Stephen Alpher

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Stephen Alpher

Latest from Stephen Alpher


Markets

Bitcoin Headed Below $60K Says Hot-Handed Crypto Hedge Fund Manager

D.O.G.E. job cuts, tariffs, a restrictive Fed and new immigration policies could weigh on markets for the next six to nine months, said Lekker Capital's Quinn Thompson.

XRP bears chalk out a H&S pattern. (Unsplash, mana5280)

Finance

AI-Infused Blockchain Ambient to 'Replace Bitcoin,' Says Co-Founder

Ambient raised $7.2 million in seed funding from a16z, Delphi Digital and Amber Group.

Cryptocurrency mining machines

Finance

Circle Hires JPMorgan, Citi With Plan to File IPO in Late April: Fortune

The issuer of the USDC stablecoin is aiming again to go public after an attempted SPAC merger in 2021 never materialized.

Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Circle. (Getty Images)

Finance

Bitcoin Could Threaten Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status: BlackRock’s Larry Fink

In a letter to shareholders, the chairman of the world’s largest asset manager warned about the soaring U.S. debt and the possible competition that bitcoin poses to the U.S. Dollar.

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, at a climate conference in Dubai in December 2024. (Getty Images)

Finance

OKX Chief Legal Officer Mauricio Beugelmans Leaves the Exchange

According to Beugelmans’ Linkedin profile, he spent three years and eight months at the exchange.

Lod,,Israel,-,July,16,2023:,Okx,App,Play,Store,Page

Finance

IREN Calling Off Bitcoin Mining Expansion in Favor of AI Data Centers

The company expects to reach its previously planned 52 EH/s of bitcoin mining capacity in coming months.

https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom/press-release/2023/06/hewlett-packard-enterprise-unveils-ai-cloud-for-large-language-models.html

Markets

Michael Saylor's Strategy Adds Another 22K Bitcoin for $1.92B

The purchase was funded mostly common stock issuance and brought the company's holdings to 528,185 BTC.

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor at the Digital Asset Summit in New York City on March 20, 2025. (Nikhilesh De)

Markets

Strategy Holders Might be at Risk From Michael Saylor's Financial Wizardry

Though Strategy has been buying bitcoin for nearly five years, the recent aggressive pace of purchases means another moderate leg lower in prices would put the company in the red on its BTC stack.

MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor (Credit: CoinDesk/Danny Nelson)

Markets

Galaxy Digital Reaches $200M Settlement Agreement With NYAG Over LUNA Investments

Galaxy reported profit of $174 million and $365 million for Q4 and the full year of 2024, respectively

Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital

Markets

Tokenized Gold Hits Record $1.4B Market Cap as Trading Volumes Soar in March

The overall stablecoin market, including tokens pegged to currencies and commodities, crossed $230 billion rising for the 18th consecutive month, CoinDesk Data's report show.

A gold bar (Scottsdale mint/Unsplash)