Wednesday, Dec. 18, will go down in history as a day of market panic triggered by the 25 basis point Fed rate cut and Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish outlook. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly tumbled below $100,000; U.S. equities dropped around 3%, while the dollar index (DXY) index soared to a two-year high of 108, which continues … Read more
The year 2024 has marked a significant breakthrough for digital assets, particularly for bitcoin (BTC), driven by increased institutional adoption. This shift has occurred through two key avenues: first, the integration of bitcoin into public balance sheets as a treasury asset, and second, the success of U.S. spot-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have amassed over … Read more
A bitcoin (BTC) slump spiraled into over $700 million worth of liquidations across futures tracking major tokens, with XRP and dogecoin (DOGE) products recording unusually high losses. BTC fell under $100,000 in late U.S. hours before slightly recovering during early Asian hours Thursday, as the Federal Reserve hinted at a few rate cuts in 2025. … Read more
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