Crypto traders initial worries about a hawkish Fed materialized Wednesday as Chairman Jerome Powell cut interest rates but expressed uncertainty about the speed and extent of future easing. And now the sentiment has deteriorated. Bitcoin’s seven-day call-put skew shows that Deribit-listed put options offering downside protection and expiring in one week are trading at the … Read more
When Michael Saylor announced MicroStrategy’s conversion of $250 million in Treasury reserves to bitcoin in August 2020, Wall Street analysts dismissed it as a reckless gamble. “Superior to cash,” Saylor declared of bitcoin at the time, drawing skepticism from traditional banking circles. Yet today, those same banks that sneered at bitcoin’s corporate adoption are now … Read more
As 2024 draws to a close, cryptocurrency stands at a turning point. Bitcoin has crossed the $100,000 mark and digital assets have solidified their place in investment portfolios of all sizes. Yet, amid these milestones, a critical, yet overlooked issue remains: the estate planning challenges unique to cryptocurrency and other digital assets. A Looming Crisis: … Read more
BOB, the “hybrid layer-2” network seeking to make Bitcoin the center of the decentralized finance (DeFi) universe, has taken a step toward that goal by integrating with BTC restaking protocol Babylon. An abbreviation of “Build on Bitcoin,” BOB’s aim is to establish Bitcoin as the foundational network for DeFi by creating bridges between itself and … Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The crypto industry got a promise for action Tuesday from the Republican U.S. lawmakers who will have the authority to move digital assets legislation, with key members of the Senate and House of Representatives saying the sector will finally get what it’s awaited for years. The incoming Republican chair of the U.S. … Read more
The U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark fed funds rate by 25 basis points to the 4.25%- 4.50% range, its third consecutive easing move this year and now marking a total of 100 basis points of rate cuts since September. Market participants had fully expected Wednesday’s move by the central bank, but recent data had … Read more
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk’s deputy editor-in-chief for features, opinion and standards. In this issue: Solana was the biggest draw for new crypto developers in 2024 No wonder: Solana’s transaction volume is off the charts Coinbase alums take next step … Read more
Banking giant Deutsche Bank is building out a layer-2 rollup network on Ethereum with Matter Labs’ ZKsync technology. Bloomberg reported the project Wednesday, and a representative for Matter Labs confirmed the story. The chain will be “a public and permissioned L2,” Omar Azhar, the head of business development at Matter Labs, told CoinDesk over Telegram. … Read more
Wall Street’s rate cut outlook is overly pessimistic. This week brings an important update for investors everywhere. The Federal Reserve will update its interest rate policy on Wednesday Dec. 18. The consensus expectation is for a 25 basis point cut, lowering the effective rate to 4.4% from the current level of 4.7%. The more important … Read more
Plume, a blockchain network focused on real-world assets, raked in $20 million in fresh funds in a Series A fundraising round, the platform told CoinDesk on Wednesday. Investors participating in the round included Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures, Galaxy Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Superscrypt, Hashkey, Nomura’s crypto arm Laser Digital, A Capital, 280 Capital, SV Angel, … Read more