Why Did BNB Price Surge Past $300?

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — BNB, the flagship token of the Binance exchange, is rallying. In 24 hours, the token’s price surged nearly 15%, going from around $262 on Dec. 25 to $301 the following day. The rally comes against the backdrop of the announcement about the launch of Sleepless AI on Binance Launchpool. Moreover, the company also published its bullish roadmap for 2024, boosting the BNB price further. 

However, the rally also saw short-term traders pulling out profits, pushing the BNB price slightly down. The token trades at $295 at the time of writing, according to charts from the portfolio management app CoinStats. 

The BNB token’s total market capitalization currently stands at over $45 billion. Ranked 5th on the chart, it sits below Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Solana (SOL). 

Sleepless AI comes to Binance Launchpad

The upcoming launch of Sleepless AI on the Binance Launchpad has positively impacted investor sentiment. The company announced that the Web3+AI gaming platform will be the 42nd project on Binance Launchpool. 

Following its launch on Dec. 28, Binance traders will have a seven-day window to farm Sleepless AI tokens by staking BNB, FDUSD, and TUSD. 

After that, Binance will list the Sleepless AI token on its platform on Jan. 04, 2024. The token will be available through various trading pairs such as AI/BTC, AI/USDT, AI/BNB, AI/FDUSD, AI/TUSD, and AI/TRY. 

BNB price rallies despite Binance legal problems

The latest BNB price surge comes as a surprise to many market observers. Binance has lately been going through legal troubles with regulators and authorities. 

Last month, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pleaded guilty to charges related to violating US Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws. As a result of the subsequent agreement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), CZ agreed to step down as the company’s CEO. In addition, he committed to paying $4.3 billion from the firm as part of the settlement and a $50 million personal fine. 

Moreover, days later, Binance.US, his firm’s US operations, removed him as the Chair of its Board of Directors. He currently awaits sentencing in early 2024, where he could face jail time anywhere between 18 months to 10 years. 

The developments came as a massive blow to the world’s largest exchange in daily volumes. Many experts opined that the downfall of Binance had begun. Some even questioned the leadership skills of Richard Teng, who took over as the CEO of Binance after CZ’s resignation. Former SEC official John Reed Stark even insisted that Binance’s eventual collapse is now inevitable. 

Moreover, the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned Binance about its unlicensed operations. The exchange also faces several problems in many other countries, including Canada and the UK. In addition, it was forced to cease operations in many countries of the European Union (EU) region.

BNB breaks out from Falling Wedge pattern

Despite the legal troubles, charts from TradingView show that the BNB price has broken out of the falling wedge pattern that was persistent since late 2021. This indicates that investors are not abandoning the token.

Although there are a couple of resistance price points that BNB will have to overcome, any major rally could take it back to the $650 mark. That would translate to around a 120% surge from its current price. 

The surge in activity in the crypto industry has also automatically impacted BNB price. Given the daily transaction volumes of the exchange, the token is vital for the ecosystem, thus benefiting from the overall surge.