Author: NBTC

Decentralized finance (DeFi) giant Spark has shelved its plans to launch a mobile app, for now. “We had an internal discussion and we’re going to put it on pause for now just because we view our edge as largely in the DeFi-native crypto space,” Sam MacPherson, CEO of Phoenix Labs, told CoinDesk in an interview during Devconnect Buenos Aires. “We are not builders of consumer apps, and this space is very competitive.” Phoenix Labs is the company behind the development of the Spark protocol, which to date has amassed over $9 billion in total value locked, according to data from…

Stablecoins are rapidly moving from niche products to core payment infrastructure, according to asset management giant DWS. With a combined market cap above $250 billion and transaction volumes outpacing Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA), they’ve become liquid, globally traded assets favored by institutions, DWS said in the report last week. Euro stablecoins are setting new benchmarks for efficiency and acceptance, according to the report. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. They play a major role in cryptocurrency markets, providing a payment infrastructure, and are also used to transfer money…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mike Selig, told senators in his Wednesday confirmation hearing that he’ll champion the president’s intention to set a U.S. path for crypto regulation. The Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC that will be a leading U.S. regulator for crypto, weighed Selig’s nomination, and Chairman John Boozman asked about digital asset oversight in his first question. “The CFTC has a critical mission to protect these markets,” Selig said. He told the lawmakers, “This is a real opportunity to develop a framework that can allow for software developers to…

Revolut is working with Ethereum overlay system provider Polygon Labs to enable its customers in the UK and EEA to make crypto remittances in USDC, USDT, and POL, via the Polygon blockchain and the Revolut app. The European fintech giant, which services over 65 million users across 38 countries, first starting enabling stablecoin transfers over Polygon integration back in December 2024 and since then has processed over $690 million in Polygon-based transactions, with near-instant transfers and minimal gas fees, according to a press release on Tuesday. “Revolut is now switching on USDC and USDT support on Polygon for customers,” a…

The upgrade introduces unified Liquidity Hubs to replace fragmented markets. Spokes introduces modular lending setups with independent risks. V4 aims to enhance capital efficiency and open new grounds for developers. Lending protocol Aave is preparing for one of its most ground-breaking upgrades. Two days after unveiling a mobile savings app, the team has released the update’s testnet, signalling progress towards Aave V4, which aims to change how liquidity moves within the protocol. Aave V4 testnet, featuring a developer preview of our new interface, Aave Pro, is now live. pic.twitter.com/q7ltPy0pxC — Aave (@aave) November 19, 2025 V4 will replace the common…

Circle has announced a strategic partnership with Safe to make the USDC stablecoin a central component of Safe’s onchain ecosystem, positioning Safe as a premier institutional storage and decentralized finance (DeFi) solution for USDC custody. Safe and Circle Join Forces The collaboration aims to integrate Circle’s (NYSE: CRCL) regulated stablecoin infrastructure with Safe’s multisignature smart accounts, which currently secure $60 billion in digital assets. According to Circle Chief Commercial Officer Kash Razzaghi, the alliance will help institutions manage onchain capital securely while strengthening USDC’s role in digital treasury management. He noted that USDC has facilitated more than $40 trillion in…

Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to three years of federal probation for his involvement in a scheme tied to a project called AML Bitcoin. Abramoff has also been ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution to victims of the scheme. Abramoff is most famously known outside the crypto industry for his conviction in a 2006 tribal casino lobbying scandal, for which he served four years in prison. The judge explained that he was not sentencing Abramoff to serve more prison time because of his early guilty plea, testimony against AML Bitcoin CEO Marcus Andrade, and an aggressive cancer diagnosis.…

Centralized exchanges displayed their influence across key metrics in October. Binance remained in the top spot, but Gate was the leader in monthly growth. October arrived with robust activity on centralized exchanges. Both the rise at the beginning of the month and the liquidations after October 11 led to growing demand for the more reliable liquidity of centralized markets. Binance remained the leading centralized exchange, but Gate had the strongest month-on-month growth. | Source: Cryptorank Gate is the leader among smaller exchanges, with volume expansion compared to September’s results. Binance is still the leader in total centralized volumes, but had…

Banking behemoth Citi Group is looking to launch crypto custody services. Citi joins JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America as the latest Wall Street institution to dive head first into crypto, reports CNBC, citing a favorable regulatory environment in the United States. According to global head of partnerships and innovation in the services business at Citi, Biswarup Chatterjee, the banking giant has been working on a crypto custody product for several years that would involve Citi holding crypto. Furthermore, Citi is considering both inhouse custody options and working with trust third-parties. Says Chatterjee, “We have various kinds of explorations… and…

NEW YORK — William “Bill” Hill, 67, one of the co-founders of Bitcoin mixer Samourai Wallet, was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for his role in creating the privacy tool prosecutors say was used to launder at least $237 million in criminal proceeds. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York (SDNY), who recently sentenced Hill’s fellow Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez to the statutory maximum of five years in prison for the same crime — conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, which both men pleaded guilty to in July — said she was “varying”…