Sam Kessler

Sam is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols. His reporting is focused on decentralized technology, infrastructure and governance. Sam holds a computer science degree from Harvard University, where he led the Harvard Political Review. He has a background in the technology industry and owns some ETH and BTC. Sam was part of the team that won a 2023 Gerald Loeb Award for CoinDesk's coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX collapse.

Sam Kessler

Latest from Sam Kessler


Tech

MEV Blocker Wants to Help You Outrun the Front-Runners

Builders behind the new utility say it will help Ethereum users avoid the scourge of MEV and earn a profit, too.

(CoinDesk/Bing Image Creator)

Tech

Axie Infinity’s Ronin Blockchain Overhauls Tech, Expands to New Game Studios a Year After $625M Hack

Ronin will transition to a delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and expand beyond Axie Infinity’s IP.

(Bing Image Creator/CoinDesk)

Tech

Arbitrum Shows Just How Messy (and Tricky) Crypto Airdrops Can Be

Bugs, server crashes and scammers continue to plague crypto airdrops. Will regulatory pressures be next?

(Creative Commons, modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

Twitter Briefly Suspends Official Arbitrum Account

Twitter restored the account and said it was "flagged as spam by mistake."

Arbitrum booth at ETHDenver (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Tech

Arbitrum to Airdrop New Token and Transition to DAO

The long-awaited ARB token will grant holders the ability to vote on changes to the leading Ethereum layer 2 network.

(DALL-E/CoinDesk)

Policy

What Happens if Ether Is a Security?

A recent suit filed by the New York Attorney General could have far-ranging complications for crypto exchanges that list ether.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Tech

Gitcoin’s Owocki Says Crypto Can Regenerate the World. Just Don’t Call Him Starry-Eyed

A programmer by training, Kevin Owocki's view of securities law is not based in any formal legal training but crypto optimism, evolutionary science, economics and legal theory, with a focus on the principal-agent problem.

(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)

Policy

Lido’s LDO Token Sinks 10% Following Rumors Crypto Staking Service Received SEC Notice

Crypto podcaster David Hoffman spread (and then retracted) a rumor that the SEC had delivered a Wells Notice to the decentralized staking service. A spokesperson for Lido declined to comment.

Bankless co-host David Hoffman speaks at an ETHDenver 2023 side event. (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Tech

Axelar Introduces Virtual Machine for Developers Building Cross-Chain Crypto Apps

Axelar describes its new VM as Kubernetes for Web3.

Puente. (Aleksandr Barsukov/Unsplash)