Author: NBTC

Strategy Shifts Bitcoin Strategy as Farside Challenges STRC Price Support Model Strategy’s move to create a Digital Credit Capital Framework has sharpened scrutiny of one of its most complex financing tools: STRC. Farside Investors, a UK investment adviser, argues that STRC’s price-stability mechanism is fundamentally unstable. The product was largely issued around $100, with a mechanism intended to guide the market price back toward that level. In theory, if STRC trades below $100, Strategy can raise the dividend to support the price. If it trades above $100, the company can lower the dividend. Farside says that structure creates a dangerous…

ESMA itself said in a February statement that firms with derivatives marketed as “perpetual futures” are likely to fall under the existing product-intervention measures on contracts for difference (CFDs). The commercial name, ESMA said, is irrelevant. Even voluntary negative-balance protection does not alter the analysis. If a perp meets the CFD definition, all CFD rules apply: leverage limits, a mandatory risk warning, margin close-out, negative balance protection and a ban on trading incentives. Those restrictions are a heavy burden on licensed derivatives providers in Europe. The offshore market is teeming with sharks A European investor can open an account at…

Robinhood has launched its Ethereum Layer 2 mainnet alongside tokenized stock trading and perpetual futures, expanding its blockchain based financial services beyond the testnet stage. According to an announcement during the company’s “The World is Flat” event in London, Robinhood has unveiled the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 network built with Arbitrum technology, while introducing tokenized stocks and decentralized perpetual futures trading as part of its latest international product rollout. Speaking during the launch, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and other executives described the announcement as the company’s most ambitious global expansion and product strategy so far,…

Bitcoin has remained under pressure after U.S. spot ETFs recorded $222.64 million in outflows, while Changpeng Zhao has reiterated his belief that the cryptocurrency can reach $1 million over the next decade. According to an interview Zhao gave to Block, the Binance founder argued that Bitcoin ownership remains extremely limited worldwide, with fewer than 1% of people currently holding the asset. 🔥CZ: BITCOIN $BTC TO $1 MILLION BY 2033 IS “TOTALLY POSSIBLE”CZ told The Block that Bitcoin holders in terms of wealth are “probably less than 1%,” meaning “the demand for Bitcoin can be significant.”He said if the next cycle…

In brief Venice AI raised $65 million at a $1 billion valuation in its first outside funding round. Founder Erik Voorhees said the company has surpassed 3 million users and become profitable. Voorhees argued AI surveillance—not model capability—is becoming the industry’s defining challenge. Venice AI has raised $65 million in its first outside funding round at a $1 billion valuation, founder Erik Voorhees announced Wednesday. In a post on X, Voorhees—a cryptocurrency industry veteran who is best known as the founder of the ShapeShift exchange—said the funding validates Venice’s mission to build a private, uncensored alternative to mainstream AI like…

Borg, however, said the biggest challenge is no longer the law itself but how regulators are applying it. He estimates Europe could go from roughly 3,000 registered crypto asset service providers to only 300 or 400 licensed firms under MiCA — which he indicated would suit the regulators just fine “I’m noticing that regulators are becoming more and more lazy,” Borg said. “They prefer having 20 operators to regulate rather than invest in more technology and more human resources to supervise more operators.” Who can afford transparency? Borg believes the growing cost of compliance is biased toward companies that can…

The Bitcoin [$BTC] halving is often misinterpreted as an instant price catalyst. In reality, it works through a gradual supply reduction effect, supported by Bitcoin’s technical setup. Notably, major upside phases have occurred in the 12-18 months after a halving, rather than immediately. After the 2016 halving, for instance, Bitcoin saw its main expansion in 2017, gaining over 1,000%. Similarly, after the 2020 halving, the strongest upside played out through 2020-2021, with a full-cycle rally of roughly 60%. By contrast, the second halves (H2) of 2018 and 2022 are widely viewed as late-cycle drawdowns. In 2018, Bitcoin fell 40%-45% in…

Machi Big Brother, one of Hyperliquid’s most-liquidated traders, was liquidated again on an Ethereum long and has now lost more than $80 million on the onchain derivatives exchange since September, according to onchain analytics firm Arkham. Arkham said the trader, whose real name is Jeffrey Huang, was liquidated for $341,000 on an $ETH position, taking his cumulative losses on Hyperliquid to $80.43 million since September 2025. To raise margin, Huang has been selling his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs; blockchain tracker Lookonchain reported he sold 34 of the NFTs over the past month for 326 $ETH, about $514,000, realizing a…

The crypto industry is going through a major cleanup in 2026, with more than 70 crypto projects shutting down during the first half of the year, according to data from RootData. The list includes projects that permanently closed, filed for bankruptcy, or simply went inactive after their websites stopped working for extended periods. Major Crypto Projects That Closed The shutdowns span nearly every sector of the industry. High-profile names include Loopring, Goldfinch, NFTfi, Nifty Gateway, Foundation, ZeroLend, Ionic, Rage Trade, Botanix, Over Protocol, Zero Network, Leap Wallet, Dmail, Step Finance, MilkyWay, Fantasy Top, and Parsec. Web3 gaming, $NFT, DeFi, Layer-2,…

Illinois just became the first state to tax crypto by the transaction. The new 0.2% levy hits nearly every trade, transfer, or custody service an exchange runs for an Illinois resident, and it takes effect January 1, 2027. Governor JB Pritzker signed the Digital Asset Tax Act in mid-June, tucked inside a $55.9 billion budget. Washington is in the middle of building a single national rulebook for crypto. The $GENIUS Act for stablecoins is already law, and the CLARITY Act for market structure is slowly approaching a Senate floor vote. Both promise the same thing: one set of rules for…