Coindesk

Traditional U.S. assets are going haywire as U.S.-China trade tensions continue to rattle global markets, now coupled with fresh data of tumbling sentiment towards the U.S. economy and mounting inflation concerns.The most recent University of Michigan survey, published on Friday, found that consumer sentiment fell to 50.8 from 57.0, nearing the most depressed level in three years and far below that seen during the 2020 Covid shutdowns. Year-ahead inflation expectations surged to 6.7%, up from 5% in the prior month and the highest read since 1981.On the back of the data, investors resumed selling long-term U.S. government bonds and the greenbacks, two assets traditionally considered as safe havens. The 10-year Treasury yield soared above 4.55% during U.S. morning hours, up...

When the U.S. government sanctioned the Ethereum-based crypto mixing service Tornado Cash in 2022, it ignited a debate within the crypto community that continues three years later.Tornado enabled users to transfer crypto anonymously. The government contended that the service facilitated money laundering, prompting some of Ethereum's validators and block builders to take steps to avoid engaging with Tornado-linked transactions, which made the service slower and costlier to use.Advocates argued that complying with the sanctions amounted to censorship — undermining a fundamental cypherpunk principle. President Donald Trump supported the cypherpunks and lifted the sanctions on Tornado Cash in March of this year, but for some Ethereum developers, the situation highlighted a flaw within the network that still exists today: Why should...

The complex pipes that keep derivatives trades moving are about to get a major efficiency boost in DeFi, according to Crypto Valley Exchange.Crypto Valley Exchange's "smart clearing" protocol will lower the capital requirements for derivatives traders by setting collateral levels in light of the traded assets' correlations in price. In doing so, it could make DeFi more competitive with the mainstream financial markets crypto trying to replace, according to CEO James Davies.The service is a new take on an age-old problem in DeFi: how to sufficiently mitigate counterparty risk in a trustless environment.Traditional financial markets like CME and NYMEX rely on clearinghouses to be a trusted counterparty for every buyer and seller. They demand some collateral, but hardly 100%. DeFi...

Onyxcoin (XCN), the native token of its namesake's modular blockchain, experienced a major boost over the past 48 hours, bucking the bearish market sentiment with a 150% rise.Daily trading volume averaged around $25 million earlier this week until the token started to rip through levels of resistance. That figure has now ballooned to $600 million, the majority of which took place on Coinbase. The surge in volume and apparent lack of visible catalyst prompted Binance to list XCN futures on its exchange on Friday.Unlike many other Binance listing announcements, the listing did not spur an additional increase in token price, which could indicate that some investors opted to "sell the news," creating a type of equilibrium between new buyers and...

The United States Congress recently voted to repeal the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) controversial decentralized finance (DeFi) broker rule, a big win for crypto. And on Thursday President Trump killed the measure for good.But let’s not fool ourselves — there’s more pain to come.In December 2024, the IRS proposed a broad rule requiring DeFi platforms to follow standard crypto broker tax rules, including extensive user KYC and other disclosures. The crypto industry pushed back immediately, with numerous blockchain groups suing the IRS almost as soon as the rule was announced.DeFi platforms aren’t designed to collect this type of information in the first place, and beyond that, the proposed rule contradicts DeFi’s core goal of protecting privacy while keeping transactions transparent.Thankfully,...