Sam Kessler

Sam Kessler

Sam is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for tech and protocols. His reporting is focused on decentralized technology, infrastructure and governance. Sam holds a computer science degree from Harvard University, where he led the Harvard Political Review. He has a background in the technology industry and owns some ETH and BTC. Sam was part of the team that won a 2023 Gerald Loeb Award for CoinDesk's coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX collapse.

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(Javardh/Unsplash)
LFG Reserves Dwindle to Just 313 Bitcoins From 80K After UST Crash
The announcement comes after criticism of the Luna Foundation Guard's "lack of transparency."
(Javardh/Unsplash)
(Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
Do Kwon’s Proposed Terra ‘Revival’ Puts UST, LUNA Holders in Charge
A “Revival Plan” submitted Friday by the Terraform Labs CEO would redistribute ownership of the network.
(Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(koyu/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
The LUNA and UST Crash Explained in 5 Charts
One of the earliest signs that things were going wrong for Terra came when UST deposits on Anchor started dropping Saturday.
(koyu/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Do Kwon (Terraforms Labs, modified by CoinDesk)
UST’s Do Kwon Was Behind Earlier Failed Stablecoin, Ex-Terra Colleagues Say
Basis Cash, an algorithmic stablecoin project founded by the anonymous “Rick” and “Morty” in 2020, was actually the work of Terraform Labs employees.
Do Kwon (Terraforms Labs, modified by CoinDesk)
Terra's UST stablecoin fell off its peg Monday amid crypto market turmoil. (moonjazz/flickr)
UST Backer LFG Seeks $1B to Shore Up Stablecoin Peg: Report
The funding is needed because the dollar-pegged stablecoin dropped as low as 60 cents Monday amid broader market turmoil.
Terra's UST stablecoin fell off its peg Monday amid crypto market turmoil. (moonjazz/flickr)
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UST Stablecoin Veers Wildly From Dollar Peg. Here's the Latest
By tapping into its bitcoin reserves, UST’s salvation may have exacerbated a bitcoin sell-off that brought BTC to its lowest price since July 2021.
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UST has fallen below its dollar peg again. (Getty Images)
UST Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg for Second Time in 48 Hours, LUNA Market Cap Falls Below UST's
The development comes after the Luna Foundation Guard announced that its massive bitcoin reserves will be used to defend UST’s dollar peg.
UST has fallen below its dollar peg again. (Getty Images)
S&P (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Compound’s Enterprise Arm Receives S&P Credit Rating in DeFi First
The iffy B- grade applies to Compound Treasury, a platform promising 4% yield for USDC-denominated business accounts.
S&P (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(Emilio Takas/Unsplash)
UST Stablecoin Briefly Loses Peg, Luna Drops 10%
The Saturday event led to questions about whether Terra’s bitcoin reserves will soon face their first test
(Emilio Takas/Unsplash)
(Jeremy Bezanger/Unsplash)
Typo Moves $36M in Seized JUNO Tokens to Wrong Wallet
Validators, developers and token holders grapple with who is to blame for the copy-paste error that moved the tokens to an address no one can access.
(Jeremy Bezanger/Unsplash)