The co-founders of Hashflare, a crypto mining ponzi scheme that stole $577 million from hundreds of thousands of investors around the world, both pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 40, were arrested in their native Estonia in November 2022 and extradited to the U.S. on … Read more
Last November, the American people clearly spoke. They support President Trump and the agenda he campaigned on: A “Golden Age” in America. A key component of President Trump’s agenda is leveraging the U.S.’s leadership in advanced technology and economic strength for the benefit of all Americans. Nowhere is this renewed focus on using our strengths … Read more
MetaDAO’s push to revolutionize governance via markets-based decision-making is getting a boost from the creator of its creed: Robin Hanson. The crypto group on Thursday hired Hanson – a George Mason University economics professor who created the notion of futarchy a quarter century ago – as a paid advisor. His addition gives an intellectual and … Read more
Nasdaq-listed Zoom Communications (ZM), a stock market high-flyer during the pandemic boom that’s faced tougher times since, should embrace a bitcoin (BTC) strategy to shake up sluggish stock performace and provide value to shareholders, said Eric Semler, chairman of medical technology firm Semler Scientific (SMLR). “Once a pandemic darling, Zoom is now stuck in a … Read more
Crypto isn’t all that different from politics. According to Rushi Manche, the founder of blockchain company Movement, “Crypto is an attention game.” It’s fitting, then, that Donald Trump — the master of all things attention — is so at home selling memecoins. But it’s not just Trump’s inner circle that’s managed to capitalize on his … Read more
Crypto scammers may have pocketed as much as a record $12.4 billion last year fueled, in part, by growth of so-called pig-butchering schemes, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said. Fraudsters’ revenue from such schemes, in which they build up victims’ trust before convincing them to make fraudulent crypto investments and named after the practice of fattening … Read more
Which market offers the most favorable environment for virtual assets? This distinction remains highly contested, with various financial centers competing to become leading hubs for digital assets, aiming to attract innovation, investment and jobs. In Asia, two of the most prominent players in this space are Hong Kong and Singapore. Hong Kong’s regulatory environment will … Read more
In today’s issue, we get ready for tax time as Anthony Tuths from KPMG provides an overview of crypto tax preparation and the rules to follow. Then, Layne Nadeau from NVAL answers questions about taxes and NFTs in Ask and Expert. – Sarah Morton Tax time – What You Need To Know About Crypto Taxes … Read more
Plasma, a crypto startup building a Bitcoin-based blockchain designed specifically for stablecoins, raised $20 million to further its development, the company said on Thursday. The fundraising round was led by Framework Ventures and will support Plasma’s testnet and mainnet launches, as well as its expansion into remittances, payments and DeFi applications, the team said. The … Read more
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (SFC) plans on lifting a ban that prevented institutions trading crypto in response to the upsurge in global participation in the market, it said on Thursday. Non-profit organizations like charities, university and school corporations, law enforcement agencies will be able to sell their virtual assets by the first half of … Read more
USDT issuer Tether could face challenges if proposed U.S. stablecoin regulation is passed, and the company may have to sell some of its reserves to comply with the new rules, Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Wednesday. The Senate’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act mandates federal … Read more
This article is part of a four-piece series on El Salvador. You can find the previous dispatch, a story on Bitcoin Berlín, here. Bitcoin City sounds like a modern El Dorado — a dreamlike enclave in the jungle, a 21st century utopia. Announced by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in 2021, the metropolis will supposedly … Read more
Popular non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea said Thursday that it is expanding its platform to crypto trading and confirmed it is planning to distribute SEA tokens to users. The trading platform called OS2 has launched today, and aggregates marketplaces, allows cross-chain purchasing and offers lower fees in the beginning, according to the protocol’s press release. … 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 3191.13, down 1.0% (-32.82) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Three of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: APT (+1.3%) and AAVE (+0.9%). Laggards: NEAR (-3.1%) and AVAX (-2.6%). … Read more
Inflation at the wholesale level came in faster than forecast last month in another disappointment to investors and policymakers hoping for cooling price pressures. The Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% in January versus economist forecasts for 0.3% and 0.2% in December. On a year-over-year basis, PPI was higher by 3.5% against estimates for 3.2% … Read more
Midas, a protocol for issuing yield-bearing tokens backed by U.S. Treasuries and other assets, has introduced Liquid Yield Tokens (LYT) linked to actively managed, decentralized finance (DeFi) funds, starting out with Edge Capital, RE7, and MEV Capital. Late last year, Midas received regulatory approval to issue its basis trade and U.S. Treasuries tokens in Liechtenstein, … Read more
BNB Chain’s BNB token and PancakeSwap’s CAKE bucked low-volatility market conditions to rally 9.3% and 35% respectively even as bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, remained rangebound at $96,200. CAKE has more than doubled over the past seven days, a move coinciding with a spike in trading volume, with $1.1 billion being notched in the past … Read more
Robinhood (HOOD) shares surged in pre-market activity Thursday after the popular trading app reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates driven by a massive jump in crypto revenue. The company reported $358 million in crypto transaction revenue in the quarter, the highest contribution from digital-asset trading to date, Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) said … Read more
By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) After Wednesday’s unexpectedly high consumer price inflation (CPI) figures, all eyes now turn to the produce price report due at 8:30 a.m. Analysts expect year-over-year PPI to come in at 3.2%, below December’s 3.3%, with a month-on-month reading of 0.3%, up from 0.2%. Core PPI, … Read more
U.S. spot-listed bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen three consecutive days of outflows totaling $494 million. Wednesday’s outflows were the largest of the three, with $251 million, which saw BlackRock’s iShares Trust (IBIT) register a $22.1 million outflow, with Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) registering the largest outflow of $102 million, according to … Read more
Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) is holding talks with Indian authorities in an effort to secure approval to return to the country it quit in 2023, Tech Crunch reported on Wednesday. The exchange is in talks with regulators including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Tech Crunch said, citing two people familiar with the matter. “Coinbase is … Read more
Metaplanet (3350), a Japanese bitcoin (BTC) acquirer, will be added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index at the end of Feb. 28, according to the firm’s CEO Simon Gerovich. The MSCI index tracks mid-to-large-cap Japanese stocks, which serve as a key benchmark for institutional investors worldwide. As a result of inclusion, Metaplanet … Read more
Bitcoin (BTC) miner Riot Platforms appointed three new directors to its board as it explores potential opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). The additions include Michael Turner, former president of Oxford Properties and global head of real estate at OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, alongside Jaime Leverton, ex-CEO of Hut … Read more
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Ben Schiller, CoinDesk’s Opinion and Features editor. In this issue: Can Based Rollups solve Ethereum’s problem? Lido goes modular Uniswap finally unveils Unichain Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is coming Network news BASED ROLLUPS TO THE RESCUE: In recent years, … Read more
Popular trading platform Robinhood (HOOD) beat its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, which could have positive read-through for peer Coinbase (COIN). Robinhood said its fourth-quarter revenue rose 115% from the previous year to $1.01 billion, beating Wall Street analysts’ estimate of $945.8 million, according to FactSet data. Its transaction-based revenue rose 200% from the previous … Read more
Circle’s USDC, the second-largest stablecoin on the market, rose to a record market capitalization over $56 billion this week as stablecoin growth showed signs of reaccelerating. USDC added $10.2 billion to its market cap over the past month, driven primarily by rising Solana-based DeFi trading volumes, Artemis data shows. That’s more than double the $4.6 … Read more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) likely doesn’t have jurisdiction over many of the memecoins flooding the crypto market, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said in a Tuesday interview with Bloomberg. “We always have to look at the facts and circumstances, but many of the memecoins that are out there probably do not have a … Read more
President Donald Trump is just about done naming the key figures he’s seeking to get into financial regulation posts that will direct the future oversight of the crypto industry, now including lawyer Jonathan Gould as a nominee to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that oversees U.S. national banks. With a widely … Read more
Crypto mid-caps are struggling. While some digital asset investors may seek hidden gems and future powerhouses in the next tier of market capitalization and liquidity, that pursuit has generally not been rewarded. Furthermore, mid-caps have delivered significantly higher volatility. Less reward, more risk. What gives? Is this a mirror of “Mag 7” dominance in equities, … Read more
In traditional finance, the “risk-free rate,” the interest rate an investor can expect to earn on an investment that carries zero risk, serves as a fundamental benchmark for all investment decisions. Today, DeFi has quietly established its own equivalent: the base rate for lending stablecoins. Through battle-tested protocols like Morpho and Aave, lenders can now … Read more