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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA happy Monday morning to you all. Well\u2026 it\u2019s kind <\/em>of a happy Monday morning, after a weekend of ups and downs that have left more than a few people scratching their heads. Let\u2019s dive in and see what\u2019s what\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A quick look at the majors this morning, and things were largely \u2018steady as she goes\u2019 for the past 48 hours for BTC and ETH, until a small-ish plunge this morning took some of the wind out of their sales. <\/p>\n Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin is trading 0.2% down, Ethereum is -0.6%,\u00a0 BNB is -1.3% and XRP is down 1.3% as well.<\/p>\n At the time of writing, most of the majors are tracking lower, by around 0.1-0.2% for the past hour.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been some interesting news in the crypto space over the past couple of days, so let\u2019s get into that and then we\u2019ll do Charts and Numbers until it\u2019s time to break for recess.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Off the bat, there were some elevated heart rates at Binance over the weekend, where a handful of altcoins started doing weird things \u2013 so weird, in fact, that Bitcoin CEO \u201cCZ\u201d (it\u2019s jewellery industry code for Cubic Zirconia\u2026 make of that what you will) took to Twitter to announce he had Top Men looking into things.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We are aware of the abnormal price movements for certain trading pairs on #Binance<\/a>, involving assets such as $SUN<\/a>, $ARDR<\/a>, $OSMO<\/a>, $FUN<\/a> and $GLM<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our team is investigating and taking appropriate actions in regards to the suspicious accounts.<\/p>\n \u2014 Binance (@binance) December 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But, in much the same way that things work out when it\u2019s left to the police to investigate when things go horribly wrong in the US, a few hours later the industry got the reassurance it needs in the form of a \u201cwe have investigated ourselves and found that we\u2019ve done nothing wrong\u201d message.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Based on our investigations so far, this appears to be just market behavior. One guy deposited funds and started buying. (Hackers don\u2019t deposit). Other guys followed. Can\u2019t see linkage between the accounts. 1\/3 https:\/\/t.co\/QlB1VnlHVs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) December 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n So\u2026 yeah. Sudden 1000% swings in trading volume are \u201cjust normal trading activity\u201d \u2013\u00a0good to know.<\/p>\n But at least it\u2019s a couple of positive-ish signs that \u2013\u00a0for now \u2013\u00a0Binance hasn\u2019t been hacked and there are still punters willing to drive random altcoin values through the roof for \u201cnormal trading\u201d purposes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, over at Decrypt<\/a>, there\u2019s news that crypto is on the nose among certain US Senators, at a time when faith in the entire system is clearly at an all time low thanks to the FTX debacle (which we\u2019ll get to in a moment).<\/p>\n And that\u2019s all thanks to Senator Jon Tester, who appeared on the highly influential Meet the Press<\/i> on Sunday to essentially say that crypto shouldn\u2019t be regulated, because that would make people think it was actually a thing.<\/p>\n Senator Tester \u2013 a former teacher and farmer from Montana \u2013 serves on the hugely important Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and had been invited on the program to talk about why one of his Democratic Party colleagues has abandoned the party to sit as an independent.<\/p>\n But Tester took the opportunity to basically out himself as utterly unqualified to talk about crypto \u2013 even though he\u2019s on a committee that could, if it wanted to, turn the entire apple cart over.<\/p>\n When the host asked about Tester\u2019s view on crypto \u2013\u00a0\u201cShould the government be regulating it or banning it?\u201d \u2013\u00a0the Senator replied with an emphatic \u201cOne or the other\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a regulator and I\u2019m not a financial person that does regulation,\u201d Tester said, staking a real claim on his Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee seat.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n EXCLUSIVE: Cryptocurrency has not \u201cbeen able to pass the smell test\u201d for Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.).@SenatorTester<\/a>: \u201cIf we regulate it, it may give it the ability for people to think it\u2019s real.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/E2OwQsJ9R3<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cI see no reason why this stuff should exist. I really don\u2019t,\u201d he said, because crypto \u201cdoesn\u2019t pass the smell test\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we regulate it, it may give it the ability for people to think it\u2019s real.\u201d <\/p>\n I\u2019ll let that<\/i> comment sit with you for a moment.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And, speaking of doomed, Chinese authorities have reported that they\u2019ve broken up a money laundering operation in Mongolia, and 63 people have been rounded up and are now, officially, up to their eyebrows in doo-doo.<\/p>\n The Block<\/a>, citing a China News<\/a> article, says: \u201cFollowing an investigation into unusual money flows from construction firm Shi Mouyuan, authorities reportedly discovered a wide network that operated internationally and \u2018converted funds suspected of online pyramid schemes, fraud, gambling and other crimes into virtual digital currency\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Chinese authorities say the gang managed to launder 12 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion), but things went wrong when the unusually high quantities of cash (a sudden 10 million yuan spike) running through a construction company caught the eye of local police.<\/p>\n The penalty for being involved in a crime like this in China is steep \u2013\u00a0a mandatory 10 years in a Chinese slammer, which is every bit as horrendous as you imagine it could be, plus massive fines that you\u2019d never be able to pay, plus<\/i> seizure of all the money that the cops reckon you laundered.<\/p>\n Given the size of the booty the gang allegedly laundered, you can bet your bottom Bitcoin that they\u2019re gonna throw the book at them \u2013 all except for the man thought responsible for the operation, Zhang Mou, who has reportedly fled to Bangkok.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n With the overall crypto market cap at US$887 billion, down 0.4%% since this time yesterday, here\u2019s the current state of play among top 10 tokens \u2013 according to CoinGecko<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sweeping a market-cap range of about US$6.1 billion to about US$329 million in the rest of the top 100, let\u2019s find some of the biggest 24-hour gainers and losers at press time. (Stats accurate at time of publishing, based on CoinGecko.com data.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n DAILY PUMPERS<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n DAILY SLUMPERS<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\nQuick Overview<\/b><\/h2>\n
Binance: We investigated us and found nothing wrong\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Thank you Senator, you can sit down now<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Meanwhile, in China\u2026<\/h2>\n
Top 10 overview<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Uppers and downers: 11\u2013100<\/b><\/h2>\n
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