Author: NBTC

Following the 2024 elections, in which an estimated 270 lawmakers with favorable views on digital assets won seats in the US Congress, many cryptocurrency-affiliated organizations and political action committees show no signs of slowing their progress in the next significant election, the 2026 midterms. Likely boosted by advocacy work from organizations — such as the Coinbase-affiliated Stand With Crypto group and whose campaigns were supported by media buys from political action committees (PACs) — a majority of lawmakers in the 119th session of the US Congress took office in January having already expressed views signaling that they would support pro-crypto…

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong unveiled the company’s ambitious 2026 roadmap, promising a global “everything exchange”. While the vision is bold, users and developers alike are signaling frustration, citing a widening gap between Coinbase’s stated priorities and their on-the-ground experiences. Brian Armstrong Takes Fire as Coinbase’s 2026 Roadmap Faces User Backlash According to the Coinbase executive, the Everything app would span crypto, equities, commodities, and prediction markets. It would also feature scaled stablecoins and payments, as well as expanded developer onboarding through the Base chain and the Base App. “We’re making major investments in product quality and automation underlying each of…

Japan’s second largest city, Osaka, has begun testing autonomous AI agents in local government in an attempt to ease the country’s shrinking work force. Osaka Prefecture has launched a public-private consortium that will experiment with AI Agents designed to provide clerical support and multilingual services. The prefecture will pool expertise from a consortium, which includes Google Cloud Japan, telecom provider NTT West, Microsoft Japan, and Osaka Metropolitan University. The trial will assess whether AI can streamline administrative processes accurately and independently under predefined rules. Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said the initiative moves to create “a society that is more convenient…

Key Takeaways UK and 47 other countries adopt new crypto tax reporting rules. Under OECD’s framework, exchanges are required to report detailed transaction records to tax authorities. Crypto-asset service providers, such as exchanges and wallet providers, in the UK and over 40 other countries are now required to begin collecting detailed data on their users and transactions under the OECD’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF). The CARF aims to stop crypto assets from becoming a loophole for tax evasion by creating a global system where tax authorities automatically receive standardized information on crypto users and their transactions. In guidance issued last…

OKX has published its December Proof of Reserves (PoR) report. It is showing modest but steady growth across major user-held assets. The snapshot, dated December 11, marks the exchange’s 38th PoR disclosure and reflects rising balances in Bitcoin, Ether and Tether. Compared with the prior report in November. Bitcoin Holdings Show Stable Growth According to the disclosure, user Bitcoin holdings on OKX reached about 130,507 BTC in December. That figure represents an increase of 68 BTC. Or roughly 0.05% from the previous snapshot taken on November 19. While the growth rate remains small, the data suggests stability rather than withdrawals…

In 2025, the NFT market matured beyond its speculative bubble, shifting toward functional utility and sustainable growth. Market leaders included Cryptopunks, Courtyard, Dmarket and Pudgy Penguins. The 2025 NFT Landscape: From Hype to Utility In 2025, the non-fungible token ( NFT) market underwent a significant transformation, moving beyond the hype that defined the 2021-2022 bubble. What was once dominated by overpriced collectibles and short‑lived projects has evolved into a phase of functional utility and sustainable growth. This revival is being driven by three key pillars: infrastructure development, blockchain-based gaming and the tokenization of real-world assets ( RWA). Improved infrastructure—including scalable…

The Fed made three interest rate cuts in 2025, bringing the total rate reduction to 75 basis points. With these decisions, the Fed, which cut rates by 25 basis points in September, October, and December, maintained the expectation of a single rate cut for 2026 in investor projections. However, predictions for 2026 vary. Some economists expect further interest rate cuts, while others expect no cuts at all. Speaking to CNBC, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the Fed will implement at least two interest rate cuts next year. Zandi stated that although the US economy appears robust on…

Prediction markets gained immense popularity in 2025 – moving well beyond commodities and into elections, sports, and even central bank appointments. Once niche hedging tools, they now attract mainstream attention and billions in trading volume. Former CFTC enforcement director Ian McGinley told CNBC that “prediction markets have existed for decades,” but their rapid expansion this year has created new regulatory challenges. With contracts tied to political outcomes and sporting events, the stakes are higher than ever, and the question is whether regulators have the resources to keep pace. CFTC’s major challenge in regulating prediction markets Copy link to section McGinley…

December was one of the slowest months for crypto exchange volume, as attention shifted to stocks and precious metals. Exchanges saw inflows of stablecoins, but activity slowed down to its lowest level in one year due to trader fears and the year-end holiday period. Crypto exchange activity for spot markets slowed down in December, extending the trend from the last quarter of 2025. The last month of 2025 was one of the slowest for the entire year, with between $990M and $1.13B in trading volume, according to different accounts. Most of the traffic shifted to Binance, which also held the…

According to CryptoSlam data, NFT sales volume has skyrocketed by 37.41% to $88.29 million, up from last week’s $65.58 million. Summary NFT sales jumped 37% to $88.3M with buyers and sellers rising sharply. $X@AI BRC-20 NFTs led the market with a $17.1M record-breaking sale. Bitcoin overtook Ethereum as the top NFT chain by weekly sales volume. Market participation has continued its strong expansion, with NFT buyers climbing by 22.90% to 342,044 and sellers rising by 24.17% to 242,004. NFT transactions jumped by 10.54% to 937,495. $X@AI BRC-20 NFTs jump with record-breaking sales $X@AI BRC-20 NFTs on Bitcoin have surged into…