BNB price risks 40% drop as SEC launches probe against Binance

Binance Coin (BNB) price dropped by nearly 7.3% on June 7 to below $275, its lowest level in three weeks.

What’s more, BNB price could drop by another 25%-40% in 2022 as its parent firm, Binance, faces allegations of breaking securities rules and laundering billions of dollars in illicit funds for criminals.

Two bad news in a row

BNB was issued as a part of an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017 that amassed $15 million for Binance.

The token mainly behaves as a utility asset within the Binance ecosystem, primarily enabling traders to earn discounts on their trading activities. Simultaneously, BNB also functions as a speculative financial asset, which has made it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

As a result, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating whether the ICO of BNB tokens in 2017 was sales of securities that should have been registered with the regulator, according to sources contacted by Bloomberg.

So, will all exchanges including binance delist $BNB like they did with $XRP?

— Crypto Mark ❄️ (@MarkCrypto8) June 6, 2022

This risks putting downward pressure on BNB’s price, which has already lost more than half of its value after peaking out in May 2021 at around $700.

BNB holds above May-July 2021 support

In addition to the bad news, BNB’s plunge also came as a part of a broader correction trend elsewhere in the crypto market, with top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) dipping by 7% and 7.25% on the same day.

$BNB aggressively shorted because of the FUD. pic.twitter.com/BzvGtPcK3d

— Byzantine General (@ByzGeneral) June 6, 2022

Now, BNB tests the 61.8 Fib retracement level (near $274) of the Fibonacci retracement graph sketched from its $10-swing low to $700-swing high. Interestingly, the same level was instrumental as support during the May-July 2021 session that preceded a 170% price rally.

But weak fundamentals,…