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

PayPal's Stablecoin Hits $1B Market Cap as Incentives Boost Activity on Solana

The payments company's stablecoin entry was off to a slow start last year on Ethereum, but its recent expansion to the Solana blockchain and DeFi reward programs reignited the token's growth.

A large PayPal logo is on display outside its corporate HQ (Shutterstock)

Markets

Tokenized Treasury Funds Pass $2B Market Cap Amid BlackRock’s Explosive Growth

BlackRock's BUIDL has quickly topped $500 million in market cap.

Tokenized Treasury funds passed $2 billion in market cap on Saturday. (Source: RWA.xyz)

CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: RNDR and SOL Lead Gains as Index Rises

RNDR jumps 10.7% and SOL climbs 6.7%, leading the CoinDesk 20 Index to a modest weekend gain.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-08-26: Leaders

Markets

Bitcoin Surges to Nearly $64K, Adding to Gains as RFK Jr. Endorses Trump

The independent candidate is suspending his campaign for president and removing his name from the ballot in ten "battleground" states.

Bitcoin price 8/23 (CoinDesk)

Policy

Crypto Friendly RFK Jr. Drops White House Hunt, Will Lend Kennedy Name to Trump

Robert Kennedy, a high-profile fan of digital assets, has joined forces with the Republican against Kamala Harris, giving Donald Trump an immediate bump in political prediction odds.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., independent U.S. presidential candidate, has endorsed former President Donald Trump as Kennedy suspends his campaign. (Shutterstock/CoinDesk)

Markets

Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Time Has Come for Policy to Adjust

Bitcoin rose in the immediate aftermath of his remarks at the Fed's Jackson Hole conference.

Jackson Hole (Joshua Earle/Unsplash)

CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: AVAX and NEAR Surge as Index Climbs 1.5%

AVAX rose 7.4% and NEAR nearly as much, leading the CoinDesk 20 higher.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-08-23: leaders

Opinion

R.I.P. Unhosted Wallet Rule

The 2020 FinCEN unhosted wallet proposal has arguably been dead for years, but now it's official.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: RNDR Surges 6.9% as Index Inches Higher

Eleven assets in the CoinDesk 20 gained, with LINK joining RNDR as the strongest performers.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-08-22: leaders

Markets

Fed Chair Jerome Powell Expected to Set Stage for September Rate Cut

Bitcoin remains nearly 20% below its all-time high, while U.S. stocks and gold are at or within close shouting distance of record levels.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified that a U.S. CBDC isn't in the near future, and he said the Fed wouldn't design one to spy on Americans (screen capture, Senate Banking Committee video)