Author: NBTC

Western Union has become the latest financial giant to signal interest in stablecoins, as competition heats up in the global remittance market and regulatory clarity improves. Speaking to Bloomberg on Tuesday, CEO Devin McGranahan said the firm saw three opportunities for stablecoin use around faster cross-border payments, better fiat conversion options in harder-to-reach markets, and offering a store-of-value product for customers in countries with weaker currencies. “We see stablecoins really as an opportunity, not as a threat,” he said. McGranahan’s comments follow a surge of interest in stablecoins across the financial sector as regulatory clarity emerges.  Last week, President Donald…

Senator Lummis has introduced a bill to include crypto in mortgage approvals. The bill targets young buyers and aligns with FHFA’s recent crypto directive. Critics cite crypto’s volatility as a mortgage default risk. US Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has proposed legislation that, if passed, would require housing finance agencies to consider digital assets in evaluating mortgage loan applications. The bill has sparked debate on Capitol Hill, with supporters viewing it as a step toward financial modernisation and critics warning of potential risks. Bill tied to recent Federal Housing directive The proposed legislation, known as the 21st Century Mortgage Act,…

Lido plans to cut costs and reduce its workforce by 15%, according to an X post by Vasiliy Shapovalov, the protocol’s co-founder. In the post, Shapovalov said that Lido Labs, Lido Ecosystem, and Lido Alliance would downsize their contributor teams, resulting in a 15% reduction in total workforce. He clarified that the decision was about saving costs. He wrote: “This decision was about costs — not performance. It affects incredibly talented people who helped shape the protocol and community.” Shapovalov acknowledged that downsizing contributor teams may seem counterintuitive given market conditions—especially after Ethereum (ETH) nearly reached its primary psychological barrier…

Ethereum is now testing the $4,000 resistance level, a critical zone that has rejected the price multiple times in the past. A successful breakout could ignite bullish continuation, while rejection risks a return to the broader trading range. Summary Ethereum is testing the $4,000 resistance, the top of a long-term trading range. A weekly close above $4,000 could confirm a breakout toward $4,500–$5,000. Failure to break out risks a pullback to $2,500 support, maintaining range-bound structure. Ethereum’s (ETH) price is hovering near the upper boundary of a high timeframe range that has defined its structure since early 2022. The $4,000…

A public clash between President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is brewing, as investors weigh whether political pressure could hasten rate cuts that typically boost risk assets like Bitcoin. The rift emerges as Republican frustration grows over the Fed’s “higher-for-longer” stance on interest rates, an approach many in the GOP blame for dampening growth in equity and crypto markets. Trump reportedly had a resignation letter for Powell drafted and placed on his desk last week. Trump reportedly held back despite receiving positive responses from polling Republican lawmakers. “The ‘Shadow Fed’ is designed to make Powell a lame…

NEW YORK — A Manhattan jury will soon begin their deliberations in Roman Storm’s trial, deciding whether the Tornado Cash developer is guilty of helping hackers and other cyber criminals launder more than $1 billion in dirty money. Earlier in the day, the jurors heard closing arguments from both prosecutors and Storm’s defense team, who each spent hours talking to the jury attempting to re-frame and contextualize the evidence elicited via witness testimony over the past three weeks of trial. Each side’s summation largely followed the shape of their overall cases. Prosecutors attempted to paint Storm and his co-founders as…

Despite their obvious applicability, social currencies have yet to be fully-explored in the context of blockchain use cases. The last crypto cycle saw a variety of experimentation with the concept, but these attempts ran into product-market fit and regulatory barriers, and thus have not ascended into the mainstream consciousness. Builders in Brazil, however, think they have the right ingredients to deploy blockchain-based social currencies in the real world, specifically in communities that already have a tradition of adopting such alternatives A new partnership between Chainlink, Plexos Institute and the EDinheiro Insitute aims to bring greater financial services to underserved communities…

Germany missed out on an estimated $3 billion in profits after offloading nearly 50,000 Bitcoin last July at $57,900 each, as the digital asset now trades above $120,000, according to TradingView data. The sale of 49,858 Bitcoin, conducted between June 19 and July 12 by the Saxon Central Office for the Custody and Utilization of Virtual Currencies at the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office, in cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Frankfurt-based Bankhaus Scheich Wertpapierspezialist AG, generated about $2.8 billion from assets seized in the “Movie2k” criminal case. At today’s market prices, the same holdings would be valued…

The developers of Bitcoin mixing service Samourai Wallet pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business on Wednesday, taking a plea deal that drastically cut their potential prison time for their role in creating a privacy tool prosecutors say was used to launder more than $100 million in dirty money. In back-to-back hearings in front of U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Wednesday, both Keonne Rodriguez and William “Bill” Lonergan Hill changed their pleas. The pair were initially charged with one count each of conspiracy…

KREDO AI, an agentic AI reputation layer for Web3, has announced a strategic alliance with Zeni.io, an AI-powered Web3 engagement platform. KREDO AI is a reputation layer designed to verify AI claims against on-chain data, aiming to drive transparency and accountability of AI systems running in decentralized applications. On the other hand, Zeni.io is a platform for AI-driven Web3 engagement. It provides Web3 projects with AI-powered DeFi strategies, generated content, and enhanced community engagement, helping them grow more rapidly and authentically. KREDO AI x ZENi | Decentralized Identity Meets GrowthWe are excited to announce our partnership with @ZENi_io, the cutting-edge…