Major cryptocurrencies experienced a surge on Wednesday evening as the optimism towards a potential spot Bitcoin ETF resurfaced.
What Happened: Crypto markets were initially shaken on Monday with the leak of a potential massive settlement of U.S. criminal charges against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.
Confirmation on Tuesday of the $4.3 billion fine, along with a guilty plea by its founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao – who also agreed to step away from the company – intensified the market turbulence.
Stepping away from the headlines, some observers and analysts have pointed out that the Binance settlement might pave the way for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to potentially approve a spot bitcoin ETF. The recent developments around Binance and its CEO CZ might have alleviated the agency’s concerns about potential manipulation of bitcoin prices occurring overseas.