Author: NBTC

A senior promoter who helped orchestrate a multimillion-dollar crypto Ponzi scheme targeting working-class Spanish-speaking investors was sentenced Thursday to 71 months in federal prison. Magdaleno Mendoza received a sentence for his role in IcomTech, a purported crypto-mining and trading company that launched in mid-2018 and collapsed by the end of 2019, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The scheme falsely promised guaranteed daily returns from crypto trading and mining; instead, it operated as a classic MLM-style Ponzi scheme that recycled new investor funds to pay earlier participants, while promoters siphoned…

Crypto exchange OKX said volume in its licensed and regulated markets increased 53-fold in 2025, driven by its expansion into the United States and the European Economic Area. Citing internal data, the exchange said daily active wallets doubled over the past year, with an average of about 190,000 new wallets created each day, while decentralized exchange volume on its platform rose 262% globally and centralized trading increased 16% over the same period. The company attributed its market growth to an operating model focused on licensed access to regulated markets. OKX expanded across the European Economic Area in January after receiving…

Italy’s banking sector has expressed strong support for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) proposed digital euro project, something it sees as a vital step to retain Europe’s digital sovereignty and reduce dependence on non-European payment providers like U.S.-based card networks and stablecoins. While the Italian banking sector has expressed enthusiasm for the digital euro initiative, the banks are also pushing for a flexible, long-term payment plan to manage the substantial implementation costs, which they have described as “very high” when one considers other ongoing capital expenditures. “We’re in favor of the digital euro because it embodies a concept of digital…

More than 125 organizations and companies are pressing Congress to preserve stablecoin rewards, warning that reinterpreting the GENIUS Act would limit consumer choice, weaken competition, and unravel a hard-won regulatory balance. Industry Coalition Defends Stablecoin Rewards Under GENIUS Act A coalition of digital asset and fintech groups moved to head off potential limits on stablecoin incentives. The Blockchain Association, a Washington-based trade organization representing crypto and blockchain firms, sent a letter on Dec. 18 warning Congress against proposed efforts to reinterpret the GENIUS Act’s stablecoin reward provisions. Lindsay Fraser, chief policy officer at Blockchain Association, shared on social media platform…

Lighter, a perpetual decentralized exchange (perp DEX) and a major rival to Hyperliquid, is fueling airdrop speculation as Polymarket traders bet on a token launch before year’s end. Sebas, also known as Babastianj, a core contributor to the Lighter DEX, announced on the project’s Discord channel Monday that the platform is finalizing key processes ahead of the highly anticipated token generation event (TGE). “We’re in the final stretch of Season 2 and are running data science to remove Sybil, self-trading, and wash-trading points,” he said, adding that all slashed and removed points are planned to be redistributed to the community.…

Curve Finance has moved back into the spotlight, not because of hype, but due to where users are actually paying fees on Ethereum. Summary Curve captured about 44% of Ethereum decentralized exchange fees over the past 30 days, up from ~1.6% a year ago Growth is driven by crvUSD trading and deep Bitcoin liquidity pools via Yield Basis DAO grants and new deployments continue to support Curve’s role as core decentralized finance infrastructure While DAO discussions continue in the background, on-chain data now shows Curve sitting at the center of Ethereum’s DEX activity. According to DeFiLlama data, Curve DAO (CRV)…

Iran will not manage to meet its digital economy goals unless it embraces cryptocurrencies, officials in Tehran declared at a major blockchain event. During the conference, Iran’s first international forum of this kind, members of the local crypto community suggested the Islamic Republic should even move beyond the basic recognition of decentralized digital assets and become a regional Bitcoin hub. Tehran sets crypto regulation as a priority at the international blockchain event The deBlock 2025 forum, Iran’s first international conference devoted to blockchain and cryptocurrencies, was held this week in the capital city. It brought together an array of participants,…

Coinbase is taking three US states to court in a bid to lock in federal protection for its planned prediction markets, opening a new front in the battle over whether event contracts are finance or gambling.​ The exchange has sued regulators in Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan, asking federal judges to declare that prediction markets listed on a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated platform fall under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction, not 50 separate state gambling codes. In a Friday X post, chief legal officer Paul Grewal said Coinbase filed the cases “to confirm what…

A new hiring push at Crypto.com highlights how crypto prediction markets are evolving at the intersection of trading, sports, and digital assets. Crypto.com seeks quant trader for sports prediction market desk Trading directly against customers on sports event contracts Early mover in sports-linked prediction contracts Singapore hub and strategic hiring focus Positioning within the broader crypto prediction markets landscape Crypto.com seeks quant trader for sports prediction market desk Crypto.com, a Singapore-based company, is recruiting a new employee for its market making team on the firm’s prediction market exchange. According to a recently posted job listing, the role is for a…

DeFi lending and borrowing protocol Aave’s governance fight is starting to cost investors wildly. The AAVE token is down about 18% over the past seven days, making it the worst performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, even as bitcoin, ether and other large tokens trade flat to slightly higher. The selloff stands out in a market that has otherwise stabilized, suggesting the pressure is specific to Aave rather than a broader risk-off move. The drop follows a growing fight inside Aave governance over who controls the protocol’s brand, domains and public channels, as CoinDesk reported early last week. While that…