Author: Coindesk

Markets-wise, crypto was flat this week. Bitcoin was rangebound ($83,000 to $84,000). And the CoinDesk 20, which tracks about 80% of the market, stayed at about 2,600. Crypto prices suffered from being increasingly correlated with the wider financial markets, which are down on tariff worries and decreased corporate earnings. Some even said the bitcoin bull market was over.But markets, of course, only tell part of the crypto story. There was a ton of stuff happening and much of it was positive for the industry’s future. On the regulatory front, Washington agencies are gearing up for an historic “market structure” bill…

Right now, my X feed is full of people who are giving up on Web3 gaming. I get it. Over $12 billion of venture capital funding has gone into it since 2020 and they haven’t seen the sort of breakout success that many expected. Even the best games haven’t reached anything close to mainstream scale. Token prices are down. Studios are shutting down. And everyone is exhausted.But measuring Web3 gaming by token prices alone is like calling the internet a failure because of the dot-com crash — it ignores how far the technology has come and where it’s headed. It’s…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has embraced the chance to finally work with the crypto industry to hash out policy for overseeing digital assets transactions, said Commissioner Hester Peirce, the head of the agency’s crypto task force.The securities regulator is ready “to seek earnestly to find a workable framework,” Peirce said at the agency’s first crypto-focused roundtable on Friday. “I think we’re ready for the spring ahead,” she said, referring to the title of the day’s event, the “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity.”The task, according to Peirce: “Can we translate the characteristics of…

Leading U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) is in advanced acquisition talks with leading global crypto derivatives exchange Deribit, reports Bloomberg.According to the story, the companies have notified Dubai regulators (where Deribit is licensed) about the discussions.Bloomberg earlier this year — alongside rumors that Kraken was discussing an acquisition — reported Deribit could be valued in the area of $4 billion to $5 billion.Mostly known for its spot trading business, Coinbase (COIN) would be making a big push into the highly profitable crypto derivatives market with a purchase of Deribit, which say trading volume in 2024 of nearly $1.2 trillion —…

South Korean financial authorities are planning sanctions against crypto exchanges who are operating illegally in the country, business newspaper Hankyung reported on Friday.The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) classified a number of exchanges who are not registered as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) as targets for sanctions, according to the report.The exchanges targeted – BitMEX, KuCoin, CoinW, Bitunix and KCEX – have been found to be operating Korean-language websites without reporting to FIU. For that reason, they are classed as illegal businesses, as per the country’s regulations. “We are currently reviewing blocking access to unreported overseas exchanges that are providing services…

The German financial supervisory authority BaFin said it identified “serious deficiencies” in Ethena’s synthetic USDe stablecoin.Ethena is the yield-generating protocol. The stablecoin has a market cap of $5.4 billion. Ethena said on X that it will “continue to evaluate alternative frameworks,” after being notified that the “application under the MiCAR regulatory framework will not be approved.”In a statement, BaFin said that the deficiencies are related to the “bank’s business organization and violations of MiCAR requirements, such as those regarding asset reserves and compliance with capital requirements.””BaFin also has reasonable grounds to suspect that Ethena GmbH is publicly offering securities in…

A mysterious crypto trader that made millions trading derivatives this year has been identified as William Parker, a convicted fraudster, according to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT.Parker made $6.8 million on one position after going long on BTC just before Donald Trump’s weekend announcement of a U.S. strategic crypto reserve, per ZachXBT. He then turned around and made another $9 million going short BTC as the price pump quickly reversed.All of his positions used 50x leverage – a high risk strategy as it means the liquidation price of a position is close to the entry point.And it seems as though high risk…

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 2642.5, down 1.0% (-27.91) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.Five of 20 assets are trading higher.Leaders: DOT (+2.1%) and AAVE (+1.6%).Laggards: SUI (-5.1%) and FIL (-3.3%).The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally. Read the full article here

Short-term price dips are par for the course in bitcoin’s (BTC) bull markets, but one indicator suggests the current decline from recent highs may reflect a deeper structural shift in market dynamics.Bitcoin was trading around $84,000 as European morning hours on Friday, a 23% drop from its January peak of $109,000. The fall has rattled investors and fueled debate over whether this marks the start of a new bear market or a fleeting correction within a broader bullish trend.Such pullbacks are not uncommon — BTC has weathered similar declines in past bull cycles, often rebounding to new heights. Yet, on-chain…

By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)With just over a week to go until the end of March, the first quarter has been disappointing, particularly in terms of price action rather than narrative for the crypto industry. Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped 10%, its worst first-quarter performance since 2020, and ether (ETH) has posted its weakest first quarter since inception. So far, bitcoin has been relatively steady in March.Markets remain in the latter stages of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, a period historically marked by uncertainty and volatility. This is expected to persist at least…