Coindesk

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $91,000 on Tuesday, climbing nearly 5% amid renewed investor optimism and fresh hopes of a thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions, but headwinds persist that could cap further upside, analytics firm CryptoQuant cautioned.The largest crypto by market capitalization hit $91,700 in the U.S. afternoon, its strongest price since early March. Altcoins followed BTC higher, with Ethereum's ether (ETH) rising 8% over the past 24 hours above $1,700, and dogecoin (DOGE) and Sui's native token (SUI) gaining 8.6% and 11.7%, respectively. The broad-market crypto benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index advanced 5.2%.Markets were buoyed by remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly told investors at a closed-door JPMorgan event that the tariff standoff with China was unsustainable. Bessent...

Unicoin has rebuffed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attempt to negotiate a settlement agreement to close an ongoing probe into the Miami-based crypto company, its CEO Alex Konanykhin revealed in a Tuesday letter to investors.In his letter, Konanykhin said Unicoin was given an “ultimatum” by the SEC to attend a settlement negotiation meeting last week, on April 18.“We declined to show up,” Konanykhin told CoinDesk, adding that the SEC had made demands ahead of the meeting that he found “unacceptable.” He declined to share specifics, telling CoinDesk that the communication between Unicoin’s lawyers and the SEC was confidential.Unicoin received a Wells notice — a sort of official heads-up from the SEC that it intends to file an enforcement...

Crypto-related stocks surged on Tuesday, riding the momentum of a broader crypto rally that has reignited risk appetite across digital assets with bitcoin (BTC) crossing above $90,000.Shares of Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate BTC holder, and crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) were up 8% to 9% during the session.Leading the move higher were bitcoin miners, with many of them posting double-digit gains, outpacing BTC's 5% advance. Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) rallied some 20%, while Bitfarms (BITF), CleanSpark (CLSK), Cipher Mining (CIFR), MARA Holdings (MARA), and Riot Platforms (RIOT) soared between 10% and 15% during the session.Meanwhile, the broader stock market also rebounded from yesterday's decline, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 up 2% and 1.7%, respectively. The rally in the TradFi market...

DeFi is getting a boost from the emergence of a host of new blockchains such as BeraChain, TON, Plume, Sonic and many others. Each new chain brings with it a flood of incentives, enticing users with yields that echo the early days of yield farming in 2021.But is any of this sustainable? As every new blockchain fights to build momentum, they inevitably confront the same dilemma: how to build sustainable ecosystems that survive beyond the end of their incentive programs.Incentives remain one of crypto's most powerful bootstrapping tools — an elegant solution to the cold-start problem of attracting users and liquidity. Yet, incentives are just a starting point. The ultimate goal is to build self-sustaining economic activity around DeFi protocols.While...

Avalanche's AVAX token has broken out of its multi-week correction phase, demonstrating remarkable strength despite ongoing geopolitical tensions affecting cryptocurrency markets. The broader market gauge, CoinDesk 20 Index (DLCS), has demonstrated exceptional bullish momentum, surging from 1403.33 to 1461.17 in the last 48 hours, representing a 4.12% gain, while the overall range spans 95.56 points (6.97%) from the low of 1365.61 to the high of 1461.17.The recent price action of AVAX shows accelerated momentum with the formation of a bull flag pattern and decisive breakout above $20.40, coinciding with significant institutional developments in the ecosystem, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis data. Technical Analysis HighlightsAVAX demonstrated remarkable strength, surging from 18.87 to 20.89, representing a 10.7% gain. Price action reveals...