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


Finance

Ethereum builders shrug off ETH decline as network activity holds steady

By several measures, activity on the network remains near peak levels, which has industry leaders plussed about the plunge in ether's price.

Ethereum Logo (Midjourney / Modified by CoinDesk)

Markets

Elon Musk says SpaceX may put DOGE 'on the moon' next year

Musk replied “maybe next year” to a post referencing his old pledge to put Dogecoin “on the literal moon,” reviving a long-running SpaceX-DOGE thread that has included merchandise payments and the delayed DOGE-1 mission.

dogecoin moon

Finance

Elon Musk merges AI company xAI with rocket company SpaceX to build AI in space

The combined company is expected to price its IPO at a valuation of $1.25 trillion, according to Bloomberg.

Elon Musk (jurvetson /CC BY 2.0./Modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

Family offices shun crypto despite hype, with 89% holding no digital assets: JPMorgan Private Bank

The appetite for traditional and emerging hedges remains limited among wealthy families, according to JPMorgan Private Bank’s 2026 Global Family Office Report.

JPMorgan building (Shutterstock)

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Finance

GameStop's Ryan Cohen appears to be moving on from bitcoin, eyes 'consumer megadeal'

GameStop's shares have surged as Cohen teased a "transformational" consumer-related deal he said is "way more compelling than bitcoin."

Gamestop location

Markets

Opera stock jumps 15% after announcing expanded support for Tether tokens

MiniPay has 12.6 million activated wallets and processed over $153 million in stablecoin transactions in December, connecting users to crypto on- and off-ramp providers.

opera browser on smartphone (Zulfugar Karimov/Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin bounces 7% from lows, but crypto remains under pressure in U.S. trade

Crypto-related stocks like Robinhood, Coinbase, and Strategy continued to sport sizable losses on Monday.

Price bounce (Getty Images)

Markets

Hyperliquid's HYPE higher by 10% on plans to add prediction markets and options

The exchange said it has added support for outcome-based trading in a move to compete with prediction markets.

(César Couto/Unsplash)

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Finance

Tom Lee's BitMine Immersion added 41,000 ether as paper losses rise to $6 billion

Ether's plunging price stands in stark contrast to surging blockchain activity, marking a contrast to prior bear markets, company Chairman Tom Lee said.

Tom Lee

Markets

Michael Saylor's Strategy added $75 million in bitcoin to holdings prior to last week's crash

It was a relatively small purchase for the company, which now holds 713,502 bitcoin purchased at an average price of $76,052 each versus the current price of about $77,000.

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor at the Digital Asset Summit in New York City on March 20, 2025. (Nikhilesh De)