Digital Currency

On February 8, CME Group officially launched Ether futures. ETH futures went live just a little more than three years after CME Group began offering Bitcoin futures. In this interview, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products Tim McCourt discusses the origins of ETH futures, what convinced them that the time was right for the product to go live, how institutional investors’ attitudes towards Ethereum (and crypto as a whole) have changed, and how the response from the market has been. When did you start thinking…

Here’s some free advice for the Honda Motor Company: Market your cars to the newly bitcoin rich. I’ve already got the ad copy for you. A true bitcoiner is building for the future and deferring gratification. She doesn’t blow her hard-earned savings on flashy toys. She prefers a solid, dependable family car. And a slogan…. Lambos are for losers. HODLers drive Hondas. Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk’s executive editor, owns some bitcoin, and if he were smarter he’d have bought more years ago. This article is excerpted from The Node, CoinDesk’s daily roundup of the…

Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $53,824.22 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Climbing 3.22% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $51,267.19-$54,032.05 (CoinDesk 20) BTC trades above its 10-hour and 50-hour averages on the hourly chart, a bullish signal for market technicians. Bitcoin trading on CoinbaseSource: TradingView What a dud: Friday’s record $6 billion expiry in the bitcoin options market turned to be a nonevent as prices for the largest cryptocurrency climbed steadily, with nary a glimpse of the feared plunge to the “max pain” point of $44,000. For bitcoin bulls, the absence…

Not long after Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, received his $53 million in ether (ETH, +3.76%) (ETH) for selling a non-fungible token (NFT) through Christie’s (after fees), he reportedly converted the cryptocurrency into fiat. What was seen as a vote of confidence for this new technological medium – it was the third-largest art sale ever, right behind Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit” and David Hockney’s “Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures)” – might now be seen as a betrayal. He quite literally sold out. Beeple told The New Yorker on Monday, “I’m not remotely a crypto-purist. I was…

The problem with crypto is not that it is a scam. Or a bubble. Or used in any significant way today to evade taxes and finance terrorism. The problem with crypto is it presents a viable alternative to monetary monopolies by national governments. A viable alternative to banks and other financial institutions. A viable alternative to intermediated exchange. Pondering Durian is a tech-focused investor and writer who explores connections involving the U.S., China, and Emerging Asia (India and Southeast Asia) in the Emerging newsletter and blog. The real problem – for politicians, nation-states…

There is a revealing, albeit slightly morbid, maxim that “safety standards are written in blood.” Humans and human-created systems generally tend to be reactive rather than proactive when it comes to developing protective rules. Nevertheless, today’s construction workers and consumers are more shielded from danger than those of the past because we’ve learned from prior mistakes. Rick McDonell was the executive secretary of the Financial Action Task Force from 2007 until 2016. Prior to that, he was chief of the United Nations Global Program against Money Laundering at the UNODC. He…

Effect Network, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that connects companies to the global workforce, will be switching its development from the EOS blockchain to the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Effect Network developers said Thursday the main reason for the shift to BSC, a smart contract-based blockchain backed by exchange giant Binance, is due to concerns about the future of the EOS blockchain and its leadership. In January, serial blockchain entrepreneur and EOS CTO Dan Larimer left Block.one “to pursue new personal projects.” Effect Network cites “unfulfilled promises to address the many issues…

Crypto bank Avanti raised $37 million from Series A investors as it prepares to take its digital banking operations online. In a press release, parent company Avanti Financial Group said Coinbase Ventures, Binance.US, Morgan Creek Digital, Slow Ventures and the University of Wyoming Foundation, among others, participated in the funding round. Avanti has raised $44 million total, the group said. Avanti said it will put the funds toward meeting regulatory capital requirements and further invest in its engineering team. It gained special-purpose depository institution (SPDI) status in October, joining fellow Wyoming-based crypto…

Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $52,184.38 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 4.77% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $50,458.10-$54,762.75 (CoinDesk 20) BTC trades between its 10-hour and 50-hour averages on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians. Bitcoin trading on CoinbaseSource: TradingView Bitcoin traders urged caution as prices for the cryptocurrency slid toward $50,000 for the first time in two weeks while the options market braced for volatility ahead of a record $6 billion contract expiration Friday. “This is a time to make sure that you…