This week saw the Second Circuit Court of Appeals hear arguments in Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal of his criminal conviction. The three-judge panel appeared very skeptical of his attorney’s arguments. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. The narrative … Read more
Bitcoin BTC$101,963.73 remains only marginally positive year-to-date, suggesting 2025 has been a period of consolidation as the asset stabilizes around the $100,000 level. Much of the recent price weakness appears linked to previously dormant coins re-entering circulation, per onchain data. Large holders, commonly known as whales, have been the primary distributors, driving the current downward … Read more
Faruk Fatih Özer was found dead in his prison cell on Nov. 1. The former CEO of now-defunct crypto exchange Thodex was serving an 11,000-year sentence for running one of the largest crypto scams in history. His death marks the latest turn in the Thodex saga, with ripple effects so significant they altered Turkish cryptocurrency … Read more
Pakistan is considering launching a rupee-backed stablecoin, as experts warn that delays in regulating digital assets could cost the country up to $25 billion in lost economic opportunities. Speaking at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Conference on Friday, Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) President Zafar Masud said the nation could unlock $20–$25 billion in crypto-related … Read more
Opinion by: Saad Naja, Founder and CEO at PiP World While the world debates whether AI is the next dot-com bubble, chasing valuations rather than implications, they’re missing the underlying innovation story. The same AI infrastructure fueling trillion-dollar bets is already rewriting how money moves. AI is no longer an investment theme. It’s the market … Read more
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has revealed that Zcash (ZEC) is now the second-largest holding in his family office Maelstrom, trailing only Bitcoin (BTC). “Due to the rapid ascent in price, ZEC is now the 2nd largest *LIQUID* holding in MaelstromFund portfolio behind BTC,” he wrote in a Friday post on X. The disclosure comes amid … Read more
Polymarket, one of the largest blockchain-based prediction markets, may have had its trading activity significantly inflated by a practice known as wash trading, according to new research from Columbia University. In a paper published Thursday analyzing more than two years of onchain data, the researchers estimate that nearly 25% of the platform’s historical volume involved … Read more
JPMorgan’s brokerage clientele lifted their bets on bitcoin BTC$102,516.05 in the third quarter, with the bank — in a regulatory filing Friday — disclosing ownership of 5.284 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) as of Sept. 30. Those shares were worth $343 million as of the end of the quarter. The bank held … Read more
SUI surged 7.33% to $2.08 over the past 24 hours, breaking through a key resistance level while most of the crypto market traded flat or slipped. The move put the token nearly 7% ahead of the CoinDesk 5 benchmark index, marking a strong divergence that points to token-specific demand. Despite the price jump, SUI’s trading … Read more
A very rough week in crypto markets appears on track to conclude on a slightly positive tone. About an hour ahead of the close of U.S. stock market trade Friday, the price of bitcoin BTC$102,485.23 has managed to climb back above $103,000 — up about 2% over the past 24 hours — after falling back … Read more