Coindesk

Story Protocol launched its intellectual property-focused blockchain and associated IP token on Thursday.The blockchain is positioned as the "world's intellectual property network," providing users with a way to register their IP and track how others use it. The aptly named "$IP" token, which Story announced last week, is used for transaction fees and offers users a vote in the platform's governance system."Story is creating a new standard for IP, making the $61 trillion asset class programmable so IP is tracked, protected, and monetized, allowing everyone to see the upside," the project said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. So far, the idea seems to have had legs — at least with investors. PIP Labs, the chain's primary developer, raised $80...

Life comes at you fast. Memecoin cycles… even faster.Such was the gwei on a bloody Thursday in the memecoin trenches. The trend of the day was Changpeng Zhao's dog. The former Binance CEO said on X that he would tweet its name and photo, knowing full well that the simple act would fuel opportunistic people to create memecoins.Many crypto personalities have unwittingly seen their pooches turned into tokens. Seldom do they engage with – let alone encourage – the trend. CZ was different. He promised to release the alpha, but openly questioned how traders would know which memecoin was the "official" token to buy.Nevermind that. At 11:12 AM New York time, CZ revealed he had a Belgian Malinois named "Broccoli."...

Coinbase (COIN) topped already strong estimates for fourth quarter results, posting a 138% year-over-year gain in revenue amid the major bull move in crypto surrounding the November election of Donald Trump.The leading U.S. crypto exchange posted fourth quarter revenue of $$2.27 billion against consensus $1.84 billion and $1.26 billion three months prior.Adjusted earnings for the three months of of $1.3 billion topped consensus of $906.9 million.Trading volume in the fourth quarter was $439 billion, up 185% from the year-ago level. Transaction revenue of $1.56 billion was higher by 194% year-over-year."Crypto’s voice was heard loud and clear in the U.S. elections, and the era of regulation via enforcement that crippled our industry in the U.S. is on its way out," said...

The co-founders of Hashflare, a crypto mining ponzi scheme that stole $577 million from hundreds of thousands of investors around the world, both pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 40, were arrested in their native Estonia in November 2022 and extradited to the U.S. on an 18-count indictment. Yesterday, both men pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.Between 2015 and 2019, Potapenko and Turõgin convinced Hashflare’s investors to rent a percentage of the scheme’s crypto mining operations in exchange for a percentage of the cryptocurrency Hashflare produced. But, according to court documents, Hashflare had only a...

Last November, the American people clearly spoke. They support President Trump and the agenda he campaigned on: A “Golden Age” in America. A key component of President Trump’s agenda is leveraging the U.S.’s leadership in advanced technology and economic strength for the benefit of all Americans.Nowhere is this renewed focus on using our strengths for the future more necessary than in the development of digital assets and blockchain operations, where Washington has been asleep at the wheel for far too long.According to surveys, 55% of American investors own Bitcoin, and more than 40 million own some type of cryptocurrency. Even our largest financial institutions are now embracing digital assets and the transformative power of blockchain technology. There is little doubt...