Author: NBTC

Erik Voorhees’ defunct crypto exchange ShapeShift has been ordered to pay a $750,000 fine to settle its case with the US Treasury after it processed $12.6 million in potentially sanction-violating crypto transactions. The order, published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) yesterday, stems from 17,183 possible sanctions violations involving the firm’s offering of digital asset transactions to users in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria between 2016 and 2018. ShapeShift usage from Iranian users alone made up 16,839 of these possible sanction violations. The exchange had no sanctions compliance program in place to check users for any possible violations,…

In an industry that prides itself on decentralization, a recent survey conducted by crypto exchange Kraken found that Americans are placing a premium on trust. After surveying 1,000 crypto users in the U.S., Kraken found that 79% of them were willing to pay “slightly higher fees” when purchasing crypto through an exchange that they trust, as opposed to saving some cash by using one that they don’t. According to Mark Greenberg, global head of consumer at Kraken, the data shows that crypto users in the U.S. aren’t chasing bottom-barrel fees default. Rather, the survey suggests that Americans are picking their…

Ethereum’s climb toward the long-awaited $5,000 mark may face further stalls as on-chain signals suggest headwinds. Data shows that long-term holders (LTHs) of ETH are actively distributing their coins, creating potential sell pressure that could weigh on the market. At the same time, persistent bearish sentiment among futures traders adds another layer of caution, putting its near-term upside at risk. Profit-Taking by Long-Term Holders Puts ETH’s Breakout on Hold ETH’s month-long price consolidation has created an opportunity for long-term holders (LTHs) to lock in profits following the altcoin’s late-August rally to an all-time high. This trend is evident in the…

Persistent inflation and limited access to hard currencies are the unlikely accelerants behind the boom. For many, crypto is not an investment choice but a necessary tool for preserving savings and accessing global markets. Summary Sub-Saharan Africa’s crypto economy surged 52% to $205 billion in annual flows, Chainalysis reports, making it the world’s third-fastest-growing region. Inflation, currency shortages, and grassroots demand are fueling adoption, with Nigeria and South Africa leading in both retail and institutional activity. Bitcoin dominates purchases, while stablecoins like USDT are gaining traction as substitutes for scarce U.S. dollars in cross-border trade and savings. According to the…

Vietnam is taking its biggest step yet toward regulating digital assets, launching a pilot scheme designed to bring crypto trading under formal supervision. Summary Vietnam has rolled out a five-year pilot program to regulate its domestic crypto market. Licensed platforms will be required to trade directly in Vietnamese dong from 2026. The move builds on the country’s July passage of the Law of Digital Technology Industry and the launch of its national blockchain, NDAChain. Vietnam has launched a pilot program to bring its local crypto market under official oversight. Per local media on September 23, the initiative is part of…

Binance has announced that it will be adding the new digital asset Plasma (XPL) to the platform’s various products and services. Binance Adds Plasma (XPL) to Multiple Products Accordingly, XPL will be gradually listed in Binance Simple Earn, Buy Crypto, Binance Convert, Margin, and Futures sections. In the first step, starting at 4:00 PM on September 25, 2025, XPL will be available as part of Binance Simple Earn flexible products. Following this, starting at 3:00 AM on September 26, 2025, XPL locked products offering 200% APR returns will be available as part of a special campaign. This campaign is available…

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors reacted to new producer price index inflation data, and Oracle’s stock soared on a strong revenue forecast. Summary S&P 500 jumped 0.5% as stocks amid the latest PPI report. Oracle shares jumped 40% and were on pace for biggest gains single-day gains since 1992. The S&P 500 index jumped 0.5% in early trading while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%, with both indexes hitting fresh highs as bullish sentiment spread across risk asset markets. Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined amid continued underperformance of the blue-chip index, gains for the benchmark S&P 500…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is heading toward a year-end goal for its effort to get crypto firms pushing new products under the regulator’s oversight, Chairman Paul Atkins said in a Tuesday interview on Fox Business. The pro-digital assets rhetoric from Atkins is on-brand for his campaign to roll out friendly policies for the industry, aligned with orders from President Donald Trump. Both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said earlier this month that they’re inviting existing registered firms to move forward on crypto activity and that they should just check in with any questions about how…

AI Quant Labs, an Atlanta-based startup specializing in automated crypto trading, launched its AIQuant platform on Thursday, aiming to tap into a new crop of AI platforms that give crypto investors access to bots that never sleep. The trading platform allows users to create and deploy autonomous agents across multiple blockchains, marking yet another step in the broader trend of automated tools moving from professional desks to retail investors. AIQuant is leaning into that shift by promising an “end-to-end” AI trading experience that integrates everything from strategy design to execution. “AIQuant.fun puts hedge fund-grade tools in the hands of everyday…

Crypto mining company TeraWulf is reportedly raising approximately $3 billion through Morgan Stanley to build data centers, with tech giant Google providing support. The TeraWulf funding round will support the build-out of its data centers with a structure supported by Google, according to company finance chief Patrick Fleury, who spoke to Bloomberg on Thursday. Deal could launch as soon as October in high-yield bond or leveraged loan markets. Google’s backstop commitment to support the debt financing is an additional $1.4 billion, bringing its total to $3.2 billion. The Google support could give the Morgan Stanley transaction a higher rating from…