1:1 to the Australian dollar (AUD). The initial funds will go to the Koala Clancy Foundation to plant 40,000 new trees in the You Yangs and Gippsland regions in Victoria.

The remaining $600,000 AUD will be donated in later phases of the project. The Tree Token is not for purchase to the public. Tree Tokens will enable Binance Charity to monitor and evaluate tree planting activities on the blockchain, allow donors to track the impact of their contributions and bring ownership to the philanthropic project.

Koala snoozing [Koala Clancy Foundation]

Head of Binance Charity, Helen Hai, said the pilot technology trialled with the Koala Clancy Foundation can have benefits across multiple functions in the philanthropy sector.

By issuing Tree Tokens, the process is made fully transparent to donors. This initiative’s model can be replicated and applied to revolutionise archaic practices in a variety of charity projects – helping to report progress and bring ownership to all parties.

Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity

President of Koala Clancy Foundation, Janine Duffy, said “Cryptocurrencies seemed like they are for investments. We did not realise that they can be used for philanthropic sectors. With the Tree Tokens, we wish to give data on the restoration of koala habitat in regional Victoria to our donors transparently. Also, Koala Clancy Foundation is honoured to adopt this new technology to the system.”

A spokesperson from Binance Australia said: “The devastation of the recent bushfires will be felt for many years to come, so we’re proud to support the partnership with Koala Clancy Foundation to help restore wildlife habitats. This is an important step forward to demonstrate the exciting and impactful opportunities leveraging blockchain technology can have for the environment.”

With the rapid acceptance and growth of cryptocurrency in Australia, Binance Australia and Binance Charity stand together at the forefront of the industry showcasing how blockchain’s infrastructure can boost trust and transparency within the charity sector.

A spokesperson from Binance Australia
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Binance Crypto Exchange Crypto News

Former Trump Administrator Brian Brooks Becomes The New CEO of Binance USA

Former Coinbase executive and US banking regulator, Brian Brooks, has been appointed to head Binance.US operations as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Brooks will assume the new office from next month, replacing Catherine Coley, the current CEO of the US-based cryptocurrency exchange.

Brooks to Join Binance.US From May

Following the new appointment, Brooks will work together with Binance.US’s team to expand the exchange’s operation while also promoting its culture of compliance with US regulators. In a welcome statement, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance Global, attested that Brian’s expertise would be invaluable to expand Binanace.US. 

Brian is an esteemed leader with an unparalleled blend of experience across traditional financial services, government, and the digital assets industry. Binance.US’s ability to attract an executive of Brian’s caliber is a testament to the strength of its platform.

Changpeng Zhao

Brooks Introduced Crypto-friendly Guides for US Banks

The new Binance.US CEO previously worked with Coinbase as Chief Legal Officer, before servicing as the Acting Comptroller of the Currency under President Donald Trump’s administration. Brian stepped down from public service in January as Joe Biden took over the US presidential office.

Brooks is well-known in the cryptocurrency space following his active and regulatory-friendly stance on emerging digital assets. OCC awarded the first national bank charter to Anchorage, a digital asset bank, under Brooks. During Brook’s administration, the OCC published regulatory guidelines on how banks in the country can interact with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

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Binance Binance Coin Crypto News

Binance Completes 15th BNB Quarterly Burn Worth Over $500 Million

On Friday, cryptocurrency exchange Binance completed another quarterly burn of its native cryptocurrency, Binance Coin (BNB). More than $500 million USD worth of BNB was destroyed in this latest quarterly burn, which is the highest so far in terms of dollar value.

Over 1 Million BNB Destroyed Forever

For the 15th quarterly burn, Binance burned exactly 1,099,888 BNB, which was worth $595,314,380 AUD, during the time of the event. Burning a cryptocurrency is a strategic approach to reduce a coin’s circulating supply. Hence, the crypto exchange just reduced BNB supply from 170,532,825 BNB to 169,432,937 BNB. These coins are destroyed forever and cannot be restored to circulation.

The Binance Coin had a maximum supply of 200 million when it was launched in 2017. However, the exchange committed to reducing the supply by 100 million BNB (i.e. 50 percent of the max supply) through the process of quarterly “burning.” to help preserve the value of the coin.

So far, Binance has destroyed almost 30 million BNB, which represents about 15 percent of the maximum supply of the cryptocurrency. The remaining 35 percent will be completed in the coming years. 

What’s The Essence of Burning BNB

Burning BNB is part of the exchange effort to keep the cryptocurrency more relevant in terms of market value. Since this process reduces BNB supply, it creates scarcity for the cryptocurrency. Notably, scarce assets usually gain in value, amidst high demand. Thus, BNB holders and the exchange tend to benefit from this process.

Shortly after the announcement today, BNB briefly increased to $540 USD. At the time of writing, however, BNB was trading at $514 USD on Coinmarketcap, i.e. a 6.68 percent price decrease over the past 24 hours.

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Binance Coinbase Crypto News

Binance Lists Coinbase (COIN) Stock Market Token For Trading

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has listed tokenised stocks for trading – including TELSA (TSLA) and Coinbase (COIN), with the latter recently launched on the NASDAQ exchange on Wednesday.

The tokenized version of Tesla and Coinbase will make company shares more accessible to crypto users who can’t trade them directly on the stock market for whatever reason.

Binance Postponed COIN Token Debut

The Coinbase stock tokens were supposed to be listed on Binance yesterday, shortly after it went live on NASDAQ. However, the exchange temporarily postponed the listing “due to market volatility.”

However, a separate announcement on Thursday confirms the Coinbase stock token has been launched on Binance, meaning Coinbase shares are now trading on the exchange.

How To Buy/Trade Them

To trade the tokenised stocks, here are some useful links:

At the moment, Binance only supports stock token trading with its stablecoin BUSD, for example using the token pairs COIN/BUSD.

The tokens will be pegged to the actual market price of COIN on NASDAQ. Hence, it enables crypto enthusiasts to “access” the Coinbase shares without having to trade directly on the stock exchange, which may have higher fees.

Binance Stock Tokens are zero-commission digital tokens fully backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities that represents the outstanding tokens. Holders of stock tokens qualify for economic returns on the underlying shares, including potential dividends.

Binance
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Australia Binance Crypto News

Binance Australia See’s Record Growth in Q1 2021

With Bitcoins best ever start to a year and the popularity of cryptocurrencies booming in Australia, it has led to massive growth for crypto exchanges in Australia.

With the first quarter of 2021 wrapped up, Binance Australia has reported record growth & milestones in terms of AUD trading volumes and the number of institutions signing up. They have also been ramping up their local presence in Australia with events, weekly meetups and online masterclasses.

Some of the highlights of 2021 already include:

Record AUD Trading Volumes

On the 11th of January, Binance Australia recorded over AUD $130 million in trading volume across all Australian Dollar (AUD) pairs in a single day. Then on the 23rd February the record was broken once again as the daily trading volume reached AUD $175 million.

This looks like a huge achievement for at least two reasons:

  • It sends a clear signal about the size of cryptocurrency markets within the overall financial horizon in Australia.
  • It made Binance Australia the top digital asset exchange in Australia by daily AUD trading volume, only 6 months after its launch in July 2020.

We are humbled to witness the rapid growth of the Aussie crypto sector. Users, volume, adoption are increasing like never before. The Binance Australia team and I are proud to serve you all as Australia’s top digital asset exchange.

Jeff Yew, CEO of Binance Australia

Australia Local Events and Media Presence

With so many projects and developments launched every day, it could be easy to focus only on the technological aspects of the innovation and get lost in the crypto space. Some companies seem to very aware of this risk, thus putting serious effort in establishing a face-to-face relationship with local communities. Binance Australia is definitely amongst those business who strives to connect with its customers, showing its own team not behind a computer monitor.

International Women's Day 2021 Binance Australia event in Brisbane
International Women’s Day 2021 Binance Australia event in Brisbane

Aside from supporting the Australian Bushfire Donation, Binance Australia has also organised local events, including a meetup celebrating International Women’s Day in Brisbane.

Jeff Yew, the CEO of Binance Australia, has also been quite active in the media, for example being interviewed from Sky News Australia on the Business Weekend Show. He has also been featured as one of the brightest Aussies under 30.

With only 25% of the year complete so far, there is still lots of time for more growth, stay tuned for more updates.

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Binance Crypto News

Tokenized TESLA Stock Listed on Binance for Trading with Zero-Commission

Binance recently announced the launch of Binance Stock Tokens, which gives investors the opportunity to trade the equity market with zero fees, and a much lower cost.

Tesla is the first tokenized stock listed on the platform. All tokens are settled, denominated and collateralized in BUSD — and are backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities.

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, thanked Elon Musk for bringing cryptocurrencies to Tesla and, in exchange, they are “bringing Tesla to crypto.” In just 24 hours, TSLA trading volumes surpassed $10 million USD.

Trade Fractions of Tokenized Tesla Stocks

Users can now buy fractions of a Tesla stock on Binance, with a minimum trade size of one-hundredth of the token. This provides traders with exposure to the equity market at a much lower cost, considering one Tesla stock is currently price above $700 USD.

Binance will provide eligible investors with the same benefits that these companies give to their shareholders, like dividends, stock splitting, and others. The protocol is the latest to venture on the trend of tokenized stocks.

More Tokenised Stocks To Come?

Crypto-trading exchange Bittrex already offers lots of tokenised stocks from the equity market paired with Tether (USDT), including Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), and Gamestop (GME), amongst others.

Tokenized Stocks on Bittrex Global

Binance Coin BNB Soars 85% Upon N

Binance Coin (BNB) recently surged over 85% at the beginning of this month, hitting a new all-time high yesterday.

BNB’s recent bull run comes with the successful growth of the Binance Smart Chain protocol, which now supports over 5 million daily transactions and is being preferred by many DeFi protocols.

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Australia Binance Crypto News

Bitcoin Hit $80k AUD During The Weekend

Bitcoin reached A$ 80,000 last weekend on Binance Australia, a new record for BTC and the exchange after several weeks of consolidation.

Binance Australia also added three new tokens to trade on its platform: CHZ (Chiliz), BTT (BitTorrent), and THETA (Theta Network).

These three tokens have had an outstanding performance during the first quarter of this year, especially CHZ, which surged 1,600% as the altcoin market saw a boom while high-market cap currencies stagnated.

BSC Reaching New Milestones

The Binance Smart Chain (BSC) protocol achieved a new record on Friday by surpassing 5 million transactions daily — this is 300% more than what the Ethereum network can currently achieve.

As the number of users in the exchange grows, Binance Australia will host a masterclass for beginners keen to use the Binance Smart Chain on April 14. The event will be held virtually via Zoom or watch the Livestream on its official channel.

Bitcoin broke above $60,000 (A$78,600) moving past $61,000 (A$80,000) on April 12. Data from Glassnode suggest that large bitcoin holders (whales) are increasing their positions and accumulating BTC for the first time in over five months.

Buy and Trade Cryptos Using Aussie Dollars

Binance Australia has become one of the top exchanges in the country and more Aussies seem keen to invest in crypto using their AUD — this is why Crypto News Australia has covered a guide with all the necessary info to get started.

Coinjar also offers a great platform to buy BTC using AUD, especially for those who are venturing in the crypto space for the first time.

Another top exchange is Swyftx, which saw record trading volumes over the last two months. Swyftx’s founders were also featured on a list of top tech innovators in Australia, together with Jeff Yew — CEO of Binance Australia.