In a strategic move to enhance liquidity and promote its recently launched Web3 Wallet, Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a generous airdrop worth $500,000. The official announcement was made today via Binances official handle in an X post, heralding the much-anticipated Airdrop time.

According to the post, participants stand a chance to receive crypto rewards ranging from 1 $SHIB to 1 $BTC by simply making a swap using their Binance Web3 Wallet. The initiative aims to stimulate user engagement during the ongoing surge in the cryptocurrency market.

The post provides limited details, revealing only the core aspect of the airdrop linked with a promotional message. Participants can purchase a variety of cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, BNB, SHIB, and others, at prices ranging from $0.00000936 to $42,000.

What sets the Binance Web3 Wallet apart is its functionality within the Binance app, allowing users to seamlessly swap thousands of tokens across different networks. Additionally, users can explore decentralized apps (dApps), transfer funds between exchanges and wallets, and earn returns on their cryptocurrency holdings.

To qualify for the airdrop, users must execute an exchange using their Web3 Wallets, with the airdrop opportunity available until December 31, 2023. Noteworthy partners supporting this initiative include Alchemy Pay, Chiliz, Acala Network, CyberConnect, GMX, Gala Games, Radiant Capital, DODO, Kava Chain, QuickSwap, Sei Network, WOOFI, and BinaryX.

This announcement has captured the attention of the cryptocurrency community, particularly those seeking to capitalize on the bullish market trend, which has seen the market size surge to $1.5 trillion in just six weeks.

Behind the airdrop lies Binances strategic goal of addressing liquidity challenges. Cryptocurrency exchanges often face liquidity issues when investors hold onto their assets during market upswings.

Binance, responding proactively to this challenge, has initiated various measures, including zero-fee trading, following substantial trade volumes reaching billions overall. The $500,000 airdrop serves as a targeted effort to incentivize trading activity, thus contributing to improved liquidity for the exchange.

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Binance Exchange Unveils $500,000 Airdrop to Boost Web3 Wallet Usage and Liquidity - Coinpedia Fintech News

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New Binance CEO Evasive in First Marquee Interview Since Getting One of the Biggest Jobs in Crypto - CoinDesk

Multi-billion dollar penalties levied by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against crypto exchange Binance were "heightened" because of the regulator's prior public warnings for crypto firms to comply, Commissioner Kristin Johnson said during a Tuesday event hosted by the Financial Times.

Johnson clarified that the agency took enforcement action against the world's largest crypto exchange because it "simply failed to comply with regulation."

As part of the deal, Binance agreed to pay $1.35 billion in civil penalties and another $1.35 billion in disgorgement to the CFTC to settle a March suit, which argued it operated an unlicensed crypto derivatives trading platform in the U.S. and tried to hide it from regulators. Binance Founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao stepped down as part of the deal and paid a $150 million fine to the agency.

"There's a common assumption that enforcement actions in the crypto or digital assets ecosystem connote bad actors or bad conduct. Admittedly, there is plenty of evidence to support this assumption," Johnson said, but added that, in Binance's case, "the matter and the resolution of the litigation did not involve any allegation of fraud or similar misconduct."

She did, however, say that the agency has a "deep and careful" methodology before deciding civil penalties and that Binance's penalties were "heightened" mostly because the agency has been "on record and publicly saying, if you come to U.S. markets and operate, inviting U.S. customers to participate, you have to comply."

Despite the string of 2022 bankruptcies that rattled the crypto world, the industry has largely criticized U.S. regulators for taking tough action against firms they believe aren't compliant with the country's rules without providing any clarity on how to comply.

"We are excited for market participants to operate our market, but it's critical that if you're operating in our markets, that you are complying with regulation," Johnson said.

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Binance's Multi-Billion CFTC Penalty Was 'Heightened,' Says Commissioner Kristin Johnson - CoinDesk

Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a class-action lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrency-related "non-fungible tokens," or NFTs, issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance to millions of his fans.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida Monday, alleges that Ronaldo's promotion of Binance was "deceptive and unlawful." Binance's partnership with high-profile figures like Ronaldo, the plaintiffs claim, led them into costly and unsafe investments.

Under the marketing partnership, Ronaldo encouraged millions of his fans and supporters to invest with Binance, even though many of them were unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies or the platform, the lawsuit alleges. As a result of his endorsement, his fans came away with the impression that the investments were safe such was the case with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who bought products sold on Binance after seeing Ronaldo's endorsements, it claims.

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Ultimately, they lost money, the lawsuit states.

"Evidence now reveals that Binance's fraud was only able to reach such heights through the offer and sale of unregistered securities, with the willing help and assistance of some of the wealthiest, powerful and recognized organizations and celebrities across the globe just like Defendant Ronaldo," the suit reads.

Representatives for Ronaldo declined to comment Thursday. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, did not immediately return requests for statement from The Associated Press.

Ronaldo isn't the first celebrity to be sued over their involvement with the crypto world. Last year, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, supermodel Gisele Bundchen and comedian Larry David were among a star-studded list of people accused of defrauding investors who lost money in the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse.

The stars had appeared in a Super Bowl ad and other promotions for FTX. The suit argued that the celebrities' status made them culpable for promoting FTX's failed business model.

Ronaldo launched his inaugural NFT "CR7" collection with Binance in November of last year, ahead of the 2022 World Cup. The NFTs which had starting prices ranging from the equivalent of about $77 to $10,000 featured seven animated statues depicting Ronaldo from iconic moments in his life, from bicycle-kick goals to his childhood in Portugal.

Monday's suit says that the promotional efforts of Ronaldo's Binance partnership were "incredibly successful" alleging a 500% increase in online searches using the keyword "Binance" after the soccer star's NFTs was announced. The collection's premium-level NFTs sold out within the first week, the suit claims.

The suit also alleges that Ronaldo should've disclosed how much Binance has paid him for the partnership. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously noted that federal law requires celebrities to publicly disclose how much they're getting paid to promote securities, including crypto assets.

NFTs are ordinary digital images with an attached version number that have been added to a cryptocurrency blockchain, a process designed to make them "unique" collectibles. NFTs enjoyed a brief boom, but have since largely collapsed in value as the crypto industry has been marred by scandals and market meltdowns.

Over the summer, Binance was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit from regulators. The crypto exchange agreed last week to pay a roughly $4 billion settlement and its founder Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO and pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform.

Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable and wealthiest athletes in the world. He leads his home country Portugal's national team and has played for the Spanish team Real Madrid, the Italian club Juventus and Manchester United in England. He now plays for the Saudi Arabian professional team Al Nassr.

Ronaldo has continued to promote Binance on his official website and social media platforms. Most recently, on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) Ronaldo reposted a Binance video and wrote that he was "Cooking something up" with the crypto exchange on Tuesday.

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Ronaldo hit with $1 billion class-action lawsuit for endorsing Binance NFTs - CBS News

Binance has expanded its free trading options for the spot and margin trading pairs of the First Digital USD (FDUSD) stablecoin pairing with six digital assets, including BNB, Dogecoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP, according to a Dec. 5 statement.

Binance users will see zero maker and taker fees for these pairs starting Dec. 8 for an undisclosed period. The exchange explained that the free trading option would exclude these pairs from BNB fee discounts, rebates, and other adjustments.

However, the firm stated that it reserves the right to disqualify trades deemed to be wash trades or illegally bulk account registrations, as well as trades that display attributes of self-dealing or market manipulation.

The free transaction promotion is part of Binances ongoing efforts to encourage its users to use the FDUSD stablecoin.

Last week, the crypto platform said it would phase out support for Binance USD (BUSD) by Dec. 15. Binance urged users to convert their BUSD holdings into the new stablecoin before the end of the year, sayingit would end BUSD withdrawals by Dec. 31 and that BUSD balances would be automatically converted to FDUSD.

Binances decision relates to the BUSD stablecoins regulatory issues. Earlier in the year, the BUSD issuer, Paxos, suspended the stablecoin issuance following scrutiny from U.S. regulators. At the time, the company received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which classified the stablecoin as a security.

While Binance and Paxos have vehementlyrejectedthis classification, the crypto community promptlydeserted the stablecoin, with its circulating supply dropping to less than $2 billion as of press time, according to CryptoSlates data.

Concurrently, Binance has been heavily pushing FDUSD as a viable alternative, introducing new products for the digital asset and incentivizing its use. However, FDUSDs circulating supply remains less than 1 billion andis only available on less than five crypto exchanges.

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Binance looks to boost FDUSD adoption with fee-free trading for Ethereum, XRP, others - CryptoSlate

Experiencing a notable increase of over 25% in a single day, the price of $PEPE surged following a major announcement from Binance, a renowned cryptocurrency exchange.

In a strategic move, Binance introduced an enticing promotion for users participating in Binance Loans (Flexible Rates) and utilizing PEPE as collateral. This promotion allows users to acquire 10 million PEPE in locked products while leveraging PEPE as collateral on Binance Loans flexible rates.

The market responded robustly to this Binance borrow and earn feature, propelling $PEPE to achieve a substantial price gain. The tokens market capitalization has now reclaimed the $650 million mark, rebounding after a previous dip.

Before the announcement triggering the surge, insights from analyst Spotonchain revealed that a savvy trader with the handle 0x37d accumulated a substantial amount of $PEPEtotaling 495.5 billion ($605,000) from Binance at a rate of $0.051221. The trader currently holds 1.97 trillion $PEPE ($2.82 million) with an estimated unrealized profit of $240,000.

The meme coin is witnessing continued buying pressure, further contributing to its recent surge.

As Binance plays a pivotal role in shaping the market dynamics of various cryptocurrencies, $PEPE stands out with its remarkable performance. This reflects the impact of strategic promotions and market sentiments on token value. The sustained interest and positive market response indicate a renewed bullish momentum for $PEPE in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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$PEPE Witnesses Significant Surge After Binance Unveils New Promotion - The Merkle Hash

The worlds largest crypto exchange Binance on Tuesday said it will airdrop crypto worth $500,000 in total. The latest announcement came in response to promoting the use of its newly launched Web3 Wallet amid the crypto market rally.

Binances Web3 Wallet is a self-custody crypto wallet built within the Binance app allowing users to swap thousands of tokens across various networks, explore decentralized applications (dApps), transfer funds between exchange and wallet, and earn yield on their crypto.

Crypto exchange Binance took to X on December 5 to announce a plan to airdrop crypto worth $500,000, ranging from 1 SHIB to 1 BTC. This means a user can get BTC, ETH, BNB, SHIB, and other cryptocurrencies from $0.00000936 to $42,000.

To become eligible for the airdrop, users need to make a swap using their Web3 Wallet. The airdrop event is valid until December 31, 2023.

Notably, the airdrop is supported by its partner projects for supporting the airdrop. There are Maverick Protocol, GMX, Gala Games, Radiant Capital, DODO, Kava Chain, Acala Network, CyberConnect, Chiliz, Alchemy Pay, Lido Finance, QuickSwap, Sei Network, WOOFI, and BinaryX.

The announcement caught the attention of the crypto community, with many seeking rewards in this bull season as the crypto market cap attains the $1.5 trillion milestone in 6 weeks.

Also Read: BitMEX Announces Terra Classic (LUNC) Perpetual Contract Listing After USTC

Amid the crypto market rally when investors are holding onto their crypto holdings, liquidity becomes an issue for crypto exchanges. With Binance recording billions of cumulative trading volumes, it has launched several activities such as zero-fee trading.

CoinGape reported zero-fee trading for Ethereum(ETH),XRP,BNB,Solana(SOL),Dogecoin(DOGE), andChainlink (LINK) in FDUSD spot and margin pairs. The exchange also launched one-hour interest fee waiver forBTC, DOGE, ETH, GALA, GMT, LINK, MATIC, ORDI, SEI, SOL, TIA and XRP pairs.

Also Read: Ripple CTO David Schwartz Criticizes SECs Shocking Conduct In Debt Box Case

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Binance News: Binance To Airdrop BTC, ETH And SHIB Worth $500K To Users, But There's A Catch - CoinGape

This first-in-crypto solution replicates traditional finance framework enabling institutions to fulfill risk management obligations by pledging fiat or fiat equivalent trading collateral with banking custodians

DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Binance, the global blockchain ecosystem behind the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is pleased to announce it has successfully executed the world's first cryptocurrency triparty arrangement with a third party banking partner.

This solution enables institutional investors to keep trading collateral, off-exchange in the custody of a third party banking partner. This is the first in a series of pilot projects initiated by Binance, which is currently the only cryptocurrency exchange offering such a solution.

This arrangement directly tackles the issue of counterparty risk, the primary concern for institutional investors today. It replicates a framework common in traditional financial markets, which enables investors to proportion their crypto-asset allocation based on their risk tolerance. Collateral held with the banking partner can be in the form of fiat equivalent such as Treasury Bills which has the added benefit of being a yielding asset.

Catherine Chen, Head of VIP and Institutional at Binance, said, "Counterparty risk has long been a concern of institutional investors across the industry. Our team of crypto natives and traditional finance professionals has been exploring a banking triparty agreement for more than a year to address their concern. We've developed a solution that ensures our institutional clients can optimize their collateral and cryptocurrency investments, modeled after the traditional markets' trading conduct. We are in close discussions with an array of banking partners and institutional investors who have also expressed strong interest in participating."

About Binance.comBinance is the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more.

For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com

About Binance VIP & InstitutionalBinance VIP & Institutional empowers institutions and private wealth clients with robust asset management infrastructure, personalized VIP services and advanced end-to-end institutional trading tools powering the world's most regulated and reliable trading platform. With deep financial services experience in both traditional and crypto markets, its global team of trusted experts provides VIP & Institutional clients with the support they need to confidently capitalize on the industry's deepest liquidity and tightest markets.

For more information, visit: https://www.binanceinstitutional.com

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Binance Pilots Banking Triparty Agreement to Help Institutional Investors to Manage Counterparty Exposure - PR Newswire

Listen and follow Hard Fork Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube

The drama at OpenAI is not over. Kevin and Casey take stock of new information theyve gathered since last week, and look at how other artificial intelligence companies are trying to capitalize on the debacle. Then, why people are still buying cryptocurrency even after Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange, and its founder pleaded guilty to money laundering violations. And finally, three ways A.I. is ruining web search. Or is it?

Todays guest: David Yaffe-Bellany covers crypto for The New York Times.

Additional Reading:

Casey has new details from the OpenAI board fight.

Changpeng Zhao, the Binance founder, agreed to pay a $50 million fine and step down from his role as chief executive.

Hard Fork is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, and produced by Davis Land and Rachel Cohn. The show is edited by Jen Poyant. Engineering by Brad Fisher and original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano and Rowan Niemisto. Fact-checking by Caitlin Love.

Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Nell Gallogly, Kate LoPresti and Jeffrey Miranda.

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What's Next for OpenAI, Binance Is Binanceled and A.I. Is Eating the Internet - The New York Times

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also said the cryptocurrency exchange is looking to invest more outside of the U.S.

Carlos Jasso | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In a month that saw two of the crypto industry's leading figures headed on the path to prison, Coinbase shares rocketed more than 60%, their second-best monthly performance since the cryptocurrency exchange went public in 2021.

Bolstered by rallies in bitcoin and ether as well as crises at key competitors, Coinbase has been one of Wall Street's best bets all year, climbing more than 250% in the first 11 months of 2023.

For early holders of the stock, the rebound helps ease the pain of 2022, when Coinbase lost 86% of its value as soaring inflation and rising interest rates pushed investors out of crypto and high-growth tech companies, and into assets deemed safer in a recession.

Tech stocks have roared back this year, particularly those tied to the artificial intelligence boom and crypto. Coinbase has the added benefit of having survived the so-called crypto winter, while so many of its rivals disappeared or downsized.

The industry fallout came to a head this month, when Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of former Coinbase rival FTX, was found guilty of seven criminal fraud counts tied to the collapse of his exchange and the theft of customer funds. His conviction landed on Nov. 2 after a monthlong trial.

Less than three weeks later, on Nov. 21, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program and for willfully violating U.S. economic sanctions.

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance.

Getty Images | Reuters

Bankman-Fried, who faces potential life behind bars, is scheduled to be sentenced in March. Zhao's sentencing is set for February. While guidelines suggest a sentence of 12 to 18 months, the Justice Department could push for a lengthier punishment for the Binance founder.

Unlike FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in late 2022, Binance is still standing, though now without Zhao, who agreed to step down as CEO as part of the plea deal. Even before that, the company was seeing a plunge in trading, with volume down by two-thirds between the first and third quarters of the year, according to crypto analyst site CoinGecko.

With assets of more than $65 billion on the platform, Binance remains the world's largest crypto exchange globally. But its market share fell from over 60% in February to under 50% in September, "an indication that the exchange may be losing its grip on the industry as regulators continue to pressure it," CoinGecko said.

In the first 24 hours after the Justice Department announced its $4.3 billion settlement with Binance, customerspulled more than $1 billionfrom the exchange. Liquidity also dropped 25% in the immediate aftermath of the announcement as market makers pulled back their positions, according to data provider Kaiko.

A Binance spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that Zhao appeared in court "to protect our users and to ensure the longevity of our company."

"Binance's resilience has been tested unlike any other exchange around today," the spokesperson said. "Yet, we continue to operate the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. In fact, we currently see a climbing percentage of institutional user transactions."

Coinbase is the fourth-biggest global exchange by daily volume, according to CoinGecko. It's the only one that's publicly traded in the U.S. and has a market cap of close $30 billion.

In a report to clients on Wednesday, analysts at Mizuho noted that Coinbase shares are up about 20% since Zhao's settlement, a rally that's likely "in anticipation of potential share gains for COIN in wake of outflows from Binance, the industry's largest exchange," they wrote. Coinbase shares fell 2.4% to $124.72 on Thursday, wiping out some of their recent gains.

Mizuho raised its price target on the stock to $35 from $31, while keeping its underperform rating, which it's maintained since December.

A Coinbase spokesperson declined to comment for this story, but CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche earlier this week that the Binance settlement allows the crypto industry to move past a spate of scandals.

"The enforcement action againstBinance, that's allowing us to kind of turn the page on that and hopefully close that chapter of history," Armstrong said. "I think that regulatory clarity is going to help bring in more investment, especially from institutions."

Both Coinbase and Binance still face legal battles with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was noticeably absent from the Binance settlement. Meanwhile, Coinbase executives havefloated the idea of leaving the U.S. altogetherfor a jurisdiction with hard-and-fast rules on crypto, should the company be unable to come to a resolution with the SEC.

Wall Street appears to be shrugging off that concern.

Analysts at Needham, who recommend buying Coinbase shares, wrote in a report on Nov. 21 that the company "exited the crypto 'winter' better positioned than in the prior up cycle." They also noted that in addition to FTX's failure and Binance's retreat, crypto trading platform Bittrex has also exited the market.

Bittrex said on Nov. 20, that effective Dec. 4, "all trading activity on Bittrex Global will be disabled," and it encouraged customers "to log into their account and withdraw assets as soon as possible." In April, the SEC charged Bittrex and its ex-CEO with operating an unregistered exchange.

Yet there may be a new competitive threat on the horizon.

U.S. regulators are expected to soon approve the first U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which would allow investors to buy into digital currency directly through the same mechanism they use to buy stock and bond ETFs. Top asset managers, including BlackRock, WisdomTree and Invesco, have filed applications with the SEC.

Regulatory approval would open up many more avenues for people to buy bitcoin. While Coinbase allows investors to buy a variety of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin accounted for 38% of transaction volume in the third quarter and almost the same percentage of revenue. For casual investors who just want some exposure to bitcoin, there will potentially be additional ways to buy, including through their primary online brokerage.

JPMorgan Chase analysts wrote last week that crypto ETFs would likely be good for Coinbase in the short term but more problematic as time passes.

The initial boost would come from custody revenue tied to the ETFs. Most of the big asset managers jumping into market, including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and WisdomTree, have picked Coinbase for custody services, which involves the storage and safekeeping of the assets.

However, the longer-term concern, according to JPMorgan, is that fewer people will need Coinbase accounts, leading to pricing pressure.

"We see many novice investors never going beyond these flagship tokens and thus never needing the services of a Coinbase," wrote the analysts, who have a neutral rating on the stock and an $80 price target. "We also see the ETF markets as more transparent, efficient and lower cost to execute and we see the potential for a migration to ETFs for cheaper exposure and trading driving Coinbase to lower fees."

WATCH: Former SEC enforcement chief on 'casualness' in crypto compliance

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Coinbase rallies more than 60% in same month that FTX and Binance founders brace for prison - CNBC