Author: NBTC

It has been a bearish week for the cryptocurrency market so far, with Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP all recording heavy losses over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, briefly dropped below the $86k level on Monday after losing nearly 4% of its value. Ether is the worst performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, losing 6.9% of its value since yesterday. The bearish performance has resulted in Ether dropping below $3k, with further downward movement expected in the near term. BitMine acquires an additional 102,259 ETH Copy link to section Ether is currently…

Bitcoin’s price swings are no longer affecting institutional interest in crypto technology, such as tokenization, meaning it now has a solid leg to stand on its own, according to Thomas Cowan, head of tokenization at Galaxy. Cowan told Cointelegraph at The Bridge conference in New York City on Wednesday that there has been a “separation of the interest in tokenization from the price of Bitcoin” over the past few months. “In previous cycles, as Bitcoin and other alts have run up, there’s been an interest in tokenization, all the major traditional financial institutions have built out their crypto and tokenization…

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a series of consultations on proposed rules for digital asset markets, marking the next phase in the government’s effort to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets. The proposals, published across three consultation papers, cover crypto trading platforms, intermediaries, staking, lending and borrowing, market abuse, disclosures and decentralized finance (DeFi). The FCA said consultation responses will be open until Feb. 12, 2026. The regulator said the proposals aim to support innovation while ensuring that consumers understand the risks associated with crypto investment. It added that regulations should not eliminate risks entirely,…

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced on Monday, December 15, that it has added the Hong Kong Stable Exchange/ Hong Kong Stablecoin Exchange (HSEX) to the list of suspicious virtual asset trading platforms. The SFC said the entity operating through the listed websites is suspected of conducting unlicensed activities and engaging in virtual asset related fraud, a warning aimed at investors who might confuse branding for approval. SFC Says HSEX Falsely Claimed Ties to Hong Kong’s Major Exchanges Additionally, the SFC stated that the Hong Kong Stablecoin Exchange has falsified information about its constitution, claiming to be…

The Polymarket platform recently experienced some downtime in response to the issues Polygon, the blockchain it operates on, was facing around the same time. While no official statements have been made, a Discord post by a member addressing the downtime has claimed that the platform will now focus on creating its own L2 to prevent future disruptions. Polymarket team member claims L2 is on the way According to posts on X, the issues that caused the crash of Polymarket have been resolved, with both the site and related functions resolved. While Polygon was experiencing the downtime, users who tried to…

Ethereum has been one of the hardest-hit major assets in the latest crypto market selloff. The ETH price is down over 6% in the past 24 hours, extending weekly losses to roughly 9%, as macro pressure and liquidations weigh on prices. Against this weak backdrop, a fresh institutional headline has shifted attention back to Ethereum’s fundamentals. JPMorgan has announced the launch of its first tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, seeded with $100 million. The key question now is whether this development can help the ETH price stabilize and rebound, or whether technical pressure will force a deeper breakdown. JPMorgan’s…

Custodia Bank fights Fed denial of a master account, challenging federal override of state-chartered crypto banks and sparking constitutional questions. Wyoming’s SPDI model faces a test as Custodia Bank claims Fed discretion blocks innovation, fueling crypto industry push for alternative payment systems. Custodia Bank, a Wyoming-chartered crypto-focused bank, has taken its legal fight with the US Federal Reserve to the next level. After years of pushback, the bank is now asking the full Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to review the Fed’s refusal to grant it a master account. The case has become a flashpoint for a much larger debate…

Mastercard said it has entered a strategic alliance with the ADI Foundation to expand stablecoin settlement and tokenized asset use cases across the Middle East, according to a December 16, 2025, announcement in Dubai, UAE. The Mastercard ADI Foundation alliance signals a practical shift in how Mastercard wants to approach digital assets, with a focus on payment execution and institution-ready rails, even as stablecoins move from pilot programs to day-to-day finance. Related: Mastercard Brings USDC Settlement to Africa and the Middle East in a New Circle Deal Why Mastercard Is Pairing Tokenization With Stablecoin Payments in MENA In its announcement,…

Search engine giant Google has emerged as a silent architect behind Bitcoin miners’ rapid pivot towards artificial intelligence (AI). Instead of acquiring mining firms, the Alphabet-owned company has provided at least $5 billion of disclosed credit support behind a handful of BTC miners’ AI projects. While markets often frame these announcements as technology partnerships, the underlying structure is closer to credit engineering. Google’s backing helps recast these previously unrated mining companies as counterparties that lenders can treat like infrastructure sponsors rather than pure commodity producers. The mechanism for these deals is pretty straightforward. BTC Miners contribute energized land, high-voltage interconnects,…

LinkLayerAI, a popular Web3 platform for transparency and trust, has partnered with TradeTalentAI, a cutting-edge Web3 talent platform. The collaboration is aimed at fortifying efficiency, transparency, and trust, across swiftly transforming Web3 network. As LinkLayerAI’s official X announcement discloses, the partnership focuses on exploring unique methods of linking AI, decentralized infrastructure, and data. Hence, the development indicates the rising trend of AI-led solutions to advance on-chain interactions as well as value discovery. 🤝Partnership Announcement🎉We’re excited to collaborate with @TradeTalentAI, a decentralized talent network powered by AI verification.Together, we’re exploring new ways to connect AI, data, and decentralized networks — unlocking…