Author: NBTC

In brief AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview are dramatically lowering the bar for cyberattacks, enabling even unskilled actors to exploit vulnerabilities across major systems. A single breach could cascade across interconnected financial institutions, elevating cyber risk to a macro-financial threat. The IMF urges policymakers to treat cybersecurity as a core financial stability issue, calling for stronger resilience standards, cross-border coordination, and AI-powered defenses to match AI-powered attacks. The International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that artificial intelligence is rapidly amplifying the threat of cyberattacks against the global financial system, potentially turning localized breaches into economy-rattling shocks that could shake…

Stablecoin activity showed mixed signals on April 28, 2025, as Whale Alert tracked two large $USDC Treasury transactions. The mints added 500 million $USDC to the market while broader transfer volume declined over the past 30 days. Each transaction minted 250 million $USDC, bringing the combined issuance to 500 million tokens. However, the $USDC Treasury stablecoin mint came during a mixed period for the wider stablecoin market. Transfer volumes were falling while market cap, holder numbers, and number of active wallets were increasing. The data confirmed that the stablecoin segment was growing, yet more supply and adoption were not contributing…

In brief Rep. Brad Sherman said allowing government payments in stablecoins would “sanctify an alternative to the U.S. dollar” built to “facilitate a tax-evasion economy.” His rebuke followed NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman’s pitch that stablecoins could speed up tax refunds and emergency stimulus payments. The clash came at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on regulators’ progress implementing the $GENIUS Act. Long-time crypto critic U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA-32) took aim at government stablecoin payments during a House hearing on banking regulators Thursday, arguing that they would facilitate tax evasion. During the hearing on Oversight of Prudential Regulators, National Credit…

Coinbase has secured approval to offer access to global crypto perpetual futures for U.S. users, a development its chief executive says could reconnect American traders with a market that has largely operated offshore for years. According to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the approval allows the exchange to become the first U.S. platform offering access to what he described as true global crypto perpetual futures liquidity, following years of discussions with regulators and policymakers in Washington. In a statement published on X, Armstrong said a lack of clear U.S. rules had pushed much of the crypto derivatives market overseas, while perpetual…

Investors are piling into leveraged ETFs at a record pace, turning the Bitcoin risk-on boom into a test of whether speculative demand can survive hotter inflation and fading expectations of Fed rate cuts. Bitcoin trades near $81,000 as of May 15, close enough to the $86,900 resistance ceiling to make a breakout plausible and to the $76,900 support floor to make a rejection consequential, according to a report by Glassnode. US-leveraged ETF assets under management reportedly reached $177 billion, up $45 billion from the March market bottom. Technology-linked funds hold roughly $65 billion, semiconductor-focused funds hold $32 billion, and Magnificent…

Chainlink released its review for the first quarter of 2026. It reported about a number of partnerships with institutions, regulatory milestones, and DeFi integrations that make the oracle network more useful in both TradFi and decentralized markets. Chainlink expands further in the DeFi space The biggest deal of the quarter was between Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, and fintech company Spiko. They used Chainlink’s data and interoperability infrastructure to launch a tokenized mutual fund. Chainlink’s blog says that the Spiko Amundi Overnight Swap Fund (SAFO) got more than $400 million in assets under management in just three weeks after it…

Some digital asset industry advocates are pushing back against a provision in a $56 billion state budget passed by the Illinois General Assembly on Monday, due to its impact on crypto users. In a Senate bill included as part of the Illinois state budget for the fiscal year 2027, lawmakers proposed a 0.2% tax on crypto transactions, to be imposed by the “digital asset broker making or effectuating the sale of the digital asset business activity.” The 1624-page bill, part of the revenue and tax package to fund the state’s 2027 budget, passed along party lines early on Monday. Senate…

Binance is trying to enter the Philippines market through a local partner. Regulators are making clear it won’t be simple. The country’s central bank said neither the world’s largest crypto exchange nor its local partner, BlockShoals Technologies Inc., holds the necessary license to operate as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the country, BitPinas media reported. The license, issued by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is essential to facilitate crypto payment and transaction rails and is separate from any approval granted by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). CoinDesk reached out to Binance for a comment. Binance has previously…

In brief The 7D-SMA of US spot Bitcoin ETF netflows dropped to -$88M/day, the largest outflow since mid-February, Glassnode said. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 4.52%, and April CPI came in at 3.8% year-over-year—the highest in three years—pushing back expectations of a Fed rate cut. Analysts say $77,000 is the key support level; a break below, with open interest still elevated, could trigger a deleveraging phase. Bitcoin is struggling to hold above $80,000 as institutional investors exit ETFs amid rising Treasury yields, even as the CLARITY Act passed the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday The leading crypto is up 0.8%…

Fund managers are warming back up to digital assets, with Bitcoin continuing to dominate allocation preferences even as broader crypto sentiment improves, according to a new survey by CoinShares. The April survey gathered responses from 26 institutional investors overseeing a combined $1.3 trillion in assets under management. Allocations to digital assets remain relatively modest, at around 1%, reflecting what CoinShares described as “typical entry sizing” in the current de-risking environment. “Bitcoin remains the digital asset with the most compelling growth outlook,” CoinShares head of research James Butterfill wrote in the report. Sentiment toward Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) also improved…