Author: Coindesk

The maturation of DeFi technology has created a paradox: while battle-tested codebases and rising technical proficiency have lowered the barrier to entry for launching new protocols, securing sustainable liquidity has never been harder. As thousands of projects built on increasingly standardized infrastructure compete for a finite pool of capital, the ecosystem faces a systemic challenge that threatens genuine innovation and growth.You’re reading Crypto Long & Short, our weekly newsletter featuring insights, news and analysis for the professional investor. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.The multi-dimensional fragmentation problemLiquidity in DeFi is fragmented across protocols, chains and…

They call him “El Presidente.” But unlike the other President, Dave Portnoy draws a line at launching a memecoin. He worries his followers will lose their shirts.“I got involved in memecoins because I wanted to launch a Barstool memecoin, but I didn’t want my fans and followers to lose money,” he said in an interview with CoinDesk. Memecoins are “legalized Ponzi schemes,” he said, “there’s no value to it, so you gotta get in and get out before it crashes.” [Note: memecoins aren’t legalized in the U.S. but they are popular.]While Portnoy hasn’t launched a Barstool branded memecoin, he has…

This is a daily technical analysis by CoinDesk analyst and Chartered Market Technician Omkar Godbole.Bitcoin (BTC) has finally surpassed a key resistance that limited recovery rallies earlier this year, after rising over 5% to $93,500 in 24 hours.The leading digital asset by market value has topped the “Ichimoku Cloud,” confirming a bullish shift in momentum, while other major cryptocurrencies lag.The Ichimoku cloud, developed by a Japanese journalist in the 1960s, is used to identify support and resistance, momentum, and trend change in price actions. The indicator comprises five lines: Leading Span A, Leading Span B, and the gap between the…

Shares of Sol Strategies (HODL), a Toronto-listed digital-asset firm, jumped after the company said it secured an up-to $500 million convertible note facility to ramp up its investments focused on the Solana network.The capital will be exclusively used for purchasing SOL tokens and expand the firm’s blockchain validator operation, the company said in a release. HODL shares surged as much as 18% to C$2.16 before paring some of the gains, but were still up 7% from yesterday’s close.”This is the largest financing facility of its kind in the Solana ecosystem-and the first ever directly tied to staking yield,” CEO Leah…

DeFi Development Corp (JNVR), formerly known as Janover, added another $9.9 million in Solana’s SOL to its corporate treasury, pushing total crypto holdings to 317,273 SOL or about $48 million, the company said on Wednesday.The purchase, made through BitGo’s over-the-counter desk, includes a tranche of locked SOL. These are tokens typically tied to vesting or bankruptcy proceedings that can’t yet move on-chain but are cheaper than spot prices.”By gaining access to locked discounted inventory through a trusted partner like BitGo, we’re able to accumulate some of our SOL below market prices while deepening our alignment with the Solana ecosystem,” CEO…

The crypto market’s rally stalled on Wednesday after U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent reiterated that a proper trade deal between Washington and Beijing would take years to ink out.Bitcoin (BTC) is up 2.6% in the last 24 hours and 12.2% in the last seven days, trading at $93,600 for the first time since the beginning of March. The largest cryptocurrency was outperformed by large swaths of the market, with the CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 coins, excluding stablecoins, memecoins and exchange tokens — rose 4.2% in the last 24 hours. Sui (SUI) jumped 24% in…

Canada will host an election next week, where voters will consider a range of issues — the economy, housing, trade relations with the U.S. — as they choose their elected officials, who in turn will choose the next Prime Minister of the country.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 narrativeCrypto is not a major electoral issue during this year’s Canadian election. Neither leading Prime Minister candidate has campaigned on digital assets, but here’s how they’ve discussed the issue in the past.Why it mattersCanada…

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, the Ethereum protocol reporter on CoinDesk’s Tech team.In this issue:Vitalik Buterin Proposes Replacing Ethereum’s EVM With RISC-VMatter Labs, ZKsync Developer, Sued for Alleged Intellectual Property TheftScroll’s Euclid Upgrade Pushes It Into ‘Stage 1’ Decentralization EraEigenLayer Adds Key ‘Slashing’ Feature, Completing Original VisionThis article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.Network NewsSWAPPING THE EVM FOR RISC-V?:…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the founder of now-defunct crypto and foreign exchange investment company PGI Global, with violating federal securities laws, alleging he ran a “Ponzi-like scheme” that defrauded investors of nearly $200 million — and spent $57 million of customer money on Lamborghinis, real estate and luxury goods.Ramil Palafox, 59, of Las Vegas, Nevada, also faces parallel criminal charges tied to his role at PGI Global. In March, a Virginia grand jury charged him in a sprawling 23-count indictment that included eight counts of wire fraud. Due to what prosecutors described as Palafox’s “substantial ties”…

Over the past several years, global discourse around blockchain has been dominated by the United States — its legislative gridlock, inter-agency turf wars, and intermittent moments of regulatory clarity. As the U.S. continued to grapple with its internal contradictions, other jurisdictions have sought to fill the void. Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Gibraltar positioned themselves as crypto hubs. Yet, each of them faced a critical limitation: none were natural centers of technological innovation at global scale.Canada, by contrast, holds an often-overlooked but exceptionally strategic position. Not only is it geographically and culturally aligned with the United States, but it…