New day, new blow to Binance: The US arm of crypto exchange Binance has decided to suspend USD transactions and transition to a crypto-only exchange after its payment and banking partners “signaled their intent to pause USD fiat channels,” it said in a tweet. USD deposits were suspended on Friday while withdrawals will be disabled by business partners on 13 June. Binance blames the setback on the “aggressive and intimidating tactics” of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which last week filed 13 civil charges against the company on allegations of manipulating trading volumes, operating unregistered exchanges, and misrepresenting trading controls.

Crypto market hit: The crypto market had a rough weekend, with a number of smaller digital tokens facing the brunt of investors’ anxieties following the SEC’s move, Bloomberg reports. Altcoins like Cardano’s ADA plunged by as much as 25% on Saturday, while Solana’s SOL, Polygon’s MATIC, and Avalanche’s AVAX all fell by double digits. The largest digital currency, BTC, fell nearly 3% and Ether, the second largest, lost 6% to hit its lowest level since March.

It’s not just US regulators that are out to get Binance:Nigeria’s financial regulator has ordered the company to immediately cease its operations in the country, rendering it an illegal entity, Reutersreported yesterday.

EGX30

17,740

+1.3% (YTD: +21.5%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 30.84

Sell 30.96

USD at CIB

Buy 30.85

Sell 30.95

Interest rates CBE

18.25% deposit

19.25% lending

Tadawul

11,396

-0.0% (YTD: +8.8%)

ADX

9,369

+0.2% (YTD: -8.3%)

DFM

3,699

+0.3% (YTD: +10.9%)

S&P 500

4,299

+0.1% (YTD: +12.0%)

FTSE 100

7,562

-0.5% (YTD: +1.5%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,290

-0.2% (YTD: +13.1%)

Brent crude

USD 74.79

-1.5%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.25

-4.2%

Gold

USD 1,977.20

-0.1%

BTC

USD 26,068

+1.1% (YTD: +58.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.3% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.61 bn. Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 21.5% YTD.

In the green: Palm Hills Developments (+7.1%), Mopco (+7.0%) and Fawry (+6.2%).

In the red: ADIB (-3.6%), Ibnsina Pharma (-2.6%) and Edita (-2.0%).

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