CoinDesk Crypto

Crypto companies looking to operate in South Africa will need to apply for a license from the country’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in the six months starting June 1.While South African crypto companies have welcomed the new licensing regime, they worry the fi

Last year, a group of CoinDesk reporters traveled to Seneca Lake to examine the effect Greenidge Generation – a resurrected power plant that now mines bitcoin – had on the surrounding communities. Though we expected to hear locals say they disliked the plant and its c

Cryptocurrency is a digital payment mechanism based on the concept of decentralization -- meaning it is not regulated by a central authority, like a government -- which sets it apart from traditional...

When he first took office as head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021, Gary Gensler warned crypto projects that he would be skeptical of “decentralization theater.” That’s a category of misleading claims sometimes made by DAOs [decentral

Worldcoin, a crypto project by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has gained some traction in China, with users rushing to source know-your-customer (KYC) verifications on the black market.Worldcoin’s crypto wallet, World App, is not available in mainland China, according to CoinDesk's

The European Union recently became the first major jurisdiction to introduce robust and comprehensive regulation for the cryptocurrency sector.

The Bitcoin network’s security is derived from a process called Proof-of-Work (PoW) which is powered by advanced hardware and large amounts of electricity.

Industry stakeholders have largely welcomed new norms for the crypto sector proposed by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on Wednesday – but are uncertain how the rules will look in effect.The regulator's 18 policy recommendations for the glob

At last month’s Consensus 2023, CoinDesk hosted two invitation-only Investor Manager Roundtables, one designed specifically for institutional investors (35 pensions, single family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments and foundations) and the other for asset alloc

Polkadot, the blockchain created by legendary coder Gavin Wood after he split from Ethereum, is getting a new privacy feature. The tool uses zero-knowledge proofs and soulbound tokens (yes, the things dreamt up by Vitalik Buterin) to help limit the amount of information crypto us

The digital asset industry is at a major crossroads. Regulators around the globe are moving to enact rules for the 15-year-old industry. The EU Parliament in April approved a slate of regulations called Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), the most comprehensive multi-jurisdictional

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave a keynote address at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami, where he declared fierce support for Bitcoin.

With the U.S. mired in political stasis while other regions build crypto frameworks, it’s worth looking at the evolution of, and outlook for, on-the-ground demand for crypto assets. This is getting more and more relevant as many large countries struggle with skyrocketing in

Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day.On May 22, 2010 Laszlo Hanyecz paid Jeremy Sturdivant 10,000 bitcoins (BTC) for two Papa John’s pizzas which were delivered to Hanyecz’s home. This exchange is widely celebrated because it is viewed as the first use of bitcoin in a commercial t

The anti-money-laundering bill sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) purports to close loopholes in the risk of cryptocurrencies being used for illicit activity that even the Biden administration agrees is small. But the ill-conceived bill is

As traffic issues caused one major exchange to briefly pause bitcoin withdrawals, controversy is being drawn toward a new development on the Bitcoin blockchain: Ordinals and the concept of a Bitcoin NFT.

The U.K. will need to introduce new laws or amend existing finance and data rules to accommodate a digital pound, two lawyers told CoinDesk.The Bank of England and the U.K. Treasury are seeking public feedback on their plans for the design of a digital pound – something off

Ledger, the Paris-based hardware wallet maker, has had a terrible week. And in large part, it seems they have themselves to blame.Things started out badly enough. Ledger’s May 16 introduction of the “Ledger Recover” seed phrase recovery service was greeted with

A tweet this week from Chris Frantz, the founder of email platform Loops, irked me.Frantz said “90% of the people I know in web3 have pivoted their company to AI.”

There are rumors circulating that Ripple Labs Inc., the U.S.-based technology company that builds XRP infrastructure, may soon settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). There is hardly an example of how many unsettled legal questions surround crypto as this c