Author: NBTC

NBTC

NBTC is the editorial account for NBTC News, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, exchanges, mining, regulation and digital asset markets. The editorial team focuses on clear sourcing, timely updates and practical context for crypto readers.

SEC Grants Conditional Relief to Brokers for Treasury Cross‑Margining

LegalApr 21

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a package of measures that will allow certain customers to cross‑margin cash U.S. Treasury securities and related Treasury futures. The step marks another stage in the rollout of the US Treasury clearing framework and aims to support liquidity and resilience in the market. Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!). The SEC issued a conditional exemptive order that permits customer cross‑margining between cash Treasury positions cleared at a registered clearing agency and Treasury futures positions cleared at a registered derivatives clearing Clearing Clearing is…

Coinbase’s AI payments protocol x402 launches app store for AI agents

BlockchainApr 21

Coinbase-backed artificial intelligence payments standard x402 has launched a marketplace for apps and services to boost the usefulness of AI agents. Coinbase product lead Nick Prince said in a video posted on X on Monday that the idea behind the platform, called Agentic.market, was to “give humans and their agents access to thousands of services, with zero API keys required.” Prince, in a separate post, said the market was a “storefront for discovering, comparing, and using x402 services” and offers access to a wide variety of apps and websites that AI agents can use, such as CoinGecko, Google Flights and…

Solana DeFi Tests Liquidity Depth as USDC Borrow Rates Surge

DeFiApr 21

The Solana ecosystem suffers a liquidity crisis after the security breach at KelpDAO on April 20, draining $USDC reserves. Leading protocols such as Jupiter and Kamino report utilization levels near 100%, limiting access to capital for new loans. Stablecoin lending yields have climbed to 10.2%, marking record levels in the network’s credit infrastructure. Following the KelpDAO security incident that shook investor confidence, the DeFi sector on Solana is undergoing a systemic challenge. The massive outflow of capital has created a bottleneck in stablecoin availability, driving up operating costs. DeFi Funds Outflow Spreads to Solana Following the KelpDAO rsETH hack, the…

US should scrap crypto capital gains tax to fuel competition: Cato

LegalApr 21

Cato Institute, a US-based think tank, has argued the government should remove capital gains taxes on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to open the door for more currency competition. Capital gains tax (CGT) is discouraging the use of alternative currencies like Bitcoin ($BTC) as it incentivizes long-term holding and adds extra burdens to reporting requirements, Nicholas Anthony, a policy scholar and research fellow at the Cato Institute, said in a report on Wednesday. He argued the simplest option is to end capital gains taxes completely; however, another option could be removing them on crypto and foreign currency use to “take the…

Ripple wants the XRP Ledger to be quantum-proof by 2028. Here is its plan

BlockchainApr 21

While quantum computing remains a largely theoretical threat to blockchain for now, some projects are already preparing for that eventuality. Fintech company Ripple has released a detailed four-phase roadmap to make the $XRP Ledger, a decentralized, layer-1 blockchain, quantum-resistant, aiming to reach full readiness by 2028. $XRP, the world's fourth-largest digital asset by market capitalization, is the native token of the $XRP Ledger. Ripple's solutions use $XRP Ledger, $XRP, and other digital assets. Ripple is also one of many developers building on and contributing to the $XRP Ledger (XRPL). Ripple's announcement comes weeks after Google warned that a quantum computer…

Why the UK’s new crypto rules could catch some firms off guard

LegalApr 21

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing crypto rules that could quietly expand the definition of custody, potentially sweeping in platforms and software providers that don’t consider themselves custodians. The FCA published its Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance on Wednesday, which includes a few technical traps for firms handling clients' crypto assets. The rules draw a red line at the 24-hour mark for custody. Any firm or crypto platform or app holding client assets for longer than a day during trade settlement will likely fall under the regulated custodian classification, which triggers a requirement for a full safeguarding-license. Validators and node…

Is XRP Quantum Ready? Official Move from the Developers!

BlockchainApr 21

While the quantum computing threat has long been considered a theoretical risk in the cryptocurrency sector, recent research has made it a more concrete issue, and Ripple has taken a significant step in this area. The company announced on Monday a multi-stage roadmap aiming to build a quantum-resistant structure for the $XRP Ledger (XRPL) by 2028. Ripple’s plan envisions a gradual transition rather than a sudden overhaul of existing systems. This involves first testing quantum-resistant cryptography solutions, then deploying a hybrid model to work alongside the existing infrastructure, and finally scaling these systems. The company is also collaborating with Project…

U.S. CFTC's Selig says AI has helped make up for staffing cuts at key crypto watchdog

LegalApr 21

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leaning into artificial intelligence and automation as it faces massive new oversight responsibilities, according to congressional testimony from Chairman Mike Selig, even as his agency's workforce has declined significantly under the administration of President Donald Trump. About a quarter of the CFTC's staff has left since 2025, under Trump's demands that the federal workforce be cut significantly, according to agency records. But the CFTC is also being called upon to regulate new and rapidly growing arenas for cryptocurrency and the prediction markets. "Tools such as AI are going to be very helpful in…

Why the SEC just gave self custody crypto apps 5 years to get traditional broker licenses

LegalApr 21

The SEC moved the crypto market structure forward on Apr. 13 without waiting for Congress to act. The agency's Division of Trading and Markets published a staff statement on Covered User Interfaces, such as websites, browser extensions, wallet-linked apps, and mobile applications that help users in self-custodial setups prepare transactions in crypto asset securities. Staff said it will not object to these providers operating without broker-dealer registration under Exchange Act Section 15, provided they stay inside a strict set of behavioral and disclosure guardrails. Why this matters For the first time, the SEC is telling wallet-linked crypto trading apps how…

With no bipartisan leadership, CFTC won't ‘slow down‘ on rulemaking

LegalApr 21

The chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Michael Selig, said he would not wait for the appointment of additional commissioners to lead the regulatory agency before moving ahead on rulemaking potentially related to digital assets and prediction markets. In a Thursday hearing of the House Agriculture Committee, Selig responded to questions from ranking member Angie Craig, who called out the lack of leadership at the CFTC, which normally has a bipartisan panel of five commissioners. The Minnesota representative asked the chair to commit to not finalizing regulations while he is the only commissioner. “In the interim, we cannot,…