Author: NBTC

Coinbase has introduced three products designed to support payments, trading and development across the emerging AI agent economy. The company said agent traffic exceeded human traffic on Base documentation pages for the first time last month, reflecting growing use of AI systems to access services and operate online. The new releases include support for agent payments through Coinbase Business, expanded trading capabilities within Coinbase for Agents and a new x402 software development kit from Coinbase Developer Platform. Coinbase Business users will be able to accept $USDC payments directly from AI agents beginning this week. The feature is powered by Coinbase…

The next 48 hours could be one of the most volatile periods for risk assets this year, starting Monday. Between the 15th and 16th of June, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will release its much-anticipated interest rate outlook. This will be followed by the FOMC meeting on the 16th and 17th of June, where the Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision. In essence, two of the world’s most influential banks will take center stage. Market expectations are fairly one-sided. Why could this week move crypto? According to CME FedWatch, over 97% of participants are pricing in no change in…

Ethereum price traded near $1,868 on Aug. 5 as it compressed below a descending trendline, while debate over EIP-8361 added a new variable to the market outlook. Ethereum price struggles below $1,900 According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum ($ETH) price was trading at $1,868 at the time of writing, little changed over the previous 24 hours. The price has repeatedly failed to hold above $1,900 since late July, leaving the psychological $2,000 level out of reach. The daily chart shows $ETH trading below its 20-day simple moving average at $1,887.53. The 100-day SMA at $1,918.22 creates another resistance level, while…

Meta (Nasdaq:META) executives and directors have unloaded roughly $130 million of company stock over the past six months. Across the same half year, they have bought exactly zero shares. That selling might have been more palatable if they had, as executives and directors, helped the stock price go up over that time period. They did not. META, trading on the Nasdaq, is worth less today than it was six months ago. Worse, their stock sales clustered near the higher range of 2026, months before an AI spending spree knocked the stock down. Since the start of the year, the company…

A $1,000 investment in $XRP made on the day of Ripple’s first major victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would now be worth about $1,358. On July 13, 2023, $XRP traded at $0.81 after the landmark court ruling that delivered a major legal win for Ripple. With $XRP changing hands at $1.11 at press time, the same $1,000 investment would have grown by about 35% over the period. $XRP seven-day price chart. Source: Finbold Notably, Ripple secured its first major court win when U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued a partial summary judgment in the SEC’s case…

For institutional crypto holders, the choice between security and yield has long been a binding constraint. Custody providers keep assets safe but limit earning potential. Staking services require moving tokens off-platform, introducing counterparty risk. HashKey Cloud and BitGo are now dismantling that barrier. The two firms are integrating HashKey Cloud’s validator operations directly into BitGo’s custodial environment, letting fund managers, exchanges, and corporate treasuries stake assets without ever releasing them from cold storage. According to a report from WuBlockchain, the partnership creates an institutional-grade non-custodial staking infrastructure. Clients can authorize on-chain validation and earn rewards while BitGo continues to safeguard…

The banks are finally buying the vaults. In May, BNY, the world’s largest custodian with $59.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration, announced it would offer Bitcoin and Ethereum custody in Abu Dhabi. Weeks later, Standard Chartered confirmed it will fully acquire Zodia Custody, the digital asset custodian it incubated in 2020, with the deal expected to close by the end of August. Once a back-office concern for crypto-native firms, custody has now become a strategic priority for the world’s biggest banks. However, the institutions best known for managing risk are buying into Bitcoin infrastructure just as the industry…

Ethereum’s latest staking debate has renewed criticism of the network’s technical leadership. Some investors believe researchers prioritize decentralization without giving enough weight to market incentives. The dispute centers on a reward-burning proposal that opponents say could weaken $ETH demand, institutional interest, and DeFi activity. On August 4, Ethereum developer Jérôme de Tychey announced the Tapered Issuance Burn proposal. The draft lists Pintail, Dapplion, Pa7x1, Ladislaus von Daniels, and Justin Drake as co-authors. The proposal remains under discussion and has not been selected for an Ethereum upgrade. However, some investors believe researchers underestimate how returns, scarcity, borrowing demand, and confidence affect…

Why the Crypto ETF Market May Be Entering a Commodity Phase Morgan Stanley’s proposed ethereum and solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) would enter a market where issuers increasingly offer similar exposure to the same assets. The firm recently amended both filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to include a 0.14% management fee, below Grayscale’s 0.15% and Franklin Templeton’s 0.19%. The narrow spread signals intensifying price competition. Brian Rudick, chief strategy officer at Solana treasury company Upexi and formerly head of research at crypto trading firm and liquidity provider GSR, argued that the fee matters less than what it…

The crypto community is currently counting down as Zcash is expected to activate its Ironwood network upgrade at block height 3,428,143 on July 28. In a recent X post, the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) shared a countdown to the Ironwood upgrade. In a post on July 26, ZODL wrote, “T-2 days until Ironwood is live on mainnet. Privacy shouldn’t require sacrificing verifiability. Ironwood ensures both.” Zcash to Activate Ironwood Upgrade With New Shielded Pool and Supply Safeguards Zcash is expected to activate its Ironwood network upgrade at block height 3,428,143 on July 28. The upgrade introduces a new shielded…