Ian Allison

Ian Allison is a senior reporter at CoinDesk, focused on institutional and enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to that, he covered fintech for the International Business Times in London and Newsweek online. He won the State Street Data and Innovation journalist of the year award in 2017, and was runner up the following year. He also earned CoinDesk an honourable mention in the 2020 SABEW Best in Business awards. His November 2022 FTX scoop, which brought down the exchange and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, won a Polk award, Loeb award and New York Press Club award. Ian graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He holds ETH.

Ian Allison

Latest from Ian Allison


Finance

Crypto Exchange Blockchain.com Faces $270M Hit on Loans to Three Arrows Capital

Blockchain.com “remains liquid, solvent and our customers will not be impacted,” wrote CEO Peter Smith in a letter to shareholders.

Blockchain.com CEO Peter Smith in 2015 (CoinDesk archive)

Finance

Three Execs Leave JPMorgan This Week to Join Crypto Firms

The latest exits are former managing director Eric Wragge and digital innovation lead Puja Samuel.

Crypto winter hasn't fazed a trio of ex-JPMorgan executives. (Ed Shipul/Flickr)

Finance

Is MakerDAO Becoming ‘a Company Run by Politics’?

A series of recent votes prompted the largest governance participation in Maker’s history, with VCs on one side and the founding team on the other.

MakerDAO CEO Rune Christensen image via CoinDesk archives

Finance

Former JPMorgan Banker Joins Pantera Capital as COO

Samir Shah had worked at the Wall Street firm for 12 years, spanning roles in sales, strategy and digital.

(Getty Images)

Finance

Polkadot Builder Parity Technologies Adds 3 Executives

The new executives are Chief Operating Officer Eran Barak, Chief Marketing Officer Peter Ruchatz and Chief Financial Officer Fahmi Syed.

The Polkadot pavilion on the Promenade at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (Sandali Handagama/CoinDesk)

Finance

Troubled Crypto Lender Babel Finance Looking to Hire Restructuring Specialist Houlihan Lokey: Sources

The company is reportedly in the process of signing an engagement letter with the investment banking firm.

Flex Yang, co-founder of Babel Finance (Babel)

Finance

Societe Generale Selects Swiss Crypto Custody Specialist Metaco for Security Token Push

Big banks and custodians have entered the “FOMO” stage when it comes to crypto, said Metaco CEO Adrien Treccani.

From left to right: Craig Perrin, vice president of sales at Metaco; Seamus Donoghue, vice president of strategic alliances at Metaco; Adrien Treccani, CEO and founder of Metaco; 
Alexandre Fleury, co-head of global markets activities, global head of equities at Societe Generale; and Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO at Societe Generale-Forge

Finance

Genesis Faces ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in Losses as 3AC Exposure Swamps Crypto Lenders: Sources

The DCG-owned trading colossus is said to have suffered nine-figure losses partly through exposure to Three Arrows Capital and Babel Finance.

Genesis Trading Michael Moro at the Crypto Bahamas event in April 2022 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Tech

Meet ‘Frequency,’ Polkadot’s New Decentralized Social Media Parachain

The team behind Project Liberty’s Decentralized Social Network Protocol unveiled the newly named parachain at Polkadot Decoded.

(Jan Huber/Unsplash)

Tech

Polkadot Chief Gavin Wood Announces Blockchain Governance Upgrade

The platform's “Gov2” is set to launch on Kusama “imminently,” following a final professional audit of its code, he said.

Polkadot founder Gavin Wood (Parity Technologies)