Author: NBTC

NBTC

NBTC is the editorial account for NBTC News, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, exchanges, mining, regulation and digital asset markets. The editorial team focuses on clear sourcing, timely updates and practical context for crypto readers.

Tether’s $300M USDT transfer to unknown wallet stirs liquidity questions

ExchangesAug 13

Tether recently executed a significant transfer of $500 million $USDT from Binance to Tether Treasury, as reported by the well-known on-chain tracking account @whale_alert. The transfer occurred on July 30, 2026, at a moment when the broader digital asset market was showing mixed signals about future direction. Key takeaways Tether transferred $500 million $USDT from Binance to Tether Treasury. The move was first reported by the on-chain monitoring account @whale_alert, a widely followed tracker of large crypto transactions. $USDT remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, giving any large transfer significant attention. The transfer coincided with Bitcoin rebounding toward the…

What are blockchain oracles and why smart contracts cannot work without them

BlockchainAug 13

Smart contracts are powerful, but they are also blind. They cannot see prices, read weather data, or verify that a payment arrived in a bank account. Oracles are the infrastructure that connects blockchains to the outside world, and the security of more than $200 billion in DeFi depends on them working correctly. Most explanations of blockchain oracles start with a definition and stop there. They tell you that an oracle is a bridge between a blockchain and the outside world, which is true but insufficient. It is like saying a power grid is a bridge between a generator and a…

Assessing Bitcoin’s latest recovery attempt after $23.4B in longs crowd the market

BitcoinAug 13

With Bitcoin [$BTC] attempting to stabilize near $65,200, Short-Term Holder (STH) behavior is becoming increasingly important for its recovery. In fact, at the time of writing, the 30-day STH SOPR had risen to 0.997, placing it just below the neutral 1.0 threshold. The fact that STHs are making a small loss on sales right now suggests they may be less likely to sell now than when the price was near 0.98 back in March. Short-term holders have shown similar recoveries to this one previously, hitting the break-even point in January and May. However, the same soon fell back. Source: CryptoQuant…

Euro Stablecoin Market Cap Surpasses $810M as EURC Dominates with 65% Share

RegulationAug 13

The total market capitalization of euro-denominated stablecoins has climbed above $810 million as of Aug. 5, according to data from blockchain analytics platform Token Terminal. Circle’s $EURC leads the sector with a 65% market share, underscoring the growing demand for euro-backed digital assets in the crypto economy. $EURC Leads, But Competition Is Emerging $EURC, issued by Circle, has established itself as the dominant euro stablecoin, with a market cap of roughly $526 million. In second place is $EURCV, issued by SG-Forge, a subsidiary of French banking giant Societe Generale, holding a 16.7% share. The remaining 23 euro stablecoins collectively account…

Ripple prepares to dump 1 billion XRP next week

AltcoinsAug 13

Ripple is preparing to release 1 billion $XRP on August 1 as part of its monthly escrow unlock program. The upcoming release follows Ripple’s longstanding escrow mechanism, which automatically unlocks up to 1 billion $XRP each month from escrow accounts on the $XRP Ledger. Although the headline figure is significant, the market has largely treated these events as routine due to Ripple’s consistent practice of re-locking most of the released tokens. At current levels, $XRP’s circulating supply stands at approximately 65 billion tokens out of the asset’s fixed maximum supply of 100 billion $XRP. The August unlock will temporarily make…

Ex-LAPD Officer Gets Life in Prison After Posing as Police to Steal $350K Worth of BTC

LegalAug 13

Eric Halem, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer with 13 years of experience, was sentenced for orchestrating a fake police raid that ended with the theft of $350,000 in $BTC from a teenage crypto investor. Halem was sentenced to life in prison plus another 15 years for his role in the violent home invasion, which became one of the most high-profile crypto-related robbery cases in recent years. Halem remained a reserve officer at the time of the crime and was convicted of kidnapping and robbery after a jury found that he and several accomplices impersonated actual police officers to…

Ripple expands in Europe with MiCA license, unlocking regulated crypto payments

ExchangesAug 13

Ripple has obtained a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the CSSF, under Europe’s MiCA legislation, enabling the company to offer regulated crypto payment services across all 30 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA). MiCA license enables single-market access With this new authorization, Ripple can operate throughout the EEA using a unified compliance framework. This simplifies the process for banks, payment providers, and enterprises wishing to engage with Ripple Payments, as they no longer need to deal with fragmented national regulatory systems. The company’s existing Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license complements this expansion, reinforcing its position…

What are blockchain rollups and how do they scale Ethereum

BlockchainAug 13

Ethereum can process roughly 15 transactions per second. That is less than a single Starbucks checkout line. Rollups are the technology that lets Ethereum handle thousands of transactions per second without sacrificing the security that makes it valuable in the first place. They work by executing transactions off chain and posting compressed proofs back to Ethereum, turning the base layer into a settlement court rather than a transaction processor. The standard narrative says that rollups make Ethereum faster. This is technically true but misleading. Ethereum itself does not get faster. It still produces a block every 12 seconds. It still…

Ripple’s David Schwartz criticizes Bitcoin Knots over failed BIP-110 fork

BitcoinAug 13

David Schwartz, chief technology officer at Ripple and one of the key architects of the XRP Ledger, weighed in strongly on the recent controversy surrounding the failed activation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110). Bitcoin Knots faces criticism over chain split narrative Schwartz delivered a pointed response to a statement by Bitcoin Knots, a Bitcoin node software project, after the group characterized the outcome of the BIP-110 attempt as an “attack” on the network. Chiding the project’s online post, Schwartz questioned the motives behind its messaging, stating that their remarks risked misleading people unfamiliar with the context. “Is the point…

Alpaca Secures $435M to Expand Tokenized Brokerage Infrastructure

RegulationAug 13

Alpaca, a provider of brokerage infrastructure for digital assets and securities, has raised $435 million in a new funding round, as reported by The Block. The investment underscores growing demand for technology that enables financial institutions to offer tokenized trading and investment services. Funding Details and Strategic Focus The round brings Alpaca’s total funding to over $500 million, reflecting strong investor confidence in the company’s role as a backbone for brokerage operations. Alpaca plans to use the capital to expand its global reach, enhance its API-driven platform, and support the growing trend of tokenizing traditional assets like stocks, bonds, and…