Greg Ahlstrand

Greg Ahlstrand

I'm CoinDesk's Asia News Editor, based in Hong Kong. Originally from California, I've been Asia-based since 1999, headquartered in Hong Kong and Jakarta and traveling throughout the Asean countries, Japan, Korea, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan for stories. Made Australia a couple of times, too. I started my journalism career as a news assistant at the Fresno Bee in Central California while studying the subject in school after the Navy. I went from launching and recovering helicopters on flight decks at sea to recovering papers fresh off the printer in the Bee's basement and launching them onto the editors' desks, whose editors had long since gone home for the night. Eventually, they let me stop delivering the paper and start writing stuff in it. My first beat was night cops: liquor store robberies, gang shootings, fatal car crashes (almost always alcohol related). It was an education. I am, as implied above, a U.S. Navy veteran. I served in seagoing helicopter squadrons as an aviation anti-submarine warfare technician throughout the Asia Pacific region and the Indian Ocean. I have a significant number of sailor stories to tell. I have no significant crypto holdings. Among my hobbies are welding, building stuff, home remodelling, (or knocking a house down and starting from scratch if it's too far gone to fix), riding horses and rebuilding old tractors. So far I've done a Ford 8N and a Ford 9N. It's slow going, because I live in Hong Kong and the tractors are in California, so I only get to work on them once or twice a year, for a week or two at a time - and that was before covid. I love my Lab, Cooper, whom my neighbors asked me to adopt two years ago when they moved back to Shanghai from Hong Kong. Cooper and I actually planned the whole thing -- we've known each other almost his whole life -- but his first parents are unaware of the conspiracy; and they send him Christmas presents every year.

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CDCROP: Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Ark Invest (Marco Bello/Getty Images)
ARK Invest's Coinbase Purchase During Week of Feb 13-17 Totaled 133,321 Shares
ARKK and ARKW bought shares in Coinbase Global Monday and Tuesday, with no activity, buy or sell, the rest of the week. COIN shares closed up more than 17% on Friday.
CDCROP: Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Ark Invest (Marco Bello/Getty Images)
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Retail Giant Walmart Seeking to Hire Digital, Cryptocurrency Lead
The company is looking for someone to develop its digital currency strategy and product roadmap.
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Square's Cash App Q2 Bitcoin Revenue Rose 200%, Takes $45M Bitcoin Impairment Loss
Cash App's bitcoin gross profit rose to $55 million, Square said in its second-quarter letter to shareholders.
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Japan Increasing Efforts to Regulate Digital Currency: Report
The move is a sign of increasing concern that new forms of private money could disrupt Japan's financial system.
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Ripple Can Depose Former SEC Official in Lawsuit: Report
A U.S. judge ordered William H. Hinman, the former chief of the commission's corporate finance division, to sit for questioning.
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Hong Kong Arrests 4 in Alleged $155M Crypto Money-Laundering Scheme: Report
Customs authorities say the alleged money laundering syndicate charged criminal clients a commission of 3% to 5%.
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SEC Delays Decision on SkyBridge Capital's Proposed Bitcoin ETF to August
The agency has extended its initial 45-day review period.
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ASIC Maker Canaan Diversifies Into Bitcoin Mining in Kazakhstan
Canaan has begun deploying its latest Avalon Miner units. The firm will also be attempting to expand its business scope and customer base.
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Republican House Campaign Arm to Accept Donations in Crypto
The crypto will be converted into U.S. dollars first, before being deposited into the National Republican Congressional Committee's account.
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