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Tag: coinbase

  • Emails Show Even Epstein Thought Crypto Pumps are Unethical

    The latest dump of Epstein files from the U.S. Department of Justice has a variety of interesting emails and other documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s early interest and involvement in Bitcoin and the crypto industry. Previous reports established a connection between Epstein and the funding of Bitcoin Core development through Joi Ito at MIT, but new documents indicate Epstein may have had some involvement and even invested (directly or indirectly) in the early stages of a few different key crypto startups from crypto exchange giant Coinbase to Bitcoin technology company Blockstream. They also reveal Epstein had misgivings about profiting from crypto token pumps. 

    Some of the oldest emails in the Epstein files related to Bitcoin involve All-In Podcast co-host and angel investor Jason Calacanis, who Epstein reached out to in an effort to get in touch with anyone working on the two-year old decentralized financial network in 2011. Calacanis pointed to two Bitcoin Core contributors, Gavin Andresen and Amir Taaki, who had recently appeared on Calacanis’s show This Week in Startups

    Anduril founder and CEO Palmer Luckey pointed to this interaction with glee, as Luckey has a longstanding beef with Calacanis. The All-In co-host also published his own statement on X in an attempt to distance himself from Epstein.

    In the email, Calacanis warned Epstein that Andresen and Taaki were not business types, stating, “so you know, these are folks who are not trying to build a business. they are the crazy open source folks who are radicals. their motivation is more inline with Wikileaks or wikipedia.”

    According to an X post from Taaki, “He wanted to invest in my company. I was for it but my CEO looked him up and said absolutely not. Dodged a bullet lol wish i can read this email.”

    There are also a number of emails involving Epstein and Blockstream co-founder and former CEO Austin Hill. At one point, Hill emailed Ito, Epstein, and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman seemingly upset about investments made by some Blockstream investors in some of its perceived competitors, namely Ripple and Stellar.

    “Ripple, and Jed’s new stellar are bad for the ecosystem we are building and it does our company damage to have investors who are backing two horses in the same race,” Hill wrote.

    Epstein also received regular forwarded emails of Coinbase investor updates from Blockchain Capital co-founder Brock Pierce, who was also a co-founder of stablecoin giant Tether. The specifics are unclear, but there appears to have been a business arrangement between Epstein and Blockchain Capital, as one email claims the investment firm was paying Epstein and Richard Kahn, who was his longtime accountant, “a big number.”

    One notable Coinbase investor update that Pierce forwarded to Epstein will be most relevant to those interested in the history of Bitcoin’s block size war. In the email, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong indicates the crypto exchange is working behind the scenes to make sure the Bitcoin protocol is not “held back by any of the early idealists.”

    Roughly a year later, Coinbase would be a signatory of the so-called New York Agreement, which was a plan for changes to the Bitcoin network signed by many of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, wallet providers, and miners. The plan would eventually be abandoned prior to its completion, at least partly due to the perception that the changes would effectively implement a corporate takeover of the decentralized Bitcoin protocol.

     

    In another email exchange with Bitcoin developer Jeremy Rubin that looks humorous in hindsight, Epstein would claim he had ethics-related concerns with the idea of profiting off of the pumping of crypto tokens. “I am more than happy to fund things but as i am high profile, it can’t be questionable ethics,” Epstein told Rubin, indicating he may have been more worried about potential bad publicity. “Their deal is to pump the currency, it is dangerous.”

    While the full list of crypto investments made by Epstein is still being clarified, these documents have provided plenty of intrigue in terms of the disgraced financier’s interactions with some of the most prominent names in the crypto industry back in its earliest days of development.

    Of course, much like Republicans and Democrats, every crypto shill has interpreted the documents to fit their own narratives, ignoring the reality that all kinds of different people from varying backgrounds were willing to look the other way when it came to getting something out of Epstein, whether it be money, advice, or connections.

    Kyle Torpey

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  • As billionaires chase immortality, this startup cofounded by a Harvard genetics professor gets FDA approval for the first partial de-aging human trial | Fortune

    A startup cofounded by a renowned Harvard geneticist has taken a step toward cracking the human body’s biological breakdown by securing FDA approval to test its cutting-edge gene therapy on humans.

    Life Biosciences, a biotech company cofounded by Harvard genetics professor David Sinclair, said Wednesday it had secured approval for a Phase 1 clinical trial aiming, in part, to restore vision in people with eye conditions such as glaucoma and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) through “partial epigenetic reprogramming.” During the trial, researchers will attempt to turn back the biological clock on damaged cells in a person’s eye by directly injecting it. This allows the therapy to reach damaged retinal ganglion cells and deliver “rejuvenation instructions” directly to the target cells to help restore their function and potentially reverse vision loss.

    The company will enroll its first patients over the next couple of months, with results potentially coming by the end of the year or early next year, CEO Jerry McLaughlin told Fortune.

    McLaughlin, a pharmaceutical industry veteran who previously worked at Merck and at venture-backed biotechs such as Neos Therapeutics and AgeneBio said the approval was groundbreaking: “It’s a transformational day, I think, for science overall, for Life Biosciences, for the field of partial epigenetic reprogramming,” he said.

    The FDA approval, which McLaughlin said researchers in his industry have been waiting on for years, puts the lean Life Biosciences team (fewer than 20 people) ahead of the pack, as the longevity boom is increasingly being underwritten by billionaire money. 

    Altos Labs, one of the highest-profile bets on cell rejuvenation, launched with $3 billion in funding in 2022 and reportedly counts Amazon founder and the world’s fourth-wealthiest person Jeff Bezos as an early backer. Meanwhile, NewLimit, the longevity startup cofounded by billionaire Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong last year raised $130 million in Series B financing, to pursue epigenetic reprogramming. Even Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and the richest man in the world, has recently entered the longevity chat, saying at Davos aging is a “very solvable problem.” 

    Tackling vision loss first

    Rather than focus on full-body de-aging, Life Biosciences’ is taking a “staged approach” to de-aging, first tackling optic neuropathies, conditions in which damage to the optic nerve erodes vision. The trial aims to restore some vision in both patients with glaucoma and NAION—both of which can cause blindness. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it’s especially prevalent in adults between the ages of 64 and 84. NAION, meanwhile, is the “most common acute, optic neuropathy” in people over 50. McLaughlin said the company chose to focus on these diseases partly because of their outsized impact on patients.

    “The bad news is there’s absolutely nothing to treat [NAION], and the even worse news is that there’s about a 20-to-30% chance in the next two to three years it’s going to happen in the second eye,” he said.

    McLaughlin said Life Biosciences is already applying its epigenetic reprogramming to help treat other conditions. The company previously saw success in treating liver fibrosis, or MASH, which he said showed the company’s approach “transcends organs.” 

    While the company is first focused on helping patients with vision loss, McLaughlin isn’t ignorant about the potentially giant opportunity opening up thanks to a rapidly aging global population.

    “Our population replacement is not there in the U.S. We’re well below population replacement,” said McLaughlin. “It’s worse in other parts of the world, and with a rapidly aging population, extending healthy human lifespan is critical, from an economic standpoint, and for society overall.”

    The world’s cumulative fertility rate has been dropping for years, but the U.S. fertility rate, in particular, hit a record low in 2024, at 1.6 children per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. The country’s fertility rate is on par with other advanced economies, such as Iceland and the United Kingdom, according to data from the World Bank. Others come in even lower, like Japan, which recorded a fertility rate of 1.15 births per woman in 2024, according to a local government agency.

    The science behind Life Biosciences

    Life Biosciences cofounder and Harvard geneticist Sinclair is the key behind the company’s FDA breakthrough. Previously Sinclair, who earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of New South Wales, led pioneering research on partial epigenetic reprogramming, partially de-aging cells by modifying their epigenome, biochemical markers that tell genes when to turn on or off without altering the underlying DNA sequence.  

    Sinclair’s research showed that, by using three of four proteins that Nobel-prize winning Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka previously found could fully reset the age of a stem cell to pluripotency—or a blank state—researchers could rejuvenate cells without resetting them so fully that they “forget” their original function. Partially resetting the cells had more potential for therapeutic uses because these cells “maintain” their identity, as they partially de-age, unlike the fully reset cells that “forget” their function and can turn into tumors.

    Sinclair laid the foundation for his work using mice in preclinical trials, Life Biosciences then licensed the technology from Harvard and Sinclair’s lab to test on non-human primates to better match the human eye’s anatomy.

    In those studies, McLaughlin said, Life Biosciences induced a NAION-like injury and then used the treatment to reverse the vision loss and restore it to that of a healthy primate.

    Despite the increasing competition in the space, McLaughlin isn’t scared of competitors, and he said the large amount of money and activity in the longevity space is warranted. Following the FDA approval, more companies may even follow Life Biosciences’ footsteps and focus more on epigenetic reprogramming, he said, which could overall be positive for the field.

    “We believe this has some of the highest prospects, best prospects, in aging science—partial epigenetic reprogramming,” he said. “As we continue to generate evidence, evidence is only going to bring more people to the field.”

    This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

    Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

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  • Senators Postpone Crypto Market Bill as Coinbase Flexes Its Muscle in Washington

    On Wednesday evening, the Senate Banking Committee delayed final discussions around a bill for creating greater regulatory clarity for crypto in the United States, fittingly known as the Clarity Act. The decision came as Coinbase CEO and deep-pocketed political donor Brian Armstrong went public with his complaints about the bill.

    The Senate Agriculture Committee had also already pushed back their debates around their version of the bill until January 27th. Both committees were originally scheduled to have markups on their respective versions of the bill on Thursday.

    Once finalized, both versions will be combined and voted on by the entire Senate. The House already passed its version of the Clarity Act last year, so the bill would go directly to President Trump’s desk for his final signature once it passes the Senate.

    Notably, the Senate Banking Committee’s decision to push back deliberations over the crypto market structure bill came after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared his disapproval of the Senate Banking Committee’s draft version of the bill on X. “We appreciate all the hard work by members of the Senate to reach a bi-partisan outcome, but this version would be materially worse than the current status quo,” said Armstrong. “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill. Hopefully we can all get to a better draft.”

    Armstrong later added that he’s optimistic that a better bill can be drafted, and Coinbase will continue to work with everyone to make that happen. According to a report from Wall Street firm Benchmark, the move by Armstrong may be more of a negotiating tactic than anything else.

    Coinbase and other members of the crypto industry are seeking regulatory clarity from the federal government regarding crypto, as they feel it was not provided by the Biden administration. Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is generally viewed as a villain among many crypto proponents, as the SEC policy under his reign was effectively that every crypto asset besides bitcoin was operating as an unregistered security. That said, there was a sharp reversal of this stance near the end of Biden’s term, as exchange-traded funds for Ethereum were approved.

    Key areas of interest in the new bill for the crypto industry include the tokenization of stocks and other traditional assets, clear guidelines on when a crypto asset is considered a security, and protections for developers who do not take custody of their users’ assets. While stablecoins received more clarity from the GENIUS Act last year, traditional banks now want to see alterations to those guidelines so as to not put themselves at a competitive disadvantage to the emerging crypto sector.

    Indeed, members of Congress are effectively dealing with competing lobbyists from both the crypto and traditional banking sectors and trying to find a way to make everyone happy, according to CoinDesk. According to Open Secrets, the crypto lobby dumped $133 million into the 2024 election cycle in an attempt to gain more favorable regulation from Washington, and now it’s time for the industry to get a return on that investment.

    Developer protections are an area of interest for crypto users, particularly those who are philosophically aligned with the original ethos of decentralization and permissionless finance that underpinned Bitcoin’s original creation. The developers behind privacy-focused bitcoin wallet Samourai Wallet recently received four and five year prison sentences for developing software that allowed users to mix their bitcoin with others in an effort to mask the origin of funds.

    While the former CEO of crypto exchange Binance received a pardon from President Trump for a sentence related to his involvement in relaxed anti-money laundering standards at his exchange, the Samourai Wallet developers have yet to receive similar treatment from the president. Notably, the pardon of the Binance CEO has been described as unprecedented corruption by a former DOJ official due to Binance’s holdings of a Trump-affiliated stablecoin, known as USD1, that effectively generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the issuer of the stablecoin. The lack of a pardon for the Samourai Wallet developers so far creates an awkward situation for the president due to the optics in the context of the pardon for the former crypto exchange CEO. That said, President Trump previously said he would look into a potential pardon for the Samourai Wallet developers.

    The potential lack of protections for non-custodial wallet developers in the crypto regulation bill has been a worry for some months now. And the potential lack of such protections, in addition to a lack of a de minimis tax exemption for bitcoin payments, would provide more support for the argument that the election of Trump has mainly empowered large crypto institutions (and himself) rather than the individual users involved in the so-called democratization of finance.

    For now, non-profit crypto advocacy group Coin Center has stated, “While a small number of issues remain . . . we are very encouraged by the tremendous progress made by Senate Banking.”

    Kyle Torpey

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  • Landmark crypto bill on knife’s edge as Coinbase CEO pulls support ahead of key Senate vote | Fortune

    As the Senate Banking Committee prepares to debate long-anticipated legislation that would establish regulation for the crypto industry, the fate of the bill is in limbo after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong declared his opposition in a Wednesday night post on X. 

    “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill,” Armstrong wrote, outlining several blockchain sector critiques, including a key battle with the banking industry over offering rewards for stablecoin holdings. “Hopefully we can all get to a better draft.” 

    The legislation, which focuses on market structure issues such as supervisory divisions between different federal agencies, has long been a priority for the crypto industry. The bill would address thorny questions that led to bruising lawsuits under previous administrations, including how to classify and regulate different types of cryptocurrencies. 

    After helping elect a wave of pro-blockchain candidates fueled by millions in campaign donations, the crypto industry notched a major win over the summer with the passage of the Genius Act, which established a regulatory framework for stablecoins, or a type of dollar-backed cryptocurrency. But market structure has proven trickier, especially after the banking lobby pushed back against provisions in the Genius Act that allows companies to offer customers yield on their stablecoin holdings, similar to savings accounts. 

    After the House of Representatives advanced their version of the market structure legislation, called the Clarity Act, in July, the Senate delayed in taking up the bill. But with the Senate Banking Committee finally set to debate amendments on Thursday morning in the markup process, arguments over the issue of yield, as well as conflict of interest ethics provisions targeted at the Trump administration, could stymie the bill’s progress. 

    “There’s a real chance this could blow up in committee,” one crypto lobbyist told Fortune, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive industry dynamics. “People are pretty fired up here.” 

    Lack of clarity

    For many in the crypto industry, the success of the stablecoin-focused Genius Act over the summer was just an appetizer to the main course: wide-ranging market structure legislation that would finally grant legitimacy to the renegade sector. But after years of fierce debate, the product coming out of the Senate might be worse than no bill at all. 

    The most significant wedge issue going into Thursday remains the battle over stablecoin yields. The bank lobby has argued that the Genius Act effectively created a loophole, preventing stablecoin issuers themselves from offering yield to users, but allowing partners and third parties to provide rewards. Those programs have been key to many crypto companies, such as Coinbase, which reported $355 million in stablecoin-related revenue in the third quarter of 2025 and offers yields to holders of its stablecoin, USDC. Bank lobbyists have argued that this could threaten the U.S. financial system by suctioning money out of bank deposits. 

    A bipartisan group of senators has offered a compromise in the Clarity Act, which would allow crypto companies to offer yield for stablecoin-related transactions, similar to credit cards, as well as other activity. But it remained unclear whether Coinbase, one of the most outspoken and deepest-pocketed crypto figures in Washington, would support the agreement, with Armstrong’s Wednesday post seeming to indicate it would take a hard-line approach. 

    “It’s still very much in negotiations right now,” said Ron Hammond, who serves as head of policy at the crypto trading firm Wintermute. “But it’s crypto and there’s always last-second drama, and so it seems to be one of the wedges here.” 

    Another debate pushed by Democrats is language that would prevent politicians, including the President, from profiting off of crypto holdings or interest. The issue has become a lightning rod due to the Trump family’s deep entanglement with the crypto industry, including its digital asset platform World Liberty Financial, which recently applied for a federal bank license. But Republicans have strongly pushed back against the possibility, with Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) telling CoinDesk on Wednesday that ethics provisions don’t belong in the Clarity Act. 

    But a letter sent to Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) from a number of nonprofit watchdog groups, obtained by Fortune, describes the lack of provisions in the proposed bill addressing governmental conflicts of interest as “deeply concerning.” 

    If Democrats such as Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who has referred to an ethics provision as a “red line,” pull their support, the bill could be stuck in committee, which needs a simple majority vote, though Republicans hold the edge. 

    The lobbyist who spoke on the condition of anonymity lamented that the bill has lurched to the left in an effort to gain bipartisan support, including through additional provisions that would regulate DeFi, or decentralized finance, as well as the listing process for crypto tokens and oversight responsibilities handed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “They’ve lost their north star,” the lobbyist told Fortune. 

    Leo Schwartz

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  • Coinbase Doubles Down on Prediction Markets, Acquiring the Clearing Company

    Coinbase is accelerating its expansion into prediction markets with the acquisition of The Clearing Company. This move should further establish the crypto exchange as a multi-asset trading platform rather than a pure-play digital currency venue. Despite this milestone expansion, prediction markets remain embroiled in legal challenges, resulting in ongoing uncertainty.

    ​Prediction Markets Represent a Promising New Vertical

    ​This deal marks Coinbase’s tenth acquisition in 2025 as the company seeks to diversify away from the volatile cryptocurrency trading sector. While financial terms were not disclosed, the transaction is expected to finalize in January, bolstering Coinbase with much-needed crucial infrastructure and expertise in event-based trading. This move is critical for the company’s ambitions to compete with established prediction market operators.

    Interest in prediction markets surged during the 2024 US presidential election and has continued to grow as retail investors increasingly see them as the next big market disruption. Even retail betting platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings have taken notice, launching bespoke prediction apps across multiple states to secure an early market lead.

    Earlier this month, Coinbase launched its own prediction markets platform and signalled its intentions to branch out into stock trading. This move places it in direct competition with companies like Robinhood and Interactive Brokers. According to J.P. Morgan analysts, this strategy aims to attract more consistent customer engagement, reducing Coinbase’s vulnerability to boom-and-bust trading activity.

    ​Regulatory Uncertainty Remains a Pressing Issue

    ​For Coinbase, the Clearing Company provides more than just a new product line. Analysts note that this move should bolster the fundamentals behind event contracts and give Coinbase increased control over execution, settlement, and compliance. With more than 100 million registered users worldwide and roughly 11 million monthly active customers, a successful foray into this market could help Coinbase challenge established players such as Kalshi.

    ​However, the acquisition aligns with rising regulatory friction. Coinbase has already taken legal action against regulators in Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan, seeking to prevent state gambling regulators from interfering with what it sees as products under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Coinbase argued that state enforcement efforts pose a direct threat to its expansion plans.

    ​Tensions are rising throughout the industry, with Kalshi and other prediction platforms embroiled in multiple legal challenges. Coinbase likely hopes that acquiring The Clearing Company will provide it with the scale and infrastructure to emerge as a leader in this rapidly evolving market. While regulatory uncertainty remains, the company is betting that prediction markets will be the next big thing.

    Deyan Dimitrov

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  • Coinbase Sues Illinois, Michigan, and Connecticut Over Prediction Market Crackdown

    Coinbase’s announcement of a new partnership with Kalshi to enter prediction markets was made just a day before the lawsuits were filed.

    Coinbase has filed lawsuits against Illinois, Michigan, and Connecticut, while challenging state efforts to regulate prediction markets and asking federal courts to clarify who has oversight authority.

    In its filings, the crypto exchange is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing that prediction markets fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than state gaming regulators.

    Who Controls Prediction Markets?

    The company stated that federal law already assigns regulatory authority for these products to the CFTC, which leaves states without the power to restrict or prohibit them under gambling statutes. The lawsuits come as Coinbase prepares to enter the prediction markets space through a partnership with Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated platform, and plans to roll out event-based contract trading across the US starting in January 2026.

    Coinbase warned in court filings that state intervention could cause immediate and “irreparable harm” by blocking access to federally regulated products in certain jurisdictions. The company is responding to actions by several states that have sought to classify event contracts, particularly those linked to sports outcomes, as illegal gambling unless operators obtain state-issued betting licenses.

    According to the crypto exchange, this interpretation conflicts with federal commodities law. The exchange said that Congress granted the CFTC broad authority over derivatives and commodities, with only a limited set of exclusions that do not include sporting events. As such, Coinbase added that sports-related event contracts remain subject to federal oversight.

    The company has also highlighted the differences between prediction markets and traditional sportsbooks. Unlike casinos, which set odds and profit from customer losses, prediction markets function as neutral venues that match buyers and sellers without taking directional risk.

    Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, tweeted

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    “We’re right on the law and the facts. And we will prove it.”

    The lawsuits arrive amid growing scrutiny from state regulators as prediction markets have surged in popularity. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket have generated billions of dollars in trading volume over the past year and have drawn increased regulatory attention as a result.

    Earlier this month, Connecticut regulators issued cease-and-desist orders against several companies offering event-based contracts, triggering legal challenges and temporary pauses on enforcement.

    Prediction Markets Boom

    Regulatory woes aside, the sector has also seen fresh momentum in 2025 from new product launches, reinforcing expectations of broader adoption. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev recently predicted significant long-term growth for crypto-based prediction markets. The exec even described the sector as entering the early stages of a “prediction market supercycle.”

    Tenev said adoption and trading volumes could expand dramatically as platforms increasingly price real-world events using blockchain infrastructure.

     

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    Chayanika Deka

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  • Bitcoin’s Market Structure Strengthens Despite Slower Trading Activity — Here’s Why

    Despite a noticeable cooldown in trading volumes, Bitcoin’s underlying market structure has continued to strengthen. The price action has stabilized within a narrow range as long-term holders maintain firm conviction. As more BTC flows into cold storage and supply on exchanges tightens, the market is transitioning from hype-driven swings to steady structural support.

    How The Price Compression Builds Energy For A Larger Move

    CIO and founder of MNFund and MNCapital, CryptoMichNL, emphasized that Bitcoin shares a strong correlation with the Nasdaq. While Nasdaq continues to show steady resilience, BTC has stalled behind. This mismatch creates a mispricing and market divergence, which is why the path toward $100,000 remains wide open and why the 4-year cycle thesis doesn’t hold up.

    Related Reading

    Recently, BTC saw a massive correction, dropping from $115,000 to $80,000 in just two weeks. During that same liquidation period, what LVisserLabs calls the rotation between Pure Vol vs. Pure Profitability or Beta vs. Quality has fallen sharply. Beta here refers to high-volatility, high-beta stocks, which are essentially tech stocks that drive the markets. Meanwhile, Quality means more risk-off assets, including high-quality, profitable, and stable companies. 

    BTC exhibiting momentum for a rally | Source: Chart from CryptoMichNL

    Currently, BTC has stalled after the sell-off, and the Beta assets have recovered substantially, implying that the stocks have inverted their loss with the big drop and are now grinding upwards, signaling that risk-on appetite is clearly back. With this kind of structural divergence, it’s likely that in the coming weeks or months, BTC will grind upward to $110,000 and $115,000 levels, reversing the drop as the entire correction was a little dubious.

    CryptoMichNL advised that instead of relying on a time-based sounding the 4-year cycle assumption, it is better to focus on the charts and macro relationships that directly influence BTC price.

    On-Chain Activity Shows Clear Confidence From Big Money

    The ambassador of StandXOfficial and the KOL of Binance, who is also an advisor at KOLsAgency, Investor Ucan, has highlighted that the evidence of Bitcoin’s latest upward move is already on-chain. The last six hours have revealed a clear surge of institutional demand. On-chain data shows that Binance purchased 7,298 BTC, Coinbase bought 1,362 BTC, Wintermute bought 2,174 BTC, BlacRock bought 1,362 BTC, and an unknown whale bought 6,192 BTC. In total, 20,438 BTC were purchased in just six hours, valued at approximately $1.9 billion.

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    Ucan noted that the timing of this purchase is what stands out. These inflows hit the market hours before the Federal Reserve’s upcoming employment data was released. Institutional is clearly expecting a supportive outcome. A positive print refers to easing expectations and fresh liquidity on the horizon. Retail traders are reacting, and the institutions are anticipating early. If the Fed confirms what these flows imply, today’s buying won’t look like simple momentum, but preparation.

    Bitcoin
    BTC trading at $92,087 on the 1D chart | Source: BTCUSDT on Tradingview.com

    Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

    Godspower Owie

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  • Insider Trading Suspicions and Shafted Token Holders at the Heart of Latest Coinbase Controversy

    Coinbase is betting big on fixing one of crypto’s oldest headaches: the initial coin offerings (ICOs) that fueled the 2017 boom and left a trail of rug pulls in their wake. However, the exchange’s latest acquisition has illustrated some of the underlying issues that still plague this aspect of the crypto market.

    Coinbase has agreed to snatch up Vector, which is a Solana-based trading platform cooked up by the team behind the Tensor NFT marketplace. The deal is intended to improve Coinbase’s integration with Solana, and the exchange described Vector as a platform that “gives traders access to one of the most active, high-velocity trading ecosystems in crypto.”

    At the core of both controversies associated with this latest acquisition announcement by Coinbase is the TNSR token, which is associated with the team behind Vector.

    For one, observers see obvious insider trading around the announcement, with suspicious buys piling into TNSR right before the news hit. The TNSR price surged from around $0.04 to over $0.30 in the days prior to the announcement of the deal. And this was at a time when the crypto market was doing poorly more generally, with bitcoin dropping below $90,000.

    Additionally, Coinbase grabbed the Vector tech and the team behind it but left TNSR token holders out of the deal. Whether practical or not, TNSR holders assumed they would benefit from this sort of acquisition, according to Messari research analyst Sam Ruskin.

     

    Coinbase isn’t pretending it didn’t notice the price action. The exchange is digging into the trades and price movement that took place prior to the announcement, a probe that dredges up ghosts from its own insider trading scandal, where an employee got slapped with federal charges for leaking token listing plans to his brother.

    “We’re aware of this and investigating + will take any necessary action based on our findings,” Head of Corporate Development Aklil Ibssa wrote on X.

    Coinbase’s agreement to acquire Vector brings up existential questions around what crypto market participants are really purchasing when they buy these sorts of tokens. There are many instances where crypto projects have both a token and a formalized company with shareholders associated with it, and the legal ambiguity around what crypto tokens actually represent can leave those holding crypto instead of equity out in the cold.

    “TNSR token holders just had their best asset stripped and got ~$0 in return,” said Dragonfly Partner Omar Kanji. “If this continues, people will just stop buying tokens.”

    The lack of true connection between crypto tokens and the projects and development teams associated with them has been an area of dispute since crypto’s earliest days, and the lack of ownership over anything real has made some wonder if the more technically-innovative aspects of crypto aren’t much different from the often-mocked memecoins.

     

    Notably, this controversy popped up at the same time Coinbase was undertaking the first token offering associated with their new launchpad, which they say is intended to avoid many of the issues and outright fraud associated with the previous ICO bubble of 2017. For many, the Vector deal does not bode well for Coinbase’s reputation as a fair platform for such token launches.

    “Harder for Coinbase to sell their new ICO platform when they set the precedent of tokenholders getting rugged on CB’s own acquisitions,” Jon Charbonneau, who is a co-founder of crypto investment firm DBA, posted on X.

    At the same time, Coinbase is also looking at potentially launching their own crypto token for its Base network, which operates as a layer-two Ethereum network protocol, even though the platform is functioning well today without a token.

     

    Of course, how much blame can be placed on token creators if people are willing to purchase these assets that don’t have much clarity in terms of what exactly is being purchased or if there is any real use case?

    “Funny that crypto waged a war on securities laws and now is about to learn most of them exist to prevent investors from getting ripped off,” said NYU Professor Austin Campbell.

    Mike Pearl

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  • From ‘Flop’ to Success: Monad’s MON Token Sale Concludes With Oversubscription on Coinbase

    More than 85,000 participants took part in the token sale.

    Monad, a self-proclaimed next-generation, Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 chain with low fees and scalable decentralization, has completed its token sale on Coinbase with a substantial oversubscription.

    Interestingly, just a few days before the event concluded, the demand was evidently lacking, which raised some concerns within the community.

    $270M Raised From 85K participants

    The team behind the project announced earlier today that 85,820 participants took part in the token sale, and the total raised amount was $269 million. The co-founder, Keone Hon, noted on X that the most “important statistic” was not the millions of raised funds but the number of participants.

    However, Hon acknowledged that a sizeable portion is “crypto insiders” but believes that many are also newbies. He praised the team for their efforts and added that the mainnet launch is scheduled for Monday.

    Monad’s website explains that the network is EVM-compatible “at the bytecode level.” This means that Solidity contracts, EVM addresses, infra, tooling, and libraries work out of the box. Its custom code database and low system requirements allow validators to run on consumer-grade hardware, which is supposed to provide “real decentralization from day one.”

    Success at Last

    The final number of $269 million indicates the token sale was oversubscribed, since the initial goal was to raise $187 million. Just a few days before the event concluded, though, the figures were different and quite worrying.

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    Within the first day of the token sale on November 17, the team had reached only 45% of its target, which pales in comparison to other similar events for Layer 1 or 2 networks. Some of the blame could be attributed to the overall crypto market conditions in mid-November, given the crash that wiped out over $1 trillion from the capitalization.

    The initial numbers prompted Hon to display his support for the project and reassert his commitment to making it a success.

    “Token sales are a major trend this year, and with many sales, there is a sense in which the sale terms are constructed to make the outcome sound as impressive as possible – “XX oversubscribed” and so on. Smart people see through the gamesmanship anyway. Better to be transparent and to focus on the stakeholders who will be most beneficial to the project’s growth,” he said at the time.

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  • Coinbase Exec Blasts Banking Lobby’s Stablecoin Push as ‘Unamerican’ Overreach


    Coinbase warns that banning third-party stablecoin benefits would trigger unprecedented, far-reaching, and unpredictable consequences.

    Crypto exchange Coinbase has sharply criticized a group of major US banking associations after they urged federal regulators to ban merchant rewards, cashbacks, and discounts offered to customers who pay with stablecoins.

    The latter argued such perks amount to “indirect interest.”

    “Unamerican” Power Grab

    In a post on X, Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad called the proposal “unamerican” and warned that it represents an overreach that would stifle competition and block consumers from using their own money as they choose. The dispute centers on how regulators should implement the GENIUS Act, a federal law passed in July 2025 that prohibits stablecoin issuers, but only issuers, from paying interest or yield to holders.

    Banking groups are now pressuring regulators to reinterpret that rule to also prohibit third-party benefits offered by businesses that merely accept stablecoins.

    According to Coinbase’s policy arm, the Coinbase Institute, the banks’ interpretation goes against what Congress intended. The law only bans stablecoin issuers from paying interest and makes no mention of affiliates, partners, or any kind of “indirect” interest. The CBI paper says regulators can police issuers, but they cannot control the independent choices of merchants, employers, fintechs, or property owners.

    It warns that the banking lobby’s proposal could have sweeping and unpredictable consequences, including banning ordinary practices like merchant discounts for stablecoin payments, employer-funded payroll perks, or property owners paying interest on tenant deposits, simply because those businesses also use an issuer’s API or have a basic relationship with them.

    Coinbase added that the real goal is to protect banks’ payment-fee profits, and noted that US merchants paid more than $180 billion in card fees last year. The exchange says adopting the banks’ approach would slow stablecoin adoption, preserve the current fee-heavy system, and block innovations that could lower costs for consumers and merchants.

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    “A durable GENIUS Act rule should stick to the statutory text: issuers may not pay interest or yield to stablecoin holders for holding or using the token. The notion of an “indirect” prohibition is an attempt to stifle stablecoin demand and thereby protect payments profits, and there is something unamerican about bank lobbyists pressing regulators to tell stablecoin customers what they can and cannot do with their own money after it is issued. Common sense should prevail.”

    Stablecoins Could Go 10x by 2030

    US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the stablecoin market, now worth roughly $315 billion, could expand tenfold by the end of the decade, thanks to the GENIUS Act. Speaking at the Treasury Market Conference, Bessent revealed how the Treasury is rethinking long-term borrowing as the country’s debt load grows, and stated that both money-market funds and stablecoins are expected to play a bigger role in future demand for US debt.

    His remarks mark the first time a Treasury Secretary has publicly framed stablecoins as a potential pillar of federal financing. A surge in stablecoin adoption would also benefit centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, which stand to gain from increased trading activity.

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  • Bitcoin Erases Recovery As Coinbase Users Relentlessly Sell

    Bitcoin has retraced its recent recovery above $104,000 as data shows the Coinbase Premium Gap has continued to be negative.

    Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Gap Has Been Red Recently

    As pointed out by CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn in a new post on X, investors on Coinbase keep selling Bitcoin. The indicator of relevance here is the “Coinbase Premium Gap,” which measures the difference between the BTC price listed on Coinbase (USD pair) and that on Binance (USDT pair).

    When the value of this metric is positive, it means the asset is trading at a higher rate on Coinbase than Binance. Such a trend suggests the users of the former are applying a higher buying pressure (or lower selling pressure) than those of the latter. On the other hand, the indicator being under the zero mark implies Binance users are the ones participating in a higher amount of accumulation as they have pushed the asset to a higher price on the platform.

    Now, here is the chart shared by Maartunn that shows how the Coinbase Premium Gap has fluctuated over the past week:

    As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap has stayed mostly in the negative zone during the past week, implying users on Coinbase have been participating in selling. The metric briefly turned neutral-green as the cryptocurrency witnessed a surge back above $104,000, but since then, the indicator’s value has again plummeted, and with it, the BTC price has erased its recovery.

    Since the start of 2024, Bitcoin has often reacted to movements in the Coinbase Premium Gap in a similar manner, showcasing how Coinbase users have been a driving force in the market. The exchange is mainly used by American investors, especially large institutional entities like the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), so the Coinbase Premium Gap essentially reflects how the US-based whales differ in behavior from Binance’s global traffic.

    Since the indicator has been red recently, it would appear that the American institutions have been distributing the cryptocurrency. Considering the pattern over the last couple of years, it’s possible that BTC’s recovery might depend on whether a bullish sentiment can return among this cohort.

    In some other news, a movement of old tokens has just been spotted on the Bitcoin blockchain, as Maartunn has highlighted in another X post.

    Bitcoin SOAB

    From the chart, it’s visible that a stack of over 13,000 BTC that has been dormant for between 3 and 5 years has become involved in a transaction, a potential sign that a HODLer may be gearing up for selling.

    BTC Price

    At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $100,200, down almost 9% over the last week.

    Bitcoin Price Chart

    Keshav Verma

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  • Coinbase Stock Touches $350 After Positive Q3 Earnings, New Acquisition — Details

    After what started as a disappointing week, the Coinbase stock (Ticker: COIN) seems to be back on a recovery path. COIN briefly touched the $350 level on Friday, October 31st, rallying on the positive earnings report and new developments from this week.

    According to a new report, Coinbase has also entered into late-stage talks to purchase stablecoin infrastructure BVNK in an estimated $2 billion deal. This move represents a play in a much larger stablecoin industry push by the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange.

    Exchange Closes In On $2 Billion BVNK Deal

    On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Coinbase is looking to complete a $2-billion acquisition of the London-based BVNK, pending due diligence. The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency company expects to close this deal before the year’s end or early next year, according to one of the sources close to the matter.

    Related Reading

    According to the report, the company’s venture capital arm, Coinbase Ventures, is an investor in BVNK. One of the cited sources also revealed that while the deal is already in late-stage talks, terms may change, and the deal is still at risk of collapsing. 

    A Coinbase spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement:

    We don’t comment on rumors or speculation. Driven by our mission to expand economic freedom globally, we actively explore various opportunities—whether through building, acquiring, partnering, or investing – to advance our mission.

    This latest Bloomberg report somewhat adds credence to the Fortune report—from earlier this week—that disclosed that Coinbase holds exclusivity with BVNK for takeover talks after winning the bidding war. Mastercard was reportedly also engaged in talks with the stablecoin infrastructure before setting its sights on Zerohash, another crypto startup, for over $1.5 billion. 

    Hence, this BVNK purchase by Coinbase, if completed, would represent the latest one in a growing list of stablecoin-related deals in recent months. These developments come on the back of the introduction of the first crypto regulation (the GENIUS Stablecoin Act) in the United States.

    Coinbase Posts Strong Earnings In Q3 2025

    While Coinbase’s Q3 earnings call trended for an unusual reason, after CEO Brian Armstrong dropped a list of crypto buzzwords relevant to the Mentions Market, the crypto company delivered strong profits in the last quarter. 

    The US-based crypto company reported about $1.9 billion in revenue and a bottom line of approximately $432.6 million in 2025’s third quarter, representing a 55% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, the firm’s Bitcoin holdings have also jumped by 2,772 BTC to 14,458.

    As of this writing, the Coinbase stock (COIN) is valued at about $343.78, reflecting a 4.6% jump in the past 24 hours.

    Related Reading

    The price of COIN on the daily timeframe | Source: COIN chart on TradingView

    Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView

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  • Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong trolls the prediction markets | TechCrunch

    On Thursday, at the end of Coinbase’s third quarter earnings call, CEO Brian Armstrong admitted that he was “a little bit distracted,” because he’d been “tracking the prediction market about what Coinbase will say on their next earnings call.”

    “And I just want to add here the words Bitcoin, Ethereum, Blockchain, Staking, and Web3 to make sure we get those in before the end of the call,” Armstrong added.

    Why blurt those out without any apparent context? As Armstrong hinted, they were words that users on “mention markets” on Kalshi and Polymarket had wagered would be spoken on the call. So by speaking the words, Armstrong was allowing some of those bets to pay off.

    Bloomberg reports that while mention markets remain a relatively niche part of prediction markets, a total of $84,000 had been bet on whether certain words would be spoken on the cryptocurrency company’s call. And while Armstrong may have helped some Kalshi and Polymarket users make a little money, he was also illustrating how easily these markets can be manipulated when executives become aware of them.

    In fact, Jeff Dorman, CIO at digital assets investment firm Arca, wrote on X that “you need your head examined if you think it’s cute or clever or savvy that the CEO of the biggest company in this industry openly manipulated a market.”

    “It’s not fun working tirelessly for 8 years trying to educate institutional investors on the value of crypto investing as an investable asset class, and working to help them gain comfort in this industry, while one of the supposed ‘leaders’ openly mocks the industry with crap like this,” Dorman said.

    Polymarket, meanwhile, posted that Armstrong’s comments were “diabolical work.”

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    Coinbase is moving into supporting prediction markets itself through its Everything Exchange, which Armstrong touted on the earnings call, and the company has also invested in Kalshi and Polymarket. A Coinbase spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company prohibits employees from participating in prediction markets or related activity around the company.

    After Armstrong’s remarks began drawing attention, he wrote on X, “lol this was fun – happened spontaneously when someone on our team dropped a link in the chat.”

    Anthony Ha

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  • Coinbase Exec Says Big Bitcoin Buyers Have ‘Ghosted’ Since October Crash


    Corporate Bitcoin buying hits year-to-date lows, and Coinbase warns that only one Ethereum DAT is keeping the institutional demand afloat.

    Coinbase’s Head of Institutional Research, David Duong, observed that Bitcoin digital asset treasury companies (DATs) have “largely ghosted” since the October 10 market drawdown.

    Even during times of brief market recoveries, DATs have shown little sign of re-engagement.

    DATs Have Vanished?

    Over the past two weeks, BTC buying by DATs has fallen to near year-to-date lows, which could be due to limited confidence among large institutional players who typically provide strong market support during periods of conviction. Duong explained that the only consistent buying activity since the correction has come from Ethereum-focused DATs, and even that demand has been narrowly driven by a single player, identified as Bitmine (BMNR), with smaller contributions from other funds.

    Coinbase warned that if BMNR slows or halts purchases, the apparent corporate bid for ETH could quickly fade. Overall, Duong said the muted participation of BTC DATs and the concentration of ETH buying points led to a cautious stance from major balance sheets following the leverage washout. This has left the crypto market fragile at current support levels and warrants a more defensive short-term positioning.

    Even crypto analyst Maartunn echoed similar concerns earlier this week, when he noted that Michael Saylor-led Strategy’s once-aggressive Bitcoin accumulation has slowed dramatically in recent months. After dominating headlines with billion-dollar allocations and weekly purchases exceeding 10,000 BTC at its 2024 peak, the firm briefly reduced its buying pace to just around 200 BTC per week.

    Maartunn added that while the company’s long-term conviction in Bitcoin remains intact, its ability to sustain large-scale purchases has weakened. The analyst emphasized that Strategy “is no longer buying big, but they’re still buying.” However, the company did go on to spend $43.4 million to acquire 390 BTC on Monday.

    Meanwhile, another publicly traded company is making a more assertive move to expand both its crypto and core business operations.

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    Corporate Bitcoin Rush Deepens

    Prenetics Global, a Nasdaq-listed health tech company, has completed a $48 million equity raise that was oversubscribed, in a bid to bolster its Bitcoin treasury reserves and scale up its IM8 supplement brand. The firm revealed on Monday that the offering received strong interest from a range of crypto-focused investors such as Kraken, Exodus, Jihan Wu’s GPTX, DL Holdings, and American Ventures.

    Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka and Hong Kong business magnate Adrian Cheng both deepened their investments, while football legend David Beckham continues to hold shares. Prenetics said that the company may receive up to a total of approximately $216 million if all associated warrants are exercised.

    In a separate development, Nasdaq-listed American Bitcoin Corp., founded by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., has grown its Bitcoin holdings by acquiring 1,414 BTC, which is worth more than $160 million. The company now owns a total of 3,865 BTC, worth close to $450 million as of October 24, sourced from both its mining operations and open-market purchases.

    According to data compiled by BitcoinTreasuries, this latest accumulation places American Bitcoin among the top 26 public holders of the cryptocurrency, ranking just behind Gemini Space Station and ahead of OranjeBTC.

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  • Coinbase boosts investment in India’s CoinDCX, valuing exchange at $2.45B | TechCrunch

    Coinbase has increased its investment in India’s CoinDCX, valuing the exchange at $2.45 billion post-money, as the U.S. crypto giant bets on the country’s digital-asset potential even as regulation remains unclear.

    The investment is an extension of CoinDCX’s previous funding round and is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the companies said on Wednesday. They did not disclose the amount invested or the size of Coinbase’s stake, but noted that the new round increased the Indian exchange’s valuation from $2.15 billion in its last raise in April 2022.

    CoinDCX confirmed to TechCrunch that the latest funding is an investment of new capital by Coinbase. The U.S. exchange has been an investor in CoinDCX since 2020 and last backed the Indian exchange in its Series D round in 2022 through its venture capital arm, Coinbase Ventures.

    Notably, the funding comes just months after CoinDCX suffered a security breach in July that led to the theft of around $44 million worth of assets. It comes amid reports earlier this year suggesting that Coinbase was acquiring CoinDCX — claims that the Indian exchange’s CEO denied at the time.

    “This investment adds to our growing presence in the region, where we also maintain local operations and other important local partners,” said Coinbase’s chief business officer, Shan Aggarwal, in a blog post. “Taken together, these steps reflect a clear commitment: we believe India and its neighbors will help shape the future of the global onchain economy.”

    More than a year after ceasing operations in India, Coinbase re-entered the market earlier this year by registering with the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit. The U.S. exchange is also an investor in CoinSwitch, another leading Indian crypto platform.

    India, the world’s most populous country and home to more than a billion internet subscribers, is a key market for U.S. tech giants. However, the South Asian nation remains a relatively small market for crypto, partly due to regulatory uncertainty and the government’s flat 30% tax on digital asset gains, along with a 1% levy on each transaction. New Delhi also restricts offshore crypto exchanges unless they register with its financial watchdog. Recently, 25 global platforms — including BingX, LBank, and CoinW — came under government scrutiny for failing to register and comply with anti–money laundering rules.

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    Coinbase’s move to double down on CoinDCX to expand its presence in India makes strategic sense, as the Indian exchange has a strong local footprint with more than 20.4 million users. In July, CoinDCX reported customer assets exceeding ₹100 billion (about $1.12 billion), annualized group revenue of ₹11.79 billion (around $133 million), and annualized transaction volumes across products totaling ₹13.7 trillion (roughly $154.6 billion).

    In addition to India, CoinDCX expanded into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) last year by acquiring BitOasis. Coinbase could leverage that footprint to strengthen its presence in the region, one of the fastest-growing crypto markets globally.

    The new capital will be used to enhance products, drive user growth, expand into new geographies, and deepen educational initiatives, CoinDCX said in a statement.

    “We see strong synergies with Coinbase in building a compliant and regulatory-friendly crypto ecosystem in India, MENA, and beyond,” Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, said.

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  • Coinbase’s Upcoming BASE Token Isn’t Just Another Airdrop – It’s a Shareholder Strategy in Disguise


    Messari’s AJC says Coinbase’s BASE token design must balance shareholder value creation with meaningful community participation.

    Base developer Jesse Pollak has opened submissions for proposals shaping the design of its upcoming BASE token. But the airdrop isn’t about traders or liquidity.

    Instead, it is about shareholder value and sustainable engagement, according to Messari’s AJC.

    BASE Token Airdrop

    AJC’s analysis centers on an important factor. For the first time, a publicly traded company, Coinbase, will be behind a token generation event (TGE). This structural distinction, he argues, changes everything about the game theory of token distribution, incentives, and long-term value creation.

    Typically, TGEs and airdrops serve as liquidity events for venture investors and team members, and are designed to maximize the token’s market debut. These launches often focus on short-term price gains and exchange listings, sometimes at the expense of sustainable ecosystem growth.

    But AJC suggests that this model does not apply to Base. Since Coinbase’s shareholders are the ultimate stakeholders, any issuance of BASE must be justified by how it improves shareholder value, not just token value. The logic behind BASE’s distribution is not about rewarding early adopters or driving speculative hype; it’s about advancing Coinbase’s corporate interests.

    That insight reframes the entire purpose of a potential airdrop. Instead of functioning primarily as a reward mechanism for users, the BASE airdrop would act as a strategic tool to increase the overall worth of Coinbase’s equity.

    Pleasing Both Shareholders and Users

    The challenge, AJC says, lies in designing an allocation model that satisfies both shareholders and community participants. The ideal solution would boost Coinbase’s long-term value while at the same time incentivizing meaningful user engagement within the Base ecosystem.

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    In that context, AJC believes the most valuable user actions won’t be the typical on-chain performance metrics like total value locked (TVL), transaction volume, or trading activity. Base already leads many of its Layer 2 peers across those categories. Instead, Coinbase’s real opportunity lies in boosting “social and consumer experiences.” This includes activities that drive stickiness, organic adoption, and network effects.

    Actions such as experimenting with creator coins, using the Base app, or participating in community-facing projects could better align with Coinbase’s goals. These are the behaviors that create durable, non-mercenary growth.

    “Ultimately, the shareholder dynamic completely reshapes how a TGE or airdrop should be designed, and understanding that is key to positioning yourself for the BASE launch.”

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  • Coinbase Unpacks IRS 2026 Rulebook: The Truth About Wallets, Exchanges, and Taxable Events (Exclusive Interview)

    Crypto taxation has long been a source of confusion, and with the IRS placing digital assets front and center on tax forms, clarity has never been more important.

    From the introduction of Form 1099-DA to new requirements for brokers, ETFs, and eventually DeFi platforms, the coming changes will redefine how individuals and institutions navigate their crypto tax obligations.

    In this interview, Lawrence Zlatkin, Vice President of Tax at Coinbase, outlines what these changes mean, the common misconceptions investors should avoid, and the strategies that can help taxpayers stay compliant while minimizing liability.

    What counts as a taxable event under the new rules? For example, is exchanging one cryptocurrency for another, using crypto for goods or services, or moving crypto between wallets all treated the same?

    The kinds of taxable events remain unchanged in the new tax season. So if you were paid in crypto, sold your assets, exchanged cryptocurrencies, or used crypto to pay for goods and services, these are all considered taxable events by the IRS and will need to be accounted for come tax season.

    Under the new rules in 2026, though, Coinbase and other brokers will be required to report your crypto sales and exchanges to the IRS, and you using the new Form 1099-DA for the 2025 tax year. For 2025 transactions, your copy of the form will display both cost basis and gross proceeds, but Coinbase will report only gross proceeds to the IRS.

    For transactions in and after 2026, your copy will again display both cost basis and gross proceeds. However, Coinbase will only report the cost basis for crypto you purchased through Coinbase, alongside all gross proceeds.

    Moving crypto between wallets is not a taxable transaction since you still hold the same crypto asset before and after.

    Given that many users have transferred assets between wallets, exchanges, or acquired crypto well before 2025/2026, what strategies do you recommend for investors to accurately reconstruct the cost basis for those non-covered assets? What records are most important to preserve now?

    Ensuring that you keep records of the price you purchased those assets, regardless of which platform that purchase originated, is key. Make sure to also include all transaction or gas fees that were paid as part of that purchase, since those “expenses” may be included in basis and used to offset future taxable gains.

    What safe harbors or guidance exist for investors to choose their method of cost basis allocation

    Coinbase customers can manage their cost basis method in their tax center settings within the platform. From there, they can currently choose between a HIFO (highest in, first out), LIFO (last in, first out), and FIFO (first in, first out) method. We always urge customers to make sure they consult a tax professional before choosing a strategy.

    Many investors hold spot Bitcoin ETFs or Ethereum ETFs. Under the new IRS reporting regulations coming in 2026, how do these ETFs get treated differently? What requirements will ETF investors have, and what should investors in these ETFs do now to prepare for accurate tax reporting of their ETF gains or losses?

    Most ETFs will be treated as trusts or “look thru” entities for the investor. It’s as if you held the BTC or ETH yourself. The ETF or the custodian for the ETF should report your sales as though you exchanged or sold the crypto asset yourself. ETFs are convenient for owning crypto assets, but they will not change how you are taxed.

    DeFi platforms will be treated differently. Could you walk us through what exactly DeFi brokers will need to report – and what they won’t – once the rules take effect in 2027? Also, what transitional reliefs and timing should DeFi users and DeFi front-end providers be aware of now?

    In the absence of reporting from DeFi providers, it’s important for DeFi users to maintain their personal documentation of all transactions in order to make tax reporting less of a headache until 2027 rolls around. DeFi transactions may not be reported to the IRS, but they are subject to the same tax rules as CeFi transactions, and you will need to report your transactions, gains, and losses to the IRS just as you would with CeFi.

    Those transacting in DeFi should also be wary that transactions on centralized exchanges are not the only taxable transactions. Personal wallet transactions and DeFi activities can also be subject to taxes.

    Beyond simply compliance, what legal strategies do investors often underestimate that can help minimize crypto tax liability under these new rules?

    I encourage each individual investor to consult a qualified tax professional for their specific circumstances and what’s right for them, but there are several strategies that are often overlooked. Tax-loss harvesting allows you to offset gains by selling underperforming assets, while choosing the right cost basis method can help reduce taxable gains. These both require strong record-keeping, but can do some heavy lifting in lowering tax bills.

    There are a lot of misconceptions floating around in the crypto community about how taxation works. What are some of the most common myths or rumors you hear about crypto taxes, and can you explain why they are wrong and what the realities are?

    One big misconception is that many think crypto is treated as a currency by the IRS, when it actually treats crypto as property. Going back to one of your earlier questions, this means that selling, exchanging, or even using crypto to buy goods can trigger taxable events.

    Another misconception is that you don’t have to pay taxes on crypto transactions if they are not reported to the IRS. Not true. Reporting helps you calculate your taxes, and it helps the IRS find taxpayers who don’t report their income. But you alone are responsible for your taxes, and reporting is only a guide or tool to help.

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  • Coinbase Demands Sanctions Over Destroyed SEC Communications

    Coinbase has filed a motion demanding court sanctions against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after discovering that nearly a year’s worth of messages from former Chair Gary Gensler were permanently deleted.

    These communications spanned from October 2022 to September 2023, a period marked by major crypto events like the FTX collapse and enforcement actions against the exchange.

    Sanctions and an Investigation

    Coinbase, working through History Associates, has told a federal court that the SEC’s actions violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This follows a recent report by the agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) that revealed major failures in how it handled information.

    The department shared that former Chair Gensler’s texts, which included exchanges on crypto enforcement actions, settlements, and speeches, had been permanently deleted under a strict device wiping policy.

    Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal described the situation as a “gross violation of public trust,” calling on the federal court to take measures “to ensure that it never happens again.”

    Coinbase argued in its filing that although the SEC has held private companies accountable for record-keeping failures, it has neglected its responsibilities. The company believes that the agency’s behavior shows a “blatant double standard” and demonstrates “a pattern of evasion and delay.”

    The exchange is now asking the court to push for faster searches of the remaining records and for it to allow an investigation into how official communications were destroyed. It also urged the authorities to consider sanctions against the SEC, warning that without quick action, there is a “serious risk of further loss of evidence” that could damage the lawsuit and public trust.

    SEC Accused of Breaking FOIA Rules

    In July and August 2023, Coinbase filed FOIA requests asking for messages between Gensler and other officials about Ethereum and related enforcement actions. However, the SEC responded with blanket denials without even checking the records.

    When the firm took the matter to court in June 2024, the agency delayed reviews, asked for long extensions, and claimed it was following court orders. Additionally, it did not begin looking for the communications until April and June 2025, by which time many of the records had already been destroyed.

    The OIG’s findings showed that exchanges between more than 20 other senior officials may have been lost, while about 40 devices remain at risk due to backup failures. It also revealed that the SEC did not search texts during reviews unless specifically instructed and also failed to inform requesters when relevant records had been deleted.

    According to the filing, this is evidence that the agency violated FOIA rules, disobeyed court orders, and caused irreparable harm by allowing the information to be lost.

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  • [Card Live]Coinbase One Card To Earn Up To 4% ‘Cashback’ Everywhere – Doctor Of Credit

    Update 9/2/25: Tiers are as follows (AOC = assets on coinbase). Card is also now available for applicants:

    • Tier 1 – 2.0% of Eligible Purchases, if AOC is under $10,000;
    • Tier 2 – 2.5% of Eligible Purchases, if AOC is between $10,000 and $49,999.99 (the 2.5% Rewards Rate applies to the first $10,000 in Eligible Purchases per calendar month, with a 2.0% Rewards Rate for all Eligible Purchases in excess of $10,000 per month);
    • Tier 3 – 3.0% of Eligible Purchases, if AOC is between $50,000 and $199,999.99 (the 3.0% Rewards Rate applies to the first $10,000 in Eligible Purchases per calendar month, with a 2.0% Rewards Rate for all Eligible Purchases in excess of $10,000 per month); and
    • Tier 4 – 4.0% of Eligible Purchases, if AOC is equal to or greater than $200,000.00 (the 4.0% Rewards Rate applies to the first $10,000 in Eligible Purchases per month, with a 2.0% Rewards Rate for all Eligible Purchases in excess of $10,000 per month).

    In Fall 2025, Coinbase will be launching an American Express credit card which earns 2-4% back in Bitcoin on all purchases. Everyone gets 2% back on all purchases, and those holding more crypto in their Coinbase wallet will earn higher tiers: 2.5%, 3%, or 4%. I can’t find details on exactly what the tiers will be.

    Join the waitlist

    The card is only available to Coinbase One subscribers which now has a basic membership tier of $4.99/month or $49.99/year.

    Coinbase One Card is offered by Coinbase, Inc. and Cardless, Inc. Cards issued by First Electronic Bank. American Express is a registered trademark of American Express and is used by the issuer pursuant to a license.

    I personally don’t use crypto and therefore can’t recommend it. For someone who holds crypto (or USDC), this can be a way of earning ‘cashback’ (in Bitcoin), up to 4% on all credit card purchases.

    The only other option for earning 4% on all credit card purchases is those who have the grandfathered version of the U.S. Bank Smartly card. Other than that, 2-3% range is generally the top cashback earn rate on good cashback credit cards.

    Chuck

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  • Coinbase CEO explains why he fired engineers who didn’t try AI immediately | TechCrunch

    It’s hard to find programmers these days who aren’t using AI coding assistants in some capacity, especially to write the repetitive, mundane bits.

    But those who refused to try the tools when Coinbase bought enterprise licenses for GitHub Copilot and Cursor got promptly fired, CEO Brian Armstrong said this week on John Collison’s podcast “Cheeky Pint.” (Collison is the co-founder and president of the payments company Stripe.)

    After getting licenses to cover every engineer, some at the cryptocurrency exchange warned Armstrong that adoption would be slow, predicting it would take months to get even half the engineers using AI. 

    Armstrong was shocked at the thought. “I went rogue,” he said, and posted a mandate in the company’s main engineering Slack channel. “I said, ‘AI is important. We need you to all learn it and at least onboard. You don’t have to use it every day yet until we do some training, but at least onboard by the end of the week. And if not, I’m hosting a meeting on Saturday with everybody who hasn’t done it and I’d like to meet with you to understand why.’” 

    At the meeting, some people had reasonable explanations for not getting their AI assistant accounts set up during the week, like being on vacation, Armstrong said.

    “I jumped on this call on Saturday and there were a couple people that had not done it. Some of them had a good reason, because they were just getting back from some trip or something, and some of them didn’t [have a good reason]. And they got fired.”

    Armstrong admits that it was a “heavy-handed approach” and there were people in the company who “didn’t like it.”

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    While it doesn’t sound like very many people were fired, Armstrong said it sent a clear message that AI is not optional. Still, everything about that story is wild: that there were engineers who wouldn’t spend a few minutes of their week signing up for and testing the AI assistant — the most hyped tech for coders ever — and that Armstrong was willing to fire them over it.

    Coinbase did not respond to a request for comment.

    Since then, Armstrong has leaned further into the training. He said the company hosts monthly meetings where teams who have mastered creative ways to use AI share what they have learned.

    Interestingly, Collison, who has been programming since childhood, questioned how much companies should be relying on AI-generated code.

    “It’s clear that it is very helpful to have AI helping you write code. It’s not clear how you run an AI-coded code base,” he commented. Armstrong replied, “I agree.”

    Indeed, as TechCrunch previously reported, a former OpenAI engineer described that company’s central code repository as “a bit of a dumping ground.” The engineer said management had begun dedicating engineering resources to improve the situation.

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    Julie Bort

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