Kraken, one of the longest-standing crypto exchanges, has reinstated blockchain staking products for many of its American customers, another sign that the previously sclerotic environment for crypto assets in the U.S. is rapidly thawing. Customers across 39 eligible states will be able to use Kraken Pro to take part in bonded staking, where tokens are … Read more
Elastos, a project looking to turn Bitcoin into a more fruitful base for decentralized finance (DeFi), has raised $20 million towards that goal. Elastos, a decentralized infrastructure provider, aims to scale its Bitcoin DeFi protocol BeL2 as a utility layer for the world’s original blockchain. The firm has raised $20 million from private investment company … 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 3829.35, up 1.8% (+68.29) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Twenty of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: LTC (+16.7%) and DOT (+4.8%). Laggards: XRP (+0.1%) and XLM (+0.5%). … Read more
Apollo, an investment firm with over $730 billion in assets under management, is offering investors a new tokenized private credit fund with the help of security token specialist Securitize. Accessed via the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund (ACRED) feeder fund, the token is the first public on-chain offering for accredited investors of Apollo and also … Read more
Staunch crypto skeptic and disgraced former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday on charges of bribery and acting as an agent for Egypt, the Associated Press reported. Menendez was a Democrat from New Jersey and famous for taking shots at crypto. He once called bitcoin (BTC) an “ideal … Read more
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has amassed $356.7 million in indirect bitcoin (BTC) exposure, according to K33 Research. At the end of 2024, the fund indirectly held 3,821 BTC, reflecting a 153% year-over-year increase from 1,507 BTC, according to K33. The data highlight the fund’s evolving indirect bitcoin … Read more
Bitcoin traded around the $105,000 level in European morning hours Thursday as the year’s first U.S. FOMC meeting concluded with keeping rates steady, bumping sentiment across stock equities and crypto markets. Jerome Powell-led FOMC maintained the policy rate steady at 4.25-4.50 per cent in the first decision of Trump’s presidency after reducing the rates for … Read more
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) The crypto market is trading positively with the Fed risk event out of the way, focusing on positives such as the crypto-friendly president in the White House, the renewed upswing in Tether’s market, and the bullish Chinese New Year effect. Among cryptocurrencies with $5 billion-plus market … Read more
Institution-focused digital asset technology and trading firm BlockFills is collaborating with CoinDesk Indices to launch options tied to the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20). The CoinDesk 20 Index, which debuted a year ago, measures the performance of leading digital assets, catering to institutional demand for diverse tradable products beyond bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH). The availability … Read more
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group announced it will introduce options on Bitcoin Friday Futures (BFF) starting on Feb. 24, pending regulatory approval. According to the press release, BFF was CME Group’s most successful cryptocurrency launch. More than 775,000 contracts traded since launch on Sept. 29. The average daily volume was 9,700 contracts and 44% of contracts … Read more