Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Ben Schiller, CoinDesk’s Opinion and Features editor. In this issue: Movement Labs rolls out dev mainnet Cardano hard forks to decentralized governance SSV DAO unveils SSC 2.0 Musk pushes blockchain in government Network News MOVEMENT LABS ROLLS OUT … Read more
Are we witnessing the dawn of PolicyFi? In an earlier article on why memecoins matter, I argued that memecoins are ushering in a new era of civic engagement by forming speculative markets in which citizens are able to trade coins tied to government policies. I suggested that holder distributions and market caps in those markets … Read more
Cardano, the layer-1 blockchain launched in 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, activated its highly anticipated “Plomin” upgrade on Wednesday, ushering in the ecosystem’s long-awaited move towards a decentralized governance system. With the Plomin upgrade now live, ADA token holders will be able to shape Cardano’s future, including voting on treasury measures and hard forks. … Read more
Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) appeared to take advantage of a new accounting rule allowing for holdings of digital assets to be marked-to-market each quarter. The company’s fourth quarter earnings report shows its 9,720 bitcoin valued at $1.076 billion as of the end of 2024. That’s up from what had been $184 million for several quarters … Read more
Regulation by enforcement is beginning to crumble, with a court recently ruling that the SEC’s refusal to issue a crypto rule was unlawful. A new crypto-friendly administration stands ready to create crypto clarity through new appointments at the SEC and the CFTC. New acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham has proposed an uncommon approach, namely the … Read more
As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark fed funds range rate steady at 4.25%-4.50%, the first pause since the central bank began easing policy last September. The accompanying policy statement noted that the unemployment rate had stabilized at a “low level” and inflation remained “somewhat elevated.” The wording was hawkish as it … Read more
Canary Capital didn’t even exist when the spot bitcoin or even the spot ethe rexchange-traded funds launched last year. But the company quickly made a name for itself in the business. Founded only last October, Canary Capital has quickly pushed out several applications for crypto ETFs, including ones for Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), Litecoin (LTC) … Read more
Current U.S. regulations are blocking a major financial shift that could open up private-market investments to everyday investors through tokenization, CEO of digital brokerage Robinhood Vlad Tenev said. In a Wednesday opinion piece for the Washington Post, Tenev said that many high-growth companies like OpenAI, SpaceX and Stripe are increasingly avoiding going public, limiting investment … Read more
The year is 2025. It’s more than 16 years since the Bitcoin whitepaper was published and 10 years since the launch of Ethereum, and the programmable smart contract layer that came with it. With billions of dollars invested in the industry, and tens of thousands of developers contributing thousands of applications, primitives, and protocols, surely … Read more
Howard Lutnick, who is President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Commerce, is drawing scrutiny on his relationship with Tether from Senator Elizabeth Warren — the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and one of Congress’ most reliable critics of the digital asset sector. As CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street firm … Read more