Binance faces significant outflows of user funds and a drop in BNB value following criminal charges from the Department of Justice and the possible departure of CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Binance is seeing major outflows from its exchange following earlier news that the US Department of Justice charged the leading exchange with three major crimes. Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm, reported a notable outflow of money from the exchange as investors are withdrawing funds. Focusing specifically on the Ethereum ERC-20 network, Nansen saw an astonishing increase in net outflows, going from $10,000 to a staggering $45 million in just one hour.
More details about Binance’s charges will be revealed today as the Department of Justice holds a press conference. So far, we know that the platform’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has agreed to plead guilty and resign from his position. The exchange will also pay more than $4 billion in fines, as part of the agreement.
Binance’s own cryptocurrency, BNB, along with several lesser-known digital currencies, experienced a slowdown. BNB, an integral part of both the Binance platform and its associated BNB Chain blockchain, saw a drop of almost 7% following the news. At the same time, other cryptocurrencies such as Solana and Polygon also suffered losses, falling around 5% and 8%, respectively.
