Author: NBTC
Financial authorities in Kazakhstan intend to set up a state-controlled custodial platform for crypto assets in the coming weeks, the head of the monetary authority in Astana unveiled. The announcement comes amid efforts to legalize and liberalize the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the Central Asian nation, which has already established itself as a mining hotspot. Kazakh government to offer storage services for digital assets The country will soon have its own crypto custodial solution, the Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK), Timur Suleimenov, made that clear on Tuesday. Speaking during a government meeting, the governor highlighted that work…
Ethereum has shown early signs of recovery after a prolonged period of weakness that pushed prices sharply lower. $ETH has attempted to stabilize near key support levels, but further upside depends on sustained backing from investors and broader market conditions. At present, Ethereum appears to have at least one of these factors working in its favor, keeping recovery prospects alive. Ethereum Investors Change Stance On-chain data suggests a notable shift in investor behavior. The exchange net position change indicator, which tracks capital flows into and out of exchanges, has turned negative for Ethereum. This signals that more $ETH is leaving…
The Fed made successive interest rate cuts in the final months of 2025. However, the outlook for 2026 does not look very positive. At this point, Goldman Sachs revised its forecast regarding the Fed’s interest rate cuts. According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs revised its Fed expectations, pointing to rate cuts in June and September instead of the previously expected March and June. The bank now expects the Fed to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points twice, in June and September. In this revision, Goldman Sachs cited the slower-than-expected decline in inflation and the resilient performance of the US economy…
Mainland China users have been cut off from trading services on the Victory Securities platform. Functions of buying and deposits have been permanently disabled following months of gradual decline. Despite the cut-off, Victory Securities clarified that withdrawals will remain open to allow the affected users to recover their existing assets. Victory Securities blocks mainland trading functions Victory Securities, a licensed broker in Hong Kong, has completed the final step in its multi-phase plan to distance its digital asset services from the Mainland Chinese market. The firm announced that users identified as Mainland Chinese residents can no longer use the platform…
HONG KONG — Financial regulators in Hong Kong are going to unveil a framework for trading platforms to offer perpetual contracts, the head of the region’s Securities and Futures Commission said Wednesday. Brokers in Hong Kong will soon be able to provide financing to clients backed by bitcoin BTC$68,747.00 and ether ETH$2,000.64 and platforms will be able to offer market-making through independent units, said Julia Leung, the CEO of Hong Kong’s SFC at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference. While the SFC plans to share more details later, the moves are part of the regulator’s broader push to let regulated firms…
Ethereum was trading between $2,014 and $2,028 per coin on Feb. 10, while derivatives markets told a far louder story beneath the surface. Futures open interest remains elevated, options positioning is heavily skewed toward calls, and max pain levels across major exchanges cluster uncomfortably close to spot. Ethereum Derivatives Flash Mixed Signals Across Binance, OKX, Deribit Ethereum futures open interest continues to sit near cycle highs, with aggregate exchange data showing billions of dollars in leveraged exposure spread across centralized venues. While price has drifted lower from recent highs, traders have not meaningfully reduced risk, suggesting conviction remains intact—at least…
By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) Since its introduction in 2009, bitcoin $BTC$90,709.15 fans have seen it as an anti-establishment asset and a shield against financial mismanagement and political turmoil. Yet on Monday, the largest cryptocurrency is trailing traditional safety assets such as gold even as tensions between President Donald Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell escalate, raising concerns on the central bank’s ability to maintain its independence. On Sunday, Powell revealed that federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation against him, focusing on his Congressional testimony about the central bank’s $2.5 billion renovation. Powell framed the probe…
Members of the Russian parliament have passed provisions allowing the state to treat cryptocurrency as property as part of criminal proceedings. The new legislation unties the hands of law enforcement and judicial authorities in a growing number of cases requiring the seizure of digital assets. Russian lawmakers adopt law regulating crypto seizure The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, approved a law introducing a procedure for seizing and confiscating cryptocurrency in crime-related cases. The legislation, which amends the country’s Criminal Code and Criminal Procedural Code, recognizes digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as property. On Tuesday, members of…
EMB: Feb. 11, 06:00 UTC Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Spark is pushing one of DeFi’s deepest pools of stablecoin liquidity further into institutional markets, unveiling new lending infrastructure designed to connect on-chain capital with off-chain borrowers that have largely stayed outside DeFi. The protocol introduced Spark Prime and Spark Institutional Lending in an announcement at Consensus Hong Kong 2025 on Wednesday. The new offerings extend more than $9 billion in deployed stablecoin liquidity into products aimed at hedge funds, trading firms and fintechs that operate under traditional custody and compliance requirements. Off-chain crypto lending is estimated at about $33 billion,…
The cryptocurrency market has been ranging over the past two days, with many coins and tokens currently in the red. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, is stuck below the $69k level as it is up by less than 1% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, Ether, the leading altcoin by market cap, is down by 1% and is now trading around $2,011 per coin. BitMine adds more Ether to its treasury Copy link to section The bearish performance comes despite Ethereum ($ETH) treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) adding to its digital asset stash last week, acquiring 40,613…