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

Osmosis Launches Cross-Chain Token Portal 'Polaris,' Expanding Beyond Cosmos Roots

Polaris is described as a "token portal" aimed at solving one of decentralized finance's biggest challenges: fragmented user experience.

Osmosis Labs co-founder Sunny Aggarwal (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Tech

Ether.Fi to Launch Visa 'Cash' Card on Scroll Network

The credit card from Ether.fi will reward 3% cash-back and let users borrow money against their crypto collateral.

visa, credit cards

Tech

Protocol Village: Food DePIN Bistroo Moves to Peaq, ApeChain Releases 'The Blueprint'

The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of Aug. 29-Sept. 4.

Protocol Village is CoinDesk's living column chronicling blockchain tech project updates (CoinDesk)

Finance

In Trump-Backed Crypto Project, Insiders Are Poised for Unusually Big Token Payouts

The team could get 70% of World Liberty Financial's tokens, a significantly higher-than-normal allocation from a project marketed as a solution to the “rigged” traditional finance system.

Eric, Donald and Donald Trump Jr. (Desiree Navarro/WireImage)

Finance

Inside the Trump Crypto Project Linked to a $2M DeFi Hack and Former Pick-Up Artist

Four team members listed in World Liberty Financial's white paper previously worked on Dough Finance, which was drained of $2 million in July. One also founded Date Hotter Girls LLC.

Donald Trump, center, pictured with sons Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Tech

Cardano’s Chang Hard Fork Goes Live, Introducing On-Chain Governance

The highly anticipated upgrade turns Cardano's ADA cryptocurrency into a governance token.

(CoinDesk)

Tech

Blockchain Developer Alchemy Buys BWare, Pushing Into Europe, Adding About 25% to Staff

Company officials told CoinDesk this was its biggest acquisition to date, bringing on 41 developers and engineers from the Bware team and increasing Alchemy's headcount to 190.

Alchemy introduced its AI tool suite, AlchemyAI (Alchemy)

Tech

The Protocol: The Impact of Telegram CEO's Arrest on TON Blockchain

Blockchain analysts are reminding investors how closely the messaging app Telegram, whose just-arrested CEO Pavel Durov awaits a hearing in a French court, is intertwined with the fate of TON blockchain and its native cryptocurrency, toncoin. ALSO: What's up with Vitalik's DeFi diss?

(Kenny Eliason/Unsplash)

Tech

Chaos Labs Raises $55M as Demand Grows for On-Chain Risk Management

The influx of capital comes as Chaos Labs, founded in 2021, looks to expand its platform, designed to address the growing need for automated risk management in decentralized finance (DeFi).

The Chaos Labs team has raised $55M in Series A funding (Chaos Labs)

Tech

Top Crypto Startup Drove Other Projects' Airdrops to Its Employees

Eigen Labs circulated a list of team members' wallet addresses to EigenLayer ecosystem projects that were preparing to issue tokens. Some teams asked for it. At least one didn't.

EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan at ETHDenver 2024 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)