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

Rumble introduces crypto wallet with Tether, allowing tips in BTC, USDT, XAUT

Integrated into the Rumble app, the non-custodial wallet allows fans to tip content producers.

(Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

Finance

Babylon Labs raises $15 million from a16z crypto to develop Bitcoin collateral infrastructure

Funding will be used to build and scale Babylon Trustless BTCVaults, enabling native bitcoin to be used as onchain collateral without custodians or wrapping.

Digitally altered photo of a dollar bill (Ryan Quintal/Unsplash, Modified by CoinDesk)

Markets

Ripple again rules out IPO, saying balance sheet gives it room to stay private

The company raised $500 million in November 2025 at a valuation of $40 billion from investors such as Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities.

Ripple

Markets

Strategy surges 6% on MSCI decision not to exclude DATs from indexes

Shares of the Michael Saylor-led firm had been under pressure not just from weak bitcoin prices, but also the chance that the indexing giant might exclude DATs from its indexes.

Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy (MSTR)

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Markets

Polkadot's DOT declines in U.S. afternoon selloff

The technical breakdown erased earlier gains as DOT plunged through $2.19 support on heavy volume.

Polkadot (DOT) Drops 1.63% to $2.16, Breaking $2.19 Support Amid Heavy Volume

Markets

Riot Platforms sold $200 million of bitcoin in 2025's last two months

VanEck’s head of digital assets said bitcoin sales and the AI trade are increasingly linked as miners fund infrastructure build-outs.

Riot Platforms’ acquisition of Block Mining makes sense, JPMorgan says. (Sandali Handagama)

Markets

Crypto prices retreat in return to downward U.S. trading day action

Bitcoin pulled back to just above the $92,000 area as gold surged back to $4,500 per ounce and silver rallied above $80.

Bitcoin, among other crypto assets, largely erased overnight gains during U.S. morning hours. (CoinDesk)

Finance

Former CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz joins SUI Group board

Quintenz, who previously led policy at a16z crypto, joins the Nasdaq-listed firm as it advances its SUI-focused treasury strategy.

Brian Quintenz (Senate Agriculture Committee, screen capture)

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Markets

This metric suggests bitcoin's late November plunge was the bottom and major upside lies ahead

Extreme readings in the ratio between short-term holder supply in profit and short-term holder supply in loss have aligned with the end of bear markets.

BTC: Short-Term Holder

Markets

Solana memecoin frenzy sends PumpSwap trading volume to record $1.2 billion

Despite high trading volumes, PumpSwap's fee generation remains modest, with $2.98 million in fees recorded on Monday.

U.S. dollar (Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)