SEC Lawsuits Against Binance Dents Crypto Market Sentiment: Bitcoin (BTC) Hit Hard

Summary:
• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has upset the crypto market following a recent suit against the world's largest crypto exchange.

The crypto market’s latest low came from the Securities & Exchange Commission. Crypto prices ended Monday with massive dips after the regulator sued the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

Bitcoin exchanged hands at around $25,750 during this publication, reflecting a 5% dip in the past 24 hours. Most of the initial fall emerged two hours after SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance. The securities watchdog accuses Binance of a law violation.

The dominant crypto remained stable beyond $27K in most of last week’s sessions. Meanwhile, the allegation against the leading crypto exchange rekindled worries about the market’s credibility and lawmakers’ intent to ensure complete control over trading firms. Remember, Binance and other top exchanges have faced regulatory challenges over the past years.

Meantime, Sologenic co-founder Bob Ras believes the news wasn’t surprising, though it triggered massive sell-offs. He added that speculations about Binance’s upcoming action have been circulating for some time.

However, Ras didn’t expect substantial liquidations, similar to what followed FTX, Celsius, and Luna’s 2022 debacles. While these implosions had multiple forced sellers, he trusts Binance news doesn’t have forced sellers, forecasting a gradual market recovery.

Altcoins Also Suffer

The 2nd-largest crypto, Ether, hovered below $1.8K, losing over 5% within a day. Ethereum and other top alts followed Bitcoin’s downward path on Monday, with dips surfacing after SEC’s suit. Binance’s native coin, BNB, slumped by over 10%.

Solana, DOGE, MATIC, and Polygon also suffered notable plunges. Also, Litecoin lost its steam that had it trending high over the last few weeks, plummeting by over 9%. The US regulator called these altcoins unregistered securities.

The CMI (CoinDesk Market Index), which measures cryptocurrency market performance, dropped by over 6%. All its six sectors, including culture & entertainment, computing, and DeFi, fell into the negative region. Meanwhile, the crypto Fear and Greed Index stayed neutral – where it has wavered for most of 2023.

The crypto industry had no gainers today. Market participants would stay patient to see upcoming developments.