Author: NBTC

Bloomberg reported on May 22 that bond traders are fully pricing in a Fed interest rate hike by year-end, with interest rate swaps implying the Fed’s benchmark rate at least 25 basis points higher by the end of 2026. The same day, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said the Fed should remove its easing bias and called rate cut talk “crazy” as inflation held above target and the labor market stayed stable. Bitcoin lost the $76,000 footing on May 22, a move tied to US-Iran uncertainty and the repricing of Fed rate expectations. That price action captures only part of the…

Ethereum’s [$ETH] derivatives market is showing an unusual divergence as Binance Open Interest surged by roughly 336,000 $ETH on the 28th of May. This marked the largest single increase since 2019 despite weakening price conditions. Rather than reflecting strong accumulation, the move suggests speculative positioning is accelerating while Spot demand remains subdued. Historically, similar episodes have increased market fragility because leverage expands faster than underlying conviction. Source: CryptoQuant Meanwhile, Open Interest across major exchanges continues trending toward record territory. Binance led the latest expansion, while participation from Bybit and OKX added to the broader buildup. More importantly, $ETH remains below…

Strategy’s preferred stock funding engine could hit a key constraint within the next year, potentially slowing the company’s Bitcoin purchases unless it expands issuance capacity or leans more heavily on common-stock sales, according to Delphi Digital. Delphi said Strategy’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, known as STRC, has become one of the company’s main Bitcoin-buying tools but has an authorized issuance cap of about $28.3 billion. If the cap is reached without an extension, Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation could “slow or stop while the dividend obligation remains,” the report said. The report highlights how one of Strategy’s main…

Aptos, the blockchain platform known for its high-speed and scalable network, is committing $50 million to expand its artificial intelligence-based financial infrastructure. The investment, reported by Yonhap News, will be led jointly by the Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs, signaling a strategic push to bridge decentralized technology with traditional finance. A Strategic Move Toward Financial Integration The Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs plan to develop a proprietary financial platform designed for enhanced compatibility with existing financial systems. This initiative goes beyond mere blockchain development; it aims to create a seamless interface where AI-driven tools can manage, analyze, and optimize financial…

The Blockchain Association sent a letter on Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer expressing strong support for the Clarity Act. The letter, signed by 160 former national security and law enforcement officials, urged the Senate to pass the legislation. “The Clarity Act expands law enforcement and financial crime prevention capabilities across the digital asset ecosystem,” the letter said. The Clarity Act passed the Senate Banking Committee last month and currently awaits a vote in the full Senate. Lawmakers continue to debate whether the bill should include ethics provisions that would restrict elected officials…

Ripple Prime Brokerage, marketed as Ripple Prime, is Ripple’s institutional-grade global multi-asset prime brokerage platform, and the first such platform owned and operated by a crypto-native company. It came together through Ripple’s purchase of Hidden Road, an established non-bank prime broker, and now offers clearing, financing, execution, and risk management across both traditional and digital markets. For a company best known for cross-border payments and the $XRP Ledger, owning a full prime broker is a different kind of bet. It puts Ripple in the same room as Goldman Sachs and Coinbase Prime, competing for the hedge funds and trading desks…

Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban has sent shockwaves through the market after revealing he recently dumped 80% of his Bitcoin holdings. His reasoning? The flagship cryptocurrency failed to act as a safe-haven hedge during recent geopolitical turmoil. However, prominent crypto veterans are calling out the billionaire’s logic, pointing out that the market data suggests Cuban may have simply panic-sold at the exact wrong time. A macro asset in a micro window Cuban’s abrupt exit from Bitcoin was prompted by the cryptocurrency’s extremely underwhelming price action during the recent geopolitical flare-up. Traditional safe-haven assets like gold surged to $5,000, Bitcoin…

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) climbed to another record high on Thursday, extending a powerful rally fueled by optimism around artificial intelligence demand, easing restrictions on chip sales to China, and expectations of another blockbuster earnings report later this month. The stock rose by 2.6% at the market open to cross the $231 mark after closing at an all-time high of $227.16 on Wednesday. The latest gains came after a Reuters report said the United States had cleared roughly 10 Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, currently the company’s second-most powerful processor available for China. The rally has pushed…

$XRP Ledger has just processed one of its most significant institutional transactions yet, involving tokenized U.S. Treasuries. On X, validator Vet disclosed that he examined activity tied to Ondo Finance on the $XRP Ledger. During this review, he discovered two recent Ripple transactions that redeemed Ondo Short-Term U.S. Government Treasuries (OUSG) as part of a settlement flow involving Mastercard and JPMorgan. According to Vet, the transactions settled “for fractions of a penny in a few seconds,” highlighting XRPL’s low-cost and high-speed settlement capabilities. Ripple Redeemed OUSG on XRPL In his post, Vet stated that Ondo operates as a native issuer…

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has put its turn under Chairman Paul Atkins into writing, publishing a draft strategic plan that would narrow the agency’s enforcement reach, build rules for crypto, and widen access to private markets. The regulator released the document this week and set a July 2 deadline for public comment, according to the SEC. The plan organizes the agency’s work around three goals, and it reads as a formal version of the priorities Atkins has pushed since he took over the commission in April 2025. At its center sits a return to what the SEC…