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


CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Index Drops 1.2%, With NEAR and RENDER Posting Biggest Declines

Aptos bucked the trend, rising 2.7% despite the broader index decline.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-10-08: laggards

Finance

RWA Issuer Midas Expands Tokenized Products to Retail Users with Regulatory Nod in Europe

Midas acquired regulatory approval to issue its basis trade and U.S. Treasuries tokens in Liechtenstein, allowing passporting across Germany and Europe.

(Ryan Quintal/Unsplash, Modified by CoinDesk)

Markets

Bitcoin Price Up 40% YTD, but Gold Wins on Risk-Adjusted Returns

Gold has a significantly higher volatility ratio than bitcoin in 2024, according to analysis by Goldman Sachs.

Absolute YTD returns and return to volatility ratios for key assets, including BTC and ETH  (Goldman Sachs)

Markets

MicroStrategy Surges to 6-Month High as Bitcoin Wrestles With Key Moving Average

NEAR, UNI and APT led crypto gains, while bitcoin faded after pushing through $64,000 earlier in the day.

Bitcoin price on 10/07 (CoinDesk)

CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: UNI Surges 7.9% as Index Rises

NEAR joined Uniswap as a top performer, gaining 5.0%.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-10-07: Leaders

Markets

AI Tokens Lead Crypto Rebound Amid Strong U.S. Economy

Bitcoin may have bottomed at $60,000 earlier this week, and the Fed easing into a strong economy points to more upside, Will Clement said.

Render price on 10/04 (CoinDesk)

CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: APT Jumps 6.9% as the Index Rallies

Render joined Aptos as a top performer, gaining 6.3%.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-10-04: leaders

Markets

U.S. Added Blowout 254K Jobs in September, Unemployment Rate Dips to 4.1%

The news seems likely to further cement ideas that the Fed will trim rates just 25 basis points at its next policy meeting in November.

(Unsplash)

CoinDesk Indices

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: XRP Plunges 9.2% as Index Declines

APT shines amid overall index losses, climbing 10.8%.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2024-10-03: laggards (CoinDesk)

Finance

Ripple Partners With Brazilian Exchange Mercado Bitcoin to Offer Business-Focused Payments Solution

Mercado Bitcoin plans to offer its corporate and retail customers support for international payments, allowing users to transact with Brazilian Reais.

Payments network built on Sui (Steve Johnson/Unsplash)