Author: Coindesk

Digital-asset insurance broker Native said it arranged $25 million of blockchain-based cover against hacks for Team Rizzo, an operator of machine-learning businesses and staking validator services on Bittensor, the popular cryptocurrency-driven AI network.The London-based company acted as a broker and also an underwriter using its own syndicate and capital pool on Nexus Mutual, a decentralized insurance alternative that backed Native in October of last year. The cover protects against smart-contract hacks leading to the loss of Bittensor tokens (TAO) used to validate the network’s proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.Hacks are a persistent worry in the crypto ecosystem, where insurance…

Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped 10% to $86,300 this week, diving out of a prolonged period of trading between $90,000 and $110,000.The so-called bearish range breakdown has traders closely examining charts for clues about where the sell-off may drive prices next. One of the key levels under scrutiny is the “runaway gap” in CME bitcoin futures below $80,000, which formed three months ago.A gap is a blank space on a price chart between the closing or high price on a specific day and the next opening price, signifying that there was no trading activity at prices in between. When the gap…

Pakistan has said it will set up a national crypto council to develop legislation for the sector, following a meeting with President Donald Trump’s digital asset advisors, according to a report by local news site Dawn.The council would be a dedicated advisory body that consists of government representatives, regulatory authorities and industry experts. It would oversee policy development as well as collaborate with countries to develop standardised frameworks, the report added, citing a statement from the finance ministry.Till last year, the nation’s finance ministry had been opposed to regulating crypto in the country, however Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said he…

Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns shares of Strategy (MSTR).Bitcoin’s sharp price declines have dominated news headlines this week, but major corporate BTC holder Strategy (MSTR) has been in a downtrend for more than three months.Trading around the $250 level on Wednesday, Strategy is lower by about 55% since peaking at $543 on Nov. 21. Investors in leveraged MSTR products have suffered even greater losses. The Defiance Daily Target 2x Long MSTR ETF (MSTX) has plunged 90%, while the T-REX ETF (MSTU) has declined 85%.Despite the decline in bitcoin, Strategy’s BTC acquisition remains profitable. Since initiating purchases in…

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one. Read the full article here

Bitcoin’s (BTC) prolonged range play above $90K has concluded bearishly this week, and how?The 12.6% drop observed in the first three days of the week (per UTC hours) marks the largest decline since the FTX bankruptcy in November 2022, according to data from TradingView.The sell-off is consistent with CoinDesk’s analysis earlier this month, which noted investor disappointment over the lack of swift action from President Donald Trump’s administration on creating the promised national BTC reserve and tightening fiat liquidity conditions.Institutional demand for the largest cryptocurrency and its second-largest peer, ether (ETH), weakened, pushing the CME futures market closer to backwardation,…

Ether (ETH) continued its multi-day slide on Thursday with a 7% drop in the past 24 hours as the prolonged crypto sell-off showed no signs of a pause.Bitcoin (BTC) was trading between $89,000 to $82,500 in U.S. trading hours on Wednesday, staging a slight recovery in early Asian hours to just over $86,000. The broader market tracked by CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index tracking the largest tokens, fell over 3%.Major tokens XRP, BNB Chain’s BNB, Cardano’s ADA and dogecoin (DOGE) slumped as much as 4% — with bullish bets on futures tracking majors recording over $600 million in liquidations.Litecoin’s…

In the wake of the appointment of a U.S. crypto czar and the announcement of comprehensive crypto legislation, many believe the era of “regulation by enforcement” in the U.S. is over. But while the SEC and CFTC now have crypto-friendly chairmen, both state regulators and Attorneys General are poised to take their place as aggressive crypto enforcers.For years, the SEC’s aggressive “regulation by enforcement” approach stifled the growth of the crypto industry and caused many to call for a comprehensive regulatory framework that would put an end to the “war on crypto” once and for all. For this reason, many…

Artificial intelligence (AI) firm CoreWeave is planning to file for a public listing in the U.S. within a week, according to a Bloomberg report.The cloud computing firm wants to raise around $4 billion from the listing, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It is targeting a valuation of over $35 billion, the report added. CoreWeave was not immediately available for comment.On Wednesday, bitcoin mining firm Core Scientific and CoreWeave said they were planning a $1.2 billion data centre expansion in Texas.CoreWeave’s IPO plan is the latest in a series of U.S. listings by crypto-related firms, including Blockchain.com,…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Tron Foundation and Justin Sun filed a joint motion Wednesday asking a federal judge to pause the securities regulator’s ongoing case against the crypto entrepreneur and his company. The motion is similar to motions filed in the SEC’s ongoing cases against Coinbase and Binance. In both cases, the parties said they were working toward a “potential resolution” of their cases. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said last week that the SEC agreed to drop its case against the exchange outright, pending commissioner approval.”In this case, the Parties submit that it is in each of…