Author: NBTC

About 25% of all trading volume on Polymarket, one of the world’s largest prediction platforms, may be wash trading, according to a study published by Columbia University researchers on Thursday. The paper, which examined Polymarket’s trading history, identified suspicious patterns in 14% of its 1.26 million active wallets. Researchers said these patterns indicated the same users may be buying and selling among themselves to inflate activity and qualify for potential crypto token rewards.  “There are several institutional features that together enable and potentially provide an economic incentive for large scale wash trading. First, Polymarket does not implement Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification,…

Russian authorities have caught a fugitive cryptocurrency miner who ran a mobile farm in the Caucasus, evading capture for months on end. The coin minting vehicle was eventually located using a quadrocopter equipped with a thermal camera, revealed officials from the power utility in Dagestan. Dagestan deploys drones in war against rogue miners Russia is now resorting to modern technologies, such as those seen on the battlefields of Ukraine, to identify makeshift mining facilities in regions where they are causing energy shortages, breakdowns and financial losses by illegally connecting to the grid. The new approach in the intensifying crackdown on…

DeFi decentralization has seen its golden age, but technical issues are pushing toward centralization, says Syndicate’s Will Papper. Summary DeFi protocols still struggle in terms of performance, says Syndicate’s Will Papper. Uniswap V3, Curve, and Velodrome were the golden age of decentralized DeFi Institutional capital is flowing into the top 5 assets; everything else is suffering Stablecoins bring value on-chain, making them a key catalyst for DeFi growth As more capital enters the crypto ecosystem, the question isn’t just how much, but where, and whether it’s reinforcing the very centralized structures DeFi sought to escape. Will Papper, co-founder of Syndicate,…

Aave’s Horizon market, the DeFi protocol’s institutional-grade platform for real-world assets (RWAs), is getting a major boost as Securitize and VanEck bring their tokenized treasury fund, VBILL, to the platform. The integration, powered by Chainlink’s NAVLink oracle technology, represents another leap forward in bridging traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) together. Since launching in August, Horizon has quickly grown into the fastest-expanding venue for RWAs in DeFi, surpassing $460 million in total market size, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk. The platform’s aim is to meet institutional compliance standards while maintaining the transparency and liquidity of onchain finance.…

Crypto venture capital activity has been brisk in recent months, with both established players and emerging projects securing significant funding to fuel the next wave of blockchain innovation. The week of October 19-25 recorded $587.92 million in crypto VC funding across 22 projects. Summary The crypto VC landscape remains dynamic, as platforms like Echo, Pave Bank, and Bluwhale attract millions in funding from major investors. In addition to these high-profile raises, a variety of smaller projects across sectors, including token distribution and decentralized finance, have also secured crucial early-stage investments. Pave Bank, EthSign, Bluwhale, and BitcoinOS also raised major rounds.…

In today’s “Crypto for Advisors” newsletter, Jennifer Rosenthal from the DeFi Institute breaks down decentralized finance and surveys investors in the space. Then, in “Ask an Expert”, Sam Boboev from Fintech Wrap Up provides insights into the trends he’s seeing with DeFi and AI. – Sarah Morton Demystifying DeFi As we mark another anniversary of Bitcoin, it’s worth pausing to reflect on how far the cryptocurrency industry has evolved, and what it may mean for financial professionals exploring the digital asset class for the first time. A new national study from the DeFi Education Foundation, conducted by Ipsos on KnowledgePanel…

Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs is one of those who sees CBDC as a step backward, one that puts custody of personal finances in the hands of the government. The Solana network contributor’s latest disapproval came as a vocal reaction to Changpeng Zhao’s support for a Kyrgyzstan government CBDC pilot. Several hours ago, CZ took to X to reveal what he called “updates from Kyrgyzstan.” In the post, he listed updates such as how the country’s national stablecoin has launched on BNB Chain, how the CBDC is ready for rollout, and how the national cryptocurrency reserve has been set…

Morpho faced a brief outage on Nov. 6, hitting indexers, backend systems, and the app UI. Core lending/borrowing stayed online, but users struggled to load dashboards and live data. Backend and indexers are restored, though frontend rendering remains impaired. As bears thrive amid broader market indecisiveness, decentralized lending protocol Morpho suffered a momentary service disruption today, November 6. According to the project’s status page, the event impacted backed systems, indexer performance, and application rendering, blocking user access to key features. While the outage didn’t suspend crucial borrowing and lending activity, Morpho users are facing challenges when viewing real-time data and…

The Fear and Greed Index 50 shows the crypto market sitting at a neutral stage—not in fear, not in greed. Traders see this as a wait-and-see zone where sharp moves can form. Big players are turning eyes toward ETH, XRP, and a fresh presale named MAGACOIN FINANCE, which has already raised $15.2M and is climbing fast. Fear & Greed Index at 50 — What Neutral Sentiment Means When the Fear and Greed Index 50 appears, the crypto market is balanced. A day earlier it sat at 37 (fear) and last week at 45 (still fear). Moving to neutral shows selling…

Li Chenggang, China’s Representative for International Trade and Vice Minister of Trade, announced that the Chinese and US economic and trade teams held intensive and open discussions on issues of mutual concern. Following talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the two sides announced that they worked constructively on appropriate solutions on some issues and reached a preliminary agreement. Li stated that the talks covered a wide range of topics, including export controls, extending the suspension of mutual customs duties, cooperation in combating illicit substances, expanding trade, and the US’s shipping fees imposed under Article 301. He noted that both sides…