Coindesk

The Sei Foundation, the nonprofit development organization behind the layer-1 blockchain Sei (SEI), is exploring the acquisition of bankrupt personal genomics company 23andMe and putting the genetic data of 15 million users on blockchain rails. The foundation announced the initiative in an X post on Thursday, calling the plan its "boldest DeSci bet yet" — referring to the decentralized science movement. Earlier this year, it also launched a $65 million venture capital fund dedicated to DeSci startups building on the Sei network.The foundation said that genomic data security is a national security matter, particularly as 23andMe grapples with financial difficulties. The company, known for its direct-to-consumer DNA testing services, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week.If the acquisition...

In the beginning, there were only CPUs, then GPUs, for bitcoin mining. Then came the mighty ASIC in 2013, and with it, the “shoebox” form factor that has become emblematic of the bitcoin mining industry.What comes next? Will the shoebox design persist as standard for bitcoin mining ASICs? Or will another form factor that more resembles traditional datacenter servers win out?ASIC manufacturers are increasingly betting on the latter – or at least, that a hydro-cooled server rack design will become a substantial portion of bitcoin mining fleets. Moreover, they’re leaning into the “direct-to-chip” cooling for further efficiency gains.Last September, Bitmain announced its model U3S21EXPH (a bit of a mouthful, eh?) developed in a partnership with Hut 8. Its U3 design...

Paul Atkins, the former member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that President Donald Trump has tapped to run the agency, assured a different direction for the agency on crypto from the last four years, though he wasn't pressed with big-picture digital assets questions during a Thursday confirmation hearing.Now that Trump has secured the cabinet-level echelon of his government, the White House is working on shepherding top agency chiefs through the Senate confirmation process. While many of the crypto headlines are coming from the administration and Congress these days, those running the regulatory agencies will ultimately be the ones writing the regulations the industry will have to conform with.Atkins is seeking to be the successor of ex-Chair Gary Gensler,...

Remittance app Abound raised $14 million in a seed round following investment from crypto heavyweights Circle Ventures and the Near Foundation.The app aims to be a financial bridge between non-resident Indians (NRIs) and India, and has processed $150 million worth of remittances with about 500,000 monthly active users. Abound is incubated by the digital arm of the Times of India Group, one of the country's largest news agencies.“Indians in America have a unique financial reality — one that spans two countries, two economies, and two currencies. Yet, the financial services available today weren’t designed for their needs,” said Nishkaam Mehta, CEO of Abound, in a statement.The investment will be used to scale the business by hiring in several key roles...

In today’s crypto for advisors, Alex Tapscott explains what the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is and why it matters to investors.Then, Bryan Courchesne from DAIM answers questions investors have about setting up a personal strategic reserve in Ask an Expert.– Sarah MortonYou’re reading Crypto for Advisors, CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that unpacks digital assets for financial advisors. Subscribe here to get it every Thursday.Will Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Move the Needle?On March 7, President Trump signed an executive order creating both a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, the latter comprised of tokens like ETH, SOL, XRP and ADA.The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) and the Digital Asset Stockpile will be capitalized initially with crypto assets obtained by the Department of...