Sam Kessler

Sam is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols. His reporting is focused on decentralized technology, infrastructure and governance. Sam holds a computer science degree from Harvard University, where he led the Harvard Political Review. He has a background in the technology industry and owns some ETH and BTC. Sam was part of the team that won a 2023 Gerald Loeb Award for CoinDesk's coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX collapse.

Sam Kessler

Latest from Sam Kessler


Layer 2

Ethereum's Gray Glacier (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Difficulty Bomb)

The delay of Ethereum’s Difficulty Bomb suggests the network’s Merge to proof-of-stake might be a bit further away than hoped.

"Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964), directed by Stanley Kubrick, distributed by Columbia Pictures

Finance

BlockFi Receives $250M Credit Facility From FTX

The proceeds will be used to fulfill client balances across all accounts.

BlockFi aseguró una línea de crédito de $250 millones por parte de FTX. (Getty Images)

Tech

MetaMask, Phantom and Other Browser Wallets Patch Security Vulnerability

There is no evidence the vulnerability was ever exploited by attackers, meaning no user funds are believed to have been impacted.

(RoonZ nl/Unsplash)

Layer 2

Crypto Market Chaos: No, Lido Is Not ‘the Next Terra’

After over $1 billion in liquidations in just 24 hours, DeFi’s wild west period may be drawing to a close – but not everything’s a sham.

(Jaroslaw Kwoczala/Unsplash)

Finance

Binance.US Accused of Misleading Investors in Class-Action Lawsuit Over Terra

More than 2,000 investors are a part of the class-action lawsuit.

Credit: Shutterstock

Finance

Jack Dorsey’s TBD Announces Web 3 Competitor: Web5

The Block subsidiary’s alternative ditches Web 3 and places bitcoin at the forefront. But there is no official release date, as yet.

Block TBD lead Mike Brock (left) at Consensus 2022 (Brad Keoun/CoinDesk)

Finance

Optimism Attacker Returns 17M Stolen OP Tokens

The attacker was rewarded with 2 million of the tokens as a bounty.

The Optimism attacker has returned most of the OP tokens they took. (Christian Dubovan/Unsplash)

Tech

$15M of Optimism Tokens Stolen After Wintermute Sent Wrong Wallet Address

The theft, which follows the token’s botched airdrop, sent the token’s price to new lows.

(Getty Images)

Layer 2

Scaling Ethereum Beyond the Merge: Danksharding

Danksharding would take a massive step toward turning Ethereum layer 2 networks into first class citizens.

(Bryan Steffy/Moment/Getty Images)

Tech

The ‘Google of Blockchains’ Is Sunsetting Its Centralized Service

The Graph announced it will urge developers to migrate to its Ethereum-based indexer network as it shuts down its centralized service by early 2023.

Graph Day 2022 (Sam Kessler/CoinDesk)