With everything that has gone on in crypto over the past year, Wall Street would be excused for wanting to take a rain check on digital assets. But some big banks and other large financial firms– like exchanges and asset managers–are moving ahead with their plans in the space.  Initiatives range from launching new cryptocurrency trading platforms, offering custody of digital currencies or focusing on how blockchain can be used to issue and trade traditional assets like bonds. Some executives...

If you’ve heard the name Winklevoss, it’s likely that you’ve watched the movie The Social Network. The movie featured a memorable depiction of the Harvard twins and Olympic rowers who sued Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea for a social network.  Or you might know that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss set up a crypto exchange called Gemini, which is currently involved in a very public dispute with the folks over at Genesis. Both Genesis and Gemini - We know, so many G names - are...

Crypto is an asset class that runs 24/7. It’s hard to keep up. So we’re back with a show that reviews the biggest stories of the week. Here’s one: the United Kingdom is amping up plans to launch a digital currency, which folks have started calling Britcoin.  And there’s been a significant development in the dispute among various crypto billionaires. On one side: Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and their Gemini Exchange. On the other, Barry Silbert and Genesis. Plus: how this year’s Super Bowl...

One of the more interesting phrases used by folks in crypto is this one: “code is law.” Think of it this way. Under the idea that “code is law”, what governs whether something - say a transaction - is valid or not isn’t the whims or caprices of any individual. Instead, what determines whether something is acceptable, permissible, or appropriate is what’s written into the software that enabled that transaction in the first place. It is another way of thinking about the so-called immutability...

Crypto markets, and Bitcoin especially, had a strong start to the year. That’s had a couple of interesting consequences for some of the most important players in the market: Bitcoin miners.2023 has also seen a lot of significant weather events affecting the US, including recent winter storms in Texas that have left hundreds of thousands of people without power. Energy is one of the most important costs that Bitcoin miners must absorb - and of course, they can’t run all those machines in their...

Like many buzzy, fast-growth, high-risk industries, companies operating in and around crypto and the blockchain have relied heavily on venture capital to fund their activities. Venture capitalists, or VCs, manage pools of private money. What sets them apart from many other kinds of investors is that they focus on the riskiest possible bets - for every 10 or so investments, they expect at least eight or nine of them to fail. But what keeps them in business is that every now and again, one of...

Nearly five months ago, the Ethereum blockchain successfully completed what was — at the time — a very complicated and years-in-the-making update. Called The Merge, it allowed the blockchain to move from validating transactions using computers, that took a lot of energy to run, to a proof-of-stake model. The switch cut Etherium’s power consumption by more than 99 percent. After The Merge, the price of Eth rallied a bit, but has since fallen about 15 percent. Now, software developers who work...

Surprising to some, it turned out to be a decent month for crypto. Bitcoin rose almost 40% and some smaller coins did much better. Speaking of risk taking: Wall Street firms are still keen on crypto, despite all of last year’s calamities. And a failed crypto lender known for its risk appetite, Celsius, just got some harsh criticism from its bankruptcy examiner. Bloomberg senior editor Anna Irrera and Bloomberg reporter Emily Nicolle join senior editor Philip Lagerkranser to discuss the...

The digital-asset industry is reeling from challenges many blame on a handful of so-called crypto bad actors and wayward CEOs. Of course we’re talking about the Do Kwon’s, the Alex Mashinsky’s, the Su Zhu’s… oh, yes and the Sam Bankman-Fried. But while some industry leaders say they are upset by the allegedly illegal actions of some of their peers, they still have hope that the digital asset industry will thrive and the crypto market will recover. Mike Novogratz is a prime example. He’s the...

One of the biggest shocks to the crypto market in the past couple of years came in 2021 - when China issued its most significant crackdown yet on all things digital assets.  Fast forward to 2023, and there are signs that the country might be softening that stance ever so slightly. Just to set the scene a little bit - this is all related to broader signs and speculation that China is quote unquote “reopening”.   To discuss China’s potentially softening stance on crypto, Bloomberg reporter...

The bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX and the arrest of its former CEO San Bankman-Fried has had a lasting effect on the digital asset sector, for sure. But it’s also made an indelible impact on the politicians and policy makers who are supposed to regulate the industry.  There was already a fire lit under some lawmakers when it comes to imposing regulations on crypto - Last year, President Biden issued an executive order asking agencies to take coordinated action on digital assets. And in...

Long time Fidelity customers have been getting some interesting offers in their inbox from the financial services company over the past several months: a new crypto trading platform for retail investors. Last November, the brokerage firm launched a wait list for those interested in the services which include custody and zero-commission trading for Bitcoin and Ether.  Fidelity Investments is one of the largest investment managers in the industry and is one of the first financial services...

As we reported this week, Binance acknowledged that it had been mistakenly mixing the collateral it holds for some of its tokens…. in the same digital wallet as other types of funds.  This kind of operational issue is a challenge for these exchanges, especially now, at a point when both regulators and customers are paying super close attention to how this industry is managing its transparency. Also, layoffs continue to happen in crypto - and that’s impacting other industries, with numerous...

Crypto lender Genesis has filed for bankruptcy. For many observers in crypto, this wasn't entirely unexpected, not least because the company itself had been warning that it was staring down a liquidity crisis and trying to raise money. Over the past couple of weeks, Barry Silbert, who is the CEO of the Genesis parent company known as Digital Currency Group, has been in a very public and kind of increasingly nasty online dispute with some fellow billionaires, the co-founders of the Gemini...

The end of Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire created a contagion effect especially felt by crypto exchanges, like publicly-traded Coinbase. In early January, the exchange settled with New York regulators who accused it of “significant” compliance program failings.  Coinbase agreed to pay a $50 million dollar fine and set aside $50 million more to improve its compliance practices. Ahead of its earnings report, CEO Brian Armstrong says Coinbase revenue will likely drop by half or more this year. And...

It’s 2023 and the crypto community is hoping to pull out of its funk this year and put the blowups, bankruptcies and price slumps of the last year in the rear-view mirror.  While some remain hopeful - churning out ideas for a more fruitful, and perhaps community-driven, crypto future, others are still smarting from last year’s carnage. But now, both groups have a place where they can toast a revival – or drown their sorrows – at a new Bitcoin-themed bar in New York. It’s called...

Like most crypto-adjacent firms, fiat banks that diversified into crypto have struggled during the crypto winter. And this was likely the case even BEFORE crypto exchange FTX declared bankruptcy in November 2022.  We’ll find out exactly how many of them are doing in the coming weeks, as earnings reports trickle out. But generally, banks that got into crypto benefited during digital currency’s rise, and have struggled since last spring, when the digital asset sector took a downward...

Is crypto back? That’s one question Bloomberg editors and reporters discuss in another This Week in Crypto episode.  Already, the year is packed with digital asset action. Bitcoin is up 30 percent so far in 2023. Lots of smaller tokens are even more than that.  Suddenly, crypto enthusiasts are uttering words like FOMO — Fear of Missing Out - again. Then there are some crypto comebacks happening. Or, at least, some crypto comeback attempts. The guys behind 3AC, Three Arrows Capital, the...

You’ve probably heard financial regulators refer to crypto as the "Wild West." But, instead of shoot-outs and sheriffs -  in crypto, you can get financial experimentation, hackers and  pretty extreme risk-taking (in hopes of yielding extreme returns) - in some cases with people investing their hard-earned savings. People allegedly wronged by crypto are increasingly turning to the law for redress.The only problem is, how do you fit something so new into laws that are often centuries...

Western Massachusetts is a very different place from the Bahamas, where the FTX crypto exchange had its headquarters. But the small town of Lenox there is feeling the effects of the FTX bankruptcy nonetheless. The reason is Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets who was also a major player in the economy of Lenox.Salame grew up in Berkshire County, of which Lenox is a part. The town has fewer than 10,000 residents - closer to 5000 actually, according to the most recent census....

It was an unwelcome ruling for about 600,000 Celsius account holders, who are probably wishing they’d read the fine print more closely before investing. Or put more stock in the crypto mantra “not your keys, not your coins.” Earlier this month, federal Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn found that when people deposited assets with the now bankrupt crypto lender Celsius - and in exchange received interest on those deposits  - those assets became the property of Celsius. This makes customers of the...

Today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is observed in the U.S. So the crypto team wanted to present an episode connected to the idea of service.  The episode, first published last December, focuses on Sam Bankman-Fried's efforts to advance Effective Altruism. SBF used to say he was a man on a mission: to give away more than a billion dollars. It was part of his connection to the Effective Altruism movement. Through personal giving, and through a philanthropic unit called the FTX Foundation,...

Something we say often on the Bloomberg Crypto team is that a week in this asset class can feel like a year. And as we wrap up the second week of 2023, it’s starting to feel maybe more like a decade. On the proverbial docket this week: a public and ugly fight emerging between Gemini, a crypto exchange that's owned by the Winklevoss twins, and a company called Genesis, which was one of the biggest crypto lenders in the world. Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and Patriots owner Bob Kraft popped up...

It’s been a tough winter for Bitcoin miners. As prices of the largest token have fallen from their record highs, there have been bankruptcies and warnings of potential bankruptcy. Billions of dollars in losses. Forced sales of equipment. Regulatory uncertainty in states like New York. Increased criticism of the energy consumption associated with the sector…the list goes on. One miner even changed its name to try to minimize its association with the sector. The company formerly known as Riot...

The United Arab Emirates has spent quite a lot of time — and considerable resources — positioning itself as a crypto-friendly hub. Its efforts have attracted some of the top names in crypto to the region: the CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange - Binance’s Changpeng 'Zhao - known as CZ -has a residence in Dubai. It’s where Su Zhu and Kyle Davies fled to after the collapse of their crypto hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital. Sam Bankman-Fried travelled to Dubai for meetings with investors...