Author: NBTC

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) has allegedly been using crypto to slip past Western sanctions for at least 3 years now, according to a report by TRM Labs. Since early 2023, the Guard has funneled about $1 billion through two UK-based crypto exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion. Allegedly, these exchanges are helping the Guard send large amounts of USDT across borders without going through banks. Iranian Guard used crypto to reach groups and suppliers abroad For the uninitiated, the IRGC is the most powerful piece of Iran’s military, and it’s been under tough sanctions from the United States and others since it…

CME Group is expanding its cryptocurrency pricing coverage with the introduction of real-time and reference pricing indices for Hedera’s native token, HBAR, adding another digital asset to its standardized market data suite. According to information shared by the Hedera Foundation, the new pricing products are scheduled to go live on December 29 via the CME CF Cryptocurrency Pricing Market Data feed, which is distributed through CME Globex on Google Cloud. The launch comprises not only daily benchmark reference rates but also a constantly updated real-time index, placing HBAR in the broader expansion of cryptocurrency pricing data by CME. The notice…

The US Senate has delayed a critical step on the Digital Asset Market Structure CLARITY Act, raising fresh doubts about whether Congress can pass long-awaited crypto rules in 2026. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman said his committee will postpone its planned markup of the bill until the last week of January. No Discussion on Crypto CLARITY Act Until Two More Weeks The session had been scheduled to take place alongside the Senate Banking Committee’s markup this Thursday. Boozman said the delay aims to preserve bipartisan support. 🚨NEW: Bye bye dueling markups. Per Chairman @JohnBoozman, the @SenateAg Committee is punting…

A big crypto whale account has made a noteworthy deposit to HyperLiquid. Specifically, the crypto whale address has deposited nearly $8.09M in the form of $USDC ahead of rapidly placing several big Solana ($SOL) buy orders. As per the data from OnchainLens, the crypto whale has placed notable buy orders of up to $8M for $SOL. This signals a solid confidence in the near-term price outlook of $SOL. A whale deposited $8.09M $USDC into #HyperLiquid and placed an order to buy 59,458 $SOL for $8M at a price range of $133.88 – $135.The whale also holds 427,441 $HYPE, worth $11.09M.https://t.co/6Ujcknmiiq…

Cango’s Bitcoin reserve is valued at about $700 million, exceeding its stock market capitalization. December production rose 4.1% to 569 BTC, lifting total holdings to 7,528.3 BTC. The miner controls roughly 5.4% of global hashrate and is set for a $10.5 million shareholder investment boost. Cango Inc.’s Bitcoin treasury is now worth more than the company’s entire stock market capitalization, returning attention to past “severely undervalued” assessments of the firm’s stock valuation by HCW and Greenridge analysts last month. The Dallas-based miner announced on Monday, January 5, 2025, that it produced 569 Bitcoins in December, which is a 4.1% month-on-month…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has renewed his call to end congressional stock trading, highlighting outsized returns by lawmakers that far outpace market benchmarks. In 2024, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden’s portfolio surged 123.8%, compared with the S&P 500’s 24.9%, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s portfolio returned 70.9%. Bessent Urges End to Congressional Trading as House Leaders See Outsized Returns Scott Bessent’s warning comes as asset managers take record-long positions in US equities. S&P 500 futures net long exposure has reached 49%, near historic highs. .@SpeakerPelosi and Senator @RonWyden are the poster children for a much larger problem; as I have…

Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding clarity from the Securities and Exchange Commission over the protection of retirement savers, as the Trump administration moves to integrate cryptocurrencies into 401(k) plans. In a letter sent Monday to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, Warren asks how the agency plans to protect investors as regulators reconsider whether cryptocurrencies should be permitted. The review follows an August 2025 executive order by President Trump instructing federal agencies to revisit guidance governing retirement investments, despite months of market turbulence.  “There is no reason to expect that inviting plans to offer these alternative investments will lead to better…

Key Highlights: On-chain perps volumes tripled in 2025, peaking at $1.8T in October. Hyperliquid lost monopoly, Lighter and Aster now match the volumes. Memecoins drove surge to $12T yearly total. In 2025, on-chain perpetual contracts have experienced a great amount of growth, the trading activity has tripled year-over-year according to CryptoRank. This surge has been possible because of intense competition and a spike in memecoin-driven liquidity rotations, pushing volumes to a peak of $1.8 trillion in October. Perp volumes more than tripled in 2025 The sector shifted from a near-monopolistic setup dominated by Hyperliquid into a highly competitive field. Mainly…

World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, launched its first decentralized finance (DeFi) web app — World Liberty Markets — offering lending and borrowing services for its dollar-pegged stablecoin USD1, according to a press release on Monday. The new platform, built on infrastructure from DeFi protocol Dolomite, gives users the ability to supply and borrow digital assets onchain, starting with USD1 as the primary asset. Dolomite’s native DOLO token rose by 57% following the announcement while WLFI is up by 4.8% in the past two hours. Other supported collateral on the platform includes the…

As markets brace for the release of November’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran is pushing back against the prevailing view that inflation remains stubbornly above target. His remarks come only days before the CPI data release on Thursday. This US economic data is likely to influence investor sentiment for Bitcoin. Stephen Miran: The Fed Is Fighting the Wrong Inflation Ahead of CPI Data on the CME FedWatch Tool shows markets are rethinking their interest rate bets, with traders wagering a 75.6% probability of no change in the January 2026 Fed meeting. Interest Rate Probabilities. Source: CME…