Coindesk

So, now we know. Operation Chokepoint 2.0 was real.There really was a co-ordinated federal government effort to de-bank crypto following the collapse of three mid-sized crypto-friendly lenders (Signature, Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank) in March 2023. The crypto industry, led by VC-commentator Nic Carter, has long suspected and railed against de-banking. But, until today, we didn’t have much documentary evidence. Friday morning, internal communications at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp were released after a research firm (History Associates Inc.) hired by Coinbase sued to get them uncovered. “The heavily-redacted documents emerged on Friday, showing the banking regulator slamming the brakes on lenders offering or considering products and services in the digital assets sector,” CoinDesk’s Jesse Hamilton wrote in his report...

One bitcoin is worth $100,000 — a milestone that has crypto OGs in a tizzy. Donald Trump is selling DOGE T-shirts. It's a frenetic time for crypto.But what are my non-crypto friends texting me about?"Hawk Tuah" coin. Yep, in a very unscientific sample size of the seven friends who texted me — unsolicited — about crypto this week, six essentially asked: "What's the deal with Hawk Tuah coin?" (The seventh asked about litecoin).That a low-level celebrity's dalliance with memecoins would dominate the groupchat's mindshare at the same time the original cryptocurrency smashed through a historic level points to a chasm between the crypto industry's perception of itself and the general public's — or at least my friends' — perception.When HAWK...

Solana's memecoin factory Pump.fun shut off access to U.K. crypto traders Friday, citing "laws and regulations" affecting the runaway hit.The geoblock comes three days after the nation's main financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, warned the platform "may be providing or promoting financial services or products without our permission." One of Pump.fun's founders confirmed a blockade had taken effect but declined to comment further.Since debuting earlier this year, Pump.fun has become the de facto launchpad for memecoins on the Solana blockchain. It spawned multibillion-dollar hits including PNUT and WIF. Along the way, it generated over $250 million for its founders, who developed the app in the U.K.Memecoin traders immediately attempted to capitalize on the ban by creating joke cryptocurrencies that...

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 3830.63, down 0.2% (-7.76) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.Six of 20 assets are trading higher.Leaders: UNI (+7.7%) and RENDER (+5.8%).Laggards: DOT (-5.1%) and LTC (-3.8%). The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.Source link

Crypto banking activity was paused or prevented by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at a large number of U.S. banks in 2022, according to communications pried loose by a research firm hired by Coinbase Inc. (COIN).Coinbase's hired help, History Associates Inc., had taken the FDIC and the Securities and Exchange Commission to court in June and finally won access to certain internal FDIC communications. The heavily-redacted documents emerged on Friday, showing the banking regulator slamming the brakes on lenders offering or considering products and services in the digital assets sector."We respectfully ask that you pause all crypto asset-related activity," the regulator wrote in one of the 23 letters shared by the crypto exchange. "The FDIC will notify all FDIC-supervised banks...