Business intelligence company MicroStrategy has added to its Bitcoin (BTC) stash, with a purchase of 29,646 BTC for a total of $650 million, an average of around $21,925 per Bitcoin CEO Michael Saylor tweeted the news immediately following a pullback in price to $22,247, although it is unclear whether the acquisition coincided with this event. MicroStrategy announced its intention to buy more Bitcoin earlier this month with a $400 million debt security sale to raise funds for the purchase. The bond sale ultimately brought in $650 million, which has now been used to buy Bitcoin as promised. The company is …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Law Decoded will be going on a break next week for the holidays but will return in the new year. Editor’s note As the holidays loom, Bitcoin has been shattering all-time highs. For reasons why, consult Cointelegraph’s markets coverage. I honestly never know. Maybe with the act of Christmas shopping taking place behind the computer, people have turned to Coinbase instead of Amazon. Or maybe the threat of the Treasury demanding reports from exchanges interacting with self-hosted wallets has people trying …

The latter half of 2020 has seen record Bitcoin (BTC) prices and a number of key regulatory developments, such as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s, or OCC’s, approval of crypto custody at national banks. Legal policy for the digital asset industry currently faces an uncertain future, however, as a number of government roles are set to change heading into 2020, according to former Coinbase exec and current acting leader of the OCC, Brain Brooks. “I can’t speak to the specific price movement, but I’ll tell you what I’m worried about,” Brooks told CNBC in a Friday interview, …

Digital currency exchange Coinbase has reportedly approached Goldman Sachs to lead its upcoming initial public offering — a move that could bolster the appeal of cryptocurrencies to a broader mainstream audience. Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Business Insider reported Friday that Coinbase is looking to Goldman Sachs to handle its public filing. No additional details were provided. Coinbase has for years been linked to Goldman Sachs through Fred Ehrsam, the exchange’s co-founder who previously worked at the bank as a trader. Business Insider reports that Ehrsam worked at Goldman between 2010 and 2012 before quitting to establish Coinbase …

Following cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase filing a draft registration for a public offering with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, research company Messari has valued the company at $28 billion. Messari’s model examined the company’s various business segments, such as trading, custody and debit cards, to come to this figure. Coinbase is one of the biggest exchanges worldwide, with daily trading volumes of over $1 billion. Assets under custody have grown to $20 billion from $7 billion in 2019. A previous fundraising round in August 2017 saw Coinbase’s valuation break the $1 billion mark, gaining it unicorn status. The …

One of crypto's most-anticipated initial public offerings is one step closer. On Thursday, Coinbase announced that the firm had sent its draft registration for a public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company wrote that: "The Form S-1 is expected to become effective after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions." Per its last valuation, Coinbase was worth $8 billion, but that was in 2018. As it stands, the firm is one of the biggest names in crypto and has a reputation for working well with U.S. regulators, two factors that have long …

Both Binance and Coinbase suffered technological issues on Wednesday — the same day Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the $20,000 price threshold for the first time. Binance related its issues to the number of people surfing the exchange. Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, Binance’s CEO, tweeted on Wednesday at 2:13 pm UTC: “#Bitcoin just popped. Experienced some scaling issues. Should be fixed for now. Underestimated demand. Adding A LOT more ‘servers’ still.” An update from CZ came about half an hour later, revealing improvements, as well as a dramatic surge in users on the platform. “Still some latency issues here and there. Working …

Digital currency exchange Coinbase welcomed a new member to its Board of Directors on Wednesday, as it continues to draw on expertise from outside the cryptocurrency sector. Kelly Kramer, former CFO at Cisco, will serve as Chair of Coinbase’s Audit and Compliance Committee, CEO Brian Armstrong revealed Wednesday. She replaces former Charles Schwab board member Chris Dodds, who served on Coinbase’s board for over two years. Kramer joins Coinbase following a nine-year stint at Cisco, one of the world’s largest IT conglomerates, where she held various senior roles, including executive vice president and chief financial officer. Kramer was “responsible for …

The price of BNT, the native token of Bancor, surged 86% in merely two days from $1.02 to $1.919. The rally was fueled by a combination of Coinbase listing BNT and the growing volume of Bancor’s DEX. The Coinbase listing was the primary catalyst behind BNT’s strong 48-hour rally. Almost immediately after its announcement, the token’s price increased by around 16% after spiking to as high as $3.70. Coinbase said on Dec. 16: “Starting today, Coinbase supports Aave (AAVE), Bancor (BNT), and Synthetix (SNX) at Coinbase.com and in the Coinbase Android and iOS apps. Coinbase customers can now buy, sell, …

Speaking at Singapore Fintech Festival, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that "third-generation blockchain technology" would see digital currency "in the hands of hundreds of millions, if not billions of users." Allaire featured on a panel alongside the CEO of Facebook’s 'Diem' Association (formerly Libra Association) Stuart Levey, Coinbase CPO Surojit Chatterjee, and Soramitsu CEO Makoto Takemiya, to discuss the question: Can Digital Currencies Birth the Next Generation of World-Class Payment Systems?. Allaire argued that digital currencies are still very early in their development but are about to take a leap analogous to that from dial-up internet to broadband. “We’re right …

The Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance, or COPA, headed up by finance company Square, recently picked up Coinbase as a cornerstone participant. Square unveiled the group in September as a method of warding off patent overreach — an issue that has been known to limit technological advancement. Coinbase senior counsel and COPA board member Brittany Cuthbert said in a public statement from the alliance on Friday: “As the crypto economy continues to grow, we believe it is important to help empower all projects building towards an open financial system. [...] We look forward to working alongside the members of COPA to …

Brian Brooks, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said regulators are not looking to “kill” Bitcoin (BTC) but instead ensure its smooth integration into the financial system. In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday, Brooks said: “We're very focused on getting this right. We are very focused on not killing this, and it is equally important that we develop the networks behind Bitcoin and other cryptos as it is that we prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.” The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is the bureau of the Treasury Department that …