Pepe continues to lead the Hot Cryptos list with a series of crashes and surges on the daily chart. The volatility is in response to the multiple charges filed against Binance and Coinbase by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pepe investors reacted to the news with a rapid 18% slip initially. But it was short-lived. Things are looking up now with many industry leaders coming forward in support of the exchanges and speaking against SEC’s blind anti-crypto attitude. At the time of writing, Pepe is 15% up on the chart.
The rising market momentum also reflects in the overwhelming traffic to presales, most notably the Wall Street Memes presale, which is on its way to the $5M milestone at the time of writing.
Is the Reputation of the Market at Stake?
According to the SEC, Binance has allowed high-net-worth U.S. investors and customers to continue trading on its international exchange, despite it being unregulated. Two successive Binance.US CEOs anonymously testified before federal regulators, raising concerns about the level of control exercised by Zhao.
“I’m not actually the one running this company, and the mission that I believe I signed up for isn’t the mission. And as soon as I realized that, I left,” one of them said.
Most of Binance’s revenue comes from transaction fees, and it amounts to $11.6 billion from June 2018 through July 2021. The exchange has been working on luring in US customers “at first overtly and later furtively” as per the orders of Zhao. Binance was aware that its tens of thousands of customers were US-based. But it turned a blind eye and didn’t take any action to stop them although federal law bars the unregistered offer and sale of securities. That renders the ultimate compliance of Binance in 2019 a public stunt.
Today we charged Binance Holdings Ltd. (Binance); U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc., which, together with Binance, operates https://t.co/swcxioZKVP; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations.https://t.co/H1wgGgR5ir pic.twitter.com/IWTb7Et86H
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) June 5, 2023
In addition, Zhao ordered the creation of an evasion plan for high-net-worth customers, says the SEC. They are encouraged to use a VPN service to bypass the KYC process and hide their U.S. location. Coinbase is also tarnished with allegations of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and broker. The SEC accuses the company of escaping the disclosure scheme for securities markets.
Widespread Support Pours in for Binance and Coinbase
Binance responded to the accusations through a blog titled ‘SEC Complaint Aims to Unilaterally Define Crypto Market Structure’.
“While we take the SEC’s allegations seriously, they should not be the subject of an SEC enforcement action, let alone on an emergency basis. We intend to defend our platform vigorously. Unfortunately, the SEC’s refusal to productively engage with us is just another example of the Commission’s misguided and conscious refusal to provide much-needed clarity and guidance to the digital asset industry,” it noted.
The online crypto community shares the sentiments. A Twitter poll on CEO Zhao’s wall attests to the solidarity of the community.
Who protects you more?
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 6, 2023
According to many Twitter users, the allegations against Binance and Coinbase are an example of the SEC’s determination to regulate crypto through blind enforcement instead of thoughtful litigation that the tech-powered industry is direly in need of. The unilateral labeling of cryptocurrencies as securities doesn’t help the situation.
Industry leaders have also come forward in allegiance, including Tron founder Justin Sun:
“I am fully aware of your dedication to advancing the cryptocurrency industry, and your abilities and ethics are beyond reproach. I have complete faith in your capacity to navigate through this challenge, as you possess strong leadership and decision-making skills. I will stand by you and support you, no matter where or what happens,” he wrote in a tweet to Zhao.
According to Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson, the SEC complaint “seems like the next in a series of steps to implement chokepoint 2.0 in the United States”. He warns that an agenda-based CBDC might be in the pipeline, partnering with a handful of massive banks, and it is a part of the government’s goal to put “end-to-end control over every aspect of your financial life”.
The Crypto Market Bounces Back after a Short Slip
The market dipped, as expected, as the allegations against Binance spread like fire. Binance’s own BNB lost 7.44% while BTC was down to $25,681 with a 4.11% crash during the same window. Most, if not all cryptos were tossed into a sea of red.
But what was unexpected was the community coming together, especially after the SEC sued Coinbase on similar charges soon after.
Crypto market overview, 7 June 2023, source: CoinMarketCap
Industry analysts are optimistic that the lawsuits are paving the way for a market rebound. Binance and Coinbase are just two of the many exchanges that have come under the SEC radar over the last few years. The allegations are seen as a reflection of the agency’s anti-crypto attitude more than the exchanges’ manipulative intentions.
While an anti-crypto attitude from lawmakers and enforcement bodies can deteriorate the confidence in the market, they are likely to not take a tangible form. The global economy can’t afford to rip out cryptocurrencies and blockchain-powered financial services. They hold a vast trove of potential when implemented within the confines of thoughtful laws.
Pepe is Looking Up
Pepe has lost 50.3% in the last thirty days and 23.7% in the last fourteen days. It seemed like Pepe was fighting for life as the Binance-SEC conflict exacerbated its wounds.
With the broader market predicted to rebound in the next few days, however, the meme coin is awaiting a series of rallies in June.
Pepe 1-day price overview, 7 June 2023, source: CoinMarketCap
That said, Pepe is incapable of anything beyond a 4X jump with its market cap at $441M already.
Inevitably, the next question is which meme coin will occupy Pepe’s place in the third quarter of 2023. There are many contenders, including play-to-earn meme coin Tamadoge (TAMA), AI-powered AiDoge (AI), shitcoin SPONGE, and the latest meme coin sensation Wall Street Memes token ($WSM).
Each has its own pros and cons.
- Tamadoge is an established meme coin backed by a large play-to-earn ecosystem. It has a history of going 18X within a few days of its launch last year. TAMA can use this as a chance to reverse the recent losses. However, it has limited room for growth when compared to emerging cryptocurrencies like AiDoge and $WSM.
- AiDoge’s AI token is backed by a creative tool that can generate memes based on text prompts within minutes. The utility was received by the meme coin community with great excitement, sending its presale to an early sell-out after raising $14.9M. It is widely predicted to be the next meme coin gearing up for a 100X explosion. You can still buy $AI tokens for the listing price before its exchange launch, scheduled for June 19th.
- Wall Street Memes token is a meme coin extension of the global meme community of the same name, which has over 1 million followers across social media platforms. With a history of selling out its first NFT collection within 32 minutes in 2021, the community has been drawing in massive traffic to the ongoing $WSM presale.
Investors Seek Presales For Explosive Returns
With the market turning green despite a setback from the SEC, investors are on the hunt for adventurous tokens that can bring them multifold returns. Rather than settling for high-cap cryptos in times of uncertainty, they are plowing their money into presales like Wall Street Memes, in anticipation of wild bull runs later this year.
Presales don’t just have the advantage of time, but also low entry points and larger rooms for growth.
Wall Street Memes has the spotlight among meme coins, owing to its steep price projections. Underpinned by a global community, which has drawn attention from celebrities including Elon Musk, $WSM is an ideal meme coin material.
It is also worth noting that the Wall Street Memes community is mostly made of investors and traders, including speculative participants. The team’s goal is to give back to the community by capitalizing on the meme coin hype that has been ruling the crypto market in 2023.
While meme coins are known for triggering overnight pumps as well as dumps, Wall Street Memes has strategic tokenomics in place to support its long-term value. The massive 30% set aside for community rewards will encourage users to hold $WSM.
A $50,000 airdrop is now live as part of the community-building plans. It will be live throughout the presale. There are thirty presale stages in total and the price of the token will undergo a gradual increase until the hard cap of $30,577,000 is reached.
Meme coin investors are sending the presale to an early sell-out, driven by FOMO. Industry analysts predict anywhere from 7000 to 10,000% returns for $WSM toward the end of the year.