Terra/Luna creator Do Kwon pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to commit fraud and one charge of wire fraud on Tuesday, following an earlier not guilty plea and a very lengthy extradition process. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up … Read more
Every day, there seems to be a new blockchain for stablecoins. Or at least that’s how it felt this week, when USDC (USDC) issuer Circle announced Arc, its own settlement network, shortly after payments giant Stripe accidentally revealed Tempo, built in collaboration with Paradigm. They were the latest in a growing list. Startups Plasma and … Read more
Jason Zhao, co-founder of intellectual property blockchain project Story Protocol, is stepping away from his full-time role after more than three years of building the platform. Zhao announced via a social media post that he will remain as a strategic adviser while turning his focus to a new AI initiative, Poseidon, which applies artificial intelligence … Read more
The crypto market grew 13% in value in July, fueled by a rotation from bitcoin (BTC) into altcoins, according to Binance Research’s “Monthly Market Insights” report for August. Ether (ETH) was the standout, rallying 48% as another 24 companies added the asset to their balance sheets, lifting corporate holdings by 128% to 2.7 million ETH. … Read more
Crypto exchange Gemini filed an updated registration statement for its initial public offering effort, sharing a few more details in its push to become a publicly traded firm. Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Cantor acting as lead bookrunners on the IPO, Gemini said in a press release Friday. Evercore ISI, Mizuho, … Read more
Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, said earlier this week the current backdrop represents the “best investment environment ever,” citing unusually favorable dynamics in both equity and bond markets. Speaking on CNBC, Rieder described “extraordinary” technical conditions in equities, with trillions of dollars still parked in money market funds and robust … Read more
Bitcoin Standard Treasury Co. (BSTR), a bitcoin (BTC) treasury vehicle led by cryptography pioneer Adam Back, sees itself as a company with a mission to accelerate real-world bitcoin adoption. But it might be setting out on another milestone: becoming one of the biggest corporate bitcoin holders. The company, which is preparing to go public on … Read more
Wellgistics Health Inc. is deploying an XRP Ledger-based payment system for thousands of pharmacies across the United States, deepening its bet on blockchain as it looks to overhaul healthcare finance. The Nasdaq-listed distributor (WGRX) has announced that its new platform enables independent pharmacies to pay for drug inventory and move funds instantly, bypassing banking delays … Read more
The Federal Reserve continued its relaxation of crypto oversight on Friday with a move to shut down a two-year-old supervisory program intended to keep a special eye on banks’ crypto ties, instead folding that task back to its day-to-day oversight work. The central bank established its short-lived Novel Activities Supervision Program during the tenure of … Read more
Digital asset treasury (DAT) firms, seen as high-beta plays on crypto prices, sold off sharply on Friday as the August crypto rally showed signs of exhaustion. Strategy (MSTR) fell another 3% on Friday, extending its decline to 20% since July’s high and 33% from the November 2024 all-time high. The MSTR/IBIT ratio dropped to 5.43, … Read more
Stellar lumens (XLM) traded in a tight range over the past 24 hours, holding between $0.42 and $0.43 from Aug. 14 at 15:00 UTC through Aug. 15 at 14:00 UTC. The token saw measured gains before late-session profit-taking pushed prices 1% lower to $0.43 in the final hour of trade. CoinDesk Data’s technical analysis model … Read more
Czech police have detained convicted drug trafficker Tomáš Jiřikovský, the man behind a multi-billion-dollar bitcoin donation to the country’s Ministry of Justice, escalating a scandal that has already claimed a cabinet minister. The Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday that the National Centre for the Fight Against Organised Crime (NCOZ) intervened in the case, securing … Read more
HBAR posted sharp price swings over the 24 hours between Aug. 14 at 15:00 and Aug. 15 at 14:00, moving within a $0.015 range, a 6% gap between the day’s high of $0.259 and low of $0.244. The token faced heavy selling pressure early in the session, bottoming at $0.244 around 21:00 on Aug. 14 … Read more
Ether’s (ETH) recent rally to $4,780 has delivered a wealth of profits to several high-profile hackers, who have capitalized on the surge by offloading their ill-gotten gains. In three separate case, on-chain data, revealed by X account EmberCN, shows hackers strategically liquidated their ETH holdings for tens of millions in profit. The Radiant Capital exploiter, … Read more
Galaxy, the Nasdaq-listed digital asset investment firm, said on Friday it has secured $1.4 billion in funding to expand its Helios data center in West Texas, part of the firm’s push to boost computing capacity for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). The debt facility, which covers 80% of construction costs, runs for 36 … Read more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at custody rules for digital assets, including how broker-dealers, asset managers and investment advisers can deal with cryptocurrency transactions, its head said Friday. SEC Chair Paul Atkins, speaking about his recently announced Project Crypto on Fox Business’ “Mornings With Maria” program, said the agency was “mobilizing at … 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 4261.62, up 1.0% (+40.35) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Twelve of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: AVAX (+3.4%) and ADA (+3.4%). Laggards: ICP (-1.0%) and LINK (-0.7%). … Read more
Solana-based meme coin BONK weathered a volatile 24 hours, as significant institutional activity defined both the highs and lows of the trading range. The token reached $0.000026 and quickly encountered resistance at that level, with 4.02 trillion tokens changing hands during a midday rejection that set a clear technical ceiling for the short term, according … Read more
Hyperbeat, a protocol powering yield infrastructure on the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange, has closed a $5.2 million oversubscribed seed round co-led by ether.fi Ventures and Electric Capital. The raise will be used to build out their yield infrastructure for traders, protocols, and institutions that are tapped into the Hyperliquid ecosystem. The round also drew investments from … Read more
By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Bitcoin’s (BTC) flirt with a record high $124,000 on Thursday was followed by a drop that led to it closing last weekend’s CME gap at $117,600 after hotter-than-expected PPI inflation data and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s apparent flip-flop on bitcoin purchases for a strategic reserve. … Read more
Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this article owns shares in Strategy. Bitcoin’s risk-adjusted performance continues to stand out, with a Sharpe ratio of 2.15, the highest among major assets. This means that, relative to its volatility, bitcoin has delivered exceptional returns over the historical period. Strategy (MSTR), which maintains significant bitcoin exposure through corporate holdings, … Read more
Circle (CRCL) plans to offer 10 million shares in a secondary stock sale priced at $130 per share, more than four times to price of its initial public offering in June. The stablecoin issuer behind the USDC token is itself offering 2 million shares of Class A common stock, it said in a Tuesday filing … Read more
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog rolled out new custody requirements for licensed crypto exchanges, reinforcing its pledge to protect client assets as the city advances its bid to become Asia’s digital asset hub. In a circular issued Friday, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) set minimum standards for licensed virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) covering senior … Read more
Altcoin season may be weeks away, according to Coinbase Institutional’s latest monthly outlook, which forecasts a shift in market leadership from bitcoin to alternative cryptocurrencies beginning in September. Altcoin season refers to a market phase when cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin — often led by Ethereum’s ETH, Solana’s SOL, and other large-cap tokens — post significantly … Read more
Crypto markets saw over $1 billion in leveraged positions wiped out in the past 24 hours after hotter-than-expected U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data fueled fears of persistent inflation and delayed Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations. The sell-off came hours after bitcoin hit a fresh all-time high above $123,500, with traders unwinding risk across the board. … Read more
XRP fell sharply in the last 24 hours as large-scale liquidations swept through the market, pushing the token to its lowest levels in over a week before signs of stabilization emerged. The move saw over $1 billion in market-wide liquidations and record intraday selling volume, testing critical institutional support near $3.05. Despite the drop, late-session … Read more
Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets: Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas. As Hong Kong begins its trading day, ETH is changing hands … Read more
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent began Thursday by dashing the hopes of at least some bitcoiners, saying the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would be made up of the $15 billion to $20 billion already held by the government, but that there was no intention of making any fresh purchases. He ended the day, however, by seemingly contradicting … Read more
Wall Street bankers are hammering away at some provisions of the new U.S. stablecoin law that was hailed by President Donald Trump and the crypto sector as a huge first step toward establishing a fully regulated U.S. industry, and the banks are joined by unusual bedfellows from the consumer-advocate world in sounding alarms. Hoping to … Read more
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday sanctioned a network of companies, exchanges and executives linked to shuttered Russian crypto exchange Garantex and the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5, accusing them of helping Moscow skirt international sanctions. Garantex, founded in 2019 and once licensed in Estonia, processed more than $100 million in transactions … Read more