Coindesk

By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)Bitcoin BTC is climbing up the asset ranks. The rally that this week took it to new highs has lifted its market capitalization to $2.2 trillion for the first time.It's already overtaken Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) to become the world's fifth-largest asset and now sits behind iPhone maker Apple (APPL), software developer Microsoft (MSFT) and chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), all of which are valued at over $3 trillion. Way ahead is hard-to-produce, store-of-value gold at an estimated $22 trillion. Bitcoin’s No. 5 ranking reflects its growing status among traditional and institutional investors and comes as market sentiment turns decisively bullish, with strong buying action across all investor cohorts —from whales to...

Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, jumped 15% on Thursday, outperforming the broader crypto market, after the team said it submitted formal responses to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding proposed regulation of perpetual swaps and 24/7 crypto trading.In an X post early Friday, Hyperliquid Labs said it filed two comment letters supporting the CFTC’s proactive stance and urging regulators to embrace decentralized finance (DeFi) frameworks as a path to building safer, more efficient financial products.The submission marks a rare instance of a DeFi-native protocol engaging directly with U.S. regulators, signaling both rising maturity in the sector and growing urgency around shaping favorable policy frameworks.“We believe that Hyperliquid exemplifies how core DeFi principles can be put into practice to enhance...

Major U.S. banks are weighing launching a joint stablecoin to fend off crypto competition.Financial heavyweights like JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC), have held discussion on the subject, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The talks are still in early stages and could change, the report added. Within the consortium are also payments ventures owned by these banking powerhouses, like Early Warning Services, which runs Zelle, and The Clearing House, which handles real-time payments.Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of another asset like a fiat currency or commodity, can settle transactions in a matter of seconds. Banks see potential in them to improve their operations, with international...

Bitcoin BTC has entered a strong accumulation phase across all wallet cohorts for the first time since January, signaling renewed bullish sentiment as the largest cryptocurrency trades above $110,000, an 18% gain over the past month. Glassnode's Accumulation Trend Score has reached its maximum value of 1.0, indicating broad-based, aggressive accumulation by investors irrespective of the amount of BTC they already hold. The metric evaluates the relative strength of buying by different wallet sizes, factoring in both their existing holdings and the amount acquired over the past 15 days. It excludes exchanges and miners to avoid distortion. The latest accumulation wave began in early May, led by whales holding over 10,000 BTC. As the price began to climb, cohorts with...

The last time Justin Sun set foot in the U.S. he was Grenada's WTO ambassador and was navigating the rocky waters of former President Biden's crypto crackdown.Times have changed. Now, he's dining at an event hosted by President Donald Trump for the largest holders of his TRUMP memecoin and celebrating a regulatory breakthrough, as issuers eye a potential Tron ETF, signaling a striking reversal in crypto's American fortunes.Speaking exclusively with CoinDesk after the Presidential dinner, which was met by protestors, the Tron founder dismissed allegations that the token is a vehicle for bribery. He called skeptics short-sighted, arguing Trump's embrace of crypto could spark a new era of digital asset innovation in America."All the haters need to really pay attention,"...