Coindesk

Traders are no longer chasing upside in Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy (MSTR), a leveraged play on bitcoin (BTC), signaling a cautious shift in market sentiment.MSTR's 250-day put-call skew, which shows the difference in implied volatility between puts (options to sell) and calls (options to buy), has bounced to zero from -20% in three weeks, according to a data tracking website Market Chameleon.It means that call options, which traders use to achieve asymmetric upside gains from a potential rally in the underlying asset, are now trading at parity with puts that offer downside protection rather than the unusually high premium observed three weeks ago.In other words, the sentiment has flipped to neutral from uber-bullish.The change comes as MSTR's share price has declined by...

Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) is deepening its foray into the crypto ecosystem.Garanti BBVA Kripto, a crypto custody platform operated by Garanti BBVA — Turkey’s fifth largest bank, which as of December 2023 was almost 86% owned by BBVA — will soon be providing crypto trading services to the general public. Bit2Me, a crypto exchange founded in Spain in 2014, will be used as the bank’s trading execution center.And now that the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation is in full effect across the European Union, the partnership between BBVA and the crypto exchange is a strong signal of more things are brewing on the horizon, according to Abel Peña, Bit2Me’s chief sales officer.“I believe in 2025 we...

This special edition of the Protocol looks back at 2024's groundbreaking developments and forward to what the coming year might bring for blockchain technology.Let’s dive into the milestones, trends, and predictions shaping the next era of crypto.This article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.1. A Look Back: Top Crypto Tech Milestones of 2024Ethereum’s Duncun Upgrade: 2024 marked Ethereum’s most significant network upgrade yet. Ethereum activated the Cancun-Deneb (Dencun) upgrade, a landmark improvement designed to enhance scalability and reduce data fees, marking a pivotal step in the network's evolution. Duncun introduced proto-danksharding, a mechanism...

Centralized data networks, ones that are owned and/or managed by a single entity, have been structurally broken for years. Why? Single points of failure. If one entity (or even a few) has access to a database, then there is only one “point” to compromise in order to gain full access. This is a serious problem for networks holding sensitive data like customer information, government files, and financial records, and those with control of infrastructure like power grids.Billions of digital records were stolen in 2024 alone, causing an estimated $10 trillion in damages! Notable breaches include nearly all of AT&T’s customer information and call logs, half of America’s personal health information, 700 million end-user records from companies using Snowflake, 10 billion...

By answering three key questions on return expectations and target portfolio volatility, multi-asset investors can evaluate bitcoin's suitability for their portfolios and determine its optimal allocation based on their unique goals.Contrary to popular belief, bitcoin's price is primarily driven by demand, not its (mining) supply. Each of bitcoin's five bull markets has been propelled by innovations in how investors access it — ranging from the creation of early spot exchanges to the introduction of futures, uncollateralized borrowing, spot bitcoin ETFs, and now options on these ETFs. This evolution underscores bitcoin's deepening integration into traditional financial markets, a trend accelerated by regulatory approvals from U.S. agencies like the CFTC and SEC, which have progressively legitimized bitcoin-based financial products.The 2017 decision to...