Author: NBTC

Big financial institutions worldwide are set to complete the transition from legacy payment-messaging formats (the MT series) to ISO 20022’s XML-based MX format by 22 November 2025. The deadline has been set by SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) to fully implement its new system for exchanging financial data. This marks the end of the co-existence period, where old and new formats operated side by side. Some banks and payment infrastructure providers have already been preparing for this in advance. Related: Cardano Price Prediction: ISO 20022 Hype Sparks Attention ISO 20022 supports much richer data fields than the older…

Swissborg CEO Cyrus Fazel is pushing back against “fintech fatigue” with a vision of radical simplicity and community ownership. His strategy centers on the Meta-Exchange, a liquidity aggregator that bridges CeFi and DeFi, connecting major exchanges and networks to deliver seamless and cross‑chain trading. The ‘One-Tap’ Solution In an era where “fintech fatigue” is setting in due to a fragmented landscape of wallets, bridges, and complex exchanges, Cyrus Fazel, founder and CEO of Swissborg, is betting on a different path: radical simplicity powered by community ownership. While centralized giants like Revolut and Robinhood dominate the retail landscape with massive capital…

The crypto venture capital landscape remains subdued in the fourth quarter, with fewer high-profile funding rounds closing compared to earlier in the year. Kaden Stadelmann, chief technology officer at Komodo Platform, told Cointelegraph that the “crypto sector is facing pressure from numerous angles,” noting that AI has siphoned considerable demand from crypto, and that “VC investment in AI far outpaces VC investment into crypto.” Stadelmann also cited macroeconomic uncertainty as a reason venture capital firms are taking a more cautious approach. At the same time, much of the remaining activity has shifted toward the core Bitcoin (BTC) business ecosystem, which…

Whale activity in the cryptocurrency markets has increased significantly in the last 24 hours. High-volume transactions from large wallets have an impact on both liquidity and investor sentiment, with notable transfers recorded in ETH, SOL, and BTC. On the Ethereum side, an anonymous whale staked a full 25,000 ETH, opening a position worth approximately $79.48 million. This investor had withdrawn the same assets from Kraken a month ago for $84.81 million. There was also significant activity on the Solana network. A whale withdrew approximately 101,365 SOL ($13.89 million) from Kraken 10 hours ago. On-chain data reveals that this investor holds…

“DeFi is dead.” That’s how Maple Finance CEO and co-founder Sid Powell summarizes what he sees coming for crypto over the next few years. However, this doesn’t mean the end of decentralized finance; rather, it is the end of treating DeFi as something separate from traditional markets. “In a couple of years, institutions won’t distinguish between DeFi and TradFi at all,” Powell explained to CoinDesk in an interview. “Eventually, all capital markets activity will take place onchain.” Think of it this way: before the internet, people would buy goods and services the traditional way — by going to merchants physically.…

Crypto exchange Coinbase will stop paying USDC rewards to non-paying customers next week, confirming to Decrypt on Thursday that only Coinbase One premium subscribers will be eligible to earn 4% on their stablecoin holdings. The exchange first made the announcement in an email sent to Coinbase customers on Thursday, saying the change will take effect on December 15. A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed that USDC rewards are now a member-exclusive benefit of Coinbase One. “Coinbase One allows you to earn 10x the average savings rate in the U.S. with uncapped earnings and no minimum balance,” they said, noting that other benefits—like…

Posts on X (Twitter) suggest that Bitmain co-founder Micree “James” Zhan Ketuan may be facing a billion-dollar fine, alleged detention, and a complete fallout with business partner Jihan Wu. Conflicting reports leave the crypto community scrambling to verify the details of one of the sector’s most high-profile crises. Bitmain Co-Founders at Center of Growing Speculation and Uncertainty Bitmain, a pioneer in Bitcoin mining hardware, controls equipment powering over 74% of the global Bitcoin hash rate. It is also responsible for chips used in AI data centers running Nvidia H100s. The company now finds itself at the intersection of geopolitics, legal…

The highly-anticipated Uniswap protocol fee switch, dubbed “UNIfication,” is set to pass and go live later this week, having reached the 40 million vote threshold needed to trigger one of the biggest upgrades in the decentralized exchange protocol’s seven-year history. As of early Monday, nearly 62 million votes have already been cast in favor of the UNIfication governance proposal since voting opened on Dec. 20, with voting set to close on Thursday, Christmas Day. Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams said on Thursday that a successful vote would follow a two-day timelock period in which Uniswap v2 and v3 fee switches…

Bakkt reported Q3 revenue of $402.2 million, rising from $316.3 million in the same quarter last year, while also recording a net loss of about $21.6 million due to a $37.2 million non-cash charge tied to changes in the value of warrant liabilities linked to a direct offering. The number missed expectations and the stock dropped 13% in Monday morning trading, according to the company’s Q3 filing. Q3 GAAP EPS came in at -$1.15, compared to -$0.45 last year and far below the $0.50 average analyst expectation. Total operating expenses climbed to $427.5 million, up from $341.5 million in the…

Aster has issued an official announcement about its trade partnership with Trump-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI). Earlier this month, the founder and chief executive of Aster Leonard later hinted at the collaboration, saying, “Word travels fast in this space. Had an amazing time with World Liberty Financial and everyone who joined us in Dubai. We’re exploring ways to expand USD1 adoption together. Stay tuned.” We said stay tuned—here we go. 🦅 We’re excited to share that we’re collaborating with @worldlibertyfi to list the USD1-denominated RAVE/USD1 trading pair on Aster and bring more USD1 trading pairs across the Aster ecosystem. Rocket…