“Buy the rumor, sell the news.” It is not surprising when a token sees a price pop after its underlying blockchain announces a multimillion-dollar program to attract new users. But in the case for some popular tokens of layer 1 blockchains, the price pumps were premature: Trading data shows that both volume and prices for … Read more
Those familiar with the crypto industry will understand that China’s crypto ban is not entirely a surprise. The country has maintained a hostile relationship with its crypto industry since 2013, when it rolled out its first set of crypto restrictions. And while the recent ban may feel like the final nail in the coffin, it … Read more
The Dilemma of Decentralized Storage Ecosystems The decentralized storage ecosystem is booming, but with this growth comes a dilemma: As meaningless data is allowed and even incentivized, it leads to lots of useless data in the ecosystem. Besides, the advantage of blockchain-based decentralized storage technology is not necessarily in providing more storage or better privacy, … Read more
Celsius Network has drawn the ire of Kentucky’s securities regulator in the latest legal move by a U.S. state against the crypto startup and its lending products. In a filing Thursday, the state’s Division of Securities, part of the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, issued a cease-and-desist order against the startup over its “Earn Interest … Read more
When the National Basketball Association’s season starts next month, not one but two teams will be wearing crypto-related ad patches. The Philadelphia 76ers announced Wednesday that Crypto.com’s logo will be emblazoned on all team uniforms. The Sixers join the Portland Trail Blazers, which inked a deal with crypto e-commerce site StormX earlier this year. It’s … Read more
DeFi is short for “decentralized finance,” an umbrella term for a variety of financial applications in cryptocurrency or blockchain geared toward disrupting financial intermediaries. DeFi draws inspiration from blockchain, the technology behind the digital currency bitcoin, which allows several entities to hold a copy of a history of transactions, meaning it isn’t controlled by a … Read more
Bitcoin mining began as a cottage industry with individual miners able to mine Bitcoin on a laptop. Over the years, the technology became more specialized and sophisticated, with large facilities taking over the industry. But with the launch of its at-home mining program, Compass Mining is betting that individual bitcoiners will want to mine bitcoin … Read more
UPDATE (Jan. 14, 2022, 05:00 UTC): ConsenSys claimed in a lawsuit that Gupta managed a single fund with less than $14 million, rather than the “number of $50 million-plus funds” she told CoinDesk she managed during her tenure at ConsenSys. Read more here. The former head of ConsenSys Ventures, Kavita Gupta, has launched the Delta Blockchain … Read more
On Aug. 10, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury – announced its first enforcement action against an unregistered futures commission merchant (FCM). FinCEN assessed a civil money penalty of $100 million against cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives trading website BitMEX for violations of the Bank … Read more
The crypto coin markets are plagued by misconceptions: that crypto investing is little more than gambling, that most coins are scams and that, in the end, everything revolves around bitcoin. But new data released from YouHodler shows how a deep bench of crypto coins are being used intelligently to generate income, at a time when … Read more
Bakkt Holdings and VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings (VIH) have received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to complete their merger and push forward with plans to operate as a single publicly traded entity, the companies said in an announcement Friday. VIH shareholders will meet on Oct. 14 to approve the merger, the companies … Read more
The crypto markets are becoming increasingly mainstream as new institutional investors and traditional financial services companies enter the markets daily. Just last week financial services giant Citigroup announced that due to the intensity of client requests, it was setting up a crypto derivatives team. Citi’s move reinforces the revelation the previous week that 90% of … Read more
Many crypto companies begin life focused on their products and individual customers. As the crypto markets gain institutional acceptance, these crypto players are now in the process of trying to morph into businesses with the capacity to service institutions. Amber Group has done things rather differently, being institutionally focused from Day One. By offering institutional … Read more
The spot trading and swapping market in decentralized finance (DeFi) has grown exponentially over the past year, but the DeFi derivatives market is still small in scale and hasn’t attracted many users. Fundamental differences between the spot market and the derivatives market suggest there are additional challenges to be solved before decentralized derivatives are more … Read more
In 1987 the U.S. military coined the term VUCA, referring to the increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of a multipolar world. It was used to describe one particular period of change. But it also perfectly describes the turmoil seen around the world over the last two years. COVID-19 and the reaction to it have … Read more
GameFi is one of the hottest new trends to emerge from the crypto industry, combining decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with blockchain-based online games. Unlike many traditional online games, which operate on a “pay-to-win” model and allow players to purchase upgrades in order to gain an advantage over others, GameFi introduces a “play-to-earn” … Read more
In May 2021, Nickel Digital Asset Management surveyed 50 wealth managers and 50 institutional investors across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the UAE to understand their concerns about investing in digital assets. The survey revealed that more than three-quarters of the respondents believed that “concerns about security of digital assets and custodial services [were] … Read more