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Amanu: Bringing Apple-Like Simplicity to Crypto Wallets

Born in 2001 in Argentina just as the country began to experience a devastating economic crisis, Amanu founder Gianluca Minoprio saw firsthand how traditional banking systems can fail their users. This experience shaped his mission to create a new type of crypto wallet, one that aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain technology.
Fresh off multiple wins at the Consensus 2024 hackathon in Texas last May, Amanu is now challenging conventional notions of what a crypto wallet should be (if you’d like to apply for the EasyA Hackathon at Consensus Hong Kong 2025, please go here). The startup is developing a suite of features that extend far beyond traditional wallet functionality: users will soon be able to send crypto payments through their keyboard via any messaging app, make contactless transfers via ultrasound technology and manage transactions without dealing with gas fees or having to choose a blockchain.
One of the biggest hurdles in crypto wallet adoption remains the complexity of seed phrases — the string of random words users must safely store to recover their funds. This fundamental challenge has led Amanu to reimagine wallet security beyond the non-custodial core. Amanu’s wallet uses biometric signatures, eliminating seed phrases entirely.
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«The only way to trigger the signature is through your authorization,» Minoprio explains. «The exciting part about Amanu is that it could be closed source and you’d still know how the key is managed because every time we want to trigger the key, you need to accept it.»
This represents a significant departure from traditional wallets like MetaMask in which private keys are stored at the software level. However, questions remain about crucial features such as wallet recovery if a device is lost or damaged — an essential consideration for any hardware-based biometric system.
A fundamental shift?
The expansion beyond core wallet features raises questions about the future of crypto payments. Is Amanu’s experimental approach — combining messaging, contactless payments and simplified key management — a sign that crypto’s unique properties require us to rethink digital wallets entirely? Or will these features eventually converge back to more traditional wallet interfaces?
The project’s name offers a clue to its ambitions. Derived from «amanuensis,» the name for a medieval monk that preserved knowledge by copying texts, Amanu is meant to serve as a bridge between complex blockchain technology and everyday users. «Today’s modern amanuenses are the blockchain builders because we are the few who know how to read and write inside [the blockchain],» explains Minoprio.
In the crowded crypto wallet space, where established players already command significant user bases, Amanu’s success will depend on whether its innovative features truly solve user pain points, or just add unnecessary complexity. As a result, the company’s development approach is ruthlessly user-focused. «If you pitch the feature to people and they don’t get excited about it, you can quickly decide what to focus on or not,» notes Minoprio.
Seven months into development, Amanu’s vision of making crypto payments «as easy as sending a text» is about to face its first major test with the upcoming launch of its feature enabling users to send crypto via text message. Whether this reimagining of the crypto wallet will resonate with mainstream users remains to be seen, but it represents a bold experiment in pushing the boundaries of digital payment systems.
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Tesla Reports $951M in Crypto Holdings as it Misses Earnings

Tesla (TSLA) still holds almost $1 billion in bitcoin, according to the automaker’s latest earnings report.
The electric vehicle firm reported digital asset holdings worth $951 million as of March 31, down from $1.076 billion on Dec. 30. Tesla currently holds 11,509 bitcoin in its balance sheet, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.
The change is almost certainly due to bitcoin’s price depreciating between the two quarters. Data from Arkham Intelligence indicates that Tesla did not perform any transactions in the last three months. Arkham marks Tesla’s holdings as being currently worth $1.049 billion.
A new rule from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) requires corporate holders of digital assets to begin marking those assets to market each quarter.
Tesla also reported $19.34 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the year; analysts had expected the carmaker to rake in $21.37 billion.
The TSLA shares were up more than 2% in after-hours trading.
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Bitcoin Tops $91K as Trade Optimism Fuels Crypto Rally But Demand Headwinds Remain

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $91,000 on Tuesday, climbing nearly 5% amid renewed investor optimism and fresh hopes of a thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions, but headwinds persist that could cap further upside, analytics firm CryptoQuant cautioned.
The largest crypto by market capitalization hit $91,700 in the U.S. afternoon, its strongest price since early March. Altcoins followed BTC higher, with Ethereum’s ether (ETH) rising 8% over the past 24 hours above $1,700, and dogecoin (DOGE) and Sui’s native token (SUI) gaining 8.6% and 11.7%, respectively. The broad-market crypto benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index advanced 5.2%.
Markets were buoyed by remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly told investors at a closed-door JPMorgan event that the tariff standoff with China was unsustainable. Bessent said de-escalation would come “in the very near future,” characterizing current conditions as a “trade embargo.” However, he cautioned that a more comprehensive deal between the two nations could take even years.
Stocks recovered from yesterday’s decline, with the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq finishing the session 2.5% and 2.7% higher, respectively. Gold, meanwhile, sharply reversed from its record price of $3,500 during the day and was down 1%.
«As capital rotates into safe-haven and inflation-hedging assets, BTC and gold are proving to be key beneficiaries of the exodus from USD risk,» analysts at hedge fund QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast.
They highlighted rejuvenating inflows to spot U.S.-listed BTC ETFs and the return of the so-called Coinbase price premium, suggesting demand from American institutional investors. BTC ETF booked over $381 million net inflows on Monday adding to Thursday’s $107 million, according to Farside Investors data.
But not all signs point to a sustained breakout.
Despite the price jump, on-chain data points to fragility beneath the surface, CryptoQuant analysts said in a Tuesday report. Bitcoin’s apparent demand has decreased by 146,000 BTC over the past 30 days—an improvement from the sharp drop in March, but still negative. CryptoQuant’s demand momentum metric, which tracks new investor interest, has deteriorated further to its the most bearish level since October 2024, the report noted.
Market liquidity remains soft, with the report using USDT’s market cap growth as a proxy for crypto liquidity. USDT grew $2.9 billion over the past two months, below its 30-day average. Historically, BTC rallies coincided with USDT growth above $5 billion and above trend — a threshold not yet met.
Adding to the caution, bitcoin is now facing a key resistance zone between $91,000 and $92,000 at around the «Trader’s On-chain Realized Price» metric, a level that has often served as resistance in bearish conditions. CryptoQuant’s on-chain bull score classified current market conditions as bearish, suggesting a pause or pullback could follow if sentiment weakens.
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Unicoin CEO Rejects SEC’s Attempt to Settle Enforcement Probe

Unicoin has rebuffed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attempt to negotiate a settlement agreement to close an ongoing probe into the Miami-based crypto company, its CEO Alex Konanykhin revealed in a Tuesday letter to investors.
In his letter, Konanykhin said Unicoin was given an “ultimatum” by the SEC to attend a settlement negotiation meeting last week, on April 18.
“We declined to show up,” Konanykhin told CoinDesk, adding that the SEC had made demands ahead of the meeting that he found “unacceptable.” He declined to share specifics, telling CoinDesk that the communication between Unicoin’s lawyers and the SEC was confidential.
Unicoin received a Wells notice — a sort of official heads-up from the SEC that it intends to file an enforcement action against the recipient — in December, shortly before former Chair Gary Gensler stepped down, alleging violations related to fraud, deceptive practices, and the offer and sale of unregistered securities. No official enforcement action has yet been filed.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the SEC has reversed its once-aggressive stance toward crypto regulation, backing off from many of its open investigations into crypto companies, including blockchain gaming firm Immutable and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, and even some of its ongoing litigation, including against Coinbase and Cumberland DRW.
Other SEC enforcement cases against crypto companies, including its cases against Binance and Tron, have been paused while the parties attempt to negotiate a settlement. The agency recently reached a settlement agreement with Nova Labs, the parent company behind the Helium blockchain, that saw Nova Labs pay a $200,000 fine to settle civil securities fraud charges, and the SEC dropped its claims that Helium (HNT) and other related tokens were securities.
In his letter to investors, Konanykhin claimed that the SEC’s probe has caused “multi-billion-dollar damage” to the company and its investors.
“We would likely be a $10B+ publicly traded company by now if the SEC had not blocked our ICO, stock exchange listing and fundraising,” Konanykhin wrote, adding that the SEC had prevented Unicoin from acting on the “very favorable market opportunities.”
“We were forced into a standstill,” Konanykhin wrote.
The SEC did not respond to a request for comment.
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