The digital asset industry stands at a critical, hopeful juncture. After years of fragmented approaches to regulation and legislation, we’ve reached a moment where clarity is both urgent and achievable. Blockchain Association’s consensus-driven market structure principles, which represent the perspective of the leading companies in the industry, offer a framework for the path forward. The … Read more
It’s deja vu all over again in crypto after a hopeful report on a tariff delay was refuted by the White House. To review, President Trump on Thursday promised to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada beginning Saturday Feb. 1. Having rallied over $106,000 prior to that news, bitcoin (BTC) quickly reversed 2% lower … Read more
It was another busy week at CoinDesk as the new Trump Administration continued to roll out a pro-crypto agenda and the industry laid the groundwork for growth in the new cycle. Ripple was at the center of the news. Ondo Finance announced it would offer tokenized treasuries on Ripple’s XRP Ledger, Kris Sandor reported. The … Read more
The supply of stablecoins on Solana jumped by 112% in January to a record high of $11.1 billion, CCData (a subsidiary of CoinDesk) said in a research report on Friday. The surge coincided with the launch of Donald Trump’s memecoin $TRUMP, which caused a wave of inflows to the network, according to the report. Stablecoin … Read more
Evgeny Gaevoy began his career in traditional finance, specializing in market making and prop trading. But by 2016, seeing the inefficiencies of legacy financial systems and the potential for disintermediation, Gaevoy realized there was an opportunity to create something entirely new and better. With experience building up foreign exchange firm Optiver’s European ETF business — … Read more
Tether, the crypto company behind the largest stablecoin USDT, said on Friday it generated $13 billion group-wide net profits last year in a record-breaking year. Some $7 billion of the profits derived from the firm’s vast U.S. Treasuries and repo holdings, and $5 billion from unrealized appreciation of the company’s gold and bitcoin (BTC) holdings. … 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 3868.63, up 0.4% (+16.75) since yesterday’s close. Fifteen of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: LINK (+4.6%) and ETH (+3.2%). Laggards: XLM (-3.2%) and XRP (-0.9%). The CoinDesk 20 … Read more
Swiss banking giant UBS said that it completed a proof-of-concept of its UBS Key4 Gold offering on the Ethereum layer-2 network ZKsync. The simulation, which was conducted on a ZKsync test network, is a sign of renewed interest in blockchain technology among traditional financial institutions. This isn’t UBS’ first experiment with blockchain. The bank previously … Read more
Grayscale has rolled out a new trust offering exposure to dogecoin (DOGE), the asset manager announced Friday. “Dogecoin represents a paradigm shift in global financial accessibility,” Grayscale’s head of product & research, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, told CoinDesk. “Its low transaction costs and rapid transfer speeds make it an optimal vehicle for international remittances, particularly in regions … Read more
A clawback amendment went live on XRP Ledger earlier Friday following a validator vote with more than 90% in favor. The amendment means Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, a clawback token, can be floated and exchanged directly on XRP Ledger’s DEX, enhancing its liquidity and trading options and likely boosting decentralized finance (DeFi) activity on the … Read more
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) The crypto market is treading water and the biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, is taking a bull breather. Its upward momentum is getting stifled by Trump’s renewed tariff threats, which are also sending gold prices soaring to record highs and propping up demand for the U.S. dollar. But … Read more
As it stands, January is tied as the second-best performing month for bitcoin (BTC) in the past ten months, surpassed only by November 2024, which saw a 37% surge in price after President Trump’s victory in the U.S. election. It shares second-place with May 2024, both recording an 11% gain, according to Coinglass data. On … Read more
The market capitalization of stablecoins just pierced $200 billion, reaching a record height in a sign the crypto market may be poised for further growth, according to CryptoQuant. Stablecoins are digital tokens whose value is tied another asset, typically the U.S. dollar, to provide, as the name suggests, a stable price. They are used by … Read more
VIRTUAL, the native token of the AI agent generator platform Virtuals Protocol, climbed during European trading hours after Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said it would list the coin. The price surged 28% to $2.61, almost testing the downtrend line that characterizes the sell-off from the Jan. 2 record high of around $5.25, data … Read more
Elon Musk’s dad is promoting a memecoin that capitalizes on the family name to raise upto $200 million for various engineering projects, despite the father-son duo apparently being estranged. Errol Musk, alongside business partner Nathan Browne, will officially back the “MUSK IT” token with the ambitious goal of establishing the Musk Institute, a new for-profit … Read more
Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said Friday the central bank must maintain an accommodative monetary policy to support economic growth and ensure the underlying inflation gradually moves to the 2% target. Ueda told the Parliament that the recent increase in the consumer price index above the 2% target has been led by cost-push … Read more
The parents of prisoned crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried are reportedly exploring how to secure a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump for their son, according to a Bloomberg report. Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both professors at Stanford Law School and part of FTX’s inner circle, are reportedly engaging with individuals connected to Trump’s inner … Read more
So close yet so far – that’s the story for bitcoin (BTC) this Friday morning, as its price rally has stalled just shy of record highs amidst a continued rally in gold (XAU), a traditional risk asset, and crypto tokens associated with it. BTC, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, changed hands near $104,400 at … Read more
Crypto fund behemoth Grayscale Investments has filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its XRP Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which will listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The existing product operates as a Delaware statutory trust, managing over $16 million XRP as of Friday. The proposed … Read more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved another joint bitcoin and ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) Thursday, letting investors gain exposure to the two digital assets in one regulated financial product. The SEC announced it had granted accelerated approval to Bitwise’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, just over a month after approving similar products filed by Hashdex … Read more
Coinbase Derivatives, a subsidiary of the crypto exchange, has filed documents with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list Solana (SOL) and Hedera (HBAR) futures. The exchange plans to launch the product on Feb 18., with new contracts being cash-settled on a monthly basis, according to the filing. The contract size for the Solana … Read more
San Salvador — Tether, the crypto company behind the largest stablecoin, is introducing its $140 billion USDT token to Bitcoin — the blockchain that underpins the largest and oldest cryptocurrency — and Bitcoin-based scaling service Lightning Network, the company posted on X on Thursday. Stablecoins are a $200 billion digital asset class with their prices … Read more
Memecoin generator Pump.fun was hit with another proposed class action lawsuit on Thursday, accusing the company and its executives of raking in nearly $500 million in fees while violating U.S. securities laws. The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), hinges on the crypto industry’s biggest lingering question — when is a token … Read more
Last week, through Executive Order, President Trump took a significant step toward reshaping the future of digital assets by establishing a Crypto Council led by investor and entrepreneur David Sacks. This Executive Order, coupled with the recent reversal of SAB 121 – an ill-conceived policy that made it prohibitively difficult for banks to custody crypto … Read more
Could Bitcoin (BTC) soon find its way on to the balance sheet of a European central bank? That possibility took at least a small step forward on Thursday after the board of the Czech National Bank (CNB) approved a proposal to consider investing reserves in other assets. Put forth by the central bank Governor Aleš … Read more
The telecommunications industry stands at a critical juncture. As global data consumption skyrockets, traditional telecom operators face a perfect storm of challenges: stagnant subscriber growth, costly infrastructure maintenance and an insatiable demand for bandwidth. This capacity crunch is not just a problem for carriers; it’s a looming crisis for consumers who increasingly rely on seamless … Read more
In today’s issue, Miguel Kudry from L1 Advisors breaks down direct ownership of cryptocurrency vs. exchange-traded and wrapped funds and how they are expected to evolve through 2025. Then, Crews Enochs from Index Coop answers questions on the topic in Ask and Expert. – Sarah Morton You’re reading Crypto for Advisors, CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that … Read more
This week, in a Washington Post op-ed, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev called for a new approach to capital markets in the United States. He suggested a number of policies – modernizing accredited investor standards is an old favorite among finance wonks – but one stood out. “[T]here needs to exist a security token registration regime, … Read more
Kraken, one of the longest-standing crypto exchanges, has reinstated blockchain staking products for many of its American customers, another sign that the previously sclerotic environment for crypto assets in the U.S. is rapidly thawing. Customers across 39 eligible states will be able to use Kraken Pro to take part in bonded staking, where tokens are … 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 3829.35, up 1.8% (+68.29) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Twenty of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: LTC (+16.7%) and DOT (+4.8%). Laggards: XRP (+0.1%) and XLM (+0.5%). … Read more