TRUMP, the memecoin tied to U.S. President Donald Trump, gained more than 9% in the past 24 hours following a $320 million token unlock. The price now sits around $8.40, still down more than 88% from its peak above $71 on Jan. 18. The recent unlock may spell further trouble for investors, who are estimated … Read more
Slovenia’s finance ministry has proposed a 25% tax on capital gains from cryptocurrency starting in 2026, under a draft law aimed at closing a gap in the country’s tax system. The tax will apply to profit made when individuals sell crypto for fiat currency or spend it on goods and services. However, swapping one cryptocurrency … Read more
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and said it would no longer pursue what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described as “regulation by prosecution.” You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. … Read more
Canary Capital is looking to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the price of Tron’s native token, TRX, according to a filing. The hedge fund submitted a Form S-1 for the Canary Staked TRX ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. As the name suggests, the fund — if approved — would … Read more
Just four months ahead of their criminal sentencing for operating a $577 million cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme, the two Estonian founders of HashFlare were seemingly mistakenly ordered to self-deport by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — an instruction that directly contradicted a court order for the men to remain in Washington state until they … Read more
Following last week’s tariff-caused drama, this was a relatively quiet week in crypto. Bitcoin remained stable around $84k. The CoinDesk 20, which tracks about 80% of the market, was up about 4% in the last seven days — i.e. nothing historic. Still, plenty happened. On Tuesday, much of crypto went offline because of a tech … Read more
Who truly controls your AI assistant? That’s a question most people haven’t asked yet. Today, millions rely on digital assistants, from voice-controlled devices to smart bots embedded in tools like Google Workspace or ChatGPT. These systems help us write, organize, search, and even think. However, the vast majority of them are rented. We don’t own … Read more
Crypto exchange Kraken has launched FX perpetual futures, expanding into traditional markets with round-the-clock trading for major forex pairs, the company said in a blog post Friday. The first contracts, EUR/USD and GBP/USD, are now live on Kraken Pro, with more to follow. Unlike standard forex products, FX perps have no expiry and operate 24/7, … Read more
When Friends With Benefits burst into crypto consciousness in 2020, it was the kind of FOMO-inducing project that immediately had people talking. With a wink-wink, sexy name and members including musicians Erykah Badu and Azealia Banks, it was a club that many wanted to be a part of. Emerging at a time when everyone was … Read more
KiloEx, a decentralized exchange (DEX) for trading perpetual futures, said Friday it recovered all of its hacked funds after a sophisticated attack this week left users reeling with losses of around $7 million. The DEX is working to close the legal process of recovering the funds and is awarding 10% of the recovered amount as … Read more
Bitcoin (BTC) is likely headed for a period of heightened volatility as 170,000 BTC — worth over $14 billion at its current price of $84,500 — have moved from wallets held for three to six months, a cohort often linked to market turning points, CryptoQuant warned in a post. On-chain behavior from this group has … Read more
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index. The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 2464.88, up 0.4% (+10.35) since 4 p.m. ET on Friday. Eighteen of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: FIL (+3.7%) and POL (+3.7%). Laggards: ADA (-0.2%) and BTC (-0.2%). … Read more
A Brazilian court has sentenced three executives behind the collapsed crypto scheme Braiscompany to a combined 171 years in prison, concluding one of the country’s largest crypto fraud cases to date. Federal Judge Vinicius Costa Vidor found Joel Ferreira de Souza, the scheme’s alleged mastermind, guilty of operating an unlicensed financial institution and laundering millions … Read more
Welcome to your Good Friday edition of the daybook. With markets on a shortened schedule for the Easter holiday, today’s update is shortened as well. CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas will be back to its regular size on Monday, April 21. Enjoy the holiday! By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) It’s Easter. Traditional … Read more
HashKey Capital announced what it says is the first investment fund in Asia designed to track the performance of XRP, the digital asset used in Ripple’s global payment infrastructure. The new fund, called the HashKey XRP Tracker Fund, will be open to professional investors and will allow exposure to XRP without the need to manage … Read more
Bitcoin (BTC) was treading water just below $85,000 late Thursday as tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell added another layer of uncertainty for investors. Markets dipped on Wednesday after hawkish comments from Powell, who criticized Trump’s tariffs policy, saying that it would likely result in a slowing economy and … Read more
Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov took his country a step closer to issuing its own central bank digital currency Thursday, signing legislation that gives the “digital som” legal status. The central Asian country is still deciding whether or not to issue a CBDC, but Thursday’s amendments to the Constitutional Law of the Kyrgyz Republic ensures that … Read more
Hidden Road, the prime brokerage firm that’s being acquired by Ripple, has obtained approval to operate as a U.S. broker-dealer from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the company said Thursday. The license, granted to its subsidiary Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, will allow the firm to expand its fixed income prime brokerage platform, … Read more
Crypto exchange giant Kraken has laid off hundreds of staffers across all areas of the business over the past several months, as the firm continues to streamline its operations ahead of a potential public listing in the U.S., according to two people familiar with the situation. Kraken was reported to have laid off 400 staff, … Read more
Interoperability protocol LayerZero’s native token (ZRO) surged Thursday on news that venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) crypto arm increased its investment in the project. The company acquired additional $55 million ZRO tokens committing to a 3-year lock-up period, general partner Ali Yahya said in an X post. A16z has been an early backer of … Read more
Global economic tensions and trade policy uncertainties continue to create volatility in the crypto market, with SOL navigating these challenges better than many alternatives. Solana token’s price rose more than 4% on Thursday, while the broader market gauge, CoinDesk 20, rose about 3%. The $125-$127 range for SOL has emerged as a critical support zone … Read more
Richard Kim, the founder of crypto casino Zero Edge, was arrested on Tuesday following allegations that he had gambled away investors’ funds. According to an FBI complaint filed on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, Kim “fraudulently induced investors to invest in Zero Edge, a cryptocurrency technology company he founded, and then misappropriated … Read more
In today’s crypto for advisors, Todd Bendell from Amphibian Capital breaks down bitcoin yield products as a strategy to grow bitcoin holdings beyond price appreciation. Then, Rich Rines, an initial Core DAO developer, provides guidance to Bitcoin developers in Ask an Expert. Exclusive event alert for financial advisors: Join CoinDesk for Wealth Management Day on … Read more
VanEck is bringing an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking digital asset stocks to the market after receiving approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) will aim to hold 30-60 stocks, VanEck’s head of digital asset research Matthew Sigel, said in a post on X.The management fee will … Read more
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index. The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 2468.7, up 1.2% (+29.84) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Eighteen of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: BCH (+4.2%) and NEAR (+3.7%). Laggards: APT (-1.4%) and FIL (-1.1%). … Read more
Stellar, a superfast and low fee-public blockchain, says it plans to hold $3 billion in real-world asset (RWA) value and power $110 billion in RWA volume by the end of 2025. The goal set by the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the nonprofit that supports the development and growth of the Stellar network, is building on … Read more
Almost one year to the day after Ethereum protocol EigenLayer launched its “restaking” network to unprecedented industry fanfare, the network is finally adding a core feature that was, until now, glaringly absent: “slashing.” Eigen Labs hopes slashing — EigenLayer’s system for keeping “restakers” honest by revoking collateral if they act maliciously — will finally realize … Read more
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ethena and tokenization firm Securitize said they will use part of Arbitrum’s tech and data availability network Celestia for their real-world asset focused, Ethereum-compatible blockchain, aiming to launch mainnet in the second quarter of this year. The Converge chain is setting out to have fast blocktimes, allowing users to pay gas … Read more
Lombard Finance, a Bitcoin infrastructure developer, has launched a software development kit (SDK) that allows wallets, exchanges, and other platforms to offer one-click bitcoin (BTC) staking. The release aims to further bring BTC into the decentralized finance (DeFi) economy by tapping into the estimated $154 billion in bitcoin estimated to be sitting idle on centralized … Read more
XRP might be the next cryptocurrency to get a spot ETF listing in the U.S. after bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), analysts argued this week. However, the Deribit-listed options market,doesn’t share this optimism. As of the time of writing, Deribit’s put options tied to XRP were pricier than calls across several timeframes, according to data … Read more