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Last updated: March 18, 2024 08:14 EDT | 1 min read

Binance CEO Richard Teng forecasts that Bitcoin will surpass $80,000 before the year ends. He attributed this likely increase to the growing interest from institutional investors in crypto-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In January, US regulators approved multiple Spot Bitcoin ETFs, essentially treating them like stocks for American investors. This decision was mirrored recently in the UK, making Bitcoin reach anew record high above $72,000.

At an event in Bangkok on Sunday, Teng said that the ETFs have enticed institutional investors and sparked fresh capital inflows. He suggested that this is merely the initial phase of a broader trend, Bloomberg reported on March 17.

Teng previously expected Bitcoin to hit $80,000 by the end of the year. But he now believes it will surpass that mark due to reduced supply and sustained demand.

He emphasized that this prediction reflects his personal opinion, acknowledging that market fluctuations are inevitable but ultimately beneficial.

Binance named Teng as the head of all markets outside the US last May. By Nov. 2023, he took over as CEO, succeeding founder Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down following admitted mistakes.

Tengs rapid rise to the CEO position came after less than two years with the company, showcasing his swift ascent within the organization.

Bitcoin last traded around $68,235, marking a 61% increase so far this year. ETF inflows are expected to keep driving prices up as Bitcoins record high garners new attention.

As Bitcoin stabilizes near its peak, Ethereum and other alternative cryptocurrencies have also surged with remarkable gains in recent days.

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Binance CEO Richard Teng Predicts Bitcoin Breaking $80,000 - Cryptonews

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LAGOS Nigerias detention of two employees of cryptocurrency exchange Binance will become indefinite should a local court approve the governments wish to hold them beyond an initial 14-day period.

The two employees, an American and a British-Kenyan, have been held by security operatives in Nigeria since Feb. 26. Both men landed the day before in Abuja, Nigerias capital, to begin discussions with authorities after user access to the websites of Binance and other crypto exchanges was blocked.

But since being detained, the employees have not been charged. Nigerias anti-financial crimes agency EFCC has asked a court to authorize a detention extension, according to Reuters, while it continues an investigation. A spokesperson for the employees families said both men have had limited contact with their respective embassies who were immediately informed of their detention without charge, in a statement. Binance said it would continue to work with Nigerian authorities to enable its staff to return to their families.

The EFCC did not respond to questions about its reported intent to prolong the employees detention. A court hearing on the extension is scheduled for March 20.

Nigerian authorities have said crypto trades, especially on Binance, are partly to blame for the naira currencys depreciation against the dollar. Mirroring other crackdowns on tech platforms, particularly a Twitter ban in 2021, Nigerias escalation of its stance against Binance marks a new front in its digital regulatory approach.

Binance has stopped all its offerings in Nigeria, particularly trades that involved the naira and the USDT stablecoin. It claimed this week that Nigeria was not yet one of its top markets, though the country holds extraordinary potential and we hope to continue to invest there.

Nigerias central bank governor had claimed last month that more than $26 billion worth of transactions had flowed through Binance in Nigeria, but he did not provide details as to how that estimate was reached.

The Nigerian government is pushing to receive up to $10 billion in compensation for alleged damages Binance has done to its economy. But it is also supposedly seeking information on the platforms top 100 users in the country, as the Financial Times reported.

Binance said it has previously cooperated with Nigerian agencies, responding to 626 information requests from law enforcement over the last four years, and once restricting over 280 accounts of Nigerian residents due to money laundering concerns. A team visited Nigeria in the last two months of 2023 and engaged officials of the anti-graft agency in training sessions, Binance said.

The families of the detained employees Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla hope that Binance and Nigeria can continue discussions without both men. Gambaryan, the American, leads Binances financial crime compliance, while Anjarwalla (who lives in Kenya) leads the companys government affairs in West Africa. Elahe Anjarwalla, Nadeems wife, said she wants her husband to be released in time for their sons first birthday next week.

This year his Ramadan has started very differently and my heart breaks thinking about him unable to break his fast with all of us, she said in a statement.

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Nigeria's detention of Binance execs is now indefinite without charges - Yahoo! Voices

Illustration : Dado Ruvic ( Reuters )

Nigerian authorities have arrested 2 top officials from Binance, whowere in the country to address allegations that the crypto exchange was destabilizing the national currency, the naira. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial-crime compliance at Binance who previously worked at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan national and Binances regional manager for Africa, have been held against their will for the past two weeks in the country.

What's the future of crypto regulation? | Ben McKenzie

As per reports, Nigerian government officials invited Binance executives to discuss an ongoing dispute about the worlds largest crypto exchange allegedly driving down the value of their national currency. Gambaryan and Anjarwalla arrived in Nigeria on February 25th; after their meeting with government officials, both were taken to their hotels. Later, they were instructed to pack their belongings and move to a guesthouse run by Nigerias National Security Agency, as stated by their families, per reports.

The Nigerian government has accused Binance of exacerbating the countrys foreign exchange challenges through rate manipulation for profit. The authorities have also accused the crypto exchange of illegal operations and have restricted access to the companys website.

There are also reports that Nigeria sought a $10 billion penalty from Binance for processing around $26 billion in untraceable funds in the country.

Nigeria has the second-highest adoption of cryptocurrency after India. But the largest economy in Africa has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in recent years due to inflation and the devaluation of the naira.

The reason why and how Nigerias economic crisis is linked with Binance is yet to be found out. Binance is hoping to resolve the matter soon, according to CoinDesk.

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Binance executives were arrested in Nigeria for allegedly destabilizing its currency - Quartz

The Central Bank of Nigerias suspicion of manipulation of forex prices on Binance was confirmed by internal analyses of peer-to-peer trading on the exchange, TechCabal has learned.

An analysis of trades between February 19 to February 21 identified a cluster of Nigerian retail traders making large buy orders for USDT they didnt eventually buy. Authorities believe these traders manipulated prices to benefit from the resulting arbitrage opportunity.

The analyses conducted by research teams are still ongoing, according to a person close to the matter. An internal report of the aforementioned three-day analysis linked what it said was an artificial demand for USDT with the nairas quick drop from $1/1,500 to $1/1,950.

The Central Bank did not respond to TechCabals request for comments.

Hamma Bello, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, told a court on Monday that a special investigative team surveilled the Binance platform.

The team uncovered users who have been using the platform for price discovery, confirmation, and market manipulation, which has caused tremendous distortions in the market, resulting in the Naira losing its value against other currencies, Bello said in an affidavit.

Its similar to a claim in the internal presentation seen by TechCabal. The marketplace shows only people willing to buy USDT and an almost non-existent selling side. A $132 million worth of ads for buying USDT with less than $800,000 to match on the other side for 2/22/2024 is an example of this.

Binance did not immediately respond to TechCabals request for comments.

The report claimed that more than 40% of the buy offers came from the same accounts. While some traders repeatedly were looking to buy as much as $1.9 million, others posted much smaller trades as low as $500 on a rolling basis.

On March 12, the Financial Times reported that the federal government asked Binance for information on its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history for the past six months. This may be a bid to identify the traders listed in the internal report seen by TechCabal.Today, a court in Nigeria ruled that Binance must hand over the data.

On Thursday, Binance released a statement signaling it would cooperate with the government. It claimed that since 2020, it has responded to over 626 information requests that have assisted the governments investigations into financial crimes such as scams, fraud, and money laundering.

Since Nigeria floated the naira in 2023, price discovery for the US dollar has increasingly happened through P2P trading on crypto exchanges like Binance and Bureau de Change operators. The apex bank shared amendments to its policy on BDC operators and revoked licences for over 4,000 operators as FX volatility worsened in February.

Regulators believed that Binance, one of the most popular crypto exchanges in the country, played an outsized role in price discovery and attendant volatility. Olayemi Cardoso, the CBN governor, said expediting genuine price discovery would solve the problem. It prompted an investigation into Binance.

The Binance website is no longer available to Nigerians, and the platform has also delisted its NGN/USDT trade option. Aside from Binance, other crypto platforms like Onboard Wallet also disabled the USDT/NGN pair on their platforms.

The two Binance executives, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a UK citizen, and Tigran Gambaryan, a former US Internal Revenue Service special agent, who came to Nigeria when the government threatened to block access to the companys website are still in the custody of the authorities. According to the Financial Times, the court order that permitted a 2-week detainment of both executives expired on Tuesday, but they have not been released.

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Binance crackdown based on analysis of P2P trading in February - TechCabal

Binance Labs has become an independent venture capital arm, after severing ties with Binance exchange.

The independent VC funds portfolio is now worth over $10 billion, covering over 250 projects from over 25 countries, with an over 14x return on investment rate, according to a March 12 blog post by Binance Labs.

The arm seeks to invest in early-stage Web3 projects and offer support including one-to-one mentorship and access to resources in the wider Binance ecosystem

Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, quietly created the independent fund earlier this year. Binance Labs staff have separate contracts from Binance exchange employees.

Related: Dogwifhat price headed to $10? Arthur Hayes thinks so

The independent VC fund is looking to invest in more Web3 projects. Founders can apply for funding through the Binance Labs Season 7 Incubation program until April 15, 2024.

Binance Labs aims to support promising early-stage founders, according to Yi He, co-founder of Binance and head of Binance Labs, who wrote in an announcement:

Binance Labs previous round of investments, season six, received hundreds of applications with a 3% admission rate. Only seven promising projects received funding by the end of the round.

These notable projects also included derivative infrastructure provider Ethena, which became the highest-earning decentralized application (DApp) after breaching $6.8 million in daily cumulative revenue in the week ending March 8.

Ethena Labs launched its USDe synthetic dollar on the public mainnet on Feb. 19, causing widespread concern among investors, as the Ethereum-based synthetic dollar launched with a 27.6% annual percentage yield (APY).

Guy Young, the founder of Ethena Labs, has dispelled the rumors, explaining that USDes yield is publicly verifiable, as it is generated via staking returns and shorting Ether perpetual future contracts.

Ethena currently offers a 60.9% yield on its USDe synthetic dollar to over 53,000 users, according to its homepage. The project holds over $1.1 billion in total value locked.

Related: Nigerian crypto community split over govts bid for Binance user data

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Binance cuts ties with venture capital arm - Cointelegraph