Author: NBTC

Australia’s Federal Court has fined crypto Qoin Wallet operator BPS Financial $14 million (US$9.9 million) after finding it misled consumers about whether its token could be spent at merchants or exchanged for cash and other digital assets. The penalty was handed down on Monday after the court found in 2024 that BPS Financial promoted and operated Qoin Wallet without an Australian Financial Services Licence for almost three years. The court also found that the company had “engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct” after making false representations about Qoin Wallet.  Qoin Wallet is a non-custodial digital assets app that allows…

Nearly four months after crypto’s record Oct. 10 flash crash wiped out leveraged positions across the market, the industry is still arguing about what actually broke. That argument turned into a public spat on Saturday after OKX founder and CEO Star Xu claimed the crash was neither complicated nor accidental, but the result of irresponsible yield campaigns that pushed traders into leverage loops they did not understand. On Oct. 10, President Trump’s fresh tariff escalation on China rattled macro markets and hit crypto at the worst moment. With leverage already stacked, the initial drop turned into a wipeout with roughly…

Everstake, a crypto staking provider, said in a new report that 2025 was a “year of sharp contrasts” for Ethereum, filled with major network upgrades and rising institutional adoption even as the price of $ETH remained relatively flat. In its Ethereum Staking Insights & Protocol Analysis report, Everstake said total value staked reached about 36.08 million $ETH, or roughly 29.3% of supply, with net growth of more than 1.8 million $ETH. As of Tuesday, Jan. 27, about 36.5 million $ETH is staked – roughly 30.26% of supply, according to Coinbase data. The report also highlighted continued growth in network activity,…

Dutch indirect crypto investments have surged to record levels, buoyed by households, pension funds, and a small number of high-profile securities, according to new data from the Netherlands’ central bank. The Dutch central bank said total indirect crypto securities holdings in all sectors reached about $1.4 billion by October, an uptick from just $94 million in 2020. Despite the growth, the bank reiterated that indirect crypto investments account for only 0.03% of the Netherlands’ total securities holdings. The analysis focused on three categories of instruments: exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded notes, and so-called crypto treasury shares. ETFs and ETNs track the price…

The government of Kazakhstan is stepping up efforts to curb illegal cryptocurrency transactions, including capital flight via digital assets. The Central Asian nation is a leader in the latter, its head of state says, insisting illicit transactions through crypto trading platforms have become a serious issue. Astana goes after shadow crypto circulation and outflows Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has sharply criticized illegal cryptocurrency transfers, including those serving tax evasion schemes and capital flight, local media reported. In a statement on the matter, the Kazakh leader directly described such transactions as a threat to the economic security of the country, which…

Addresses withdrawing $XRP from the Upbit exchange recently spiked to a new all-time high, indicating that investors are increasingly pulling their assets from exchanges. This recent pattern comes despite $XRP’s latest price struggles, as it relinquishes the $1.8 and support level amid a broader market risk-off environment. For context, $XRP has continued to witness declines since Jan. 14, when it recovered to $2.2 and met a roadblock. Currently trading for $1.7, $XRP is down 22.7% from the $2.2 high. While the downturn has persisted, South Korean investors remain unfazed, as evidenced by their increased exchange withdrawals. Specifically, exchange withdrawing addresses…

Bitcoin miners are kicking off February on shaky ground, with revenue slipping hard since mid-January and sitting well below July’s 12-month peak. On top of that, the U.S. winter storm has kept the hashrate stuck far beneath the lofty levels seen back in October. Bitcoin Miners Start February With Revenue Metrics Flashing Red Most people are well aware of the winter storm ripping through multiple U.S. states, causing several mining operations to temporarily power down to ease strain on local grids. As of press time this weekend, the hashrate is idling around 850 exahash per second (EH/s). It hasn’t dipped…

The Ethereum price jumped over 2% in the past 24 hours as SharpLink Gaming announces that it generated 465 $ETH in staking rewards in the past week. Following the recent uptick, the price of $ETH is still below the psychological $3K mark. Additionally, the altcoin leader’s price remains more than 1% in the red on the longer-term weekly time frame. SharpLink’s Staking Rewards Break Past 12K $ETH According to the X post by SharpLink announcing the latest staking rewards, the company has generated 12,079 $ETH since launching its Ethereum treasury on June 2, 2025. At current prices, the company’s staking…

Farcaster, the decentralized protocol once pitched as crypto’s answer to Twitter, has been acquired by Neynar, a longtime infrastructure builder in its ecosystem. The transition was announced by Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero in a post Wednesday. Romero said Neynar will take over the protocol’s smart contracts, code repositories, mobile app and Clanker, an AI token launchpad. Romero and fellow cofounder Varun Srinivasan, along with parts of their team at Merkle, will step away from day-to-day development. “This wasn’t an easy decision,” Romero said in the post. “But after five years, it’s clear Farcaster needs a new approach and leadership to…

Capital.com appears to have obtained a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), according to an entry in the regulatory registry. Alongside it, eToro, Revolut and two other firms have obtained the pan-European crypto licence from the Cypriot regulator. Two Entities, but One Brand? The licence has been granted to an entity named Capital Vault Ltd, which shares the same office building as Capital.com’s Cyprus entity, but on a different floor. The MiCA-licensed company has Capital.com listed as its approved domain. The MiCA licence was awarded on 1 December 2025. MiCA registration of Capital.com-linked…