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

UNI Advance Led CoinDesk 20 Gainers Last Week: CoinDesk Indices Market Update

Five cryptos in the CoinDesk 20 posted losses greater than 5% over the past week, led by ICP' 19% decline.

CoinDesk 20 leaders (CoinDesk Indices)

Finance

RWA Tokenization Expands to Life Insurance with Infineo Minting $9M of Policies on Provenance Blockchain

This was the first example of transferring tokenized versions of life insurance policies, the company said.

(Shubham Dhage / Unsplash)

Markets

Bitcoin Bounces to $67K with BTC Miners Rallying 5%-10%; XRP Leads Altcoins

As bitcoin's volatility is nearing historically low levels, the crypto market is in need of news or catalysts to bring traders to action, one market participant noted.

Bitcoin price on June 17 (CoinDesk)

Policy

Crypto Trading Firm Cumberland Acquires New York's BitLicense

The company said it's one of the only principal trading firms to hold the state's crypto license.

(Michael Discenza/Unsplash)

Finance

Tether Debuts New 'Synthetic' Dollar Backed by Tokenized Gold in Tokenization Push

Users can mint new tokens using the company's new Alloy platform, which will be part of Tether's upcoming tokenization venture, CEO Paolo Ardoino said.

All but one of the recently launched spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) charge a lower fee than the largest gold ETF, making them a cheaper investment into a gold-like asset. (Unsplash)

Markets

Bitcoin Plunges to $65K, Altcoins Bleed 10%-20% as Week Turns Ugly

Some $180 million of leveraged derivatives positions were liquidated across all crypto assets during the shake-out, CoinGlass data shows.

Bitcoin price on June 14 (CoinDesk)

Tech

HLG Down Over 60% as Exploiter Mints 1 Billion New Tokens

The team behind the Holograph (HLG) said they have patched the exploit and is working with centralized exchanges to freeze accounts affiliated with the exploiter

(Alpha Rad/Unsplash)

Markets

Assured Spot Ether ETF Approval Fails to Stir Slumping Crypto Market

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said he expected the new vehicles to have won full regulatory approval by the end of the summer.

Bitcoin on 6/13 (CoinDesk)

Policy

EU Body Publishes Final Draft Technical Standards for Prudential Matters: MiCA

The European Union's MiCA legislation - the wide-ranging package of bespoke rules for the crypto sector - was enforced last year.

The EU's MiCA law starts to take effect at end-2024. (Pixabay)

Finance

Fed Sees Just One Rate Cut This Year; Bitcoin Gives Up Session Gains

The central bank took note of "modest" progress towards returning to 2% inflation.

Fed Chair Jay Powell is set to speak after the central bank held policy steady (Helene Braun/CoinDesk)