Jesse Hamilton

Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor on the Global Policy and Regulation team, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022, he worked for more than a decade covering Wall Street regulation at Bloomberg News and Businessweek, writing about the early whisperings among federal agencies trying to decide what to do about crypto. He’s won several national honors in his reporting career, including from his time as a war correspondent in Iraq and as a police reporter for newspapers. Jesse is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he studied journalism and history. He has no crypto holdings.

Jesse Hamilton

Latest from Jesse Hamilton


Policy

Binance, Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao Handing Over Record $1.35B Fine in CFTC Settlement

The company's CFTC penalties, which were paired with an agreement to give back a separate $1.35 billion to wronged customers, are a big piece of the $4.3 billion in total cash going to the U.S. government, including the U.S. DOJ and Treasury.

CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam speaks at a press conference on Nov. 21, 2023. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Policy

Binance to Pay $4.3B to Settle U.S. Criminal Case; Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao Resigns as CEO and Pleads Guilty in Seattle

Richard Teng takes over as CEO of the world's largest crypto exchange.

CZ and Binance Logo (Twitter/Modified by CoinDesk)

Policy

Kraken Accused by SEC of Operating Unregistered Platform, Improperly Mixing Customer Funds

The U.S. crypto exchange is the latest targeted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a series of similar actions being fought in court by other companies.

Kraken co-founder and chairman Jesse Powell was CEO of the company during most of the time the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused it of operating illegally. (CoinDesk)

Policy

Binance in Talks to Pay More Than $4B to End U.S. Criminal Case; CZ Could Still Face Charges: Bloomberg

A resolution could come as soon as the end of this month, Bloomberg reports.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk)

Policy

California, Texas Among States Accusing GS Partners of Misleading Crypto Investors

Offers of a tokenized Dubai skyscraper and assets in the metaverse were fraudulent and unregistered, state regulators say, and boosted by celebrities such as boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Ex-boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is among celebrity promoters who have been tied to GS Partners, which has been accused by state regulators of committing crypto fraud.  (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Policy

FBI Arrests Trio Accused of Bilking Banks Out of $10M, Converting Funds to Crypto

Three men allegedly used foreign crypto exchanges to launder the proceeds of a scheme that targeted nearly a dozen financial institutions in the New York metro area.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested three men accused in a complicated scheme to steal $10 million from banks and swap it for crypto. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Policy

Ramaswamy Shares Crypto Plan, Making Him the Only GOP Candidate Who Has One

The 2024 U.S. presidential candidate would fire most of the SEC, direct the government to back off crypto software developers and ease a path for digital assets as commodities.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has shared his plan for how he'd deal with crypto. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Policy

Crypto-Friendly Lawmakers Ask Biden, Yellen to Quantify Hamas' Digital Asset Fundraising

Lawmakers want to know to what extent Hamas may actually be raising crypto funds to finance terrorism, and what role the U.S. has had in seizing those funds.

Rep. Tom Emmer

Policy

CFTC Chief: Nothing Changed After FTX Meltdown to Empower Agency to Prevent Repeat

U.S. CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam says his agency is still awaiting new authorities from Congress to get supervision power over the crypto markets.

Rostin Behnam

Policy

'Mutant Ape Planet' NFT Developer Pleaded Guilty in $3M Fraud

French developer Aurelien Michel pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court and agreed to pay $1.4M, according to prosecutors.

One of the developers behind the "Mutant Ape Planet" rug pull has pleaded guilty to fraud. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk modified by Photomosh.com)