Options tied to Defiance's 2X long MicroStrategy ETF (MSTX) exhibit extreme bullish positioning.

The leveraged ETF is designed to two times or 200% of the daily performance of MSTR's share price.

The crypto market right now is like a roller coaster racing ahead and then adding a few extra loops for good measure, pushing the thrill and risk to new heights.

With bitcoin {{BTC}} on the run toward the $100,000 mark, traders are using options tied to an already leveraged 2x long exchange-traded fu

Bitcoin (BTC) momentum shows no signs of slowing as a rally catalyzed by a Republican win earlier this month keeps on going, pushing the asset above $95,000 for the first time earlier Thursday.

BTC traded above $96,500 in early Asian hours, less than 4% from a landmark $100,000 figure that would push it above a $2 trillion market capitalization.

It has added nearly 30% in the past 14 days, data shows, driven by a pro-crypto government in the U.S. and a fresh round of rate cuts by the Federal R

Some investors in defunct crypto startup BitClave will soon get their money back, plus interest, according to a Wednesday announcement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The checks are in the mail,” the SEC posted to X on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the SEC, the BitClave Fair Fund has disbursed a collective $4.6 million to eligible investors in BitClave’s 2017 initial coin offering (ICO). BitClave’s ICO, which occurred during the 2017 ICO boom, raised $25.5 million

If you’re part of Web3, odds are you’ve spent much of this year traveling abroad. It’s likely you just got back from a conference if you’re reading this. Maybe you’re at one while reading this now. Regardless of where you’re based, you’ve likely hopped from one international conference to another. Over the years, these events have stretched across the United States, South America, Europe, Asia, and might soon make it all the way to Antarctica with the pace of how it’s going now. Around each majo

As technology continues to progress, a critical question surfaces: how can we build systems that empower individuals while safeguarding against misuse? The answer may lie in an emerging class of autonomous digital technology, commonly being referred to as “agents.” Agents are self-governing systems designed to operate independently, securely, and transparently on the Internet.

Now, when we think of autonomy in tech, it often triggers visions of runaway AI, out-of-control systems, and an unsettl

Project Liberty, which is building a decentralized social media ecosystem, is working with Consensys to expand into Ethereum (ETH).

The project is "meeting the zeitgeist" and is population-scale ready, founder Frank McCourt said in an interview.

Project Liberty, billionaire Frank McCourt's attempt to create a decentralized social media platform, is partnering with Ethereum developer Consensys to enter that blockchain's ecosystem.

Under the agreement, announced on Wednesday, Project Liberty's

The rapid proliferation of AI data centers may have a positive impact on the bitcoin mining industry.

AI data centers are just as hungry for cheap energy as miners are, so they reduce the number of new mines being spun up.

Down the line, cheap electricity may be in such short supply that hashprice will stop falling.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers might turn into a boon for bitcoin miner economics — even the ones that don’t work with AI.

The reason? The competition betw

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I'm Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk's deputy editor-in-chief for features, opinion and standards.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Imagine Worldcoin … but without the creepy eyeball scans

Aave weighs expansion to a Bitcoin L2

ENS, on top of Bitcoin

What Mark Zuckerberg can teach DAOs about governance

This article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the te

DCG chief and Yuma CEO Barry Silbert said he believes Bittensor could be as transformative as bitcoin.

Yuma will operate as an accelerator for startups looking to explore Bittensor, and as an incubator to partner up and build subnets.

Digital Currency Group (DCG), an early champion of cryptocurrencies and the digital asset industry, is now turning its attention to AI as well. Not just any artificial intelligence, but a decentralized version that drives the Bittensor ecosystem.

The conglomerat

Gary Wang, the former chief technology officer at FTX, was spared prison time by a judge on Wednesday.

Wang immediately met with prosecutors after FTX's collapse in 2021. His cooperation deserved a "world of credit," the judge said.

He was the last FTX executive to be sentenced.

Former FTX chief technology officer and close friend of Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, won’t have to serve prison time for his involvement in the crypto exchange’s fraud scheme, The New York Times reported.

Wang pled

The repercussions of historically stringent cryptocurrency oversight are well-documented, but the ensuing sea change is perhaps not fully appreciated. With pro-crypto legislators likely to replace the current regulatory regime, we anticipate a more favorable environment for crypto applications. Decentralized finance (DeFi), in particular, is well-positioned to reap these benefits. From opening the door for traditional finance (TradFi) to partake in DeFi, to enabling fee switches and U.S. user ac

Spurred by the recent Republican electoral trifecta earlier this month and the prospect of federal policy facilitating further and more widespread adoption, bitcoin notched a new all-time high above $90,000. While all eyes have been largely fixed on the regulatory outlook in Washington, Wall Street is taking note of the new margins for miners. Just as higher prices and lower costs magnify margins for traditional commodity producers, higher bitcoin prices and lower energy costs can make mining op

Solana traders are quickly embracing the newest stablecoin to join their decentralized finance (DeFi) fray: USDS, issued by Sky (formerly MakerDAO).

Less than a day into launch, USDS's circulating supply on Solana has already surpassed $89 million. Such launch day largesse puts the coin formerly known as DAI well ahead of the other recent entrant, PayPal's PYUSD, as Solana's fastest-growing stablecoin out of the gate.

The heady growth is about as preordained as anything could be in DeFi. Sky i

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 2987.86, up 0.8% (+22.67) since 4 pm ET on Tuesday.

Eleven of 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: ADA (+10.1%) and XLM (+6.5%).

Laggards: HBAR (-7.8%) and UNI (-3.1%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

Latest Prices

CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,981.79 +0.61%

Bitcoin (BTC): $93,634.61 +2.04%

Ether (ETH): $3,090.71 -1.65%

S&P 500: 5,916.98 +0.40%

Gold: $2,628.53 -0.15%

Nikkei 225: 38,352.34 -0.16%

Top Stories

Bitcoin {{BTC}} is eyeing record highs once again heading into Wednesday's U.S. session. The largest crypto is t

Expanding to Ethereum will help GraFun capture newer audiences, tap into higher liquidity for meme issuances and increase the platform’s visibility among crypto traders.

GraFun uniquely offers a “Fair Curve” model that developers say minimizes rug-pull risks.

BNB Chain-based memecoin issuance platform GraFun is expanding to the Ethereum network on Wednesday, the project’s developers shared with CoinDesk.

GraFun uniquely offers a “Fair Curve” model that developers say minimizes rug-pull risks,

IBIT options surpassed $2 billion in notional exposure.

The launch of options on bitcoin ETFs had the approval of just 25,000 contracts as a position limit.

According to Bitwise's head of alpha strategies, Jeff Park, by industry standards, bitcoin ETF options should have seen around 400,000 contracts.

Another Bitcoin-linked product, another success story. This time, it's options tied to BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which went live on Nasdaq Tuesday giving them a one-day head star

Robinhood is expected to benefit the most from crypto deregulation in the U.S., the report said.

Bernstein raised its price target for the trading platform to $51 from $30.

The company's acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp is expected to boost the value-added crypto services it can offer, the broker said.

Robinhood (HOOD) is set to be the biggest beneficiary of regulatory tailwinds from a potentially pro-crypto U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under a Donald Trump administrat

MicroStrategy has broken into the top 100 U.S. publicly traded companies by market cap, with a $96 billion market cap.

MicroStrategy is now past $400 a share and is up 528% year-to-date.

Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR).

Self-described bitcoin {{BTC}} development company MicroStrategy (MSTR) has just breached into the top 100 U.S. publicly traded companies, currently sitting in 97th place.

The company jumped 29 places on Tuesday's performance,

XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) have seen significantly higher trading volumes than Bitcoin on South Korean exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb.

XRP and DOGE have experienced over 100% price increases in the past two weeks, driven by factors like favorable U.S. regulatory changes for XRP and endorsements from figures like Elon Musk for DOGE.

While South Korean trading frenzy might indicate market froth, XRP's price stability above $1 suggests potential for further gains.

Trading volume in XRP and dogeco