Author: NBTC

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund, which manages about C$112 billion for nearly 460,000 healthcare workers, has just taken a US$31 million position in MicroStrategy shares. In dollar terms, this isn’t massive for a pension of that size, but the signal is hard to miss. It is one of the first large Canadian pension funds to use MicroStrategy as a way to gain Bitcoin exposure without directly buying or storing Bitcoin itself. MicroStrategy Shares Track Bitcoin Performance MicroStrategy has become the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin, and its stock price is now essentially tied to Bitcoin’s performance. When…

Major crypto exchange Binance is set to delist two perpetual contracts on Sept. 26. In a recent announcement, Binance revealed its decision to delist the perpetual contract of UXLINK token. Binance Futures will close all positions and conduct an automatic settlement on USDⓈ-Margined UXLINKUSDT perpetual contract on Sept. 26 at 9:00 a.m. (UTC). The contracts will be delisted after the settlement is complete. Users will not be allowed to open new positions for the UXLINKUSDT perpetual contract starting from Sept. 25 at 8:30 a.m. (UTC). In this light, users are advised to close any open positions prior to the delisting…

An old Ethereum wallet that had not moved a coin in three years has suddenly decided that now is a good time to act, sending 2,086 ETH into stablecoins worth $9.48 million, spread across such stablecoins as DAI, USDC and RLUSD, with the sales executed through CoW Protocol. The interesting part is that this was not a full exit as the Ethereum OG still holds 2,779 ETH, valued at about $12.6 million. The move looks less like someone leaving ETH behind and more like someone who believes the $4,544 level is strong enough to justify locking in profit, while still…

Coinbase and Block are the first crypto-native companies that were added to the S&P 500 stock market index. There was much talk that Michael Saylor’s Strategy will be the next one soon. Market analyst Jeff Walton said it’s a 91% chance that Strategy will succeed. However, the committee rejected the company. At the same time, Robinhood was approved for inclusion. What does Robinhood offer that Strategy does not? Summary Inclusion in the S&P 500 index would have given Strategy over $10 billion in passive income inflows, much needed to pay liabilities and keep buying Bitcoin. Strategy met all main criteria…

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…