Coindesk

Coinbase (COIN) has its own strategy for BTC on the corporate balance sheet, but it's not a bitcoin maximalist play like that of Michael Saylor's Strategy (MSTR).On the company's first quarter 2025 earnings call, CFO Alesia Haas revealed that Coinbase purchased $150 million in crypto, “predominantly bitcoin,” bringing its long-term investment portfolio to $1.3 billion, or 25% of net cash.Haas, however, went out of her way to draw a line between Coinbase and firms that explicitly tie their corporate identity to holding bitcoin on the balance sheet.“To be clear, we're an operating company,” she said. “But we do invest alongside the space.”In other words, Coinbase isn’t betting the company on bitcoin. On a Q&A call with retail investors, Armstrong said...

Bitcoin pushed past the six-figure mark for the first time in over two months, coming within a hair of $104,000 in early Asian hours Saturday, as crypto markets staged a sharp rebound on improving macro sentiment and Ethereum’s latest network upgrade.Dogecoin (DOGE) led altcoin gains with a 10% rally, while ether (ETH) rose 3.5% following the successful implementation of its long-awaited Pectra upgrade, bringing weekly gains over 30%.Other majors including Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), xrp (XRP) and BNB Chain’s BNB rose between 2-6%, driven by a shift in investor sentiment from caution to risk-on.The move follows a string of pro-crypto developments in the U.S. this week. On Wednesday, New Hampshire passed a bill allowing the state to create a strategic...

Tech titan Meta (META) has reportedly been looking into the possibility of a return to the stablecoin market after having spurred a U.S. regulatory backlash from its efforts in years past, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren told CoinDesk that the pending legislation to govern stablecoins needs to insist that's not possible.A high-stakes crypto bill to set up U.S. rules for stablecoins such as Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC was virtually sailing through the Senate until Democrats — including some who had supported the effort in committee — rose against it in recent days and halted the bill's progress on the Senate floor this week. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act needs to change to prevent...

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA) stock outperformed peers on Friday, even after its first quarter results missed Wall Street's estimates, as the company's focus on lowering costs is seen as positive by analysts. Jefferies analysts said that with the bitcoin BTC price improving in the second quarter of this year and MARA focusing on more sustainable energy sources such as solar and flared gas-driven data centers, power costs should come down in the coming quarters and help margins. "MARA is expanding infrastructure at its 114 MW wind farm and has fully energized its 25 MW micro flared gas data center, both of which should drive down power costs," said analyst Jonathan Petersen in a note. If the mining firm continues to...

It was a pretty positive week for crypto as prices rose, big deals were signed, and stablecoins continued to penetrate deep into the financial system. Even ETH, a perennial downer of late, rose sharply, reaching nearly $2300 at press time. The CoinDesk 20, a barometer for the whole market, has risen 15%-plus since Monday. Bitcoin was near ATH levels this week on the back of more positive “trade” news. Bearish positions were liquidated and ETF flows were up, Omkar Godbole reported. ETH’s resurgence may have had something to do with its Pectra upgrade, which went off without a hitch (as Ethereum upgrades tend to). Pectra will make staking easier (and bigger) and boost efficiency. Margaux Nijkerk, our Ethereum reporter, had...