Options Growth Will Ignite Innovation in the Bitcoin Market – But Not in the Way You Think

Options Growth Will Ignite Innovation in the Bitcoin Market – But Not in the Way You Think
Richard Rosenblum, co-founder of GSR, points out the lackluster growth in listed options hides the real action taking place in OTC hedges.

Scotland’s Bitcoiners Share Canny Tales of ‘Buying the Dip’

Scotland’s Bitcoiners Share Canny Tales of ‘Buying the Dip’
A meetup in Scotland afforded a forensic examination of bitcoin's rollercoaster cycle – with plenty of examples of the emotional trauma that accompanied the ride.

How Fund Managers View Lending and Staking: 3 Takeaways From a CoinDesk Research Webinar

How Fund Managers View Lending and Staking: 3 Takeaways From a CoinDesk Research Webinar
In December, we invited two fund managers, both long bitcoin and other crypto assets, for a CoinDesk Research webinar on lending and staking. Jordan Clifford of Scalar Capital and Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital joined us to discuss how they evaluate risk and returns in crypto lending and staking, what crypto assets' risk-free rate might look like, and what DeFi needs to do to attract investors and new users.

Google Reinstates Bitcoin Rewards Game Suspended for ‘Deceptive Practices’

Google Reinstates Bitcoin Rewards Game Suspended for ‘Deceptive Practices’
The “Bitcoin Blast” app is back on the Google Play store, though Google still hasn’t clarified why it was taken down in the first place.

Seychelles’ Stock Exchange Will List Ethereum Tokens Representing Supercars

Seychelles’ Stock Exchange Will List Ethereum Tokens Representing Supercars
MERJ, the only licensed stock exchange in the Seychelles, plans to list ethereum tokens representing shares in supercars issued by CurioInvest, starting with a $1.1 million Ferrari.

The Founders of Synthetix and Chainlink on DeFi, Derivatives and 25 New Decentralized Price Feeds

The Founders of Synthetix and Chainlink on DeFi, Derivatives and 25 New Decentralized Price Feeds
Yesterday Chainlink released price reference data for 25 of its decentralized oracle networks which, together, power more than $100m in DeFi.

Listen to Elon Musk’s Latest EDM Beats on the CoinDesk Crypto Roundup

Listen to Elon Musk’s Latest EDM Beats on the CoinDesk Crypto Roundup
We've got the 'hawt' new single from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and as bitcoin ends its best January ever, traders eye a price move above the psychological level of $10,000.

Ethereum Miners’ ETH Holdings Near Record Highs

Ethereum Miners’ ETH Holdings Near Record Highs
Ethereum miners are hoarding ether tokens, and this could indicate high confidence in the project.

Bitcoin Startup Casa Names New CEO as Node Service Goes Open-Source

Bitcoin Startup Casa Names New CEO as Node Service Goes Open-Source
Bitcoin startup Casa is charging into 2020 with a new look – by winding down its hardware product and shuffling its front office.

Financial Firm SBI Holdings to Offer XRP Cryptocurrency as Shareholders’ Benefit

Financial Firm SBI Holdings to Offer XRP Cryptocurrency as Shareholders’ Benefit
Japan's crypto-friendly financial firm SBI Holdings is to give shareholders the option to receive the XRP cryptocurrency as a benefit. They can alternatively accept health supplements.

‘Key Milestone’ for Hyperledger as Fabric Blockchain Platform Reaches 2.0 Release

‘Key Milestone’ for Hyperledger as Fabric Blockchain Platform Reaches 2.0 Release
Version 2.0 marks the most significant release since Fabric first launched in 2017.

Crypto Tax Software Developers Get Serious About System Standards

Crypto Tax Software Developers Get Serious About System Standards
A growing number of crypto tax software developers are trying to bolster their products’ technical credibility with the CPA’s stamp of attestation.

Bitcoin Heads Into Historically Positive February on a Bullish Note

Bitcoin Heads Into Historically Positive February on a Bullish Note
Bitcoin's 30% rise in January has put the bulls into the driver's seat, opening the doors for a continued rally into five figures.

Deribit to Launch Daily BTC Options as Regulated Competition Heats Up

Deribit to Launch Daily BTC Options as Regulated Competition Heats Up
Launching Feb. 3, the daily bitcoin index options will appeal to a different kind of trader, the firm says.

Third-Party Trackers Are Pulling Your Data Off Ring’s Android App

Third-Party Trackers Are Pulling Your Data Off Ring’s Android App
A new report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation details the personally identifiable information pulled from your Ring app.

USA vs. Virgil Griffith: What We Know (and Don’t) in the Bombshell Crypto Sanctions Case

USA vs. Virgil Griffith: What We Know (and Don’t) in the Bombshell Crypto Sanctions Case
Prosecutors appear to have a strong case against Virgil Griffith, the ethereum developer charged with conspiring to aid North Korea, legal experts say.

Bitfinex Adds Margin Trading on Tether Gold With Pairs of Up to 5x Leverage

Bitfinex Adds Margin Trading on Tether Gold With Pairs of Up to 5x Leverage
Bitfinex has launched margin trading for Tether Gold with select pairs of up to 5 times leverage.

Silk Road Operator Pleads Guilty to 1 Charge of Conspiracy

Silk Road Operator Pleads Guilty to 1 Charge of Conspiracy
Roger Clark, an alleged operator behind the Silk Road darknet site arrested in 2015, has pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself

Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself
Silvergate made its name providing fiat banking services for crypto businesses. Now CEO Alan Lane wants the bank to handle digital assets themselves.

Nomura Launching Benchmark for Japan’s Crypto Assets

Nomura Launching Benchmark for Japan’s Crypto Assets
Pegged to Japan's cryptocurrency market, Nomura's benchmark will be available to domestic and overseas institutional investors and crypto exchanges, among others.

Ethereum Dev Virgil Griffith Pleads Not Guilty to Violating North Korea Sanctions

Ethereum Dev Virgil Griffith Pleads Not Guilty to Violating North Korea Sanctions
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on Thursday.  Griffith was arrested in November on allegations he spoke at a cryptocurrency conference in North Korea last year, where he allegedly taught his audience how to use cryptos to evade sanctions. A complaint […]

The Unsolved Mystery of How to Fund Public Protocols

The Unsolved Mystery of How to Fund Public Protocols
Gitcoin, BCash and Zcash all try different paths to fund public protocol development, plus the latest in CBDCs from Japan and Cambodia and Andrew Yang on crypto.

Listia Raised $15M With Its XNK ICO. Now It’s Ditching the Token for Props

Listia Raised $15M With Its XNK ICO. Now It’s Ditching the Token for Props
Listia's marketplace for used-goods is ditching its native XNK token in favor of YouNow's props.

Exchange Tokens: Neither a Great Investment Nor a Great Market Indicator

Exchange Tokens: Neither a Great Investment Nor a Great Market Indicator
It’s surprising that, despite the success of their issuers, exchange tokens have not been more successful as investments, or as metrics of adoption in one of crypto assets' best-proven use cases, speculation.

Two Social Networks Announce Plans to Integrate YouNow’s Props Token

Two Social Networks Announce Plans to Integrate YouNow’s Props Token
YouNow says two other peer-to-peer video sites are now integrating its props token: Camfrog and Listia.

Zap’s New Product Lets Merchants Take Dollars Over Lightning Network

Zap’s New Product Lets Merchants Take Dollars Over Lightning Network
"Merchants can accept bitcoin and lightning payments with the same infrastructure, except they never touch the asset," explained Zap founder Jack Mallers.

Coronavirus Controls in China Are Delaying Crypto Miner Deliveries, Firms Say

Coronavirus Controls in China Are Delaying Crypto Miner Deliveries, Firms Say
MicroBT and Canaan have notified customers they would be delaying ASIC deliveries due to the Chinese government's quarantine of Wuhan following the coronavirus outbreak.

‘One Network, Many Chains’ – The Case for Blockchain Interoperability

‘One Network, Many Chains’ – The Case for Blockchain Interoperability
Inter-blockchain communication (IBC) is poised to be a major theme of 2020. And, like most trends in crypto, it has its fair share of hope, hype and haters.

Cambodia Readies a Blockchain-Based Digital Currency

Cambodia Readies a Blockchain-Based Digital Currency
Cambodia's central bank digital currency platform has the support of 11 national banks and will be used initially for domestic payments once launched at some point during the first fiscal quarter of this year.

Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 30, 2020

Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 30, 2020
Markets Daily is back with news of the day and clips of Democratic Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang's recent crypto comments.

TokenSoft Launches Wallet Allowing Investors to Self-Manage Security Tokens

TokenSoft Launches Wallet Allowing Investors to Self-Manage Security Tokens
The U.S.-regulated security token platform says its new wallet product makes managing tokens easier for less tech-savvy investors.

Compared to Traditional Banks, Crypto Lenders See Booming Growth

Compared to Traditional Banks, Crypto Lenders See Booming Growth
A lukewarm U.S. economy is making big banks like JPMorgan Chase struggle to produce fast loan growth - even with interest rates close to historic lows. Yet, in the white-hot cryptocurrency industry, lenders are burgeoning.

Bittrex Takes Out Record $300M Insurance on Crypto Held in Cold Storage

Bittrex Takes Out Record $300M Insurance on Crypto Held in Cold Storage
The insurance was underwritten by Arch Syndicate 2012, which provides specialized insurance for corporations.

Coinbase Custody, Bison Trails Join Proof of Stake Alliance to Push for Clearer Crypto Regulations

Coinbase Custody, Bison Trails Join Proof of Stake Alliance to Push for Clearer Crypto Regulations
Coinbase Custody and Bison Trails have joined the Proof of Stake Alliance, a lobbyist organization hoping to clarify the legal treatment of staking rewards in the U.S.

Andrew Yang: US Has to Fix Its ‘Hodgepodge’ Crypto Regulation

Andrew Yang: US Has to Fix Its ‘Hodgepodge’ Crypto Regulation
The current fragmented regulatory situation in the U.S. is "bad for everybody," Yang said.

Bitcoin Reinforces Latest Rally With Defense of $9,200 Price Support

Bitcoin Reinforces Latest Rally With Defense of $9,200 Price Support
Bitcoin's price rally is looking solid, with the bulls defending key price support earlier on Thursday.

Japan Must Be Ready if Demand for Digital Yen ‘Soars’: Central Bank Official

Japan Must Be Ready if Demand for Digital Yen ‘Soars’: Central Bank Official
Japan needs to keep researching a central bank digital currency, even if it won't launch one just yet, accord to the Bank of Japan's deputy governor.

Ethereum-Based Ad Firm Bidooh Sues Founders in Tech Ownership Dispute

Ethereum-Based Ad Firm Bidooh Sues Founders in Tech Ownership Dispute
The co-founders are countersuing, claiming the company – which developed "Minority Report-inspired ad boards – has been hijacked.

Former JPMorgan Exec Joins Binance as Latin American, European Director

Former JPMorgan Exec Joins Binance as Latin American, European Director
Former State Street counsel, JPMorgan vice president and Huobi regional head Josh Goodbody is joining Binance as its new director of European and Latin American growth and institutional business.

Stablecoins ‘Flip’ Ethereum’s Native Currency In Transfer Value

Stablecoins ‘Flip’ Ethereum’s Native Currency In Transfer Value
A greater share of value is being transferred via stablecoins over the Ethereum network than its own native cryptocurrency.

Coinbase Custody Goes International With New Entity in Ireland

Coinbase Custody Goes International With New Entity in Ireland
Coinbase has launched Coinbase Custody International Inc., a European entity for handling cryptocurrency deposits.

Better Regulation Could Curb Crypto Scams, Chainalysis Report Says

Better Regulation Could Curb Crypto Scams, Chainalysis Report Says
Chainalysis’ 2019 crime report found illicit activities accounted for roughly 1 percent of overall crypto transactions last year, and better enforcement of anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations could stamp out a large portion of that.

Developers Say Google Play Unfairly Booted Their Bitcoin Rewards Game

Developers Say Google Play Unfairly Booted Their Bitcoin Rewards Game
"Bitcoin Blast," a puzzle game that rewards players with BTC, was kicked off the Google Play store with little explanation, said the game's developers.

Coinbase Hires Google VP as Chief Product Officer

Coinbase Hires Google VP as Chief Product Officer
Surojit Chatterjee becomes Coinbase’s first chief product officer since the departure of Jeremy Henrickson in December 2018.

While CME Shines, Literally No One Is Trading Bakkt’s Bitcoin Options

While CME Shines, Literally No One Is Trading Bakkt’s Bitcoin Options
Trading volumes in bitcoin options listed on the Intercontinental Exchange's Bakkt platform have completely dried up, even while CME’s options product is seeing strong interest.

Most of MakerDAO’s Asset Value Is in Only a Few Addresses

Most of MakerDAO’s Asset Value Is in Only a Few Addresses
Though the industry is growing rapidly, a very small portion of addresses hold the majority of assets being locked and borrowed in the DeFi space.

Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 29, 2020

Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 29, 2020
With bitcoin set for its best-ever January, Markets Daily is back with today's crypto news roundup.

Former Coinbase COO Joins Blockchain-Based Lending Firm Figure

Former Coinbase COO Joins Blockchain-Based Lending Firm Figure
Asiff Hirji, Coinbase's former president and COO, will take on a new role as president of blockchain-based lending startup Figure Technologies.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to Speak at ETHDenver Conference

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to Speak at ETHDenver Conference
For the first time, ETHDenver is officially partnering with Colorado's state government.

Silvergate Bank Adds 48 Crypto Clients in Q4 Even as Deposits Slip 4%

Silvergate Bank Adds 48 Crypto Clients in Q4 Even as Deposits Slip 4%
The La Jolla, Calif.-based bank, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol SI in November, released its earnings report before market open on Wednesday.