Author: Coindesk
In retrospect, it was inevitable.Down more than 8% and holding just above $300 on Monday, MicroStrategy (MSTR) shares are now lower by about 30% since just after the announcement of their inclusion into the Nasdaq-100 index and nearly 50% from their late November record high.The signs of at least a major short-term top in one-time barely known enterprise software company turned juggernaut Bitcoin Development Company MicroStrategy were everywhere.First among those signals was the rocketing stock price — at its high of $543 in late November, MSTR was up nearly eight-fold in 2024 and more than a 50-bagger since the company…
The dead internet theory may not be in full swing just yet, but AI agents have already taken over much of Crypto Twitter.Reply bots on X are populating posts on nearly everything, using artificial intelligence models to increase reach and blockchains to settle micro transactions or record data.These bots are increasingly interacting with other bots, with pairs of such bots launching their own tokens. (While token issuance still requires humans, often the concept stems from whatever the AI bots decide).Initial replies to nearly all of CoinDesk’s posts in the past few weeks are often these AI bots, each either providing…
Crypto scammers have finally found their thieving match: Themselves.A new scam has been making the rounds mainly on YouTube that would make even the most cunning trickster tip their hat, security firm Kaspersky said in a security update last week.”I have USDT stored in my wallet, and I have the seed phrase. How do I transfer my funds to another wallet?,” Kaspersky noted one such comment. The specific wallet held over $8,000 worth of stablecoins on the Tron blockchain. A seed phrase is a word string that grants their knowers access to a crypto wallet.This question, however, was not from…
Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR)MicroStrategy, the self-described bitcoin (BTC) development company, increased its holdings of the largest cryptocurrency for the eighth consecutive week.The company, which already holds more bitcoin than any other publicly traded company, bought another 2,138 BTC for $209 million in the week ended Dec. 29, bringing its total holdings to 446,400 BTC.Once again, Executive Chairman Michael Saylor teased the announcement on Sunday in a post on X. The average purchase price of bitcoin was $$97,837, which raised the average purchase price to $62,428. The purchase was funded through share sales…
Layer-1 blockchain HyperLiquid, known for its decentralized derivatives exchange, opened up native staking for holders of its HYPE token, according to a Monday post on X.Stakers can select which validator to stake tokens with and will accrue rewards in return for securing the network. At launch, HyperLiquid staked 300 million tokens ($8.4 billion), and another 7 million tokens were added by users in the first hour. The tokens are staked across 16 validators.Locked tokens bound by a vesting schedule can be staked, but rewards that accrue will remain locked.Introduction of staking comes one month after the HYPE token was issued.…
Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, is likely to reach new highs next year and will “test or best” $185,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, Galaxy Research said in a report last week.Ether (ETH), the second-largest crypto, is predicted to rise above $5,500 in the next 12 months, the report said.”A combination of institutional, corporate and nation state adoption will propel bitcoin to new heights in 2025,” wrote Alex Thorn, Galaxy’s head of research.Galaxy said it expects five Nasdaq-100 companies and five nation states to say they have added bitcoin to their balance sheets or sovereign wealth funds next…
XRP led crypto losses on the second-last day of this year as a stronger dollar weighed down global currencies and assets including bitcoin, with Asian equity markets sliding lower on Monday.XRP sunk more than 5% in the past 24 hours, with dogecoin (DOGE), Solana’s SOL, ether (ETH) and BNB falling as much as 2%. Overall market capitalization fell 3%, while the broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), an index tracking the largest tokens, minus stablecoins, shed 3.5%.US equities declined on Friday and as investors trimmed positions amid uncertainty heading into year-end. An Asia Pacific index reversed 5-day gains, while futures contracts on…
Terraform creator Do Kwon will be extradited to the U.S., Montenegrin Justice Minister Bojan Božović said Friday.The U.S. and South Korean governments have both sought to take custody of Kwon to face criminal charges related to the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin Terra/Luna system in 2022, which kicked off a series of high-profile collapses including that of FTX. Kwon, who was arrested in Montenegro in March of 2023 and sentenced to a few months in prison over passport forgery charges, has been fighting his extradition to the U.S. for more than a year. Various courts in the country have ruled…
The dominant crypto narrative for 2024 has been institutional adoption. From the U.S. approval of spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds to the burgeoning number of companies pledging to buy the largest cryptocurrency for their treasuries, crypto has entered, more than ever before, the mainstream conversation.Bitcoin has increased almost 130% this year, breaking record highs on several occasions. It is currently hovering near the psychological threshold of $100,000. The ETFs approved in January have seen net inflows of $36 billion and amassed over 1 million BTC.In addition, the number of publicly traded companies saying they’re adding bitcoin to their corporate treasury…
Stalled bitcoin (BTC) and crypto prices may not be bringing festive cheer to traders, but some with money are trying to spread the goodwill around.Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he’d accepted an invitation to be the “adoptive father” of pygmy hippo Moo Deng when she grows up. He is also donating 10 million Thai baht ($300,000) to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo near Bangkok where the five-month-old lives, he said in a Thursday posting on X.The donations, made in Moo Deng’s name, will be used to upgrade general zoo operations and create a dedicated pygmy hippo habitat within the premises.Buterin…