The US crackdown on the world’s largest crypto exchange may be coming to a close, and founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) hints at a return to Binance.
Binance Coin, now known as BNB, has hit another all-time high on the back of increased network activity and reports that Binance may be close to a deal to dodge the Department of Justice’s compliance monitor.
BNB is up 10% this week and 13.6% since the beginning of September to a new high of $992, or a $138 billion market capitalization. The new milestone marks a 35% increase from the token’s last local high of $740 in December 2024.
Attention on the network has been bolstered over the last few days due to two breakout tokens in the form of STBL and ASTER.
STBL is a new stablecoin protocol launched by Tether co-founder Reeve Collins, and Aster is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has been promoting on X.
Speculation surrounding CZ’s return to Binance has also increased, after he removed “ex-Binance” from his X bio and changed it to “Binance,” indicating that after his brief jail stint in 2024, Zhao may be planning on returning to the world’s largest centralized exchange.
BNB Chain trading volumes jumped over the last two days as traders flooded onto the network to purchase Aster and STBL tokens, resulting in the chain’s largest daily DEX volumes since July.