Author: NBTC

Bitcoin price has traded near $81,300 today as buyers weighed on improving on-chain signals, cautious derivatives positioning, and renewed geopolitical developments tied to Russia, Ukraine, and Iran. At press time, the bulls were still in control trading at $81,357, up about 0.7% to 1% over 24 hours. According to Coincodex, in the last 24 hours, it has fluctuated between roughly $80,552 and $81,489, keeping price action inside a narrow band above the closely watched $80,000 level. The move came as Polymarket odds for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire by the end of 2026 showed a probability above 99%, up 49%. Concurrently, Russian…

US President Donald Trump stated that significant progress had been made in negotiations with Iran and that the parties could reach an agreement soon. Trump said, “We have reached a great compromise that will end the war with Iran.” Trump stated that he expects the agreement to be finalized quite soon, and that the signing ceremony could take place in Europe this weekend. However, he said he would not be able to attend the ceremony himself, adding that Vice President J.D. Vance would be present. On the other hand, Fars News Agency, known for its close ties to Iran, reported…

The $XRP Ledger’s upcoming native lending functionality is being described as one of the most extensively reviewed upgrades in the network’s history. Community validator Vet, aka Hussein Zangana, said the amendment could be the “best tested amendment the $XRP Ledger has seen.” According to Vet, developers applied lessons learned from previous XRPL upgrades throughout the design process. He added that the Lending Protocol could unlock idle $XRP capital, create native yield opportunities, and turn liquidity into a productive asset within the ecosystem. RippleX Emphasizes Security-First Development Vet’s comments followed a detailed report from RippleX Head of Engineering J. Ayo Akinyele.…

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned nine individuals on May 21 for obstructing Lebanon’s peace process and supporting Hezbollah. Among them: Mohammad Reza Sheibani, Iran’s ambassador-designate to Lebanon, and, for the first time ever, sitting officers from Lebanese state security agencies. That last part is the real story. Washington has sanctioned Hezbollah-linked figures before. Sanctioning active-duty Lebanese government personnel for allegedly feeding intelligence to a designated terrorist organization is a different animal entirely. Who got sanctioned and why The nine designated individuals span a cross-section of Hezbollah’s alleged support network inside Lebanon’s political…

Axel Adler Jr., an analyst at the cryptocurrency analytics company CryptoQuant, said that the recent rise in Bitcoin may be a recovery that is more of a correction after a sharp decline, rather than the beginning of a new bull market. Adler Jr., in his analysis, stated that while Bitcoin experienced a market recovery after falling from $125,000 to $60,000, many key indicators have not yet reached historical bear market lows. According to the analyst, the position structure of long-term investors (LTH) still does not point to a typical bottom accumulation pattern. Furthermore, he noted that a full-blown spot sell-off…

Key takeaways Ethereum ($ETH) has rebounded about 4% over the past week, but overall market sentiment remains weak. Hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve have reduced expectations for interest rate cuts and increased pressure on risk assets. Ethereum recovery faces macro headwinds Ethereum has posted a modest 4% recovery over the past seven days as the broader cryptocurrency market staged a technical rebound. However, the bounce has done little to improve overall sentiment, which remains under pressure from worsening macroeconomic conditions. Investor confidence took another hit after recent comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh signaled a tougher stance on…

Large financial institutions are turning to tokenization to improve capital efficiency and liquidity, according to representatives from Franklin Templeton and BNP Paribas. Speaking at a panel at the WAIB Summit 2026 in Monaco, industry executives discussed how tokenized assets and stablecoins could modernize Europe’s capital markets by streamlining settlement, improving collateral mobility and creating new opportunities for cross-border financial activity. Tokenization offers institutions more “optionality and flexibility,” a development that is driving interest from banks and large corporations to launch their own offerings, said Rafael Mastroberardino, head of digital assets partnership development at investment manager Franklin Templeton. Julien Clausse, the…

Stellar ($XLM) rose as much as 10% in the past day following positive developments that caused it to briefly overtake privacy token Zcash (ZEC) in market rankings. This jump added up to a weekly gain of 30%, which momentarily took Stellar above Zcash in market rankings. In the past day, it was announced that cross-chain swaps have gone live on SushiSwap for $XLM and $USDC on Stellar. This implies $XLM and $USDC on Stellar are available for cross-chain swaps across over 40 chains. In a recent tweet, Circle revealed CCTP as being supported on Stellar, explaining details about the key…

President Trump shelved a planned executive order on artificial intelligence on May 21, 2026, after concluding that parts of the draft could weaken the country’s competitive position against China. The signing ceremony was called off, and the order was sent back for revisions. Here’s the thing: the executive order was supposed to be a victory lap for the administration’s AI agenda. Instead, it became a public example of how difficult it is to balance national security concerns with the breakneck pace of AI development. What was in the draft order The proposed executive order centered on a voluntary framework requiring…

Michael Saylor, one of the most influential figures in the cryptocurrency world, shared MicroStrategy’s critical shifts in its Bitcoin strategy and future vision in an exclusive interview at the Consensus 2026 conference in Miami. Saylor, known for years for his motto “Never sell your Bitcoins,” stated that the company’s 818,000 Bitcoins are completely “free.” He made this striking statement, explaining that not using this massive liquidity would harm the company’s value, which is represented by this asset at 98%. “If we say we will never take advantage of this liquidity, we would be diminishing the asset’s value. We could sell…