Helene Braun

Helene is a New York-based markets reporter at CoinDesk, covering the latest news from Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and updates on crypto markets. She is a graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.

Helene Braun

Latest from Helene Braun


Policy

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Closest Friends Will Testify Against Him. Here’s Who Else We’ll Hear From

Sam Bankman-Fried's trial is set to start this Tuesday, and some of his former closest friends, have become his biggest threat.

Sam Bankman-Fried outside U.S. District Court on Feb. 9, 2023 (Liz Napolitano/CoinDesk)

Policy

Sam Bankman-Fried Goes on Trial Tomorrow

Crypto's biggest trial begins tomorrow. Its outcome may hinge on Sam Bankman-Fried's former colleagues.

SBF Trial Newsletter Graphic

Policy

Judge Denies Temporary Release For Sam Bankman-Fried, Suggests He Could Face 'Very Long Sentence'

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had requested that he be released for the duration of his trial to ensure that he is able to review material and speak with his counsel.

FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried exiting a federal courthouse in New York last year. (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Policy

2 Small Wins For Sam Bankman-Fried

Bankman-Fried had a few small wins in court, but his big challenge – securing a temporary release – may be decided later today.

SBF Trial Newsletter Graphic

Finance

Crypto Exchange Kraken to Explore Stock Trading: Bloomberg

The service could launch as soon as 2024, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Kraken Crypto App

Policy

Judge Allows Bankrupt FTX to Sell Its Crypto Holdings, Including BTC and SOL

Lawyers of FTX had submitted a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, asking for permission to sell, stake and hedge its crypto holdings in order to pay back creditors.

John J Ray III took over as FTX CEO in November (House Committee on Financial Services)

Finance

Coinbase CEO Confirms Exchange Will Support Lightning, Which Dramatically Speeds Up Bitcoin Payments

Brian Armstrong, while announcing the decision, calls BTC “the most important asset in crypto.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (CoinDesk)

Finance

Coinbase Paves Way for Big Institutions to Do More With Web3, DeFi, NFTs

“We're seeing corporations who want to participate on-chain in some way,” Coinbase’s Kevin Johnson told CoinDesk TV. “But they need a safe way to do that.”

Coinbase (COIN) reports fourth quarter earnings on Thursday and is expected to post strong numbers as trading volume picked up in the last few months of the year. (Piggybank/Unsplash)

Policy

Sam Bankman-Fried Lawyers ‘Need’ Him Out Of Jail Ahead of Trial, They Tell Judge

The former FTX CEO-turned criminal defendant's team said they have “no faith” in prosecutors’ claimed efforts to address his jailhouse woes.

(Elizabeth Napolitano / CoinDesk)

Policy

SEC's Secret Binance Court Filing Has Observers Bracing for Bad News

The Securities and Exchange Commission late Monday filed a sealed motion in its case against Binance that includes more than 35 exhibits.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk)