In stark contrast to the historical performance of cryptoassets in September of previous years, bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), BNB, and several other altcoins are showing strong bullish tendencies this month. The crypto market has witnessed significant growth in September 2024, with its global market capitalization reclaiming the $2.3 trillion mark at the time of writing. This surge in investor interest and price momentum can be attributed to the recent 50 basis points reduction in interest rates by the United States Federal Reserve which some financial market participants saw to be a positive development.
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BNB surges above $600 for the first in two months.
Among the cryptoassets which have regained upward momentum in the crypto market lately is BNB, the native token of the BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain) ecosystem. The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, which went below $400 in August 2024, has recorded a price increase of over 10% in the past seven days at the time of writing.
Particularly, BNB surged past the $616 price level on Monday, a level last reached in July 2024. Accordingly, its market cap has risen above $86.7 billion once again. Moreover, BNB boasts a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $999 million at press time, per data from Coingecko.
BNB’s sharp rise comes in the wake of reports suggesting that Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”, as popularly known) would soon be released from prison. According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website, the Binance founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) is set to be released on 29 September 2024. CZ has been serving a four-month jail sentence at the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Center in California. He was transferred there last month from the Lompoc II facility, where he was first sent in June 2024.
CZ was sentenced on the grounds of violating U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws, including the Bank Secrecy Act, while operating the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume. Before the sentencing, CZ was forced to step down as the CEO of Binance after pleading guilty to the charges. As part of his settlement deal with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), he paid a fine of $50 million. On the other hand, Binance itself was fined a whopping $4.3 billion.
Read also: Binance turbulence: CZ exit as CEO and its impact on the crypto market
BNB eyes new all-time highs
Read also: BNB hits new all-time high of $710: Prospects for investors and traders
At the time of writing, BNB is trading at approximately $599 per coin, marking a 1.3% price decline in the last 24 hours. The recent surge in BNB price also puts the cryptoasset on track to reach new all-time highs in the looming bull run. According to Coingecko data, BNB reached an all-time high of $717 on 6 June 2024.
As buyers continue to dominate sellers in the BNB market, the BNB/USDT 1D chart shows that all major resistances on the path to the $717 level have been broken. With its one-day timeframe Relative Strength Index (RSI) sitting at 72, BNB looks poised to set new ATHs in the coming months, especially with the upcoming release of CZ.
Ndianabasi Tom A crypto journalist and content writer who has been talking about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2018, Ndianabasi is a Writer at Crypto Asset Buyer (CAB).
