Author: NBTC

A 54-year-old Utah man was sentenced to three years in federal prison for operating an unlicensed cash-to-crypto business and defrauding investors of nearly $3 million. Brian Garry Sewell of Washington County was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to wire fraud. The judge also ordered more than $3.8 million in combined restitution, including payments to investors and the Department of Homeland Security. The sentence will run concurrently with a separate three-year term imposed in another federal case involving an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to the Justice Department.  The case…

PayPal has confirmed it will support Google’s artificial intelligence-backed Universal Commerce Protocol, and will soon appear as a payment option inside the new checkout, as revealed in a press statement released over the weekend. The payments platform’s chief executive and president, Alex Chriss, said on social media platform X that taking up UCP is the “next phase” of the collaboration between the two companies announced last September, Cryptopolitan reported. Google introduced the protocol publicly on Sunday during the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York. The technology company’s executives coined UCP as an open, agentic commerce standard that connects…

Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine and co-founder of Fundstrat, said that Ethereum could experience its “highlight moment” in 2026, with the ETH price potentially rising to $12,000. Lee, in his assessment at the recent BitMine shareholder meeting, argued that Ethereum is at the center of a new financial infrastructure transformation and that 2026 could be a critical year for Ethereum. According to Lee, Ethereum reached its all-time high in the ETH/BTC pair in 2021. With the acceleration of tokenization of real-world assets and increasing adoption by mainstream financial institutions and users, this rate is expected to surpass the previous peak…

The new purchases of T-bills by Fed are pointed out by Crypto Rover, and it explains that they are not considered quantitative easing. On December 10, 2025, the Fed declared that it would purchase Treasury bills in the amount of 40 billion monthly. These measures are to control the liquidity in the short term and stabilize the funding markets. They do not contribute to the monetary stimulus, or the balance sheet, in any significant manner. Real QE occurs when there is extreme stress where the Fed purchases assets that are of a longer duration in order to reduce the long-term…

U.S. lawmakers and the White House crypto czar signaled growing unity behind crypto market structure legislation, with negotiations nearing consensus and bipartisan confidence rising that clearer rules for the digital asset industry are within reach. Lawmakers, White House Crypto Czar Signal Unity on Crypto Market Structure Push U.S. lawmakers struck an optimistic tone on crypto legislation as talks advance. Posts shared on social media platform X on Jan. 15 pointed to negotiations nearing consensus on market structure rules, signaling confidence that bipartisan legislation to support the digital asset industry is within reach. As Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott continues…

eToro (Nasdaq: ETOR) is reducing about 7 per cent of its global headcount, according to sources. A letter sent by the broker’s CEO, Yoni Assia, to staff, and seen by FinanceMagnates.com, noted: “As eToro matures, we must ensure we are correctly sized to meet our business needs and support our long-term growth strategy.” According to eToro’s IPO prospectus, it had 1,501 employees across over 10 offices globally, as well as remotely, by the end of 2024. If those numbers remain intact (or are around), the broker will lay off over 100 staffers. However, it remains unclear who or which positions…

Ethereum price recently broke out of a bullish triangle pattern, suggesting renewed upside momentum. However, that breakout now appears vulnerable. ETH has printed a bearish divergence for nearly three weeks, raising concerns that the move lacks conviction. Crucial Ethereum Holders Are Pulling Back Ethereum has shown a clear bearish divergence over the past three weeks, signaling weakening internal strength. While the ETH price continued forming higher highs, the Chaikin Money Flow indicator posted higher lows. This pattern suggests price appreciation occurred alongside rising capital outflows rather than sustained inflows. Such divergence often precedes a trend reversal. Investors appear to be…

The Federal Reserve’s third rate cut in 2025 has lowered the federal funds rate to 3.5%–3.75%. However, it has increased one thing: concerns about a potential recession. Analysts warn that the current trends expose weaknesses in the US economy, with many expecting market turbulence ahead. Experts See Warning Signs Behind Fed’s Latest Cut The Federal Reserve cut interest rates again yesterday, marking the third reduction following similar moves in September and October. The latest decision brings the federal funds rate to its lowest level since November 2022. In its statement, the Fed noted that overall economic activity continues to grow…

The US Senate Banking Committee’s draft legislation regarding the structure of the cryptocurrency market contains unexpected surprises for leading figures in the industry. Rebecca Rettig, who participated in part of the negotiations and also serves on the Commodity Futures Commission’s (CFTC) Subcommittee on Digital Assets, said that some clauses in the draft text raised serious questions for both the industry and regulators. Following recent developments, the Senate Banking Committee has postponed its consideration of the cryptocurrency market structure bill. It is reported that Coinbase’s objections, after withdrawing its support for the final version of the bill, played a significant role…

Payments terminal provider Ingenico has partnered with WalletConnect Pay to enable in-store stablecoin payments across its point-of-sale (POS) systems, marking one of the clearest pushes yet to bring cryptocurrency payments into everyday retail checkout. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Ingenico said the integration allows customers to pay using stablecoins including USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC) and USDt (USDT) directly from their WalletConnect-compatible mobile wallets without relying on traditional card networks. Supported wallets include MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Transactions are initiated at the terminal and are settled through WalletConnect Pay’s infrastructure. Unlike crypto-linked cards that depend on Visa or Mastercard rails,…