Author: NBTC

The Ethereum ecosystem finds itself at a crossroads as it grapples with significant concerns over privacy and extractable value, threatening the stability of its blockchain framework. The battle between maintaining transparency and maximizing extractable value (MEV) exacerbates issues like scalability and market equity. Notably, bots leveraging Layer 2 solutions dominate more than half of the network’s gas usage as they hunt for MEV, all the while enjoying considerably reduced fees, thus posing a fundamental threat to market stability. What Is the Economic Fallout of MEV Tactics?How Are Different Paths Towards Privacy Being Explored? What Is the Economic Fallout of MEV…

JPMorgan (JPM) said there are growing signs that the recent selloff in crypto markets may be nearing a bottom, with flow and positioning indicators pointing to stabilization after heavy de-risking late last year. “Signs of a bottoming out in January are also seen in other crypto indicators in perpetual futures and in our position proxies on CME futures,” analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote. Bitcoin $BTC$90,366.40 and ether $ETH$3,090.81 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw notable outflows in December, even as global equity ETFs attracted a record $235 billion of inflows, the bank said in a Wednesday report. That divergence underscored how…

HONG KONG — Oleg Ogienko, A7A5’s director for Regulatory and Overseas Affairs, is looking to debate anyone who accuses him of breaking any compliance laws through his stablecoin company. Speaking to CoinDesk during Consensus Hong Kong, the public face of the Ruble-denominated stablecoin issuer A7A5 — which grew faster last year than $USDT or $USDC — stressed that, like any stablecoin issuer, compliance with the laws of where it is incorporated is key (in this case, Kyrgyzstan), and criminals are not welcome on the platform. “We are fully compliant with the regulations of Kyrgyzstan. We do not do illegal things,”…

AEON has teamed up with Ultima in a move designed to push crypto out of the portfolio and into the pocket. The strategic integration announced today brings support for the $ULTIMA token across AEON’s global payment rails, letting users pay with $ULTIMA at checkout via AEON Pay, AEON’s Web3 mobile payments product, both online and at physical stores. The partnership positions $ULTIMA for everyday spending, from coffee runs to service purchases, while folding the token into AEON’s longer-term vision for AI-native economic systems. Under the deal, AEON Pay users will be able to transact directly from wallets and exchanges that…

Coinbase has announced a significant change to the infrastructure of its Base Ethereum Layer-2 network. The company announced that Base will be moving away from the current OP Stack architecture it is built upon and transitioning to a “unified Base stack” structure that is entirely operated by Base. OP Price Drops After Coinbase Announces Abandoning OP Stack Architecture Following this development, Optimism (OP) experienced a sharp drop in price. With this transition, node operators will need to follow versions published through Base’s own GitHub repository, base/base, instead of Optimism releases. Coinbase stated that more detailed information will be provided closer…

Ethereum price is hovering just below the $2,000 mark, a level that now feels more like a ceiling than support. Summary $ETH has continued to decline in recent sessions, now down 40% monthly. A key on-chain metric shows that Ethereum price may be bottoming. Technical structure remains bearish unless bulls reclaim the $2,150–$2,200 zone. Ethereum was trading around $1,981, rising nearly 1% in the past 24 hours. Over the last week, the coin has moved in a tight band between $1,907 and $2,098, reflecting a pause after a period of heavy selling. The market’s recent slide has been sharp. In…

Happy Thursday, advisors! Happy New Year!. As we enter 2026, the question for wealth management has fundamentally shifted. It is no longer “will digital assets matter?” but rather “can your firm afford to be the one that says no?” Andreessen Horowitz declared 2025 as the year crypto went mainstream, and for good reason. Traditional finance (TradFi) isn’t just watching from afar anymore; it’s undergoing a massive structural upgrade. We are now seeing blockchain move from a ‘niche experiment’ to the base layer for financial systems because of its undeniable efficiency and transparency. In today’s newsletter, Andy Baehr from CoinDesk Indices…

Joachim Nagel, president of Germany’s central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, supported the introduction of a euro-pegged central bank digital currency (CBDC) and euro-denominated stablecoins for payments. In remarks prepared for a speech at the New Year’s Reception of the American Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt on Monday, Nagel said EU officials were “working hard” toward the introduction of a retail CBDC. Euro-denominated stablecoins, according to the central bank president, could also contribute to “making Europe more independent in terms of payment systems and solutions.” “Notably, a wholesale CBDC would allow financial institutions to make programmable payments in central bank money,”…

Alchemy Pay, a leading payment infrastructure entity, has announced support for Ultima ($ULTIMA), a blockchain-based multi-product network. The integration marks a key move toward wider accessibility for consumers across the globe. As Alchemy Pay mentioned in its official X post, the development offers seamless fiat off-ramp and on-ramp support. Hence, consumers can efficiently sell and buy $ULTIMA via familiar methods of payment across 173 jurisdictions. . $ULTIMA is now supported on #AlchemyPay. 🤝Users can buy and sell Ultima’s ecosystem token with fiat using cards, bank transfers, and mobile wallets across 173 countries, making access to @UltimaEcosystem simpler and more global.👉…

The founder of Cardano has sketched an expansive web3 vision where the cardano blockchain underpins everything from dating platforms to video streaming and social media. Charles Hoskinson’s long-term blockchain vision From first-generation chains to Cardano’s ecosystem Web3 beyond coin trading From Netflix to Tinder and social media Identity, verification, and trust What needs to happen next Charles Hoskinson’s long-term blockchain vision The web3 revolution began quietly when the Bitcoin blockchain went live, long before most people understood its impact. From that moment, development moved steadily, then accelerated, bringing us to today’s fast-growing crypto landscape. However, the sector remains relatively young,…