Nikhilesh De

Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation, covering regulators, lawmakers and institutions. He owns < $50 in BTC and < $20 in ETH. He won a Gerald Loeb award in the beat reporting category as part of CoinDesk's blockbuster FTX coverage in 2023, and was named the Association of Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers' Journalist of the Year in 2020.

Nikhilesh De

Latest from Nikhilesh De


Policy

CFTC's AI will review U.S. crypto registration applications, chairman tells CoinDesk

The regulator is working on new technology to stretch abilities of reduced staff, says Chairman Mike Selig, including AI monitoring of trading data.

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Finance

Western Union eyeing stablecoin launch to settle global transactions without SWIFT, CEO says

The 175-year-old money-transfer firm also plans to issue a stablecoin-linked card for payments and cash-out options from crypto to local currencies, CEO Devin McGranahan said.

A Western Union sign above a shop. (Shutterstock)

Policy

Running out of time on Clarity: State of Crypto

April is almost over. May is the month to watch.

U.S. Capitol Building (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Finance

Why DeFi isn't dead despite massive exploits and $13 billion investor exodus

A $292 million exploit and $13 billion TVL drop looks catastrophic on the surface, but the data tells a different story.

DeFi is battered and bruised, but not dead (Unsplash)

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Finance

Freezing 5.6 million dormant bitcoin could trigger ‘worst’ single-day repricing

Maximalists warn freezing 5.6M BTC risks instant sell-offs, while others say quantum threats leave no alternative.

Heading of Bitcoin Whitepaper

Tech

Crypto is built for AI agents, not humans, says Alchemy's CEO

Alchemy CEO Nikil Viswanathan argues the global financial system was designed for humans, but the next wave of commerce will be driven by AI agents that operate natively in crypto.

(Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images)

Policy

Trump defends crypto legislation at private event featuring boxer Mike Tyson, Tether CEO

President Donald Trump, at a Mar-a-Lago gathering of investors in his self-branded memecoin, said crypto is mainstream and banks should back off the industry's bill.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaking at Mar-a-Lago.

Tech

Coinbase’s Jesse Pollak says AI agents are the next big wave for crypto payments

Pollak, who will be speaking at Consensus Miami 2026 next month, also sees the open-source protocol x402 as a key part of that wave.

Jesse Pollak (courtesy Winni Wintermeyer/Coinbase)

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Policy

U.S. CFTC adds New York to string of states its suing to stop prediction market pushback

The federal regulator has been suing states that seek to curtail prediction markets activity and claim it should be deemed state-regulated gaming.

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin is on track for its best month in a year. $5 billion USDT growth fuels the rebound

Strong earnings season trumps geopolitical risks for now, one trader said, as equities and crypto markets "stopped caring" about Iran war headlines.

Bitcoin (BTC) price on April 24 (CoinDesk)