News Roundup — Binance.US Trading Volume Tumbles While SEC Dispute Heats Up

Major news stories this week;

1. Binance.US Trading Volume Tumbles While SEC Dispute Heats Up
2. Ethereum celebrates first anniversary of ETH Merge with 99.9% drop in energy usage
3. FTX founder’s parents sued, accused of stealing millions from crypto exchange
4. Core Scientific seals $77M Bitmain deal for 27K Bitcoin mining rigs
5. India ranks second in global cryptocurrency transaction volume, Chainalysis says

Story Summaries;

1. Trading volume on Binance.US is evaporating as the cryptocurrency exchange’s fight with US regulators intensifies. As of August, monthly trading volume has declined 98% from January 2022, according to researcher CCData, and is on track to drop further in September. The American operations of Changpeng Zhao’s crypto empire had $115.7 million in volume through Sept. 15, per CCData. Volume topped $286 million in August, the researcher said.
2. The Ethereum Merge, the transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, reduced energy usage by 99.9% on the blockchain. The Merge occurred on September 15, 2022, and since then over 300,000 ETH worth $488 million has been burned. Based on data from Ultrasound.money, at the current rate Ethereum’s supply has reduced 0.25% in a one-year time frame.
3. Debtors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX have launched legal action against the parents of FTX founder Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, alleging that they misappropriated millions of dollars through their involvement in the exchange’s business. The counsel for FTX debtors and debtors-in-possession, represented by the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, filed a lawsuit against SBF’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, on Sept. 18.
4. The deal between the two mining companies will see Bitmain supply 27,000 Bitcoin mining rigs for $23 million in cash, along with $53.9 million worth of common stock of the bankrupt firm. Apart from the mining hardware purchase deal, Bitmain and Core Scientific have signed a new hosting arrangement to assist Bitmain’s mining operations.
5. India has become the second largest crypto market in the world in terms of raw transaction volume, beating out the UK, Turkey and Russia. And that's despite difficulties around tax laws, according to a new report from Chainalysis. "India leads the world in grassroots adoption as measured by our Global Crypto Adoption Index," it wrote, saying volumes totaled nearly $269 billion from July 2022 to June 2023.

And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!