Bitcoin and altcoins are in the green Wednesday morning as sentiment was likely buoyed by news of more acceptance for them into the mainstream. The NYSE parent, ICE, is reported planning to launch an online platform for big investors to trade the top cryptocurrency and Facebook announced that it has created a blockchain research division.
Here is a wrap of the main news from the cryptocurrency and blockchain world over the past 24 hours. NYSE Parent Working On Bitcoin Trading Platform: NYT
Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, is developing an online Bitcoin trading platform for block trades, in further signs of mainstream financial world warming up to the wild sphere of cryptocurrencies. The platform under development would allow large investors to buy and hold Bitcoin, the New York Times newspaper reported, citing emails and documents and four unidentified people close to the matter. Read more... Ex-Goldman President Sees A Global Cryptocurrency, Simpler Than Bitcoin
Gary Cohn, former Goldman Sachs President and former chief economic advisor to US President Donald Trump, expects the emergence of a global cryptocurrency in the future, but it will not be bitcoin. Talking to CNBC, Cohn, who resigned from Trump adviser role in March, said, "I'm not a big believer in bitcoin. I am a believer in blockchain technology.....I do think we will have a global cryptocurrency at some point where the world understands it and it's not based on mining costs or cost of electricity or things like that." Read more...
Federal Reserve Of San Francisco Says BTC Futures Launch Led To Price Fall
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said the launch of Bitcoin futures trading was the cause of the fall in price of Bitcoin from the peak of nearly $20,000 in December 2017. In an Economic Letter released on Monday, the bank said the peak price of BTC coincided with the introduction of bitcoin futures trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the price of BTC began dropping as pessimistic investors were allowed to bet. Read more... Facebook Announces Launch Of Blockchain Division
Facebook announced the launch of a blockchain division, with a view to exploring the technology behind cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. David Marcus, the company's vice president for its Messenger App division, will be in charge to set up a team to explore how to use blockchain technology across Facebook. Read more...
Stock Exchange Of Thailand Launches Blockchain-based Crowdfunding Platform
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has launched a blockchain-based crowdfunding platform to provide access to new capital funding for domestic startups and SMEs. The platform, dubbed "LiVE" is developed in partnership with public and private sectors. Read more...
Another Firm Files Petition Against RBI Ban On Banks' Crypto Services
An Indian cryptocurrency trading company has filed a complaint challenging the central bank's ban on the country's commercial banks from providing services to investors in digital currencies. Maharashtra-based Flintstone Technologies Pvt. Ltd filed a writ petition in the High Court of Delhi seeking the withdrawal of a circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month, which it describes as "arbitrary, unfair and unconstitutional." Read more...
Crypto Tutorial: Crypto Lexicon - ADDY
ADDY is short for address. An address or ADDY in the crypto world is the string of letters and numbers that is publicly available, meant for single use, and is necessary to receive cryptocurrencies. Read more...
Current Prices
As of 9.12 am ET on Wednesday, Bitcoin was up 1.19 percent at $9,260.00 and Ethereum was higher by 0.83 percent at $744.60 on Coinbase.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.