Latest news with #CryptoWinter
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Polygon Labs and market maker GSR launch DeFi-focused blockchain
Polygon Labs became a darling of the 2021 and 2022 crypto boom when it partnered with corporate stalwarts like Starbucks and Meta on various blockchain projects. But, as those brand-name companies quietly dropped their experiments amid the ensuing 'Crypto Winter,' Polygon Labs searched for other ways to popularize its network. On Wednesday, the company, along with the crypto market making firm GSR, announced the launch of the newest blockchain it's helped incubate: Katana. Instead of catering towards corporate clients, Katana is aimed at 'degens'—crypto slang for traders with a high appetite for risk who often use DeFi, or decentralized finance, platforms. Those platforms offer decentralized versions of traditional banking services like lending and borrowing. Rather than borrowing money from JPMorgan Chase, for example, DeFi users borrow from a decentralized pool of funds fronted by other crypto traders. Katana is the latest sign from Polygon Labs, founded in 2017 and one of the marquee companies of the last crypto cycle, that the firm is more explicitly focusing on crypto traders rather than brand names. Polygon's tie-ups with Meta, which focused on NFTs, and Starbucks, which built out a blockchain-based loyalty program, attracted widespread acclaim from the crypto industry in 2022. But, in 2023 and 2024, the two Fortune 500 companies abandoned their experiments with the blockchain company, respectively. Since then, Polygon Labs has built out its DeFi team, and Marc Boiron, the CEO of the company, has even branded himself 'the degen CEO' on X. 'The key is: What are people actually doing on chain, rather than what looks good because it's a big name?' Boiron told Fortune. And what users are doing 'on chain,' or on blockchains, are trading, lending, and borrowing. To that end, Katana has brought on Morpho, a decentralized borrowing and lending protocol; Sushi, which lets users swap and buy cryptocurrencies; and Vertex, an application for trading crypto futures, or bets on the upcoming prices of cryptocurrencies. Boiron said that Katana's biggest differentiator is how it prioritizes its core DeFi applications over competitors. On other blockchains, user funds may be split, for example, across several competing lending and borrowing applications. When funds are divided, users face markets where prices rise or fall abruptly in a matter of seconds. Katana, a layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum, aims to combat this through incentivizing only a handful of DeFi applications in its ecosystem. To do this, the blockchain will distribute fees generated from users on the protocol back to the users of its preferred DeFi applications—among other incentives. The blockchain is currently open to select users and will go public in late June. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coinbase, MicroStrategy, and more crypto stocks popping today
Leading cryptocurrencies gained, with some of the biggest crypto stocks following suit as the broader market rose on Monday after reports that the Trump administration may narrow the scope of its impending April 2 tariffs. Bitcoin was up 2.7%to $88,418.31, Ether was up about 4.2% to $2,088.88, and Ripple's XRP was up more than 1.1% to $2.47 as of around 11:15 a.m. New York time. Deutsche Bank (DB) Research analyst Marion Laboure told CNBC Monday that crypto's hot-and-cold 2025 is partly linked to unknowns around the Trump administration's planned reserve. There's also 'a lot of momentum these days regarding the tokenization of finance.' Bernstein analysts said they anticipate growing ties between crypto and traditional finance. 'We see a world where crypto exchanges will offer spot crypto, crypto derivatives, and tokenized equities, while broker platforms will also scale up their crypto services,' they wrote. Here's a closer look at how some of the top crypto company stocks are faring: Coinbase (COIN) rose 5% to more than $200 per share. Earlier in March, Rosenblatt analyst Chris Brendler called Coinbase 'the clear blue chip' in crypto, citing its non-trading revenue growth and saying 'the stock will prove more resilient in the next Crypto Winter.' Still, the stock remains down about 22% year-to-date. MicroStrategy (MSTR) shot up 7.3% after it snapped up about half a billion dollars of Bitcoin, pushing its total supply beyond 500,000 BTC. Robinhood (HOOD) climbed 9.6%, recouping some of its recent losses. A week ago, the company debuted a prediction markets product within its app. Hut 8 (HUT) stock rose more than 7.3%. Earlier this month, the cryptomining firm said it secured '592 acres in Louisiana' for a new $2.5 billion, 300MW data center. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sam Bankman-Fried is angling for a pardon from President Trump. Insiders call it a long shot
Just three years ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was the crypto king of Washington, D.C., establishing himself as a fundraising force after becoming one of the top donors to Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. After a swift fall from grace, and a 25-year prison sentence following the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX, Bankman-Fried is changing his tune and appealing to President Trump for a pardon. But despite his new right-wing press tour, which included an unsanctioned appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show that landed Bankman-Fried in solitary confinement, political insiders characterize the bid as a long shot. When asked about the probability that Bankman-Fried's campaign will yield success, one crypto lobbyist—who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly—answered: 'zero.' 'Sorry, it's Trump world … near zero,' they added. As the founder of FTX, a crypto empire once valued north of $30 billion, Sam Bankman-Fried was briefly at the top of the blockchain world. He parlayed his growing riches into an influence campaign in D.C., funneling tens of millions of dollars in donations, mostly to congressional candidates, with the goal of advancing different policy issues, from crypto regulatory reform to pandemic preparedness. Publicly, Bankman-Fried's cohort of twentysomething employees affiliated with the 'effective altruism' philanthropic movement seemed to lean left, mostly donating to Democratic candidates. But after the bankruptcy of FTX and his arrest, Bankman-Fried claimed that he had donated just as much money to Republicans, albeit through 'dark money' channels that could not be traced. During Bankman-Fried's trial, prosecutors' evidence included a document where the crypto founder listed ways to potentially fend off his company's impending collapse. 'Go on Tucker Carlson,' read the third item. 'Come out as a republican [sic].' Over a year after his guilty sentence, Bankman-Fried appears to be deploying the playbook. The New York Times reported that, along with speaking with the Trump-friendly Carlson, Bankman-Fried is also consulting with a lawyer with ties to the president. His father, Stanford Law professor Joe Bankman, also cowrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post last month lauding Trump's plans for a sovereign wealth fund. The moonshot idea to procure a pardon from Trump is not out of the bounds of possibility. Notably, the president embraced crypto during the election campaign, and then pardoned the founder of blockchain-powered dark web marketplace Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, just a few days after taking office. But while Ulbricht was a popular figure in libertarian corners of the crypto industry, and his release a long-standing political goal, Bankman-Fried is still reviled among much of the sector, especially after the fraud that he perpetrated at FTX caused a prolonged Crypto Winter. A different crypto lobbyist told Fortune that Bankman-Fried's odds of a pardon are increasing because of Trump's increasing ties to the industry and his willingness to use his pardoning power freely. 'That said, it doesn't feel like the broader crypto community has made SBF a priority like it did with Ross Ulbricht,' said the lobbyist. 'Until that happens, the pardon probably doesn't occur.' This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin price continues dropping despite recent talks of largescale Texas investment
This story has been updated to add video. A groundhog somewhere might just be indicating an elongated Bitcoin winter as the fortunes of the online currency continue to trend downward after a triumphant moment after the presidential election. While the current downturn is far from the infamous Crypto Winter of 2022, the price of Bitcoin is down another five percent today as it struggles to rally. This downturn is only an exaggerated microcosm of how bitcoin has been trading in the last month. In that timeframe, the coin, which is the poster child for cryptocurrency, has plunged more than 16% and is now priced at 87,234 USD per coin. While this number is still very impressive for the space it is a far cry from the 106,490 USD peak that the coin experienced in December of last year. The recent drop in the price of Bitcoin can be attributed to two main factors. First, its peak of over $100,000 in December led investors to fear overinflation, especially after the significant drop in 2022. This prompted some investors to cash out and sell for profit. Second, floundering stocks have been a trend this week, with market favorites like Walmart, Tesla, Nvidia, and Palantir all experiencing drops amid fears of economic uncertainty. These fears can be traced back to widespread tariffs, threats of tariffs, geopolitical tensions and cuts in federal spending. During the campaign trail and early into his second administration, marked by strategic chaos, Donald Trump floated the idea of a U.S. cryptocurrency stockpile. As a recent ally of the crypto industry, Trump has already ordered the creation of a crypto task force to explore new regulations and envision what a U.S. cryptocurrency stockpile would entail. Since then, two Texas bills filed this session have sought to lead the conversation surrounding the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the state. The two bills, one filed by state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and the other by Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, seek to establish a strategic reserve for the cryptocurrency in the state, allowing corporations and individuals to donate or use Bitcoin as a form of payment. If the bills were to come to fruition, this would not result in the state outright buying Bitcoin using taxpayer funds. Rather, they would create the reserve to be used in emergency situations, for government philanthropic spending and more at the discretion of the Legislature and comptroller. 'The beauty of a Texas strategic Bitcoin reserve (through these bills) is it's primarily driven by donations, and there's really no risk to the Texas taxpayer. It's only a net positive,' said Lee Bratcher, founder and president of Texas Blockchain Council told the American-Statesman in a previous report. Karoline Leonard contributed to this report Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@ This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bitcoin price dropping amid talks of largescale Texas investment
