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Cantor Equity Partners (CEP) disclosed a $458.7 million bitcoin BTC acquisition as part of a pending merger with Twenty One Capital, the BTC-focused investment vehicle backed by Tether, Bitfinex, and SoftBank, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.The transaction is structured through a complex business combination involving Tether Investments, the El Salvador affiliate of stablecoin issuer Tether, and iFinex, the parent company of Bitfinex, the filing shows. As part of the deal, Tether purchased some 4,812 BTC at an average price of $95,319, with the tokens held in escrow and later to be sold to the merged company.Blockchain data shows that the escrow wallet, disclosed in the filing, received the tokens from a Bitfinex hot wallet on May 9. The...

DeFi savings protocol Sky posted a first-quarter loss of $5 million after interest payments to token holders more than doubled, according to a report created by Sky contributors from Steakhouse Financial.The loss is a stark turnaround from the previous quarter, when Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, registered a $31 million profit. The reason for the 102% increase in interest payments is the decision to incentivize use of the protocol's newer Sky dollar stablecoin (USDS) over the existing DAI. "The Sky Savings Rate was kept very high at 12.5% relative to the rest of the market, driving massive inflows" Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky, told CoinDesk over Telegram. When Sky began lowering interest rates to 4.5% in February, a lot of...

EToro could set pricing on its initial public offering (IPO) at a much higher level than the marketed range, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.The company planned to offer 10 million shares for $46 to $50 each, based on a previous filing, but received significantly more demand than shares available, according to the story.The IPO is set to price after the U.S. market-close on Tuesday.As with some others, the Israel-based company had paused its plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange in April amid shaky markets resulting from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies. Last week, however, Bloomberg reported that it was proceeding with its IPO, becoming the first firm to resume going public plans. Among others delaying IPOs...

Andrew Peel has left his role as Morgan Stanley’s (MS) head of digital asset markets to launch a crypto investment and tech firm in Zug, Switzerland, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.The venture will focus on tokenized funds and trading tools bridging traditional finance and DeFi, according to Bloomberg.Peel, a former Credit Suisse trader who joined Morgan Stanley in 2018, stepped down in March and plans to start fundraising soon, according to the story.His exit comes as Morgan Stanley readies retail crypto trading on E*Trade next year, according to a report earlier this month, expanding beyond the bitcoin fund access it launched for institutions in 2021.Wall Street’s digital asset push is accelerating amid shifting U.S. policy and rising interest in tokenized funds from...

Within a decade, bitcoin will replace U.S. dollar dominance and become the standard currency underpinning the international economy, according to billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper.“10 years, something like that. It may be a little less,” Draper said in a wide-ranging Spotlight interview with CoinDesk. Draper reiterated his prediction that bitcoin will rise to $250,000 by the end of 2025, and that after a decade it will be “infinity against the dollar because there won’t be a dollar.”“Once I can buy my food, my clothing, my shelter, pay my taxes, all in Bitcoin and it's a better way to collect taxes. For sure, there won't be any reason to hold onto any and bitcoin will be the primary source of owning...