A blow to cryptocurrencies and drops of 6-10 percent.

It took only a day to bitcoin cheaper by more than 6 percent. Investors' aversion to risk seems to be cutting the wings of cryptocurrencies for several months. Now the sentiment in the market may be additionally worsened by the criminal thread.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened an investigation into the case Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Stock exchange under the SEC magnifying glass

According to reports from Bloomberg the case would concern the first offer from 2017 regarding the BNB token. The commission is to investigate whether the offer was a sale of securities. In that case, it would have to be registered, which has not been the case.

This is not the first time Binance came under the scrutiny of US regulators. Suffice it to mention that there is an ongoing SEC investigation into the relationship Changpeng Zhao, i.e. the head of the stock exchange, with two companies related to Binance.US. Other investigations include a joint Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice investigation into taxation and money laundering, and a Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into insider dealing and market manipulation.

A day of significant losses

Moreover, just prior to Bloomberg's announcement of the BNB token investigation, a Reuters investigative report revealed that the stock exchange served as a channel for laundering illicit funds worth at least $ 2,35 billion.

Admittedly, the president of Binance addressed the Reuters allegations by publishing a series of emails to clear the atmosphere. The facts are, however, that in 24 hours, bitcoin was cheaper by more than 6%, to 2,95. USD. Other cryptocurrencies lost even more during this time: BNB (close to 10%) and ethereum (around 8%), the valuation of which fell to USD 1759.