Crypto Daybook Americas: Inflation Data May Shake Out Bitcoin’s Doldrums as Demand for BTC Picks Up

By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) The U.S. inflation report due later today might shift bitcoin (BTC) out of the doldrums that have mired it this week. In recent years, the January figure has tended to show significant price hikes. Last year, for example, the month’s data put an end to a … Read more

Trump-Family Backed World Liberty Financial Starts Token Reserve for Crypto Investment

The Trump-family backed World Liberty Financial launched its token reserve to back various crypto ecosystems, the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol said in an X post on Wednesday. World Liberty said it will diversify its token holdings and also engage with traditional finance firms to invest their tokenized assets into the reserve. The protocol did not … Read more

Ripple, Galaxy Execs Loaned $160M to Moonpay So That They Could Support TRUMP Memecoin Launch

Loans from Galaxy and Ripple played a pivotal role in helping crypto exchange MoonPay handle the demand stemming from the launch of Donald Trump’s official memecoin after its Jan.18 issuance, a new podcast reveals. TRUMP launched days before the President’s swearing-in ceremony. The token launch was a surprise move that made him the first-ever president … Read more

Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Indicator Shows Overseas BTC Buyers Taking the Lead Ahead of CPI Release

Bitcoin’s (BTC) Coinbase premium indicator, which measures the spread between BTC’s dollar-denominated price on the Coinbase exchange and tether-denominated price on Binance, has flipped negative for the first time since the Feb. 3 crash, according to data source Coinglass. It’s a sign that traders over the Nasdaq-listed exchange have turned cautious ahead of Wednesday’s U.S. … Read more

Bitcoin May See Gains from Soft U.S. CPI, Major Risk-On Surge in BTC Appears Unlikely

A soft U.S. inflation report later Wednesday will likely bode well for risk assets, including bitcoin (BTC). But those expecting bullish fireworks may be disappointed. The Labor Department will publish January’s consumer price index (CPI) report on Wednesday at 13:30 UTC. It’s expected to show that the cost of living increased by 0.3% month-on-month in … Read more

LinksDAO Plans to Launch a Community Token on Base

LinksDAO is launching its own community token, adding a highly tradeable asset alongside its nearly 10,000 membership non-fungible token (NFTs) this crypto golf club tried selling to fund its mantra: “We’re gonna buy a golf course.” NFTs aren’t as trending as they were in early 2022 when LinksDAO sold its membership tokens for $10 million. … Read more

Trump to Tap Former CFTC Commissioner, a16z Policy Head Brian Quintenz for CFTC Head

Brian Quintenz, a one-time commissioner with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Andreessen Horowitz’s head of policy, will be Donald Trump’s choice to run the federal commodities regulator. Quintenz previously served in the regulator between 2017 and 2021, where he organized the Technology Advisory Committee. During his time as commissioner, he said a self-regulatory organization … Read more

Fireblocks Adds Support for Sony’s Soneium, First Step in Provision of Custody Services

EMBARGO Feb 12 9 AM HK TIME Fireblocks, a provider of crypto custodian technology, said it added support for Sony’s Soneium blockchain, an Ethereum layer-2 network that aims to bridge the conventional internet, or Web2, and the emerging, blockchain-based Web3. Fireblocks counts many large institutions among its clients, including large banks. Crypto custodians, which provide … Read more

Crypto Industry Gets Chance to Make Its Case to U.S. Congress

The crypto industry got a chance to make a full-throated appeal for Congress to finally intervene and set legal standards for digital assets businesses in the U.S. during a hearing Tuesday in front of the House of Representatives subcommittee that focuses on digital assets. Under the Republican-led subcommittee’s title “A Golden Age of Digital Assets,” … Read more

Canary’s Solana ETF Reaches Next Stage in SEC Review

Another day, another once unthinkable crypto exchange traded fund filing. Canary Capital’s proposed Solana ETF has become the second such vehicle to reach the starting gate. In a regulatory filing Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened up public comment on the “Canary Solana Trust,” a proposed ETF that would bring SOL investing into … Read more

Fed’s Powell Says He’s Also Worried About Debanking That Strained U.S. Crypto

When confronted by members of the Senate Banking Committee about concerns over the “debanking” trend plaguing the crypto industry, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he’s also worried about it and is already tweaking internal supervision policies at the Fed. “I too, am troubled by the quantity of these reports,” Powell said in routine testimony … Read more

Unichain Launch Drives Up UNI Token’s Price and Social Activity, Data Shows

The launch of Unichain, Uniswap’s long-awaited layer-2 network, has seen the price of the decentralized exchange’s governance token UNI rise by around 4.5% to around $9.7 and led to a significant increase in social activity and sentiment. UNI’s price benefitted from the launch of Unichain but failed to break through the $10 mark. It still … Read more

What’s Better Than CEX? DEX

When it comes to trading memecoins, time is money — and waiting on a centralized exchange (CEX) could cost you both. Take $TRUMP, for example. On Jan. 17, 2025, just before his inauguration, Donald Trump launched his memecoin on Solana, which surged past a $14.5 billion peak market cap on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Raydium … Read more

Lido Goes Modular With Vault-Based ‘V3’ Upgrade

The developers behind Lido, the largest staking service on Ethereum, have proposed revamping the staking platform with modular “vaults.” The new framework would introduce stVaults, a customizable component designed to help Lido accommodate institutions and more complex staking strategies. Lido currently allows investors to pool their ether (ETH) together and “stake” their crypto — locking … Read more

Crypto Ecosystem Growth Slowed in January Even as Total Market Cap Rose, JPMorgan Says

Crypto ecosystem growth slowed in January, with total trading volume dropping 24%, Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Tuesday citing TradingView data. Still, the activity is double the level before the U.S. election in November and the total market cap increased 8% to roughly $3.4 trillion, the report said. The market … Read more

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Cardano (ADA) Jumps 13.6%, Leading Index Higher

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 3237.73, up 0.8% (+26.27) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday. Fifteen of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: ADA (+13.6%) and LTC (+6.5%). Laggards: APT (-3.5%) and AAVE (-1.1%). … Read more

Uniswap Labs Officially Launches Layer-2 ‘Unichain’

Uniswap Labs, the primary developer behind one of the largest decentralized exchanges (DEX), Uniswap, shared Tuesday that its long-awaited layer-2 network, Unichain, is now live. Powered by Optimism’s OP stack, Unichain—like other layer-2s on Ethereum—offers faster and cheaper transactions compared to Ethereum’s mainnet. Developers can deploy apps onto the network, which has been optimized specifically … Read more

New Fund Links Crypto Investment to Portuguese Residency

A new investment vehicle, the KvarnPortugal Fund, is set to allow investors a way to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency sector while also presenting a potential pathway to Portuguese residency or citizenship. The fund is the result of a partnership between Fundbox, a Portuguese fund management company, and Kvarn X, aEuropean cryptocurrency investment platform. The … Read more

TON Blockchain to Use LayerZero to Improve Cross-Chain Functionality

Layer-1 blockchain TON said it is linking up with interoperability protocol LayerZero to allow users to move funds between multiple ecosystems in a relationship that will generate increased usage and fees for both parties. TON will initially be connected to 12 blockchains including Ethereum, Tron and Solana. Users will be able to transfer stablecoins to … Read more

KULR Expands Bitcoin Holdings to 610 BTC, Reports 167% BTC Yield

KULR Technology Group (KULR) has expanded its bitcoin (BTC) holdings to 610.3 BTC. The firm increased its total bitcoin stash to approximately $60 million after buying an additional $10 million worth at an average price of $103,905 per bitcoin, according to the announcement. This move aligns with the company’s bitcoin treasury strategy, announced in December … Read more

Hong Kong Confirms Bitcoin, Ether Can Be Used to Prove Wealth for Investment Visa

A spokesperson for Invest Hong Kong, the territory’s government agency that facilitates foreign investments, has confirmed that crypto including ether (ETH) and bitcoin (BTC) can be used as proof of assets when applying for its New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa. The visa requires applicants to must prove ownership of net assets worth at least … Read more

Crypto Daybook Americas: ADA Rallies, BTC Looks to Powell’s Testimony on Capitol Hill

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Cardano’s ADA is trading higher, buoyed by Grayscale’s recent spot ETF application, while bitcoin (BTC) remains rangebound in a lackluster crypto market as we gear up for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress. Powell takes the stage on Capitol Hill later Tuesday for his … Read more

Solana DEX Volume Tops $60M as It Looks to Extend 4-Month Winning Streak Over Ethereum

Solana is on track to extend its four-month run over Ethereum and other smart-contract blockchains in decentralized-exchange (DEX) volume even as the rangebound crypto market struggles to capture trader enthusiasm. Solana-based DEXs have posted total trading volume of just over $60 million this month, nearly double the $34 million on Ethereum, the biggest smart-contract blockchain, … Read more

Crypto Investors Lost Over $500M in Memecoin Rug Pulls and Scams in 2024

More than $500 million was lost to memecoin rug pulls and scams in 2024, according to a report by crypto intelligence platform Merkle Science. The most prolific scams involved social engineering, which is a technique that relies on impersonation and manipulation to gain access to someone’s personal data – often in this case celebrities or … Read more

OpenSea Denies Airdrop-Related Talk of Enforced Customer Identification

Non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea denied reports that users claiming a potential airdrop will be forced to complete detailed identification, or know-your-customer (KYC), checks. “This is all completely false,” OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer wrote on X in response to a post that referred to the terms and conditions on the OpenSea Foundation website. The terms … Read more

Ether Has Underperformed, But Total Value Locked on Ethereum is Rising: Citi

Ether (ETH) has underperformed year-to-date, declining over 20%, but fundamentals are improving and total value locked (TVL) on the Ethereum blockchain has risen dramatically, Wall Street bank Citi (C) said in a research report Monday. “While user activity has been volatile in recent weeks, the fundamental backdrop is not all that murky,” analysts led by … Read more