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

Tether Invests in Ledn to Expand Bitcoin-Backed Lending Amid Surging Demand

The stablecoin issuer's investment comes as BTC-backed lending scales rapidly, with Ledn surpassing $1 billion in originations this year and positioning for global expansion.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino at White House

Markets

Bitcoin Crashes Under $90K as Death Cross Creates 'Extreme Fear' Sentiment

The drop to $89,420 — its lowest level since February — comes just six weeks after prices topped out at a record $126,250, marking a sharp reversal.

Bear roaring

Markets

Bitcoin Slips Below $93K as Crypto Weakness Worsens, but Local Bottom Could Be Near, Analysts Say

BTC has erased all year-to-date gains with the Monday decline, while crypto-related stocks like COIN, CRCL, MSTR, GLXY also plunged.

Bitcoin (BTC) price on November 17 (CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin Accumulation Amid Market Weakness? Sharp Rise in 1K BTC Holders Suggests So

Rising whale activity hints at strategic positioning during bitcoin’s downturn.

BTC: Number of Entities with Balance 1K BTC (Glassnode)

Advertisement

Finance

BitMine Immersion Acquires $173M in Ether as Tom Lee Suggests Reason Behind Crypto Weakness

The Bitmine chairman said a wounded market maker could be scaling back operations, tightening crypto liquidity and weighing on digital asset prices.

Screenshot of Tom Lee on CoinDesk TV (CoinDesk)

Markets

Strategy Returns to Large Bitcoin Buys, Adding $835M Last Week

Hamstrung from common share sales due to the cratering in their stock price, Michael Saylor and team turned to preferred share issuance.

Michael Saylor

Markets

'Negative Skew': What It Is, Why It's Frustrating Bitcoin Bulls, and Why It Might Mean a Bottom is Near

If it seems like bitcoin prices react particularly negatively to falling stocks, but don't do a whole lot when stocks fly higher, you're not imagining it.

Skew

Markets

Bitcoin Slides Below $95K in Worst Week Since March; Analyst Sets Downside Target at $84K

BTC has tumbled nearly 9% this week, while ETH, SOL declined even further and XRP outperformed.

Bitcoin price (CoinDesk)

Advertisement

Markets

Ether Tumbles 8% as ETFs Bleed Over $1.4B, Long-Term Holders Sell

ETH plunged below $3,100 on Friday as the crypto selloff accelerated with bitcoin losing the $100,000 level.

Ether (ETH) price on Nov 14 (CoinDesk)

Markets

'No Truth to the Rumor': Michael Saylor Says Strategy Aggressively Accumulating Bitcoin

Amid the continued panicky action in crypto, online chatter suggested Strategy was unloading some of its bitcoin stack, a rumor Executive Chairman Michael Saylor shot down Friday morning.

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