Online banking platform SoFi Technologies is making a major comeback in cryptocurrency after exiting the market due to regulatory challenges, reintroducing crypto trading and onchain remittances. The American personal finance and fintech firm announced on Wednesday that it was reentering the cryptocurrency market and introducing “blockchain-powered international remittances,” marking a significant pivot after exiting the…
Zama, a cryptography company pioneering fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for blockchains, said it raised $57 million in a series B round co-led by Blockchange Ventures and Pantera Capital. The team said the fundraise pushes Zama’s total capital raised to over $150 million and values it at over $1 billion, making the firm the first unicorn…
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said she expects Congress to pass two pieces of crypto legislation related to stablecoins and market structure “before the end of this calendar year.” Speaking at the Bitcoin Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Lummis discussed the progress of the Digital Asset Market Clarity, or CLARITY Act, in the House…
Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets: Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas. As Asia begins the Thursday trading day, is changing hands above…
Australian federal police said it has contacted over 90 Australians as part of a crackdown on criminal use of crypto ATMs, including pig butchering victims and suspected offenders. One of the victims was a 77-year-old widow who was scammed out of 433,000 Australian dollars ($281,947) in an online dating scam, Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC,…
Barclays (BARC), one of the U.K.’s largest banks, said it will stop customers using their credit cards to purchase cryptocurrency by the end of the week. The London-based company will block cryptocurrency transactions on its Barclaycard-branded payment cards starting June 27, it said on a website page published Wednesday. The page cited “certain risks” when…
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced that it can now expand its offerings and across European Union’s member states after securing a license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. In a Wednesday notice, Kraken said it had received the MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland, allowing the exchange to offer regulated services to residents…
Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Tech & Protocols reporter. In this issue: Ethereum Developer Proposes 6-Second Block Times to Boost Speed ZKsync’s Airbender zkVM Proves Ethereum Blocks in 35 Seconds Norway Plans Ban on New Crypto Mining Data Centers XRP…
Nine asset managers are now looking to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking Solana, with Invesco the latest to join the bidding as the firm looks to push products beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Invesco and Galaxy Digital put forward the Invesco Galaxy Solana ETF, which aims to track the…
Bitcoin miner and ASIC manufacturer Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) has completed a $330 million private placement of convertible senior notes maturing July 1, 2031. The notes bear interest at 4.875% and feature a conversion price of $15.87 per share — about 44% above BTDR’s current $11 trading price. The bond’s conversion rate of 62.9921 Class A…