CoinDesk

Crypto’s chief political action committee has put money on its picks for the Florida congressional seats vacated by one of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest allies, Matt Gaetz, and the politician Trump tapped as a national security advisor, Michael Waltz. With an extremely tight majority in the House of Representatives, the replacement of the two Florida … Read more

As federal agencies prepare for new executive leadership, an obscure ethics rule threatens to hamstring the incoming Trump administration’s ability to develop sound digital asset policy. Legal Advisory 22-04, issued by the Office of Government Ethics in 2022, has flown largely under the radar as part of the Biden administration’s restrictive approach to crypto. Yet its … Read more

Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Soichoro “Michael” Moro, the former CEO of its now-defunct Genesis subsidiary, have agreed to pay a combined $38.5 million in civil penalties to settle securities fraud charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The crypto venture capital firm will bear the brunt of the financial penalty, paying $30 … Read more

Bitcoin (BTC) hit its strongest price in U.S. dollar terms in 2025 on Friday and notched a new record against the British pound as excitement for a new era of crypto-friendly U.S. government mounts ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration next week. BTC topped $105,000 during the U.S. session, surging 5.2% over the past 24 hours … Read more

Ethereum’s developers have finally delivered a timeline for the chain’s next big upgrade, Pectra, which promises to introduce an array of speed and efficiency improvements to the second-largest blockchain. At a developer meeting held virtually on Thursday, Ethereum’s core team set the upgrade’s target release date for March 2025. Pectra combines together eight major upgrades, … Read more

CoinDesk’s coverage kicked into high gear this week as crypto readied for a new presidency and a new regulatorily-friendly era. Some highlights:Senior analyst James Van Straten reported on a wave of companies buying bitcoin for their balance sheets, following a model pioneered by MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor. Markets reporter Krisztian Sandor followed the rise of Solana’s … Read more

Crypto exchange Crypto.com has received in-principle approval for a European Union (EU) Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license from Malta’s Financial Services Authority, edging it closer to be able to operate fully across the trading bloc. The in-principle license means that the exchange is expected to receive its full CASP license soon, a Crypto.com spokesperson … 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 3949.35, up 1.1% (+41.73) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Sixteen of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: NEAR (+6.3%) and LTC (+5.9%). Laggards: XLM (-3.4%) and HBAR (-3.3%). … Read more

Crypto will become more deeply integrated into traditional finance (TradFi) through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and corporate holdings this year, according to crypto-trading firm Wintermute. In addition, a large corporate event such as an acquisition or merger will be settled in stablecoins, the market maker and liquidity provider said in an annual review and outlook. Among … Read more

Crypto venture capital (VC) activity remains below the levels seen in previous bull markets despite the recent rally in digital assets, Galaxy Digital (GLXY) said in research report on Wednesday. Total capital allocated to VC funds in 2024 was $11.5 billion, less than in 2023. Galaxy noted that VC activity was highly correlated to crypto … Read more

Boerse Stuttgart Digital, a unit of stock exchange operator Boerse Stuttgart, said it was granted a crypto asset service provider (CASP) license by the German regulator BaFin allowing it to provide services across the European Union under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations. The company operates a brokerage and an exchange and intends … Read more

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) The crypto world is buzzing as President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration nears. Bitcoin is holding above $100,000 and altcoins like SOL, ADA, LINK, XRP and LTC are shining as it’s not just about a potential strategic bitcoin reserve anymore. Reports suggest Trump could announce crypto as a … Read more

Publicly traded U.S. crypto mining companies doubled their bitcoin (BTC) holdings last year, taking the total to 92,473 valued at $8.6 billion as of end-December while the price of the largest cryptocurrency rose 120%, according to data from TheMiningMag. The biggest amount, almost half of the total, is held by MARA Holdings (MARA) with 44,893 … Read more

XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value, has replaced bitcoin (BTC) as the most-traded digital asset on Coinbase (COIN), the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange that’s seen as a proxy for U.S. demand. Bitcoin retained its position as most-traded crypto asset on Binance, the largest exchange by volume, which is off-limits to U.S. investors. Volume trends are … Read more

Stars cannot align more positively for crypto in the U.S., the world’s largest economy, if the latest media reports are anything to go by. Still, one key indicator shows a lack of excitement among U.S. investors. Late Thursday, Bloomberg reported that President-elect Donald Trump will likely issue an executive order announcing crypto as a national imperative … Read more

A fellow at crypto think tank Coin Center filed suit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, seeking a judge’s guarantee that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will not be able to prosecute his forthcoming crypto project for violating money transmitting laws in the future. The lawsuit, filled by blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen, claims … Read more

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s top lawyer, General Counsel Megan Barbero, will step away next week, joining the exodus of top agency officials who had been responsible for the SEC’s legal battles with the crypto industry in recent years. “Her measured advice and judgment have been critical to the decision making of the Commission,” … Read more

Republican U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis took aim at two federal agencies on behalf of the crypto industry this week, just days before the wide-reaching transition of the federal government when President-elect Donald Trump again takes office. Lummis warned the U.S. Marshals Office to slow down its crypto asset sales and she cautioned officials at the … Read more

While a litecoin (LTC) exchange-traded fund is still only theoretical, investor demand for the product could soar as high as $580 million if Wall Street adopts it at the same rate it did LTC’s better-known cousin bitcoin. That calculation is based on the roughly 6% of bitcoin’s total supply now locked up in a variety … Read more

Dear President-Elect Trump, In your keynote address at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville last year, you pledged to make the United States the crypto capital of the world if re-elected for a second term. As you return to the presidential office this Monday, we write to you as practicing members of the crypto law bar … Read more

U.S. senators questioning President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, didn’t spend much time on cryptocurrency issues in his nomination hearing on Thursday. But he had a chance to register strong opposition to a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) and to note that he favors a modern outlook on crypto. The billionaire … Read more

Born in 2001 in Argentina just as the country began to experience a devastating economic crisis, Amanu founder Gianluca Minoprio saw firsthand how traditional banking systems can fail their users. This experience shaped his mission to create a new type of crypto wallet, one that aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain … Read more

A strategic bitcoin reserve has been a large part of the crypto discussion ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, but does the incoming 47th president have other tokens on his mind? Solana’s SOL, Ripple’s XRP and Hedera’s HBAR are among the altcoins outperforming on Thursday, in part thanks to a NYPost report that Trump was “receptive” … Read more

In the crowded world of crypto startups, standing out often requires a dash of audacity. Enter RampMeDaddy, a name that echoes the bold branding of domain registrar GoDaddy, while promising something entirely different: seamless crypto transactions via Telegram. What began as a hackathon project at Consensus 2024 has evolved into the first Telegram-native memecoin wallet, … Read more

EToro, a stocks and crypto trading platform targeting retail investors, is looking to sell shares to the public on the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Times reported, citing a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale, which could come as early as the second quarter, could value the company at … Read more

In today’s issue, Bryan Courchesne from DAIM explains how bitcoin can be included in U.S. Individual Retirement Accounts, what to watch out for, and the importance of working with a financial advisor. Then, Eric Tomaszewski from Verde Capital Management shares tips on preparing for tax season in Ask and Expert. – Sarah Morton You’re reading … Read more

Ctrl Wallet, the multi-chain self-custody wallet solution is up for sale, the company’s CEO and founder Emile Dubie told CoinDesk in an exclusive interview. The sales process was triggered after the company received two M&A approaches late last year, Dubie said. The wallet provider, formerly known as XDEFI, received a takeover offer from a crypto … Read more

With U.S. President-elect Donald Trump only four days away from inauguration and new leadership coming to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), additional cryptocurrencies may soon join bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) and receive their own spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Of these, litecoin (LTC) is likely to be the first to receive the nod, according … 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 3878.91, up 3.6% (+133.71) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Thirteen of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: HBAR (+17.0%) and LTC (+13.0%). Laggards: ETH (-3.4%) and UNI (-1.4%). … Read more