In July 2021, we celebrated our 4th anniversary, CZ updated the community on our progress, BUSD broke new milestones and we introduced our first ever crypto gift cards. Here’s everything you need to know about our big month. 

Fellow Binancians,

Hope everyone had an awesome month of July! In the spirit of the 2020 Olympics, here are some Olympics crypto fun facts: In 2018, Canadian speed skater Ted-Jan Bloemen became the first Olympic athlete to accept cryptocurrency. Alongside Bloemen, the U.S. Luge team also accepted BTC donations to fund their Winter Olympic ambitions. If you’ve never heard of luge, it’s the sport where athletes sled lying down at very high speeds. The more you know.

July Market Recap: Dipping oes

July was a more positive month for cryptocurrencies as the total crypto market cap increased around 13%, from ~$1.39T on July 1, 2021 to ~$1.57T at the time of writing. 

Bitcoin (BTC) bounced off a low of ~$29,856 before briefly topping $40,000 for the first time since June. It currently trades at ~$38,549 as of writing. 

During the same period, Ethereum (ETH) dropped to a monthly low of around $1,725 before returning to the mid-$2000s. At the time of writing, Ethereum trades at around $2,330. 

The Big Story: Binance Turns 4

1. Build to the Moon Concert Experience

On July 14, we celebrated our 4th anniversary with the global Binance community! Thousands of Binancians came together to watch our online event which featured musical performances from BLOND:ISH, NIKI and Disclosure, an AMA from CZ and the 2021 Binance Award winners.

Read our full recap to find out what you missed

2. See who won this year’s Binance Awards!

This year marked the return of the fan-favorite Binance Awards. We would like to give a big thank you to the entire Binance community for sharing your votes and comments for this year’s winners. Check out who won from our 6 different award categories: 

• Influencer of the Year 

• Angel of the Year 

• Launchpad Project of the Year

• Launchpool Project of the Year

• Binance Smart Chain Project of the Year

• Binance Charity Philanthropist of the Year

3. Check out some reactions from the Twitter community #BinanceTurns4.

Hey hey heeey! Much memes were had and much wows were shared! Once again, we’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who tuned in and we hope you all enjoyed the festivities.

Watch a full recording of the event here.

CZ Shares His Reflections With The Community

Hey everyone! Just want to say thank you to everyone for the past 4 years! I recently penned two open letters to celebrate the 4th anniversary, share new updates to the Binance ecosystem and reinforce our commitment to security and compliance going forward. You can check them out here:

• Read my 4th anniversary letter

• Read my reflections on progress and the road ahead.

BUSD Breaks New Milestones

We’re thrilled to announce that BUSD has reached the $10B milestone, ranking 10th in the overall crypto market and 3rd among stablecoins by market cap. Achieving this growth in record time, BUSD rose from a market cap of $1B to $10B in less than half a year. As of now, there are currently around 1.1M BUSD holders, with 700,000 holding on-chain and over 400,000 holding on Binance and other platforms. Stay tuned as we keep on building!

Learn more about BUSD’s accomplishments

…Did We Mention You Can Now Send Crypto Gift Cards!

Now available on the Binance app! Users can easily create, send and receive crypto gift cards with zero fees. Personalize your card with a design and message, choose your cryptocurrency and amount, then send it to your friends and family. 

Learn more

What’s Ticking On The Exchange

• Coin98 completed its token sale on Launchpad: Congratulations to the C98 team! Stay tuned for future token sales. (Read more)

• New Listings: Flow (FLOW), Clover Finance (CLV), BarnBridge (BOND), Enzyme (MLN), Coin98 (C98) and Quant (QNT). Innovation Zone Listing(s): QuickSwap (QUICK).

Other News Beyond The Exchange

• 16th quarterly BNB burn. The latest quarterly burn includes the actual burning of 1,291,565 BNB, plus an additional 5,163 BNB that was effectively burned via the Pioneer Burn Program. (Read more)

• Report your taxes with our new API tool. Binance recently introduced a new tax reporting tool, allowing users to easily keep track of their crypto activities in order to ensure they are fulfilling the reporting requirements laid out by their regulatory bodies. (Read more)

• Dual Investment launches the 50th and 51st phase. The latest phase included interest rates up to 61% APY. (Read more)

• Read our full list of announcements

Highlights By The Week

Week 1 Highlights 

• Meet Our New Director of Compliance, Jonathan Farnell. Nice to meet you Jonathan! (Read more)

• Safety First with CipherTrace Traveler. CipherTrace Traveler is just one of many things we’re doing to ensure the safety of our users. (Read more)

Week 2 Highlights

• Binance Labs Fall 2021 Incubation Program. Showcasing the most promising blockchain projects and BUIDLers worldwide. Applications are now open until August 18. (Read more)

• Richard Orlinski x Binance 4th Anniversary. Exclusive 4th Anniversary NFT collaboration with French contemporary artist Richard Orlinski. (Read more)

Week 3 Highlights

• Live the #CryptoLifestyle. Get 5% cashback on hotel bookings worth $2,000 when you book your next vacation on the Binance Marketplace Hotels app. (Read more)

• Featured by Binance drops some Good Energy. Check out our collaboration with acclaimed artists, Matt Burns “Burns” and Justice Laub “Good Energy.” (Read more) 

• ADAHA NFT Art Collection. Featuring NFT artwork from 8 different leading contemporary artists. (Read more)

Week 4 Highlights

• Pushing the boundaries of the NFT world. Binance Labs is thrilled to announce our strategic investment with NFKings. (Read more)

• Harness blockchain for charity. The NFT for Good collection will donate a portion of proceeds to our Binance Charity and the Smile Angel Foundation, providing life-changing support for children worldwide. (Read more)

• Binance P2P tips. Learn how you can avoid third-party transfers on Binance P2P, the easiest and fastest way to trade crypto directly with other users. (Read more)

Level Up Your Crypto Game (With Academy Articles) 

• Evolution of the internet. Refresh your understanding of the past and future implications of the internet and Web 3.0 in this article. (Read more)

• What is Phishing? Prevention is the best cure. Learn about common phishing attacks in this article so you know how to avoid them in the future. (Read more) 

• Build a well-balanced crypto portfolio. Don’t throw all your money in one asset. Find out how to spread your money and build a healthy porfolio. (Read more)

• Bitcoin Futures contracts. Get a quick 101 crash course on Bitcoin Futures contracts and how to trade them. (Read more)

• Learn Forex trading. Don’t just diversify your holdings, diversify your trading knowledge. Check out our crash course on Forex trading. (Read more)

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