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Czech National Bank Governor Ales Michl said in an interview with Financial Times (FT) that he will present a bitcoin investment plan to the board on Thursday, which, if approved, could see the apex bank diversify 5% of its $146.13 billion reserves into the leading cryptocurrency by market value."For the diversification of our assets, bitcoin seems good," Michl said, according to an interview published by the FT and quoted by Reuters. Michl pointed to broader investor interest in the cryptocurrency since BlackRock and others debuted spot ETFs a year ago.The central bank did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.Source link

The first Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting of 2025 will conclude on Wednesday, with the rate decision scheduled for release at 19:00 UTC. It will be followed by Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference at 19:30 UTC.The Fed's ongoing target range for interest rates is 4.25% to 4.5%, which has declined by 100 basis points since September. The December meeting saw a 25 basis point rate cut, but the accompanying press conference and forecasts signaled slower rate cuts for 2025, sending risk assets, including bitcoin (BTC), lower.However, Wednesday's meeting is largely being seen as a non-event for markets, including cryptocurrencies, as policymakers are expected to hold rates steady while maintaining the hawkish forward guidance from December."We doubt this week's FOMC meeting will...

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a prominent digital rights group, has filed an amicus brief in support of Roman Storm, a developer of the crypto privacy protocol Tornado Cash (TORN).Storm has been charged with conspiracy to facilitate money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating sanctions in relation to his work on the Tornado Cash protocol.“The government’s prosecution raises larger civil liberties concerns that could chill the future development of privacy-enhancing technologies more broadly," the EFF wrote in the brief.The EFF argues that Storm's prosecution threatens open-source innovation as the core issue in the case of holding developers responsible for how their tools are used, instead of prosecuting bad actors directly, could have a chilling effect on privacy-focused software...

Crypto asset manager Bitwise has uploaded documents to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tied to the price of dogecoin (DOGE), a filing with the US. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday shows.The filing, an S-1 document, is a requirement for companies seeking to issue a new security and be listed on a public stock exchange.Earlier this month, investment managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds filed paperwork for several crypto ETFs, including dogecoin among other memecoins.However, Bitwise’s filing differs in that it is filed under the ‘33 Act as opposed to the 40 Act, which Rex and Osprey filed under, Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out.S-1s filed under the ‘33 Act are typically used for niche, commodity-based ETFs...

Lorien Gabel has spent decades building internet infrastructure companies, from ISPs to cloud security firms. In 2018, recognizing the transformative potential of proof-of-stake networks, he co-founded Figment, which has since become one of the world’s largest independent staking providers, offering technology and services that enable users to stake their tokens without having to use a centralized exchange or custodian.Today, the company manages $15 billion in assets and serves over 500 institutional clients.This series is brought to you by Consensus Hong Kong. Come and experience the most influential event in Web3 and Digital Assets, Feb.18-20. Register today and save 15% with the code CoinDesk15.Here, Gabriel, who will be a speaker at Consensus Hong Kong, discusses Figment’s expansion into Asia, bitcoin staking...