Cheyenne Ligon

Cheyenne is a features and opinions editor at CoinDesk. Previously, she covered U.S. policy and regulation, with a focus on court proceedings and crime. She was part of the Gerald Loeb award-winning team that chronicled the downfall of FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried. She has no significant crypto holdings.

Cheyenne Ligon

Latest from Cheyenne Ligon


Tech

Most Influential: Rushi Manche

The Movement Labs’ co-founder’s secret dealings and subsequent scandal stoked industry-wide anxieties about opaque token allocations and insider trading.

Rush Manche

Policy

Most Influential: The Lazarus Group

The crypto industry’s most notorious hackers continue to break records, highlighting the importance of taking every step possible to secure wallets.

The Lazarus Group

CoinDesk News

Most Influential: Pump.fun

The platform saw massive success in 2025, with over $150 billion in cumulative volume, $138 million in monthly revenue, and a notable $500 million token sale in July.

Pump.fun

Finance

Most Influential: Hayden Davis

Crypto’s Gen Z supervillain may have single-handedly popped the memecoin bubble this year, exposing it as less a cultural movement and more a parasitic financial machine feeding on new entrants.

Hayden Davis

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Finance

Superstate Rolls Out Direct Stock Issuance for Public Companies on Ethereum, Solana

SEC-registered firms can sell their own shares directly on blockchain rails to investors, raising funds in stablecoins.

Robert Leshner, CEO of Superstate (Superstate)

Tech

Blockstream Connects Lightning and Liquid for Faster, Private Bitcoin Payments

The new update enables trustless swaps between Lightning and Liquid, removing technical hurdles for fast, self-custodial BTC spending, the company said.

Adam Back, CEO Blockstream (CoinDesk/Personae Digital)

Finance

Pineapple Financial Starts Migrating its $10B Mortgage Portfolio Onchain via Injective

The Canadian fintech has already put data tied to about $412 million in funded mortgages onchain, and aims to migrate more than 29,000 loans over time.

Art installation reminiscent of digital ecosystems

Policy

Most Influential: Don Jr., Eric and Barron Trump

The sons of U.S. President Donald Trump have capitalized on their family name and crypto’s political momentum, carving out a profitable niche for themselves in the booming industry.

Eric Trump, Barron Trump, Donald Trump Jr.

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Finance

Most Influential: Brandon and Howard Lutnick

The world's biggest stablecoin issuer struggled to maintain banking relationships for a few years and faced accusations it wasn't fully backing its circulating tokens — then one of the world's biggest financial firms, Cantor Fitzgerald, became its custodian.

Howard Lutnick and Brandon Lutnick

Finance

Most Influential: Paolo Ardoino

The CEO of Tether is turning the stablecoin into a global financial force.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino (Modified by CoinDesk)