Author: Coindesk
Digital Currency Group (DCG) owned mining pool Foundry has laid off 16% of its U.S.-based employees and a “small team in India.”“We are continuously refining our strategy to ensure long-term success and growth in a dynamic market. We recently made the strategic decision to focus Foundry on our core business – operating the #1 Bitcoin mining pool in the world and growing our site operations business – while we supported the development of DCG’s newest subsidiaries, including Yuma and the spinout of Foundry’s successful self-mining business,” a DCG spokesperson said via email.A spokesperson for the company said that DCG’s most…
When we think of altcoins like XRP and their sudden price bursts, the first thing that comes to mind is South Korea, which has a reputation for heavily engaging with alternative coins.While Korean investors have contributed to XRP’s impressive 30-day price surge of over 400% to $2.60, they’re not the only game in town. The stateside investors have been hyperactive through the Nasdaq-listed Coinbase exchange.The XRP/USD pair on Coinbase has been consistently pricier than Binance’s XRP/USDT pair in the past 30 days, with minute-level premiums ranging from 3% to 13%, according to data from analytics firm CryptoQuant.It’s a sign of…
Two crypto-friendly women are being considered to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to a report from Fox Business.President-elect Donald Trump, according to Fox, is considering appointing either Perianne Boring or Caroline Pham – who both have pro-crypto credentials – to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which under a Trump administration, could be the go-to digital assets regulator.Recently, Boring has been a staunch defender of the bitcoin mining industry against what she calls “regulatory overreach.” In a recent CoinDesk op-ed she took aim at the Department of Energy’s data collection process, which she accuses of singling…
Union Labs, a project focused on helping blockchains communicate with each other, has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Longhash Ventures.The fresh round of funds will be used to expand Union’s core team, advance partner integrations, and contribute to ecosystem growth. The fundraising comes after Union raised $4 million in seed financing last year. Borderless Capital participated in the new round, along with angels from the Polygon, Celestia, Movement, and Berachain communities, Union Labs said Tuesday.Union’s core product is a modular, zero-knowledge (ZK) interoperability layer, designed to ease movement of assets…
Amsterdam-based D2X, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange backed by hedge fund giant Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures, has gone live with institutional market participants Flow Traders, Basis Capital Markets and Algorithmic Trading Group.Licensed by Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), D2X comes out the gate with 7-days-a-week trading in cash-settled BTC-EUR and ETH-EUR Calendar Futures, followed by USD-denominated Calendar Futures & Options scheduled for early 2025.Futures and options account for a huge amount of trading in traditional markets, but crypto derivatives are disproportionately small. Up to now, the crypto derivatives market has been dominated by the Panama-based centralized exchange Deribit. However,…
This is the first in a series of stories examining the crypto industry’s high-stakes 2024 foray into politics and campaigning.With the last few congressional elections finally called, the score card is in, and the crypto industry’s effort to steer policy with cash has resulted in a 91% success rate in U.S. election battles for the sector’s favored candidates.Of the 58 races that the industry’s Fairshake political action committee and its affiliates focused on in the elections last month, just five candidates lost. The result: A large segment of the Senate and House of Representatives will have the industry to thank…
Volatility in Nasdaq-listed shares in bitcoin-holder MicroStrategy is now tracked at 2.5 times that of bitcoin. The milestone may spook most market participants but means increased income potential for savvy investors engaging in options trading.MicroStrategy is the world’s largest publicly listed bitcoin holder, boasting a coin stash of over 380,000 BTC. Investors looking to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without having to directly hold it have poured money into the stock this year, catalyzing a 500% rise in the share price. BTC, meanwhile, has surged by 124% this year, according to data sources CoinDesk and TradingView.MSTR’s outperformance goes beyond price.…
APAC is “uniquely positioned” to lead the next phase of global cryptocurrency growth, according to a survey conducted last month by Protocol Theory on behalf of CoinDesk.This is just a preview of the insights available in CoinDesk’s latest report, Driven by Demand: The People-Powered Crypto Movement in APAC. Download the report today for even more exclusive findings.The region already boasts a higher adoption rate than its neighbors at 24% versus a worldwide average of 7.8%. The report found this is driven by a range of factors including rising internet penetration, evolving regulatory environments, speculative interest, practical utility, growing understanding, and…
Minima, a blockchain designed to manage transactions across the internet of things (IoT) comprising mobile phones, cars and other devices is working with semiconductor giant ARM to develop a microchip with a decentralized ledger embedded in it.Under the agreement, announced Tuesday, Minima will work with ARM’s Flexible Access Program, which gives 70 or so startups access to the hardware giant’s intellectual property portfolio and chip design system. The “Minima Chip” will provide each device with a secure node capable of verifying data, generating tokens, enabling peer-to-peer messaging and generally bringing “blockchain everywhere,” the companies said.The concept of IoT and blockchain…
Grayscale has become the latest entrant into the Solana ETF sweepstakes as it looks to convert its existing Solana Trust (GSOL) into an exchange-traded fund.A 19b-4 filing submitted by NYSE Arca, the exchange that would list the fund, was made on Tuesday evening. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires exchanges to submit such a filing to inform the SEC of a proposed rule change by a self-regulatory organization (SRO) such as an exchange.Grayscale is now the fifth asset manager that has filed to launch a Solana ETF, following Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares and newly formed Canary Capital, all of…