Coindesk

PayPal Pushes Further Into Crypto by Adding Chainlink and Solana as New Offerings

PayPal has added chainlink (LINK) and solana (SOL) to its growing list of supported cryptocurrencies, giving users of both PayPal and Venmo the ability to buy, hold, sell and transfer the tokens directly from their accounts.The move reflects the payments giant’s continued push into the cryptocurrency space after first launching crypto support in 2020. The new tokens will roll out to U.S. users over the next few weeks.“Offering more tokens on PayPal and Venmo provides users with greater flexibility, choice, and access to digital currencies,” said May Zabaneh, PayPal’s Vice President of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies, in a press release.The company, which has also launched its own U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, has last year moved to allow its business clients...

Crypto Outperforms Nasdaq as BTC Becomes ‘U.S. Isolation Hedge’ Amid $5T Equities Carnage

President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff unveiling had led to a $5.4 trillion U.S. equities market wipeout in just two days as the S&P 500 index dropped to its lowest level in 11 months and the Nasdaq 100 entered bear market territory.Yet, amidst the chaos, cryptocurrency prices are showing resiliency, with bitcoin (BTC) dropping roughly 6% since the tariffs were unveiled, compared to the Nasdaq’s 11% drop. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, dropped by roughly 4.9% over the same period.To put the sell-off figures into perspective, the total crypto market cap is around $2.65 trillion, according to data from TheTie. In the last 24-hour period, bitcoin dropped 0.3% to $82,619.77, while the broader CD20...

Why OFAC Delisted Tornado Cash

Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control delisted Tornado Cash from its sanctions list, months after an appeals court ruled that the watchdog could not designate the mixer's smart contracts.You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions.Fair windsThe narrativeIn November 2024, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) couldn't sanction smart contracts tied to crypto mixer Tornado Cash. Last month, OFAC delisted Tornado Cash entirely, though it left developer Roman Semenov on its Specially Designated Nationals list.Why it mattersWhether Tornado Cash could be sanctioned to begin with has been...

U.S. SEC Staff Clarifies That Most Crypto Stablecoins Aren’t Securities

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has no business with certain stablecoins or their issuers, the regulator's staff declared in the latest statement outlining the corners of the crypto sector for which it doesn't have a legal interest.Since the agency was taken over by President Donald Trump-appointed leadership and formed a Crypto Task Force to ease pressures on the digital assets space, its staff has issued a series of statements meant to clarify the crypto areas outside its jurisdiction — so far including memecoins and proof-of-work crypto mining. It's now added stablecoins to that list. The SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued the Friday statement — not yet a binding rule, or even formal guidance — to declare stablecoins "do...

Circle’s IPO Filing Tests Crypto Market Confidence After Trump’s Tariff Shock

After U.S. President Donald Trump’s reelection in November, optimism surged among crypto companies eyeing the public markets. Trump floated big promises: clearer rules for the industry and ambitions to make America the crypto capital of the world.For a moment, it looked like the floodgates might open. IPO pipelines buzzed with activity. Founders dreamed of ringing the opening bell. But beneath the surface, storm clouds were gathering. A bull market is the lifeblood of successful listings, and few foresaw just how rocky the road ahead would become.Circle didn’t wait for perfect conditions. After years of false starts and regulatory hangups, the stablecoin issuer finally filed its S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, taking a long-delayed step...