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

Big Friday Crypto Selloff Pulls Bitcoin Below $70K

Ideas about lower U.S. interest rates were foiled again and a plunge in shares of speculative favorite GameStop soured the mood in crypto.

Crypto carnage could be warning sign for equities (Getty Images)

Markets

GameStop Tumbles 40% as Trading Icon Roaring Kitty Returns to Livestream

Solana-based meme token GME is down 50% from earlier Friday, but remains sharply higher for the week

Keith Gill, a.k.a Roaring Kitty, returned to Youtube (Youtube)

Finance

U.S. Added 272K Jobs in May, Blowing Past Estimates; Bitcoin Pulls Back From 2-Month High

Recent soft economic and inflation data combined with rate cuts this week in Europe and Canada had investors rethinking expectations about Fed policy.

The U.S. government released its latest jobs figures Friday (David McNew/Getty Images)

Policy

U.S. Charges Three in Connection With Evolved Apes NFT Scam

Evolved apes was a $3 million NFT rug pull that lured investors in with the promise of developing a video game.

Oklahoma's new laws protect Oklahomans’ right to self-custody their crypto and prevent the state and local governments from banning crypto mining (Unsplash)

Markets

Bitcoin Falls Back After Attempt at $72K, but Fed, U.S. Data and Global Rate Cuts May Bring New All-Time Highs

Upcoming consumer price index and labor market data releases in the next few days could be key for what's next for bitcoin's price.

Bitcoin price on June 6 (CoinDesk)

Policy

NYAG Sues 2 Crypto Pyramid Schemes, Promoters Targeting Haitian-Americans in $1B Scam

NovaTech’s founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion allegedly preyed on Creole-speaking church-goers and advertised their scheme as a way to gain “freedom from the plantation.”

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

Tech

Decentralized Exchange SushiSwap Goes Live on Bitcoin Sidechain Rootstock

Rootstock's goal is to combine the security of the Bitcoin network with the smart contract capabilities of Ethereum

16:9 Sushi (Willy Sietsma/Pixabay)

Finance

Robinhood to Buy Crypto Exchange Bitstamp in Effort to Expand Outside the U.S.

The all-cash deal is valued at $200 million and is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

Johann Kerbrat (on left), GM of Robinhood Crypto (Shutterstock/CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin Options Traders Anticipate Imminent Breakout Above $74K to New Record Prices

One market observer noted "very concentrated call buying" looking to profit from a rally to between $74,000 and $80,000 by the end of this month.

A rocket launching. (United Launch Alliance / U.S. Air Force)