Author: NBTC

Two California men are facing federal charges for allegedly funneling high-performance AI chips to China in violation of U.S. export laws designed to protect sensitive technology, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. Chuan Geng of Pasadena and Shiwei Yang of El Monte were charged Monday in Los Angeles with conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act. Prosecutors allege the pair used their company, ALX Solutions Inc., to illegally ship restricted graphics processing units—known as GPUs—to China through third-party shippers in Southeast Asia, masking the final destination.  Federal agents took both men into custody on Saturday. Geng,…

Chinese investors are borrowing record sums to buy local equities, signaling a renewed appetite for risk across global markets. Yet, crypto traders are in a “wait-and-see” state, even as leverage in mainland China’s stock exchanges climbs to levels not seen since 2015. According to Bloomberg, margin trades outstanding in China’s onshore equity market rose to 2.28 trillion yuan ($320 billion) on Monday. The figure surpassed the previous peak of 2.27 trillion yuan set during the equity frenzy of 2015. Margin trading, which allows investors to borrow from brokers to buy securities, is used in stock markets as a gauge of…

The global post-trade industry is entering a new phase of transformation driven by digital assets and AI, according to Citi’s latest “Securities Services Evolution” whitepaper. The bank’s fifth annual survey, which gathered input from 537 market participants including custodians, broker-dealers and asset managers, highlights how tokenization, accelerated settlements and AI-driven automation are reshaping trade processing. Citi estimates that by 2030, 10% of market turnover could be conducted through tokenized assets. The report points to bank-issued stablecoins as the main enabler, helping with collateral efficiency and fund tokenization. Asia-Pacific is already leading adoption, thanks to strong retail interest in crypto and…

EMB: Sept. 2, 12:30 UTC Artificial intelligence (AI) company Kite raised $18 million to expand its platform for enabling autonomous agents to transact with stablecoins. The round, co-led by General Catalyst and PayPal Ventures, brings the San Francisco-based startup’s cumulative funding to $33 million, according to an emailed announcement on Tuesday. Formerly known as Zettablock, Kite is building infrastructure for what it calls the “agentic web,” where AI agents conduct microtransactions and negotiate services. Its newly launched Kite AIR (Agent Identity Resolution) provides agents with verifiable identities, policy guardrails and programmable payment rails. The company plans to use the money…

While companies’ cryptocurrency treasury strategies continue to increase recently, various altcoins other than Bitcoin and Ethereum are also preferred. While Binance Coin (BNB) is at the top of these altcoins, HashGlobal and YZiLabs launched the BNB yield fund. Asia-based cryptocurrency investment firm Hash Global has announced the launch of a BNB yield fund in partnership with YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs. The fund, aimed at institutional investors, announced that it aims to reach a management scale of $100 million by the end of the year and $3 billion within three years. The fund will invest in BNB and generate returns…

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, started the day with altcoin delisting news. At this point, Binance announced that it delisted altcoins named BakeryToken (BAKE), Hifi Finance (HIFI), and Self Chain (SLF). “At Binance, we periodically review every digital asset we list to ensure it continues to meet high standards and industry requirements. When a coin or token no longer meets these standards or industry conditions change, we potentially remove it from the exchange. Based on our latest reviews, we have decided to delist all spot trading pairs for the following altcoins and halt trading as of 03:00 UTC, September…

Global banking giant Citi announced in its latest “Securities Services Evolution” report that the post-clearance processes of financial transactions are on the verge of a major transformation. Citi: Stablecoins and AI Could Launch a New Era in Financial Transactions The bank’s fifth annual survey drew opinions from 537 industry leaders, including custodians, brokerage firms and asset managers. According to the report, tokenization, T+1 implementation, and artificial intelligence (GenAI)-based automation are reshaping post-clearance transactions. Citi predicts that 10% of market volume could be in tokenized assets by 2030. It’s emphasized that stablecoins issued by the bank will be the primary enablers…

Bancor was once one of the biggest names in crypto. In 2017 it raised $153 million, one of the largest ICOs of that time, with a promise to change how tokens could be traded. But only a year later, Uniswap launched with a far simpler design and quickly became the main place for token swaps. Now Bancor has taken Uniswap to court, starting a legal fight (patent war) that could decide if this is about protecting ideas or just payback. How It All Started Between Bancor and Uniswap When Bancor launched in 2017, it was called a game-changer. It introduced…

In a move that has sent ripples through both traditional financial markets and the crypto world, New York Stock Exchange-listed Cleancore Solutions (ZONE) recently announced an audacious plan. The company intends to raise a staggering $175 million to establish a Dogecoin treasury strategy. This bold decision aims to allocate a significant portion of its capital to the popular meme coin, Dogecoin (DOGE). However, the immediate market reaction has been anything but positive, leaving many investors wondering about the implications of such a strategy. Unpacking Cleancore’s Bold Dogecoin Treasury Ambition Cleancore Solutions revealed its intention to secure $175 million through a…

Global cryptocurrency trading firm OKX was fined 2.25 million euros ($2.6 million) by the Dutch National Bank (DNB) for offering crypto services in the Netherlands without having registered with the financial regulator. The fine on the company, whose official name is Aux Cayes Fintech Co., relates to the period July 2023 to August 2024, before the introduction of Europe Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets regime (MiCA), according to a press release. The Netherlands started requiring crypto firms to register with the DNB in early 2020, bringing digital assets in line with the country’s anti-money laundering rules (Wwft). The bank has…