Author: NBTC

Firelight, a new decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, is bringing staking to XRP users, while offering protocols a form of onchain protection against hacks. Built by Sentora and backed by Flare Network, Firelight lets XRP holders stake their tokens to earn rewards tied to demand for DeFi “cover,” protection that can help protocols absorb losses from exploits, the protocol said in a Wednesday press release The concept is similar to insurance in traditional finance, an area where the $160 billion DeFi sector still lags with billions of dollars lost in exploits and hacks hindering broader adoption. “At this stage in DeFi’s…

Law and Ledger is a news segment focusing on crypto legal news, brought to you by Kelman Law – A law firm focused on digital asset commerce. Applying the Howey Test Following our Introduction, posted last week, today’s article is Part I of our multi-article series: Is Crypto a Security? The opinion editorial below was written by Alex Forehand and Michael Handelsman for Kelman.Law. U.S. securities law does not contain a dedicated statute for digital assets. Instead, the SEC and courts continue to apply the investment contract doctrine from SEC v. W.J. Howey Co.—a 1946 Supreme Court case involving orange…

Malaysian authorities formed a joint task force using high-tech drones and police on the ground to find and shutdown nearly 14,000 illicit Bitcoin mining rigs, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. Drones hover over buildings, searching for thermal heat signatures, while police on the ground scan areas with sensors that detect illicit electricity use. Neighbors often call in complaining of strange noises, only for police officials to find crypto mining rigs. State-owned utility company Tenaga Nasional (TNB) recently reported that the illegal crypto miners have stolen $1.1 billion from the national grid since 2020. “The risk of allowing such…

Myriad has teamed up with Trust Wallet to launch the world’s first natively integrated in-wallet prediction market experience. Through Trust Wallet’s new Predictions tab, users can trade on Myriad’s prediction markets without having to leave the wallet, giving them a “simple, one-click way to trade event outcomes using the assets they already hold.” Myriad Markets partners with @TrustWallet to become the first ever native Prediction Market product inside a wallet. Trusted by over 200 million people, Trust Wallet will make Myriad Markets’ on-chain predictions accessible in a way the industry has never seen before. pic.twitter.com/y2wYEUmtV2 — MYRIAD (@MyriadMarkets) December 2,…

Key Takeaways Firelight launched an XRP staking protocol on Flare Network, supporting DeFi insurance. Users stake FXRP (wrapped XRP) to receive stXRP, liquid staking tokens tradable in DeFi applications. Firelight launched its XRP staking protocol on the Flare Network today, allowing users to stake wrapped XRP (FXRP) and receive liquid staking tokens (stXRP) for DeFi applications while preparing for insurance-backed rewards. The protocol enables XRP holders to deposit FXRP into vaults through Flare’s trust-minimized bridging system. Users receive stXRP tokens that can be traded or utilized across DeFi applications while maintaining exposure to potential staking rewards. Firelight’s model focuses on…

Continuing a rally that’s come alongside a sharp rise in odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut in early December, bitcoin BTC$92,615.61 rose to the $93,000 in early U.S. trading hours on Friday. At press time, bitcoin had pulled back to $92,500, still up 2% over the past 24 hours and now ahead about 15% since a panicky bottom of $80,000 about one week ago. Bitcoin’s reversal of fortune came alongside a massive 180 degree turn in investor expectations for a Fed rate cut in early December. A series of hawkish Fed speakers had previously whittled the odds of Fed…

The chorus of voices calling for a presidential pardon of Samourai wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill is growing, as Bitcoin advocates and policy groups call on US President Donald Trump to intervene before the pair report to prison next year. Rodriguez and Hill were sentenced in November to five and four years in prison, respectively, after pleading guilty to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Under a plea deal, each admitted only to conspiring to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business, with the laundering charge dropped. Both are due to report to prison in early January 2026,…

Major prediction market firm Kalshi is now offering on-chain event contracts, allowing users to place their predictions on the Solana blockchain, the firm announced on Monday.  The move allows Kalshi to tap into the finances of the crypto economy and will aggregate its on-chain and off-chain liquidity into one major pool.  “The ultimate moat for any exchange is liquidity,” Kalshi Head of Crypto John Wang posted on X. “Kalshi is the only prediction market in the world that aggregates on-chain and off-chain, US and international into one giant liquidity pool. Tokenization is the endgame: non-custodial, instant, and crypto-native.” The firm…

Solana-based lending protocol Kamino is drawing criticism after preventing users from refinancing their positions through Jupiter Lend. The update, first flagged by Blockflow Labs founder Pradyuman Verma, blocks refinancing by blacklisting Jupiter Lend’s on-chain address for its recently launched Refinance tool, preventing users from unwinding positions through that address. In an X post on Tuesday, Dec. 2, Verma called the change “openly ignoring open-finance principles,” adding that Kamino is “essentially pushing users into negative APYs just to keep Kamino profitable.” Following Verma’s post, Jupiter core contributor Kash Dhanda wrote on X that a “major Solana DeFi team manually blacklisted Jupiter…

Imagine paying for your morning coffee with stablecoins in the heart of Central Asia. This futuristic vision becomes reality in 2026 as Uzbekistan prepares to launch its groundbreaking regulatory framework for stablecoin payments and security token trading. The nation’s forward-thinking approach positions it as a regional leader in cryptocurrency adoption. What Makes Uzbekistan’s Stablecoin Payments Plan So Revolutionary? Uzbekistan will officially recognize stablecoins as legitimate payment instruments starting January 1, 2026. This landmark decision creates a regulated environment where businesses and consumers can transact using digital assets pegged to stable values. The country’s National Agency of Perspective Projects (NAPP) will…