Author: NBTC

The Ethereum Layer 2 landscape is undergoing a painful but necessary correction. The recent shutdown of Zero Network has underscored a growing consensus among developers and investors: the era of generic, general-purpose rollups is ending. In a market flooded with nearly identical scaling solutions, differentiation has become a matter of survival. The General-Purpose Problem Ben Fisch, co-founder of Espresso Systems, a protocol focused on L2 interoperability, framed the issue clearly: the problem is not with Layer 2 technology itself, but with the overabundance of chains offering the same thing. ‘There is no reason for numerous networks to exist with identical…

Bitcoin is starting to rebound after a rocky night that saw the top cryptocurrency by market cap dive below $75,000 for the first time in over a month, dipping as low as $74,344 in the early hours of Saturday. The coin is currently trading around $75,500, showing a 1.8% drop over the last 24 hours and 2.7% in the last week. Bitcoin had traded above the $80,000 mark as recently as last week before leading a broader crypto market dip in the days since. Other major cryptocurrencies are showing similar declines, with Ethereum falling 2.7% in the last day to…

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has signaled a clear strategic preference for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and deposit tokens over asset-backed tokens as it prepares for the anticipated growth of the tokenized asset market. In an issue note published today, the central bank outlined a phased approach that prioritizes the establishment of a robust digital payment infrastructure before moving to more complex tokenized assets. Phased Approach to Digital Currency The BOK’s decision, reported by iNews24, reflects a cautious yet forward-looking strategy. The central bank views CBDCs and deposit tokens—digital representations of commercial bank money—as foundational elements for a modernized…

Pyth Pro launched on the Cardano network, features latency under 100 ms and data provided by more than 125 institutional publishers. Indigo, the leading synthetic assets platform on Cardano, is the first active integration in the ecosystem. Use cases range from lending and synthetics to derivatives and real-world assets (RWAs) on the network. Pyth Network announced the launch of Pyth Pro on Cardano, bringing institutional-grade pricing infrastructure to one of the most established proof-of-stake ecosystems in the industry. The development received technical support from the Cardano Foundation and Intersect during the architecture and structuring phases. Cardano has spent years building…

Pakistan’s Budget 2026-27 is expected to introduce taxes on profits from virtual currency trading, marking a shift toward formal oversight of digital assets. The proposal would bring gains from cryptocurrency transactions into the documented fiscal system through the Finance Bill 2026. The move follows pressure on authorities to define how digital asset income should be reported and taxed. Local media reports said the Tax Policy Unit of the Finance Ministry and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) are studying the plan. Finance Bill Could Bring Crypto Gains Under Tax Rules The government is considering changes to Section 37 of the…

The United States government has moved approximately $1.9 million worth of altcoins linked to the seized assets of Alameda Research to a Coinbase Prime address, according to on-chain data. The transfer, which occurred on [date of transfer, e.g., March 28, 2025], has drawn attention from market observers monitoring for potential sell-side pressure. Details of the Transfer Blockchain records indicate that the transferred assets include several tokens: Render Token (RNDR), Uniswap ($UNI), The Sandbox ($SAND), Mask Network ($MASK), and Axie Infinity ($AXS). These funds were reportedly sourced from an Alameda-affiliated Binance account that was seized by the U.S. Department of Justice…

Sending money across borders for business has always been slow and expensive. Banks charge high fees, exchange rates take a cut, and transfers can take days. The cost is heaviest in Africa, for context, sending money to Sub-Saharan Africa averages 7.9% in fees on a $200 transfer, the highest of any region, according to the World Bank. A new partnership between Aptos Foundation, HashKey MENA, and African payments platform Daya aims to cut that down using stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies. The three are building a regulated payments corridor connecting the Middle East and Africa, with transactions settling…

Bitcoin has sparked discussions across the crypto market just after its price slipped below the $75,000 mark on Saturday, May 23. This weak price move has seen traders increasingly turn bearish on the world’s largest crypto asset. As such, a popular crypto prediction platform, Kalshi, has issued a bearish forecast on Bitcoin. Bitcoin to fall below $50,000 this year According to Kalshi, the chances of Bitcoin falling below $50,000 this year have increased to 40% as traders appear to be taking caution amid the prolonged market volatility. This means that Bitcoin is increasingly becoming more likely to retest $50,000 and…

The Bank of England is walking back some of its most restrictive stablecoin proposals after Deputy Governor for Financial Stability Sarah Breeden admitted the institution may have been too cautious. The reassessment comes amid mounting pressure from crypto firms that argue the UK risks falling behind other jurisdictions in digital asset innovation. Breeden told the Financial Times that the central bank is actively exploring alternatives to ownership caps and reserve requirements that the digital asset industry has called unworkable. The original proposal The plan, floated in late 2025, would have capped individual holdings of sterling-denominated stablecoins at £20,000 and business…

The leading Solana [$SOL] digital assets trust (DAT), Forward Industries, announced a strategic investment in OnRe, a regulated on-chain reinsurance provider. OnRe was also acquired by RockawayX, a multinational, multi-strategy digital asset investment company. On-chain reinsurance on Solana? According to the press release, OnRe’s $5 million Series A round was co-led by these two companies. Wherein, Forward planned to invest up to $25 million on Solana in ONyc, OnRe’s yield-bearing token. For context, ONyc provides cryptocurrency users with access to institutional-grade reinsurance yields, which they can then actively utilize within DeFi strategies. Due to its integration, ONyc can be used…