Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for fraud, has renewed public praise of U.S. President Donald Trump, adding to speculation that he hopes to secure a pardon. In a recent post on X, written through a proxy using prison-approved communications, Bankman-Fried backed Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran. […]
A political action committee with ties to major tech and crypto donors is raising the specter of disgraced ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to target New York congressional candidate Alex Bores as the state legislator faces a crowded Democratic field. A sharply worded mailer distributed by Think Big PAC told voters that the Democratic primary candidate […]
By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Bitcoin BTC$70,633.76 has stabilized above $70,000. Its relative strength is noteworthy given the selloff over the week, which saw it drop from over $75,000. Most assets saw sharp downturns over the period as the conflict in Iran escalated, damaging vital energy infrastructure. A hotter-than-expected February U.S. […]
The negotiation to get a crypto market structure bill through its next stages in the Senate have hovered over an almost-there status for weeks, and Republican lawmakers met on Thursday to figure out how to bridge the final gaps. The White House was expected to get some updated legislative language on Thursday, reflecting the ongoing […]
Bitcoin’s BTC$69,925.80 biggest limitation just got shattered. A new protocol went live Thursday, making it simple to put the largest cryptocurrency directly to work in powerful, yield-generating strategies within the booming world of decentralized finance (DeFi). OpNet, a new smart-contract protocol, was activated on the Bitcoin blockchain, marking the arrival of DeFi-powering smart contracts that […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved on Wednesday Nasdaq’s proposal to allow certain securities to trade in tokenized form, a significant milestone to integrate blockchain tech into U.S. equity markets. Nasdaq’s tokenization plan ties into a pilot run by the Depository Trust Company (DTC), which will handle clearing and settlement of tokenized trades. […]
A U.K. parliamentary committee urged the government to impose “an immediate moratorium on crypto donations” until Parliament approves Electoral Commission statutory guidance. In a report, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said crypto poses an avoidable risk to political finance and public trust. The committee said rules should be ready before the next […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate’s stalled crypto market structure bill is making progress behind-the-scenes, the chairman of the body’s Banking Committee said Tuesday. Senator Tim Scott, who heads the banking panel overseeing the market structure bill, said at the Digital Chamber’s DC Blockchain Summit that lawmakers may see a new draft of at least stablecoin […]
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) While bitcoin’s BTC$74,158.35 price rise since the Iran conflict began more than two weeks ago is impressive, the performance of Hyperliquid is even more notable. Users of the decentralized perpetuals exchange have traded millions in commodity futures, particularly those tied to oil, highlighting the utility of […]
Artificial intelligence-linked cryptocurrencies extended their surge Monday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang laid out the company’s vision for the next phase of AI infrastructure during his keynote at Nvidia’s GTC developer conference. Among the big movers were AI-focused blockchain NEAR$1.5034, climbing more than 10% over the past 24 hours, reaching its strongest level since late […]
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Even as bitcoin BTC$73,470.16 rallies, non-serious tokens such as memecoins are emerging as the biggest winners. Among the majors, bitcoin jumped more than 2% in 24 hours, and at one point early Monday briefly topped $74,300 for the first time since early February. Other tokens including […]
Though we’re still waiting on a lot of the formal rulemaking and proposed rulemaking from the federal securities and commodities regulators, last week’s memo is another sign that the SEC and CFTC are at least serious about signalling these efforts are coming. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of […]