Crypto biz: Binance’s chaotic June, miners ready for halving, Bitfinex’s LATAM expansion

June was a difficult month for Binance, as it faced worldwide stress tests after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the crypto exchange and its leadership.

In short, in the past 30 days, the Belgian financial regulator ordered Binance to shut down all crypto services, the exchange failed to obtain a license in the Netherlands, the Brazilian head of Binance appeared before Congress in connection with a Ponzi scheme investigation. A summons has been issued to appear, and just a few days ago another investigation in France became public.

There’s more: Binance’s UK-based subsidiary has revoked its registration with the Financial Conduct Authority, and in the US, the exchange still has a long way to go in its tussle with regulators. Furthermore, the exchange was denied a crypto custody license in Germany and lost its Euro banking partner.

Yet, despite all these developments, Binance remains untouched as the top dog among centralized exchanges, with a net worth of $58.11 billion, down from $63.8 billion on June 1. According For data from DefiLlama. The exchange’s next big focus is in the United Arab Emirates, which is reportedly a “prime destination” for crypto businesses looking for a clear path.

“We keep building,” said Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance. Said In a tweet on June 28, after a long and busy month.

This week’s crypto biz looks at the story behind Binance’s debanking in Australia, bitcoin (BTC) miners preparing for the next halving, MicroStrategy’s latest bitcoin purchase, and Bitfinex’s expansion into Latin America.

Executive Says Binance Australia Had 12 Hours’ Notice Before Debanking

There was no prior warning, counseling or prevention. In the middle of the night, the Binance Australia team was suddenly told that it would be “cut out” from the country’s banking system. Binance regional manager Ben Rose shared details of the exchange’s debanking in the country on June 26 at the Australian Blockchain Week. In May, the company announced it was suspending its dollar service after asking its payment provider Zepto to stop supporting Binance. According to Rose, the move affected around 1 million Australian-based customers, with Binance now looking for an alternative payment provider.

Riot Platforms to Add 33,000 Bitcoin Miners Ahead of 2024 Halving

Bitcoin miner firm Riot Platforms is loading up for the next halving cycle by purchasing 33,280 “next generation” rigs for its Texas facility at a cost of $162.9 million. The miners, which were sourced from MicroBT, will increase the firm’s self-mining capacity from 7.6 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 20.1 EH/s once the machines are installed in the first quarter of 2024. Of the machines, 8,320 are M56S+ models with a hash rate of 220 terahash per second (TH/s), while the remaining 24,960 are slightly more powerful M56S++ at 230 TH/s.

MicroStrategy buys $347 million worth of bitcoin amid market downturn

Microstrategy announced the purchase of 12,333 bitcoin on June 28, worth $347 million at the time of publication. MicroStrategy now holds 152,333 BTC valued at $4.52 billion, with an average purchase price of $29.668 per coin. The coins were purchased between April 27 and June 27, with purchases financed partly by the issuance of new stock. MicroStrategy has been actively buying bitcoin using cash and stock financing during crypto bear markets, sometimes regardless of price. In Q1 2023, the firm reported its first profitable quarter since 2020 due to a one-time income tax benefit.

MicroStrategy has acquired an additional 12,333 BTC for ~$347.0 million at an average price of $28,136 per #bitcoin, as of 6/27/23 @MicroStrategy hodls 152,333 $BTC Acquired for ~$4.52 billion at an average price of $29,668 per bitcoin. $mstr https://t.co/joHo1gEnR0

— Michael Saylor ⚡️ (@saylor) 28 June 2023

Bitfinex launches P2P trading platform in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia

Digital asset exchange Bitfinex is expanding its operations in Latin America. The crypto company has launched a peer-to-peer trading platform in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia, allowing users in the South American country to buy and sell bitcoin, ether (ETH), tether (USDT), Tether’s euro-pegged stablecoin, Tether. and allowed to sell. EURt (EURT), and Tether Gold (XAUT). In April, the El Salvador branch of Bitfinex received a Digital Asset Service Provider license from the National Digital Assets Commission. Last month, the exchange partnered with Chile-based crypto platform OrionX to support local education and financial literacy programs.

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