Ian Allison

Ian Allison is a senior reporter at CoinDesk, focused on institutional and enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to that, he covered fintech for the International Business Times in London and Newsweek online. He won the State Street Data and Innovation journalist of the year award in 2017, and was runner up the following year. He also earned CoinDesk an honourable mention in the 2020 SABEW Best in Business awards. His November 2022 FTX scoop, which brought down the exchange and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, won a Polk award, Loeb award and New York Press Club award. Ian graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He holds ETH.

Ian Allison

Latest from Ian Allison


Finance

Amid Giant Crypto Rally, Hopes for Another DeFi Summer Soar

Since the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January, DeFi looks ascendant, triggering memories of 2020, aka DeFi Summer, when the space bustled with activity.

DeFi yields (DefiLlama)

Finance

OKX Quietly Settled Regulatory 'Failings' With Malta Financial Services Authority

The 304,000 euro ($329,000) “goodwill” settlement with MFSA related to OKX’s Okcoin Europe subsidiary.

Malta (Nick Fewings / Unsplash)

Policy

HSBC’s Gold Token Goes Live for Retail Investors in Hong Kong

HSBC is claiming bragging rights for being the first bank to create a blockchain-based real world asset aimed at retail investors.

HSBC's building in Hong Kong. (Christian Mueller/Shutterstock)

Finance

Insurance Broker Marsh Introduces $825M Crypto Custody Coverage

The new insurance product will support organizations with digital assets held offline in cold storage, as well other custody solutions such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC).

Marsh McLennan (Shutterstock)

Finance

Kraken Unveils Qualified Custody for Institutions in Crypto-Friendly Wyoming

Kraken Institutional operates under the exchange’s state-chartered banking license in Wyoming, attained back in 2020.

Kraken (DreamStudio/CoinDesk)

Finance

Brevan Howard-Backed Tokenization Firm Libre Goes Live

Libre has added a tokenized version of a BlackRock money-market fund so investors can earn yield while parking their capital.

Libre CEO Avtar Sehra (Libre)

Finance

Crypto Custody Firm Cordial Systems Names Jump Crypto as Client as It Exits Stealth

Cordial Treasury gives all the software to the customer, not just a bit of a cryptographic key.

(Pixabay)

Finance

Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and Others Test Enterprise Blockchain for Tokenized Assets

The Canton pilot allowed 15 asset managers, 13 banks, four custodians and three exchanges to seamlessly transact and settle tokenized assets.

Goldman Sachs logo (CoinDesk archives)

Finance

Grayscale Plans Low-Fee GBTC Spinoff: the Bitcoin Mini Trust

Bitcoin ETF manager Grayscale is seeking permission from the SEC to spin out a percentage of GBTC shares to seed the new Bitcoin Mini Trust product, according to a filing on Tuesday.

Grayscale ad (Grayscale)

Finance

With Mastercard, MetaMask Tests First Blockchain-Powered Payment Card

Issued by Baanx, the card would let users spend their crypto "on everyday purchases, everywhere cards are accepted," according to marketing materials CoinDesk reviewed.

MetaMask test image (MetaMask)