Payments remain the big unsolved use case of the internet. When we buy something online, we generally use a traditional payment method, like a credit card, which isn’t “native” to the experience. Your ability to transact with a merchant is verified by a third-party (like a bank), which raises costs and adds a lot of … Read more
Binance Labs, the former investment arm of exchange giant Binance, gets a major overhaul under a new name, YZi Labs, with former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao being closely involved in the operations, the firm announced on Thursday. The rebrand means that the investment firm turns from being the exchange’s venture capital arm into the … Read more
As technology evolves, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must evolve with it. Nowhere is this truer than in crypto, and now: The market for crypto assets has grown in size and sophistication such that the SEC’s recent harmful approach of enforcement and abdication of regulation needs urgent updating. While the long-term future of … Read more
Agora, a blockchain governance startup, is set to acquire its competitor Boardroom. The company framed the acquisition as a strategic move to enhance governance within the broader Ethereum ecosystem, citing expectations of renewed growth in decentralized governance due to President Trump’s promise of regulatory clarity for the blockchain industry. “2025 is the year we make … Read more
Bitcoin continues to trade at record levels. According to checkonchain data, Wednesday’s $130 billion bitcoin (BTC) volume was one of the highest in its history. Trade volume has soared since President Trump won the U.S. election at the start of November, doubling from a daily average of $65 billion. The futures market (the total traded … Read more
The crypto industry is desperate to see crypto action from U.S. President Donald Trump, now a few days into his new presidency, but there hasn’t yet been a confirmation from the White House that an executive order is pending. It’s not entirely off of Trump’s radar, though, because he did mention the crypto industry in … Read more
The builders of Solana-based crypto derivatives exchange Ranger Protocol are jumping on the AI train, too, after raising $1.9 million from venture investors. Ranger’s eponymous trading venue pools crypto perps (the most popular investment contract in DeFi for trading tokens like SOL) from multiple protocols to secure good deals for traders. Since launching in late … Read more
Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $106,000 on Thursday morning in the U.S. on reports that U.S. President Donald Trump will talk later today with Nayib Bukele, president of bitcoin-friendly nation state El Salvador. Bitcoin advanced more than 3% to session highs in the minutes after the report, erasing early morning losses. It was up 2.2% over … Read more
Morgan Stanley (MS) is figuring out how it can act as a transactor in the crypto market, CEO Ted Pick said. The bank, which has some $1.6 trillion of assets under management, will work with the U.S. Treasury and other regulators to figure out how it can offer crypto in a safe way, Pick said … Read more
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has officially set its roster for the new digital assets committee, putting Senator Cynthia Lummis at the top, as expected. But it also includes two names that received heavy backing from the crypto political action committee Fairshake in the 2024 elections. New Senator Bernie Moreno, the Ohio blockchain entrepreneur who … Read more
Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has won approval from the Singapore High Court to restructure after the $230 million hack last year. The High Court has allowed WazirX to convene a scheme meeting with users in a “significant step” towards distributing funds lost in the attack and reviving the platform’s operations, the exchange announced via email … Read more
In today’s issue, Alec Beckman from Advantage Blockchain explains stablecoins and their growing use cases for institutions and advisors. Then, CK Zheng from ZX Squared Capital shares tips on preparing for tax season in Ask and Expert. – Sarah Morton You’re reading Crypto for Advisors, CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that unpacks digital assets for financial advisors. … Read more
With payment firm Stripe’s recent $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge.xyz sending shockwaves through the crypto payments sphere, attention is turning to the next generation of stablecoin payment infrastructure providers. Among them is BlindPay, a 2024 Consensus hackathon winner and Y Combinator 2025 (W25) batch company that’s taking a distinct approach to the challenge … Read more
Circle, the issuer of the $48 billion USDC stablecoin, introduced Paymaster, a product allowing users to pay for transaction fees on Arbitrum and Base using the second-biggest stablecoin instead of ether (ETH), the second-biggest cryptocurrency. Blockchain transactions require users to pay transaction fees that are used to compensate validators for processing and securing these transactions. … 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 3809.52, down 4.3% (-172.06) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. One of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: ETC (+2.1%) and ETH (-1.4%). Laggards: SOL (-8.8%) and AVAX (-5.7%). … Read more
Animecoin, the governance token tied to non-fungible token (NFT) project Azuki, has debuted at a fully diluted value (FDV) of $1.2 billion with tokens trading at $0.12 on HyperLiquid. The total supply of the token is set at 10 billion, and holders of the Azuki NFT can claim the airdrop. Users reported that the official … Read more
Payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP’s short-term outlook appears grim as traditional financial giants do not seem interested in looking beyond BTC and ETH, while price action indicates signs of rally fatigue. On Wednesday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) denied its plans to list futures tied to XRP and Solana’s SOL token. This swift denial likely indicates that … Read more
World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance (DeFi) project linked to President Donald Trump, plans to buy more of Tron’s TRX token just days after a $2.6 million purchase, according to a person familiar with its plans. The project will buy an additional $2.65 million of TRX this week, the person said on Thursday, the same … Read more
Liquid restaking protocol Puffer Finance has announced details of its airdrop campaign, which will see users accrue the newly-launched CARROT token that can be converted to PUFFER at the conclusion of season 2 later this year. Users will accumulate CARROT through activities like staking, governance voting and liquidity provision. The protocol currently has $264 million … Read more
Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Phemex has said that it is “looking into” reports of a hack after one of its hot wallets was drained for $29 million worth of crypto tokens. Crypto security firm Cyvers reported “multiple suspicious transactions” from the Phemex hot wallet across multiple blockchains. The funds were swapped for ether (ETH). “As we … Read more
The outlook for bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, is positive, and its price is expected to remain elevated in 2025, German lender Deutsche Bank (DB) said in a report Wednesday. A more favorable regulatory and political backdrop in the U.S., growing institutional adoption, and looser Federal Reserve monetary policy, are all expected to support … Read more
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Bitcoin and most major cryptocurrencies are weaker after Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a proxy for institutional activity, denied reports of listing futures tied to XRP and SOL. Traditional markets are also holding their breath for the expected Bank of Japan interest-rate increase on Friday. Despite BTC’s continued … Read more
Ethereum layer-2 protocols are processing transactions faster than ever, with Coinbase’s BASE at the forefront of this progress. According to data from growthepie.xyz, the cumulative transaction throughput for layer 2s has skyrocketed to 29.64 million gas units per second (Mgas/s), the highest pace ever recorded. BASE leads the way, accounting for 67% of the total. … Read more
Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is likely to hit record highs on more than 70 days this year, more than triple last year’s number, if the price continues to mirror 2017’s performance. It’s already on the way, hitting $109,000 on Jan. 20, the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. In 2024, it … Read more
Volatility traders looking to capitalize on significant price swings may soon find opportunities. A key indicator suggests that bitcoin (BTC), currently above $100,000, resembles a coiled spring poised to release energy in either direction. The indicator is the rolling 60-day price range, representing the variation in maximum and minimum price ticks in percentage terms. A … Read more
Bitwise has officially submitted a registration filing for a dogecoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as memecoin demand grows within the market. A “Bitwise Dogecoin ETF” was submitted late Wednesday and appeared on the Department of State’s Division of Corporations in the U.S. state of Delaware. Such filings may often be a spoof, but Bitwise confirmed the … Read more
An earlier leak on the website of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) showing regulated XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) futures could start trading on Feb. 10 pending regulatory approval was an “error,” a representative of the company told CoinDesk. “A beta page from our website was released in error earlier today,” the spokesperson said. “Many mock-ups … Read more
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Caroline Pham, the Republican commissioner who just took over the agency as President Donald Trump returned to the White House, ushered out many of the agency’s top officials under predecessor Rostin Behnam, the Democrat who’d been appointed by Joe Biden. The staff changes — with each departure replaced by … Read more
Dear CoinDesk Community, Starting today, some readers will be asked to register for a free account to continue accessing our content. This change is part of a pilot program to help us better understand the needs of our audience and ensure that we are delivering content that is relevant and tailored to your interests. Registration … Read more
The release of Ross Ulbricht and the lifting of sanctions on Tornado Cash mark pivotal moments for the crypto community. It’s more than symbolic. It’s an opportunity to clearly rebrand the U.S. as a safe place to build the internet of money. Ross’ freedom comes after over a decade of imprisonment — a journey defined … Read more