Chaotic Binances June, Miners Prepare to Halve, Bitfinexs Latam Expansion

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June was a tough month for Binance as it faced stress tests around the world after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the crypto exchange and its leaders.

In a nutshell, in the last 30 days, the Belgian financial regulator ordered Binance to cease all crypto services, the exchange failed to obtain a license in the Netherlands, the director of Binances Brazil said was subpoenaed to appear before Congress regarding an investigation into a Ponzi scheme, and just days ago another ongoing investigation in France became public knowledge.

And there’s more: the UK-based subsidiary of Binances has revoked its registration with the Financial Conduct Authority, and in the US the exchange still has a long way to go in its fight with regulators. Additionally, the exchange was denied a crypto custody license in Germany and lost its euro banking partner.

Yet, despite all these developments, Binance remains intact as the top dog among centralized exchanges, with a total value locked of $58.11 billion, up from $63.8 billion on June 1, according to data from DefiLlama. The exchanges will then focus on the United Arab Emirates, a supposedly preferred destination for crypto firms looking for a clear path.

We keep building, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet on June 28, after a long and eventful month.

This week, Crypto Biz takes a look at the story behind Binances’ unbanking in Australia, Bitcoin (BTC) miners gearing up for the upcoming halving, MicroStrategys’ latest Bitcoin buy, and Bitfinexs’ expansion into America Latin.

Binance Australia given 12 hours notice before being unbanked, exec says

There was no prior warning, consultation or remedy. In the middle of the night, Binance Australias team was suddenly informed that they would be cut off from the country’s banking system. Binance Regional Director Ben Rose shared details of the unbanning of exchanges in the country during Australian Blockchain Week on June 26. In May, the company announced that its dollar services had been suspended after its payment provider Zepto was told to discontinue support for Binance. According to Rose, the move affected around 1 million Australia-based customers, with Binance now looking for another payment provider.

Ben Rose (right) on stage during Australian Blockchain Week. Source: CointelegraphRiot Platforms will add 33,000 Bitcoin miners ahead of 2024 halving

Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms is preparing for the next round of halving by purchasing 33,280 next-gen rigs for its Texas facility, at a cost of $162.9 million. The miners, which came from MicroBT, will increase the company’s self-mining capacity from 7.6 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 20.1 EH/s once the machines are installed in Q1 2024. of the machines, 8,320 are M56S+ models with a hash rate of 220 terahashes per second (TH/s), while the remaining 24,960 M56S++ are slightly more powerful at 230 TH/s.

MicroStrategy buys $347 million worth of Bitcoin amid market thaw

MicroStrategy announced the purchase of 12,333 Bitcoins on June 28, worth $347 million at publication. MicroStrategy now owns 152,333 BTC worth $4.52 billion, with an average purchase price of $29.668 per coin. The coins were purchased between April 27 and June 27, with the purchase partly funded by the issuance of new shares. MicroStrategy actively bought Bitcoin using cash and equity financing during the crypto bear market, sometimes regardless of price. In the first quarter of 2023, the company announced its first profitable quarter since 2020 due to a one-time tax benefit.

Bitfinex launches P2P trading platform in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia

Digital asset exchange Bitfinex is expanding its operations to Latin America. The crypto company has launched a peer-to-peer trading platform in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia, allowing users in South American countries to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT ), euro-indexed stablecoin Tethers, Tether EURt (EURT) and Tether Gold (XAUT). In April, the branch of Bitfinex El Salvador received a digital asset service provider license from the National Commission for Digital Assets. Last month, the exchange partnered with Chile-based crypto platform OrionX to support local education and financial literacy programs.

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