CoinDesk Crypto

The blockchain is the future. That’s what we’re told anyway. If you’ve heard of the blockchain, you’ve probably also heard its proponents talking about the utopian ideal of decentralized ownership.Decentralized ownership goes way beyond monkey jpegs: Some

It seems like, almost every other day, there’s another story of a collapse in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The latest example is FTX but 2022 alone has seen similar stories come from entities such as Celsius and Voyager Digital. 

Former co-CEO of Alameda ResearchOne of the firm's first hires, who oversaw the development of ever-riskier trading strategiesRetired in early 2022When Sam Trabucco stepped down as co-CEO of trading firm Alameda Research in August, he tweeted, "But if I've learned anything at Ala

The co-founder of Alameda Research and FTXA mysterious ex-Googler who also served as chief technology officer for both firmsReportedly Bankman-Fried’s childhood friendGray Wang is not like his co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who loves fame and putting himself at the center of

Former CEO of Alameda ResearchChild of MIT economistsColleague of Sam Bankman-Fried from Jane Street daysThe former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, has spent her entire professional career as a trader. While a junior studying math at Stanford University, Ellison took h

A chief architect of the effective altruism philosophical movementMentor of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-FriedPhilosophy professor at OxfordAs the world picks through the wreckage of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda Research, scrutiny has fallen largel

The spectacular $32 billion collapse of the FTX exchange and its sister trading firm Alameda Research recently once again has crypto’s detractors gloating in the headlines. In fact, FTX bears no resemblance to most of what the longtime believers in blockchains and Web3 are

Before the arrival of European and majority white influence, the greater Americas (North, Central and South) consisted of thriving Indigenous civil societies. These communities possessed their own unique governance structures, had their own property rights, spiritual sciences and

Due to the recent calamity of popular crypto exchange FTX becoming insolvent almost overnight, large numbers of bitcoin users are learning about the nature of bitcoin self-custody by withdrawing their assets from exchanges.

On crypto-based predictions market Polymarket, users are seemingly giving Twitter’s new and seemingly unwilling owner Elon Musk the benefit of the doubt. According to a bet expiring Dec. 15, only 36% of bettors think “Twitter reports any outages” by that date.Pr

Artificial intelligence (AI) in the non-fungible token (NFT) space is becoming increasingly relevant. Generative art (that is, art that has been created by an autonomous system) has quickly emerged into one of the main categories of the NFT market, driving innovative projects and

Blockchain policy, as evident in recent polling, is a rare issue that transcends political polarization.

The FTX meltdown leads crypto holders to move their funds from centralized platforms to the security of decentralized alternatives.

So we’re now roughly two weeks removed from the start of the FTX meltdown. The coverage on CoinDesk has been without peer.Here are the biggest FTX-related stories from last week by my count:

The cryptocurrency world is no stranger to high-profile blowups and cults of personality, and there have been several this year alone. But even by crypto standards, the FTX story is notable for the shocking revelations that have come to light. The rapid downfall of Sam Bankman-Fr

The average American pays $294 to file their taxes each year. These fees equate to roughly $11.3 billion per year in revenue for tax prep companies. In the crypto world, the costs of tax filing can be many multiples more than traditional tax preparation as it usually requires mor

As the crypto community grapples with what led to this, its biggest ever crisis, a look at Shakespeare and his various king characters is useful.Most of the bard’s monarchs are either megalomaniacal villains (Richard III, Claudius), dupes (Macbeth) or madmen (Lear). All of

Accounting and tax compliance in crypto is much more complicated for institutions, such as funds, exchanges and prime brokerages, due to the volume of transactions that require record-keeping. Failing to file taxes properly can result in substantial fines and, in some cases, audi

Increasingly, companies are seeking to compensate their employees and other service providers with crypto and other digital assets.This practice raises similar issues to ones that arise when compensating employees or paying service providers with equity. These types of compensato

The Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme uncovered in late 2008 resulted in new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance allowing investors to recover substantial losses from the $65 billion financial fraud. Will the 2022 crypto implosions likewise prompt another round of guidance tailored