BNB Dips 15% As Binance CEO Steps Down: Can BNB Bounce Back?

• Binance’s BNB coin nosedived 15% as DOJ settlement unfolds.
• Binance was ordered to pay $4.3bn in penalties as the former CEO resigned.
• BNB hit the hardest among altcoins as Santiment paints a bounce-back plot.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been fighting prolonged legal battles with several top legal authorities, most of them coming from the United States. After yesterday’s news of Binance settling for $4.3bn with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), CEO and co-founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has officially stepped down from the leadership position.

Naturally, the news invoked confusion in the crypto markets, taking down Binance’s native BNB Coin (BNB) by 15% almost instantaneously after the breaking news surfaced online. The price move sent BNB below its crucial support levels at $230 in the early hours of Wednesday, but the altcoin managed to bounce back to trade at $232.95% at the time of the publication.

Largest Retracement of the Year: Can BNB Price Recover?

After the criminal case settlement news, cryptocurrency traders have expressed certain distrust in Binance’s native BNB. According to the blockchain analytics platform Santiment, both social dominance and trading volume have exploded ever since the news hit, causing over $1 billion of outflows from the largest crypto exchange.

In contrast, Santiment points to a scenario where BNB is likely to bounce back in case of a quick reputational recovery for Binance. In further detail, the surging social media dominance could be turned into a strong foundation for BNB’s rebound rally. On top of that, Santiment claims that new short position placements could set off a price trend reversal.

At press time, BNB Coin (BNB) is trading at $233 with a 9% steep decline in the last 24 hours. Despite the daily downswing, BNB is still up 6.5% in monthly terms and currently dominates 2.482% of the wider crypto market. 

However, according to crypto trader Cryptadamus, a more pessimistic scenario below $217 would eliminate $200 million in long positions, opening a potential price freefall. Ultimately, while BNB market value highly depends on trader sentiment toward Binance, $BNB has so far sustained key support at $230.