During his trip to Davos for the World Economic Forum, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared that a top executive at one of the world’s 10 largest banks told him that crypto is now their “number one priority” — and that they view it as “existential.” Armstrong’s post, shared on X, highlighted a shift in how…
Agora, a startup founded by entrepreneur and VanEck heir Nick van Eck, is positioning itself for a stablecoin market that’s moving beyond crypto-native trading. While decentralized finance (DeFi) remains a key growth engine – Agora’s total value locked (TVL) grew 60% last month from DeFi launches, he said — his focus is shifting toward a…
After selling a significant portion of its crypto stash over the past months, Ethereum-focused treasury firm ETHZilla has now added jet engines to its balance sheet. A Friday filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows that the company bought two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines for $12.2 million through a newly formed subsidiary, ETHZilla…
It’s no secret that bitcoin BTC$89,129.30 is currently failing its many narratives, including the claim that it can serve as an inflation hedge or a safe-haven asset amid uncertainty. While gold has climbed more than 80% during this period of high inflation, geopolitical skirmishes, and interest rate uncertainty, bitcoin has dropped 14% year over year….
Strategy (MSTR) introduced its first non-U.S. perpetual preferred product, Stream (STRE), in November, aiming to tap demand across the European Economic Area (EEA). However, it didn’t pan out the way Michael Saylor’s firm intended. The preferred share was issued with a stated value of EUR100 ($115) per share, pays a 10% annual dividend, and sits…
There will come a time when this newsletter is not about crypto market structure legislation. But this is not that time. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. The narrative The Senate Agriculture Committee published its new draft…
After more than a decade building infrastructure for exchanges, financial institutions and central banks, R3 saw the market starting to bend in a new direction. About a year ago, the firm initiated a strategic reset, asking a simple but fundamental question: what is the best way for customers to move assets fully onchain? Todd MacDonald,…
The contrast: The investor offered a harsh reality check for altcoins, which he dismissively refers to as “PooPoo coins.” O’Leary sold 27 positions in October, arguing that sovereign wealth funds and indexers only care about Bitcoin and Ethereum. He claims these two assets capture over 97% of the market’s alpha, making other tokens “worthless” to…
A banking application connected to World Liberty Financial Inc., a crypto firm partially owned by President Donald Trump, will proceed as normal, according to the chief of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, who rejected a request from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren to focus special scrutiny on the president’s potential conflict of interest…
Stablecoins moved more than $35 trillion on blockchain rails last year, but only about 1% of that was for real-world payments, according to a new report by the consultancy firm McKinsey and the blockchain data firm Artemis Analytics. Their analysis estimated that only $380 billion of activity reflected actual payments, such as paying suppliers, sending…
