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


Finance

Crypto Exchange FTX Reopens Bahamian Withdrawals: Nansen

Several users have been able to withdraw crypto for the first time in days.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Tech

DeFi Exchange Platform dYdX Places Solana in 'Close Only' Mode

The move comes after Solana has plummeted 40% in 24 hours due to its link with the beleaguered Sam Bankman-Fried empire.

(Shutterstock)

Finance

Why Is Crypto Tanking: The FTX-Binance Drama Explained

The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance reversed course on a plan to bail out competitor FTX in an event that has shocked the crypto industry and is catching the attention of regulators.

The last two days have generated plenty of drama in the crypto world. (Anton Petrus/Getty Images)

Finance

Crypto.com Halts Solana USDC and USDT Deposits, Withdrawals

The crypto trading platform cited “recent industry events” in an email to users announcing the suspension.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Tech

Vitalik Buterin’s New Ethereum Road Map Takes Aim at MEV and Censorship

Amid a number of new changes, Buterin’s new vision for Ethereum adds a section aimed at curtailing the threats of centralization.

(Image Source/Getty Images)

Finance

Huobi Exchange Users Furious After GALA Holdings Are Converted to ‘Meme Token’

The move came after a bug forced a bridging service to relaunch the wrapped version of GALA that trades on Binance Smart Chain, sparking widespread confusion.

(Piotr Swat/Shutterstock)

Markets

$1B Crypto Hack Fears Spur 20% GALA Plunge, but Firm Implies It Attacked Itself as a Safeguard

"All GALA tokens on Ethereum as well as the underlying bridge collateral are SAFE," an affiliated firm tweeted.

GALA price crashes after exploit speculation. (TradingView)

Finance

Aave Community Members Vote to Deploy on zkSync v2 Testnet

The decision will let developers evaluate whether to fully deploy its decentralized exchange on the layer 2 scaling platform that speeds up Ethereum transactions.

The development lab overseeing lending protocol Aave, which means "ghost" in Finnish, is seeking $16 million from the Aave community. (Unsplash)

Tech

What to Expect From Ethereum’s Next Big Upgrade

“Shanghai” will make it possible to withdraw staked ETH, but a long-wished-for pathway to lower gas fees might be missing from the update.

Shanghai (Edward He/Unsplash)

Tech

Ethereum Scaling Platform zkSync v2 Goes Live Amid Controversy

Matter Labs pitches zkSync v2 as the “first” network of its kind to launch on Ethereum, but its competitors aren’t buying the hype.

(Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)