Author: NBTC

Following a monumental year for the cryptocurrency space, new data from CoinGecko highlights the significant diversity of the most active blockchains by mindshare in 2025. The ranking reflects relative interest and engagement across networks rather than price performance, offering insight into which ecosystems are capturing the most traction this year. Overall, the data illustrates a shifting landscape in 2025, where high-performance and application-focused blockchains are gaining a growing share of attention, even as established networks like Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) continue to play foundational roles in the broader crypto ecosystem. Solana (SOL) Solana (SOL) tops the list with 26.79%…

The debate between Aave DAO and Aave Labs continues to escalate. In what began as a spat over the “private monetisation” of features on the platform’s front-end, the DAO is now seeking ownership of “brand assets.” The rift may have been sparked by a relatively small revenue stream, but the focus is now on brand ownership. Aave is DeFi’s biggest app, currently making $100+ million per year, and the brand carries enormous potential for making money off future products and features. A forum post from longtime Aave contributor Ernesto Boado of BGD Labs requests that control of “domains, social handles,…

Key Takeaways Major technology companies, particularly those focused on AI, lost $1.5 trillion in market value within 48 hours. Prominent firms affected included Nvidia, Microsoft, Palantir, Tesla, Amazon, Intel, AMD, Oracle, Alphabet, and IBM. Major technology companies lost $1.5 trillion in market value over 48 hours as investors dialed back expectations of a December interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve, pushing the next fully priced cut into March. At the same time, large fiscal stimulus plans in the US and Japan are stoking fears that governments are fighting inflation with policies that could actually keep it higher for longer.…

KuCoin announced an exclusive multiyear deal with Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium from 2026 to 2028, making the exchange the music festival’s exclusive crypto and payments partner. The move comes just weeks after KuCoin secured a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) service provider license in the European Union. KuCoin’s MiCA play goes mass‑market KuCoin EU Exchange recently obtained a crypto asset service provider license in Austria under the EU’s MiCA regime, giving it a fully regulated foothold in the bloc as Brussels’ new rulebook for exchanges, custody and stablecoins comes into force. The Tomorrowland deal signals how KuCoin plans to…

Tokenized stocks and commodities reached peak valuations, on a mix of increasing token supply and growing market prices. Stocks and commodities are still the smallest class in tokenized RWAs, but have been growing actively in the past months. Tokenized stocks and commodities reached peak valuations, based on Token Terminal data. Asset tokenization remains one of the growth narratives in 2025, with more platforms seeking to add their own standard of stocks. Tokenized commodities reached $3.7B in December, mostly based on the performance of gold. Tokenized stocks hover around $808M. Tokenized commodities mostly rely on Tether’s gold-backed tokens for their growth.…

Following the launch of its institutional loans program on its centralized platform, offering up to 4x leverage and potential zero-interest terms for high-net-worth customers, Binance has launched a Web3 loan feature within its self-custody wallet. The world’s largest exchange has spread its tentacles across the decentralized finance space with its expansion into lending. Ethereum protocols control about 80% of the DeFi lending market share. The move pits the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume against established players like Aave, which alone controls about 60% of the DeFi lending sector. Binance Wallet launches DeFi loans with Venus Protocol Binance just…

Japan is advancing custody rules, Hong Kong is standardizing digitally native bond issuance, and Singapore has approved the first retail tokenized fund. The sequence is rules, issuance, and cash-like instruments. The link to crypto is not narrative but plumbing that reduces friction for collateral and settlement near BTC and ETH venues. Japan’s Financial Services Agency set out a pathway that brings crypto closer to Financial Instruments and Exchange Act treatment while reaffirming hardware-segregated custody as the baseline. The agency’s English discussion paper cites more than 12 million exchange accounts and user assets exceeding ¥5 trillion held by exchanges as of…

Binance has published a detailed update explaining how its token listing process works. At the same time, the exchange made one thing very clear. There is no room for middlemen. According to the announcement, all projects must apply directly through Binance’s official channels. Any third-party “listing agent” or intermediary is now strictly banned. The listing framework warned that projects using such services will face immediate disqualification and blacklisting. Indeed, the move comes as scams around fake listing guarantees continue to rise. According to the framework, fraudsters often pretend to be insiders and demand fees in exchange for a promised listing.…

Tokenized real-world assets are no longer an experiment—they’re becoming core infrastructure. And few assets carry more institutional credibility than gold.—Gold Token S.A., the tokenization arm of MKS PAMP Group, has brought its flagship gold-backed token DGLD® to Base, Coinbase’s Layer-2 network. The launch makes DGLD the only institutional-grade, physically backed gold token available on Base, opening access to millions of users across the ecosystem.By deploying on Base and listing on Aerodrome, DGLD is now natively accessible to more than 8 million monthly active users, with immediate liquidity and DeFi composability.From Swiss Vaults to Onchain MarketsDGLD isn’t synthetic exposure or paper…

A new wave of firms is using the DAT model based on in-kind funding with newly launched tokens. Unlike playbook companies buying assets on the open market, those companies propose to build the treasuries with existing reserves of tokens or altcoins. New companies are trying to raise funds for digital asset treasuries (DAT) by supplying the digital tokens in kind. This approach allows public firms access to fresh capital and a pricing model for their illiquid tokens. Digital asset companies come in several tiers, starting with Strategy and 17 other BTC ‘playbook’ companies, which raise funds through a mix of…