Author: NBTC

Tether’s growing footprint in the global gold market has entered the chat in a big way, thanks to a new analysis from Jefferies that frames the stablecoin giant as something akin to a private-sector central bank. Why Jefferies Thinks Tether Is the Most Important Gold Buyer You’re Not Watching Tether, already known for steering the world’s largest stablecoin, now appears to be steering something else: the flow of bullion. A report from Jefferies equity analysts Fahad Tariq and Andrew Moss — amplified by coverage from Reuters’ Mike Dolan and Kitco News’ Neils Christensen — argues that Tether has quietly evolved…

The Cloudflare internet service went offline again, taking most websites and apps down with it. However, this time the outage was resolved within 10 minutes, a stark contrast to the November 18 catastrophe. Cloudflare said on Friday it had deployed a fix for a disruption that affected its dashboard and connected applications, but did not mention the problem that caused websites to display a “500 internal server error.” The company published an update on its status page, noting it had “implemented a fix” and was “monitoring system behavior” while services went back online. The disruption caused outages in several websites,…

A group of former executives of Signature Bank, the crypto-friendly bank shuttered in 2023 March, announced on Thursday the launch of a new blockchain-powered, full-reserve bank aiming to offer programmable U.S. dollar payments. Dubbed N3XT, the bank operates under a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter, settles payments instantly using a private blockchain system and allows businesses to automate transactions via smart contracts. Unlike traditional banks, N3XT does not lend out deposits. Instead, it’s a so-called “narrow bank” where every dollar is backed one-to-one by cash or short-term U.S. Treasuries and is disclosed daily. At the helm is CEO…

South Africa’s central bank has echoed a warning from Standard Chartered, confirming that the rapid rise of stablecoins could destabilize emerging-market (EM) banks. Standard Chartered projects that digital dollars could drain as much as $1 trillion from EM bank deposits over the next three years, as consumers and corporates shift savings toward stable, USD-pegged alternatives. Standard Chartered’s Alarm: Emerging-Market Banks at Risk In a recent research note, Standard Chartered highlighted 48 countries along an opportunity–vulnerability continuum. As BeInCrypto reported, the bank’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, identified Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka as most exposed to…

The volume of perpetual contracts traded on DEXs surged above $1 trillion in November, despite the uncertainties prevailing in the crypto market that month. November marked the second consecutive month with $1 trillion in perpetual trading volume after October’s $1.37 trillion. Perpetual contracts are becoming increasingly popular on decentralized exchanges, according to on-chain data. Platforms such as Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Aster recorded notable volume in October and November compared to preceding months. November perpetual trading volume on DEXs exceeds $1 trillion Source: DefiLlama. Perpetual Trading Volume on Decentralized Exchanges Data from DefiLlama, an open-source analytics platform for decentralized finance (DeFi),…

BUIDL, BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, is now accepted as collateral for stablecoins issued on the M0 platform, the teams revealed on Thursday, Dec. 4. The update gives M0 issuers access to the largest tokenized Treasury fund to back their stablecoins. BUIDL has over $2 billion in total assets, down roughly 30% over the past month, even as the fund’s price remained steady at $1. At the same time, the number of holders grew by more than 3%, according to RWAxyz. The move highlights a broader push to make stablecoins more secure, give issuers more flexibility, and boost on-chain liquidity.…

The Fed’s Beige Book report, which provides updated assessments of the regional economic outlook, has been released. The report notes that economic activity across the country has remained largely stable, but regional disparities are evident. According to the Fed, most regions reported no significant change in economic activity compared to the previous report, while two regions saw a slight contraction and one a limited increase. Some contacts noted increasing risks that economic activity could slow in the coming months, but moderate optimism was observed, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Wage increases were generally modest, while the labor market continued to…

Major crypto exchange Binance will suspend deposits and withdrawals of tokens on the Terra (LUNA) network on Dec. 8, 2025. Binance will be taking this measure in order to support Terra (LUNA)’s network upgrade, which will take place at block height 18,660,000, or on Dec. 8 at 1:05 p.m. (UTC). This would also ensure the best user experience, Binance added. The trading of tokens on the Terra (LUNA) network will not be affected, as users will still be able to trade. Deposits and withdrawals will be reopened once the upgraded network is deemed to be stable, however, this might not…

A new bridge connecting Base, the layer 2 incubated by Coinbase, and the Solana blockchain is now live on mainnet, giving users and developers a way to move assets directly between the two ecosystems. Secured by Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and Coinbase, the Base-Solana bridge enables trading and usage of Solana-based tokens, including SOL and other SPL assets, on decentralized applications built on Base. Early adopters include apps like Zora, Aerodrome, Virtuals, Flaunch, and Relay. For users, this means they can now deposit Solana tokens into Base-based decentralized applications that integrate the bridge and begin trading or interacting with…

SpaceComputer, a startup that plans to use satellites to run secure computing for blockchains, has raised $10 million in a seed round, according to an announcement shared exclusively with The Defiant. The firm said the funds will be used to build an orbital network that can process blockchain operations securely from space. The seed round was co-led by Maven11 and Lattice, with participation from Superscrypt, the Arbitrum Foundation, Nascent, Offchain Labs, Hashkey, and Chorus One, among others. Individual investors include Marc Weinstein, Jason Yanowitz, and Ameen Soleimani. This raise follows a pre-seed round led by Primitive Ventures earlier this year,…