Author: NBTC

Key Takeaways Cloudforce, a Maryland-based AI company, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Owl Ventures. The funding round saw participation from Microsoft’s venture fund, M12, granting Cloudforce access to Microsoft’s enterprise resources. Cloudforce, an AI firm that specializes in the Microsoft cloud ecosystem, has secured $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Owl Ventures, with participation from M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund. Owl Ventures’ Lyman Missimer said Cloudforce stands out for its ability to reengineer AI infrastructure for higher education in a way that balances enterprise-grade security with a strong user experience. “The numbers speak…

A recent poll of 1,000 American investors in digital assets found that over half are scared they’ll face an IRS tax penalty this year as new transparency rules governing crypto exchanges take effect. The data collected at the end of January by crypto tax platform Awaken Tax canvassed U.S. holders’ concerns about a radical shift from self-disclosure to automatic reporting of transactions. This has been enacted through the introduction of the “Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions,” or Form 1099-DA, which tens of millions of Americans will be made aware of over the next month or so. The new rules…

Bitcoin’s BTC$65,791.51 price losses on Monday wiped out a massive leveraged bullish bet. The trade worth $61.5 million was forcibly closed by cryptocurrency exchange HTX, marking the largest single liquidation in the past 24 hours, according to data source Coinglass. The so-called liquidation happened as bitcoin slid from Saturday’s $68,600 high back to $64,400, erasing the weekend’s gains in a matter of hours. CoinDesk reached out to HTX for comment. The outsized hit — large enough to suggest a concentrated whale or fund position rather than a retail margin call — landed amid a broader wipeout that saw $467.64 million…

Public Bitcoin miners collectively held 115,335 $BTC as of Feb. 20, worth roughly $7.4 billion at the recent price, but that treasury dropped 4.44% month-over-month, the first sustained contraction since miners began stockpiling coins as balance-sheet assets. The decline wasn’t an accident. Riot Platforms sold 1,818 $BTC in December 2025 for $161.6 million in net proceeds. Bitdeer liquidated its entire treasury, selling 189.8 $BTC it mined plus dumping 943.1 $BTC from reserves to fund a pivot into AI infrastructure backed by $300 million in convertible notes. The pattern suggests miner treasuries are shifting from strategic reserves to working capital, and…

Dubai has taken another step toward digitizing real estate markets. On February 20, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) and tokenization firm Ctrl Alt announced Phase Two of the city’s real estate tokenization project. The new phase introduces controlled secondary market trading for tokenized properties on the $XRP Ledger. The update follows an earlier pilot that tokenized 10 properties worth more than $5 million. With secondary trading now live in a regulated test environment. Officials aim to improve liquidity and expand investor access. Ripple Custody continues to secure the on-chain assets through the project’s infrastructure partners. Phase Two Unlocks Secondary Trading…

Hyperliquid has officially entered the US policy arena with the launch of the Hyperliquid Policy Center, a lobbying and regulatory advisory group focused on decentralized finance (DeFi). The center will be led by prominent crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky, marking a significant step as the industry increasingly engages with Washington, D.C. Hyperliquid Launches $28 Million DeFi Policy Center, Names Jake Chervinsky CEO Chervinsky, the inaugural CEO, brings extensive experience advocating for the crypto sector at Capitol Hill. He previously held senior positions at the Blockchain Association trade group and venture firm Variant, and served as an associate at Baker McKenzie. “We’re…

Ethereum is attempting to push back above the $2,000 level as the broader crypto market navigates persistent uncertainty and ongoing selling pressure. Recent price action reflects a fragile recovery effort rather than a confirmed trend reversal, with volatility remaining elevated and traders cautious after months of corrective momentum. The $2,000 threshold has become a key psychological and technical battleground, shaping short-term sentiment as investors evaluate liquidity conditions, macro signals, and derivatives positioning. A recent CryptoQuant analysis offers additional insight into evolving market dynamics, particularly within Ethereum’s derivatives landscape. Data tracking the Estimated Leverage Ratio on Binance shows a clear shift…

Rain, a US stablecoin infrastructure provider and a principal member of the Visa payment network, has secured major funding to expand its global presence. The platform raised $250 million in a Series C funding round led by the global investment firm Iconiq, according to an announcement on Friday. The round values Rain at $1.95 billion, bringing the company’s total funding to $338 million, following a $58 million Series B round in August 2025 and another $24.5 million raise in March last year. The latest funding featured several existing investors, including the venture arm of Michael Novogratz-founded Galaxy Digital, Sapphire Ventures,…

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Prediction markets are starting to play a role in how traditional financial markets move, New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin said Wednesday at the World Liberty forum in Palm Beach. “It was very clear for us… that prediction markets [were being used] as an input to traditional markets,” she said at the event hosted at Mar-a-Lago, pointing to a moment during the 2024 U.S. presidential election when S&P futures spiked unexpectedly. According to Martin, the move was later explained by crypto-based prediction platform Polymarket having shown Donald Trump as the likely winner before other sources…

Crypto exchange Binance says it has “significantly reduced exposure” to sanctioned entities and high-risk jurisdictions, including exposure to Iran since January 2024. In a blog post titled “Setting the record straight” on Monday, Binance said its sanctions-related exposure as a percentage of total exchange volume has fallen by about 97% in that time, and now sits at around 0.009%. Exchange volume to sanctions-related entities has declined. Source: Binance The post comes after a Feb. 13 Fortune report citing anonymous sources alleging that Binance fired at least five investigators who had supposedly uncovered evidence of Iranian sanctions violations. Binance denied the…