Sigma Capital, an early-stage venture firm, has unveiled a $100 million fund focused on Web3 startups. The Dubai-based company is attempting to capitalize on the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) reputation as a crypto hub, according to an emailed announcement on Tuesday. The fund will focus on decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenization and blockchain infrastructure by managing … Read more
The stateside demand for regulated crypto products is real. The U.S. SEC-approved options tied to BlackRock’s spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (IBIT), which debuted on Nov. 19, are already almost half the size of Deribit’s eight-year-old bitcoin options market. On Monday, there were 2.16 million open or active IBIT options contracts, representing a notional value … Read more
Huione, a Telegram-based illicit marketplace that offers personal data and money laundering services has rolled out its own stablecoin, according to report by blockchain security firm Elliptic. The stablecoin (USDH) was created to “avoid the common freezing and transfer restrictions of traditional digital currencies.” The Huione website adds that “USDH is not restricted by traditional … Read more
The crypto industry has a new “unicorn” in digital asset bank Sygnum, which has just closed a $58 million funding round. The Zug, Switzerland and Singapore-based lender closed an oversubscribed “strategic growth round,” which was led by BTC-focused venture capital firm Fulgar Ventures, according to an emailed announcement on Tuesday. The round gave Sygnum “unicorn” … Read more
Gary Gensler’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) branded Binance.US “a cauldron of fraud,” and used its power and influence to choke off the firm’s banking relationships and USD fiat ramps, despite failing to produce any evidence to back up its claims in court, the interim chief of Binance.US told CoinDesk in an interview. In June … Read more
The pressing question on crypto traders’ minds is: Has bitcoin’s (BTC) price weakness run its course, or is there more to come? The former appears to be the case as Monday’s price action, characterized by a swift recovery from intraday lows, contrasted with mid-December when the rally stalled and turned lower from record highs above … Read more
Sony, the 78-year-old Japanese electronics giant, is the latest legacy megacorp to explore blockchain technology. On Tuesday, the company announced that it is officially launching “Soneum,” a general-purpose blockchain platform. The team behind Sony Block Solutions Labs (SBSL), a joint project between Sony Group and Singapore-based Startale Labs, describes Soneuim — technically a layer-2 network … Read more
Until recently, it was “green candle galore” in the crypto markets since Trump’s election win. Bitcoin momentarily broke the all-important $100,00 level, a near 500% recovery from the 2022 Crypto Winter lows, and optimism for crypto is even reaching Congress, where talks of a U.S. National Bitcoin Reserve are gaining serious steam. If stock market … Read more
MoonPay, a crypto infrastructure service provider, has bought Helio, a Solana-powered crypto payment processor. According to Fox Business, the deal is reportedly worth $175 million. The Miami-based company aims to expand its trading and marketplace volume using Helio’s products. “This acquisition is an important step in advancing our vision for the future of payments,” said … Read more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must now thoroughly “explain itself” for refusing to grant Coinbase.’s formal request that the agency write regulations for how the industry should assess whether crypto assets are securities or not, according to a circuit-court ruling on Monday. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third … Read more
Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis said Monday it had acquired fraud detection startup Alterya. The deal carried a price tag of $150 million, according to Business Insider. Chainalysis, the largest company tracing illicit crypto flows on behalf of financial institutions and governments, plans to bolster its scam-stopping capabilities with Alterya, CEO Jonathan Levin told CoinDesk. The … Read more
Tether, the crypto behemoth behind the $137 billion stablecoin USDT, is establishing headquarters for the group in bitcoin-friendly nation state El Salvador, the company said on Monday. The firm said the development came after acquiring all the necessary licensing as a stablecoin issuer in the country. The move will see Tether relocate incorporated subsidiaries to … Read more
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will soon be under new management, and the senior Republican there, Travis Hill, has outlined some pro-crypto policy thoughts just before he’ll take over – at least on a temporary basis, if not as the permanent new chairman. FDIC Vice Chairman Hill, who is expected to be among those in … Read more
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon is nothing if not consistent when it comes to his views on Bitcoin (BTC). “Bitcoin itself has no intrinsic value,” he said in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. “It’s used heavily by sex traffickers, by money launderers, ransomware. So I just don’t feel great about Bitcoin.” Similar … Read more
Non-fungible token (NFT) project Azuki has announced the release of ANIME, a Japanese cartoon-themed token described on its website as a “culture coin.” The price of the Azuki NFTs rose by 9.1% following the announcement, with the cheapest NFT selling for 13.77 ETH ($42,000), according to CoinGecko. “We acquired Anime.com, soon to launch alongside Animecoin … Read more
One of the largest investment companies in the world with more than $2.3 trillion in assets under management, Los Angeles-based Capital Group has become one of the biggest shareholders in Metaplanet. Based in Japan, Metaplanet was a hotel industry investor that’s become notable over the past year for its bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategy modeled along … Read more
On Jan. 2, Muneeb Ali, the co-founder and CEO of leading Bitcoin L2 Stacks, updated his X bio from simply “founder @Stacks” to “war time founder @Stacks.” The change signaled Ali’s recognition that 2025 is a year when Stacks must pivot to a focus on going to market and expanding its user base after 2024’s … Read more
The final quarter of 2024 marked a surge in cryptocurrency mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, signalling that the post-election sentiment shift could spark even more deals in the new year. M&A has already been on the rise, and the recent acquisition of Bridge by Stripe marked a significant milestone that highlights a trend of the … Read more
As Bitcoin continues to rise and institutional investors pour over $20 billion into crypto ETFs, a fundamental shift is occurring in digital asset markets. The appointment of Paul Atkins as SEC Chair, known for favoring market-driven solutions over heavy-handed enforcement, has fueled optimism that crypto can finally balance innovation with regulation. But the crypto industry … 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 3246.57, down 4.2% (-143.25) since 4 p.m. ET on Friday. One of 20 assets is trading higher. Leaders: XRP (+1.4%) and ADA (-2.6%). Laggards: RENDER (-10.7%) and NEAR (-10.4%). … Read more
Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns shares of MicroStrategy and Semler Scientific (MSTR). Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR) has increased its bitcoin (BTC) holdings for the tenth consecutive week. In the week ending Jan. 12, MicroStrategy purchased 2,530 BTC for $243 million, bringing its total holdings to 450,000 BTC. The average price of the … Read more
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Risk assets are trading down as the dollar index and Treasury yields benefit from Friday’s blowout nonfarm payrolls report and the Palisades Fires posing a risk to the insurance sector and some P&C companies. BTC is down 2%, changing hands in the key support zone of … Read more
New records continue to be set in the bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem, which has seen the mining difficulty adjustment rise to a new all-time high of 110.45T (trillion). 110.45 trillion means that the difficulty is approximately 110.45 trillion times harder than it was at the time of Bitcoin’s genesis block. The difficulty adjustment adjusts every 2,016 … Read more
Bitcoin (BTC) started the new week on a negative note as major investment banks reassessed their expectations for Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cuts following Friday’s strong jobs report. The leading cryptocurrency by market value dipped below $93,000 during the European hours, representing a 1.6% drop on the day, according to data source CoinDesk. Prices looked … Read more
2025 could be a big year for cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to Laser Digital, the digital asset subsidiary of financial services giant Nomura. More than twelve crypto ETFs could be launched in the U.S. this year, if approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Laser Digital said in a report last week. Asset … Read more
Another jurisdiction has Polymarket in its crosshairs. Over the weekend, Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) ordered local internet service providers to block access to the prediction market platform, according to reports from users in the city-state. “You have attempted to access an illegal gambling site hosted by an unlicensed gambling service provider,” the announcement reads, … Read more
The market for alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) may see an extra dose of volatility this week, as the impending token unlock schedule will release billions of dollars worth of supply for several coins, including Ondo Finance’s ONDO token. Data from Tokenomist show the weekly unlocks calendar, that includes names like ONDO, ARB, STRK SEI and others, … Read more
Billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, plans to dispose of several assets, including investment in bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF), to avoid potential conflicts of interest with his new role, according to a report by The New York Times. On Saturday, Bessent, who once worked for billionaire liberal … Read more
As bitcoin (BTC) wobbles around the $90,000-$95,000 area, down more than 10% from its all-time high touched a bit less than four weeks ago, a contrast is growing between traders — whose technical analysis tools show the top cryptocurrency may be due for another plunge — and long-term investors who believe the bull run is … Read more
Usual Protocol, an up-and-coming decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that has seen a remarkable rise over the past months, faced community backlash on Friday after a tweak in the protocol’s yield-generating token triggered a sell-off on secondary markets. Amid the turmoil, the protocol’s USD0++ token, which represents a locked-up – or staked – version of its … Read more