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

Tiny Bitcoin ATM Firm Plans to Fight Giant Swiss Regulator in David vs Goliath Battle

“FINMA was able to do this because they were never put in check," said Bity Chairman Alexis Roussel.

Bity Chairman Alexis Roussel (Bity)

Finance

Crypto Broker Hidden Road Collaborates With Confidential Exchange Enclave Markets

The partnership combines a confidential trading environment with execution and settlement done directly from custody via Hidden Road’s network.

1908 photograph of a vault door

Finance

Crypto Insurer Evertas Buys Bitcoin Mining Cover Specialist Bitsure

Evertas has snagged the authority to offer mining policy limits of up to $200 million per location.

Bitmain Antminer mining rigs (Christie Harkin/CoinDesk)

Finance

Crypto Distress Prompts Fir Tree, a Hedge Fund, to Seek Profit From Turmoil

“Fir Tree is at its best when we identify opportunities that are mispriced, dislocated or complex. Rarely do we encounter situations that are all three, but that is precisely what we are seeing in digital assets right now,” Fir Tree said.

(Art Institute of Chicago/Unsplash)

Finance

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Application Takes Surveillance to the Next Level

An Information-Sharing Agreement, which appears to be absent from public spot Bitcoin ETF filings, compels a crypto exchange to share trading data up to and including personal information such as a customer’s name and address.

BlackRock HQ

Finance

Distressed Crypto Specialist Thomas Braziel Sets Up Investment, Advisory Firm

The company, 117 Partners, will be a hybrid between advisory and investment, said Braziel.

117 Partners CEO Thomas Braziel (117 Partners)

Finance

Three Arrows Capital Liquidator May Try to Claw Back About $1.2B From DCG, BlockFi

A July 7 report from Teneo, the hedge fund’s liquidator, described the potential claims.

Three Arrows (QuinceCreative/Pixabay)

Finance

Ex-Genesis CEO Michael Moro to Head Crypto Derivatives Exchange Startup

Ankex, a non-custodial exchange with a centralized order book, is being spun out of crypto custody firm Qredo, which Moro joined in January.

Genesis Trading Michael Moro at the Crypto Bahamas event in April 2022 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Finance

Mastercard Is Piloting Tokenized Bank Deposits in New UK Testbed

The company is launching what it calls a Multi-Token Network (MTN), which will begin by testing tokenized bank deposits and move onto experiments using stablecoins and CBDCs.

(Alina Kuptsova/Pixabay)

Finance

Crypto Custody Firm Ledger Introduces Institutional-Grade Trading Network

The network has a range of partner firms, including Crypto.com, Bitstamp, Huobi, Wintermute and Komainu.

(Cleveland Trust Co/Modified by CoinDesk)