Binance, the largest Crypto exchange in the world recently got sued by the financial watchdog, Securities and Exchange Commission on multiple charges of violating the country's securities laws — announced support for Bitcoin NFTs yesterday. The NFTs supported include Bitcoin Bandits, Bitcoin Frogs, Bitcoin Fizzas, Bitcoin Punks, Bitcoin Wizards, Block Legends, BTC DeGods, BTC Machine, and others.
A relatively new development, NFTs on Bitcoin have become a major part of the crypto market narrative in recent months. Ordinals, a method of creating on-chain artwork tied to the smallest unit of Bitcoin, satoshis, have helped send Bitcoin mining revenue to its highest level in over two years.
According to Reuters, from almost three years ago until June 2022, a trading firm owned and controlled by Zhao, Sigma Chain, engaged in so-called wash trading that artificially inflated the trading volume of crypto asset securities on the Binance.US platform, the SEC also alleged.
Sigma Chain spent $11 million from an account on a yacht, the SEC said, "We allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.
The announcement from Binance's NFT marketplace first came after the exchange temporarily paused Bitcoin withdrawals. The pause came at a time when Bitcoin transaction fees were skyrocketing. And now, Binance is planning to allow traders to purchase Bitcoin-based NFTs with their Binance accounts, simplifying the process for users.
Binance Head of Product Mayur Kamat said in a press release that he sees Bitcoin as "the broadest choice" for NFT collectors as well as a growing market for the exchange to tap into.
"Bitcoin is the OG of crypto," Mayur Kamat, Binance's head of product, says. With this update, Binance users can buy and trade Bitcoin NFTs using their existing accounts. "Since the beginning, everyone has wondered about Bitcoin use outside of [an] inflation hedge or [a] store of value. Not only has it shown massive value, but we are now seeing that the network can aspire to be more," Kamat said.
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