Coin Market

Coinbase to hire 130+ staff as it expands into Charlotte’s fintech hub

Published

2 weeks ago

April 23, 2025

Crypto exchange giant Coinbase is set to expand its footprint by hiring over 130 employees in Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of a broader push to tap into emerging fintech talent pools across the US, a company spokesperson confirmed to Cointelegraph.

“Coinbase is making a new investment in Charlotte with a new physical office and an immediate commitment to hire for 130+ local roles across both Compliance and Customer Support over the next six months,” the spokesperson said.

They added that Coinbase’s focus on Charlotte is in response to the city’s emergence as a key financial and tech center, making it a prime choice for expansion to address increasing customer and compliance demands.

With a fast-growing population and a highly skilled talent pool, Charlotte offers an ideal setting to support Coinbase’s long-term growth, the spokesperson said.

Coinbase remains a remote-first company

Coinbase has operated as a remote-first company since 2020, with existing offices in San Francisco and New York.

“We are still a remote-first company; however, we have some roles globally that are in office due to the nature of the role and our focus on how we can best deliver for our customers,” the spokesperson said.

They added that around 95% of Coinbase’s employees have the option to work from home, an office, or a mix. The bigger picture here is we’re making an intentional push to meet top talent where they are.

The move comes as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong outlined plans to add about 1,000 new US employees this year, driven by favorable regulatory signals from President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto administration.

“Coinbase is planning to hire about 1,000 people in the United States this year as a direct result of his actions already in the first 60 days or so,” Armstrong said in a video posted to X on March 7.

Armstrong revealing hiring intentions outside the White House. Source: Brian Armstrong

Adding 1,000 more employees would increase Coinbase’s total workforce by about 27%, according to Stockanalysis’ most recent data, which shows that the crypto exchange currently has 3,772 employees.

The new expansion plans also come as Coinbase has confirmed that it is considering applying for a US federal bank charter.

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Coin Market

US regulator moves to drop appeal against Kalshi

Published

15 minutes ago

May 6, 2025

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking permission from the court to drop an appeal against prediction market Kalshi. The move could allow the platform to offer political event contracts to users without contest.

In a May 5 filing in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, lawyers for the CFTC filed an unopposed motion for voluntary dismissal, suggesting an agreement with Kalshi. The motion, subject to approval by the court, could end the CFTC’s appeal against a federal court ruling that the financial regulator could not bar Kalshi from listing political event contracts, i.e., bets on elections.

Motion to dismiss appeal filed by the CFTC on May 5. Source: Courtlistener

Kalshi stipulated in a joint filing that the company would “bear its own costs, court fees and attorney fees incurred” if the court granted the CFTC’s motion to dismiss. The platform said that “election markets are here to stay” in a May 6 X post following the filing.

The betting platform initially filed a lawsuit against the CFTC in 2023 in response to the regulator ordering Kalshi to stop offering political event contracts. The company won in the lower court, prompting the appeal by the CFTC in September 2024.

Motion to drop the appeal after the change in administration?

The case was handled mainly before the US election and the appointment of acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham under President Donald Trump. CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger, nominated by former President Joe Biden, reportedly echoed Kalshi’s sentiment in February, claiming that election prediction markets were “here to stay.”

Launched in 2021, Kalshi became popular among many crypto users in part due to bets related to the 2024 US election. Though the CFTC argued in its appeal that betting on the elections could result in “spectacular manipulation” of markets and harm to the public interest, the regulator under Pham and Trump appeared to have reversed its position with the motion to dismiss.

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Coin Market

FT report suggests advance knowledge of Melania Trump memecoin launch

Published

1 hour ago

May 6, 2025

A group of crypto traders reportedly purchased millions of dollars worth of Melania Trump’s memecoins minutes before she announced the launch on social media.

According to a May 6 Financial Times report, the crypto traders earned roughly $100 million from buying $2.6 million worth of MELANIA tokens before the public launch on Jan. 19. Shortly after Trump announced the memecoin launch on social media, the price surged from roughly $2.00 to $12.95 — a 550% increase. The traders reportedly sold their holdings within 12 hours.

“In total, the 24 accounts bought up 16.7mn of the 200mn total $MELANIA tokens scheduled for sale during the launch period,” the Financial Times reported. “[…] the run of sales that started pre-launch continued. About $900,000 worth of tokens bought by an additional 22 accounts in the 42 seconds after the launch.”

Price of MELANIA token from Jan. 19 to Jan. 28. Source: CoinMarketCap

The memecoin started trading roughly two days after then-president-elect Donald Trump announced the launch of his own TRUMP coin. Both tokens have come under scrutiny from lawmakers, alleging conflicts of interest and corruption due to the potential for bribery and foreign influence.

Memecoin dinner prompts call for impeachment

Much of the scrutiny and criticism from US lawmakers over the memecoins seems to be directed at the president rather than the first lady. After Trump announced some of the top TRUMP tokenholders would be offeried the chance to get access to him at a private dinner and tour, one senator called for his impeachment.

Both the prices of the MELANIA and TRUMP tokens have dropped significantly since shortly after their launch in January, with the First Lady’s memecoin falling to $0.31 at the time of publication. The TRUMP token price briefly surged after the memecoin dinner announcement in April, but had dropped to $10.90 as of May 6.

Two companies connected to the president control roughly 80% of the TRUMP supply, though many of the tokens were locked and will be released over the next three years. Critics have suggested that the project’s insiders could still rug-pull investors.

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Coin Market

Tether adds Chainalysis tokenization platform for compliance, monitoring

Published

1 hour ago

May 6, 2025

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap USDt (USDT), has announced a partnership with Chainalysis that will integrate the company’s compliance and monitoring tools onto Tether’s tokenization platform. The move comes amid expanding oversight across the crypto industry.

Launched in November 2024, the Hadron by Tether platform is designed for institutions, corporations and governments, entities that may be interested in tokenizing real-world assets ranging from financial instruments and real estate to debt and commodities.

The months following the launch have seen increased adoption of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. According to RWA.xyz, the total RWA market amounts to $22.1 billion, up 10.5% in the past 30 days. There are a total of 100,115 holders of RWA tokens, up 5.6% in the same time frame.

“By integrating Chainalysis directly into the platform, we’re offering institutional-grade transparency, compliance, and risk mitigation without compromising on decentralization or control,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement.

According to the announcement, Hadron by Tether users will now have risk detection, real-time transaction monitoring, and Know-Your-Transaction (KYT) support. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tether raked in $13 billion in profits in 2024, and posted $1 billion in operating profit for Q1 2025.

Chainalysis acquisitions and predictions

Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, is known for its security tools and real-time monitoring. Among its partners include exchanges Crypto.com and Bitfinex, payment processor MoonPay, and bank BBVA.

Chainalysis has recently beefed up its technology stack, acquiring Web3 security firm Hexagate in December 2024 and Alterya, an AI fraud detection startup, in January this year. The company, founded in 2014, predicted that 2025 would be the biggest year ever for crypto scams due to the rise of artificial intelligence.

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