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

Litecoin Slides as ETF Optimism Battles Wider Market Slowdown

Technical analysis suggests a potential "golden cross" pattern, which could precede a multi-week rally.

LTC price chart (CoinDesk Data)

Finance

MARA Holdings Nears 50K Bitcoin Treasury Milestone

The company in June saw a 25% decrease in blocks won mostly due to weather-related curtailments.

Bitcoin ASIC miner (CoinDesk Archives)

Markets

Circle's Valuation Not Stretched, Says Citi, Starting Coverage With Buy Rating

Citi's $243 price target suggests roughly 34% upside from last night's close just above $181.

Major banks' logos light up the night atop skyscrapers. (Miquel Parera/Unsplash)

Finance

Crypto Investors Lost $2.5B to Hacks and Scams in the First Half of 2025: Certik

The majority of incidents took place on the Ethereum network, followed by Bitcoin.

Under a low-light red lamp, a pair of hands types on a keyboard. (Wesley Tingey/Unsplash+)

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Finance

Circle Applies for National Trust Bank Charter

A federal trust charter would bring Circle under direct federal bank regulator oversight, aligning it with how traditional financial institutions are overseen.

(Sandali Handagama/ CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin Carried Crypto Markets in 2025's First Half as Altcoins Crumbled. What's Next?

Crypto stayed flat in a volatile first half of the year thanks to bitcoin. Meanwhile, Ethereum's ETH, Solana's SOL and small caps endured steep losses.

Bull and Bear (nosheep/Pixabay)

Finance

Katana Mainnet Goes Live as Pre-Deposits Hit $232M

Depositors will receive rewards such as randomized NFT "Krates" and a portion of KAT tokens.

CoinDesk

Markets

Fold Holdings Slumps 7% on Delay in Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card

The stock has lost more than 50% of its value since coming public earlier this year in a SPAC deal.

A bear cools itself, lying on its back in shallow water. (Unsplash, mana5280)

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Markets

Litecoin Slips Below $86 as Resistance Holds; Traders Watch Bitcoin Dominance

The decline occurred as bitcoin's dominance increased alongside lowered volatility.

CoinDesk

Finance

Robinhood Pushes Deeper Into Crypto With Own Blockchain, Tokenized Stock Launch

The tokenized versions of U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs will first be available to EU users and issued on Arbitrum, with future plans to deploy them on on Robinhood's own blockchain.

Robinhood app on a smartphone (Shutterstock)