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

Michael Saylor's Strategy purchases another $2.13 billion in bitcoin

The company now holds 709,715 bitcoin, acquired for nearly $54 billion.

Strategy Executive Chaiman Michael Saylor (Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Modified by CoinDesk)

Markets

Large bitcoin holders buy the most coins since the FTX collapse of 2022

The so-called Fish-to-Shark cohort added 110,000 BTC over the past 30 days, according to Glassnode.

CoinDesk

Markets

Wall Street integration will power crypto’s next phase, says Fidelity Digital Assets

Infrastructure, institutions and advisors are laying the groundwork for a structural shift in global finance.

Wall street signs, traffic light, New York City

Tech

Tom Lee's BitMine pushes Ethereum into $8 billion staking backlog

New validators now need to wait more than 44 days to start earning staking rewards, the biggest backlog since late July 2023.

People standing in a line, silhouetted against a large window.

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Markets

Bitcoin pulls back to $94,300 as U.S. stocks sink, precious metals tumble

A selloff in precious metals and lower U.S. stocks appeared to be denting crypto sentiment.

Tug of war (Shutterstock, modified by CoinDesk)

Finance

Crypto card spending hits $18 billion annualized as stablecoin use shifts to everyday payments

Artemis research shows crypto credit and debit card spending is now rivaling peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers, with Visa capturing most on-chain volume through early infrastructure partnerships.

Crypto card payments. (Photo by Thriday on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

Markets

Riot Platforms surges 11% as lease deal with AMD marks major AI infrastructure pivot

The company sold nearly $100 million of bitcoin to fund the purchase of its 200-acre Rockdale site and signed a leasing agreement with Advanced Micro Devices that could deliver $1 billion in revenue.

AI data centers: (Shutterstock)

Markets

Early 2026 tailwinds for bitcoin miners as hashrate falls, profitability improves: JPMorgan

U.S.-listed bitcoin miners entered 2026 with rising revenues, improving margins and recovering valuations, setting a more constructive near-term backdrop.

Racks of mining machines.

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Markets

DTCC aiming to make all 1.4 million securities in its custody digitally eligible

The company's Brian Steele suggests the industry giant aims to redefine the limits of tokenization in capital markets.

Art installation reminiscent of digital ecosystems

Markets

Coinbase fears tokenization rival Securitize, says Citron Research

Tokenization platform Securitize is going public — as soon as the first half of 2026 — through a SPAC deal with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT)

Coinbase