Crypto Market Plunges as Binance Faces Fraud Probe; Coinbase Enters Argentina

The crypto market continued its downward trend on Tuesday, with Bitcoin (BTC) struggling to maintain momentum and slipping below $100,000. Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), also experienced significant declines. Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) bucked the trend, registering a marginal increase. The market's bearish sentiment was further exacerbated by a fraud probe opened by French investigators against Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange.

Binance is facing allegations of money laundering, tax fraud, and other related charges. The Paris Prosecutor's Office announced the probe, which will examine the period from 2019 to 2024, involving offenses committed in France and the European Union. Binance has denied all allegations and stated that it will fight any charges against it. The probe comes after former CEO Changpeng Zhao spent four months in prison for violating US money laundering laws and agreed to pay a penalty of $4.3 billion.

In other news, Coinbase has secured approval to begin operations in Argentina, targeting 5 million users in the South American nation. The platform received Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration from the country's National Securities Commission, allowing it to provide services in a country where cryptocurrencies are crucial in the financial system. Coinbase's operations in Argentina will be overseen by Matias Alberti, a fintech expert who has worked with Beunbit and Clara.

The tech industry was left reeling after DeepSeek, a Chinese company, launched its R1 model. The launch rattled investor confidence, wiping over $1 trillion from the US markets. The fallout from the launch impacted some of the biggest names in the tech industry, with NVIDIA registering the largest single-day market loss in US history, losing a staggering $600 billion in value. Google's parent company, Alphabet, also posted a drop of $100 billion, while Microsoft lost $7 billion.

DeepSeek's R1 model has sent shockwaves in global markets thanks to its performance, rivaling established players like OpenAi's o1-mini while requiring significantly fewer resources and capital. According to DeepSeek, R1 was developed at a cost of $5.6 million, shattering the perception that similar models require between $100 million and $1 billion. Open