Coindesk

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, has continued its about-face to earlier resistance to cryptocurrency in banking, issuing interpretive letters that say the institutions can — at their customers' behest — buy and sell crypto assets in custody.The newly explained policy stance released by the OCC on Wednesday also clarified that the bankers can outsource crypto activities to third parties, including custody and executive services. As long as it all still checks the boxes of the watchdog's safety-and-soundness requirements, the OCC is giving the banks more crypto freedom.This week's move follows the agency's March reversal of a longstanding policy that demanded bankers check with their government supervisors before moving ahead with new crypto...

David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc., the owner of Bitcoin Magazine, is planning to launch a publicly traded bitcoin (BTC) investing company, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.Bailey, who advised Donald Trump on crypto policy during his 2024 presidential campaign, is reportedly seeking $200 million through a private share sale and an additional $100 million in convertible debt to fund a small publicly traded firm to buy bitcoin.The company—whose name is not known yet—will merge with BTC Inc. and be named “Nakamoto” after bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, according to the people. The deal could be announced as soon as next week.His plans follow those of several other companies, building on the success of Strategy executive chairman Michael...

Robinhood is developing a blockchain-based program to allow traders in Europe access to U.S. financial assets, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.Three blockchains, including Arbitrum (ARB), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are reportedly being considered for the new platform which will be in partnership with a digital asset firm, according to the report.Tokenized assets have become a dominant area for traditional financial firms to push further into crypto. Several companies have launched tokenized funds in the past, with some analysts forecasting the market to grow to $23.4 trillion by 2033.Tokenization refers to the process of creating a digital token for a traditional asset on the blockchain boosting data security and allowing faster transaction settlement and increased liquidity, among...

Shares of tech company Asset Entities (ASST) rose 194% on Wednesday after it announced that Strive Asset Management was merging with the NASDAQ-listed company to become a publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) Treasury Company.The deal, structured as a reverse merger, will leave the combined company operating under the Strive name and listed on the NASDAQ. Strive plans to build a sizable bitcoin reserve using novel investment and financing strategies designed to limit shareholder dilution.One key strategy is a planned equity-for-bitcoin swap available to certain accredited investors, the companies stated in the press release. The exchange will use a tax provision known as Section 351, which allows appreciated assets to be contributed to a corporation tax-free in return for stock, subject to...

Coinbase (COIN) is heading into its first-quarter earnings report on shaky ground, with four Wall Street analysts expecting a miss as the retail trading lull is likely to pressure the crypto exchange’s most profitable business lines.The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Thursday post-market. The analysts are projecting earnings per share (EPS) falling to $1.93 from $2.26 in the fourth quarter and revenue dropping to $2.1 billion from $2.27 billion, according to FactSet data.In the year-earlier first quarter, it reported EPS of $4.40 and revenue of $1.2 billion. Trading volume is expected to land around the $403.8 billion mark vs. $439 billion in the fourth quarter.J.P. Morgan cut its EPS estimate to $1.59, citing a 10% drop in...