BNB lags market despite break above $860 as scrutiny of Binance grows
The underperformance came over an investigation alleging Binance failed to stop suspicious transactions, despite agreeing to pay $4.3 billion to settle a U.S. criminal case in 2023.
By CD Analytics, Francisco Rodrigues|Edited by Nikhilesh De
Dec 22, 2025, 5:32 p.m.

- The price of BNB rose 1.7% in 24 hours, breaking past the $860 resistance level, despite underperforming the wider cryptocurrency market.
- The underperformance came amid an FT investigation alleging Binance failed to stop suspicious transactions, despite agreeing to pay $4.3 billion to settle a U.S. criminal case in 2023.
- BNB is currently 32% below its all-time high of $1,360, while other exchange tokens like KCS and LEO have shown more resilient performance, down far less from their all-time highs.
The price of BNB moved up over 1.7% in the last 24 hours amid a cryptocurrency market rise that saw the wider CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index move up 2.2% in the same period.
The price broke past the $860 resistance level that had capped recent rallies and briefly touched $868 before seeing a slight pullback.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
BNB underperformed the wider cryptocurrency market at a time in which the Financial Times published an investigation saying Binance “failed to stop hundreds of millions of dollars of cryptocurrency from flwoing through suspicious acccounts.” These failures, it says, came even after it agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle a U.S. criminal case.
Trading volume jumped 192% above the daily average, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model, with several peaks seen as the price approached support levels.
Three separate bursts of volume above confirmed momentum behind the move and helped establish new support around $856–$858.
The hourly chart revealed a V-shaped recovery after an early dip to $851, with buyers stepping in aggressively and pushing prices back above $863. From there, an ascending triangle formed between $864.00 and $865.80, a pattern often linked with bullish continuation.
BNB remains 32% below its all-time high of $1,360. Other exchange tokens, KCS and LEO, are down far less from their all-time highs, showing resilient performance according ot CryptoQuant data.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
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