Author: NBTC

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read more editions, subscribe. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” — Mark Twain The 2004 edition of the Economic Report of the president included a creative proposal it hoped the statistical agencies would consider: reclassifying fast-food cooks as manufacturing workers. ”When a fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger,” the report asked, “is it providing a ‘service’ or is it combining inputs to ‘manufacture’ a product?” I hear you snickering, but it did make some fair points. The report noted, for example, that “mixing water and concentrate to…

The social media rumor mill once again started circulating news of a supposed fresh Chinese ban on all crypto assets. Summary Rumors on social media suggest that China bans crypto Similar rumors circulated in the past There were no notable changes in Chinese crypto policy If you follow the crypto community on X, it seems like China bans crypto every few months. On August 3, several social media accounts reported a supposed Chinese ban on crypto assets. These accounts claimed that the ban applies to both crypto trading and mining, as well as “related services.” X post suggesting that China…

For anyone following the dynamic world of digital assets, recent news from CleanSpark offers a compelling glimpse into the robust growth of the CleanSpark Bitcoin mining sector. The Nasdaq-listed firm has just announced an impressive performance for July, significantly boosting its already substantial Bitcoin holdings. This development highlights the ongoing strength and strategic expansion within the cryptocurrency mining industry. CleanSpark Bitcoin Mining: A Look at July’s Success CleanSpark, a prominent Bitcoin mining company, recently shared an exciting report detailing its July operations. The company successfully mined a remarkable 671 BTC during the month. This substantial output contributes significantly to their…

Spheron Network, a popular P2P decentralized compute infrastructure provider, has announced its latest collaboration with OpenGradient, an emerging player in the open-source AI world. The partnership aims to bolster decentralized AI as well as intuitive infrastructure. In its announcement, the platform has described this move as a notable development to establish a decentralized and smarter digital future. Hence, the joint effort focuses on unlocking unique possibilities in automated infrastructure organization along with model inferring, via decentralized technologies. We’re thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with @OpenGradient!@SpheronFDN will leverage the OpenGradient model hub to power its Smart Agents, enabling intelligent, automated…

Pendle has opened up Boros, a new platform on Arbitrum that allows users to directly trade the funding rates of bitcoin and ether (ETH) perpetual markets.Boros lets users go long or short on funding rate exposure using “Yield Units” (YUs), which are structurally similar to Pendle’s existing Yield Tokens. Each YU represents the realized funding yield on 1 unit of notional, such as 1 ETH or 1 BTC, until expiry, offering a mechanism to speculate or hedge against changing funding conditions on Binance and other major derivatives venues. The platform launched with capped parameters of $10 million open interest per…

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and developer Anders Elowsson have introduced EIP-7999, a proposal to streamline Ethereum’s transaction fee structure. Released on Tuesday, the proposal seeks to establish a unified multidimensional fee market, allowing users to specify a single aggregate maximum fee for multiple resources. The proposal, if adopted, would eliminate the need to estimate and manage multiple fee components when submitting transactions and let users specify one all-encompassing maximum fee, making paying for transactions simpler and more predictable. The proposal is described as a way to “simplify fee management by letting users specify a single max fee across multiple transaction…

South Korea’s digital landscape is buzzing with a groundbreaking development! Kakao Group, the powerhouse behind the nation’s leading messaging platform, is making a bold and strategic leap into the digital currency space. This significant move involves forming a dedicated Kakao stablecoin task force, signaling a major blockchain initiative designed to reshape financial services. It’s a clear indication that traditional tech giants are serious about embracing the decentralized future. What Drives Kakao’s Ambitious Stablecoin Project? Kakao’s foray into stablecoins is not just an experiment; it’s a central pillar of its long-term growth strategy. The company aims to integrate a Korean won…

Whale shorting XRP gets hit with $650K loss Trader’s XRP short has backfired, with token regaining $3 price level. Whale liquidated. A large trader was partially liquidated on Hyperliquid. A whale who shorted XRP and several other cryptocurrencies recently got partially liquidated on Hyperliquid, according to data provided by analytics platform Onchain Lens. The whale (who is known as @qwatio on the X social media platform) bet against Bitcoin and major altcoins with rather extreme leverage. The trader had the following short positions: BTC (40x), ETH (25x), SOL (20x) and XRP (20x). XRP hits hardest. The cryptocurrency surged past the…

Crypto analyst Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) tweeted that the markets currently expect a 92 percent chance that Federal Reserve will cut rates in September. The positivity is after a poor July jobs report, whereby the economy has been recording a decrease in the labor market, adding only 100,002 instead of expected 226,000 jobs in this report. Analysts consider that the smaller cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) will also gain in case Powell makes this step, and the former may aim to surpass the $70,000+ mark. Stocks also look ready to recover, particularly tech-weighted market indices. Powell ito be…

The CFTC has launched the Crypto Sprint program, focusing on regulatory clarity, institutional cooperation, and secure innovation. In the United States, a shift in cryptocurrency regulation is consequently taking shape. Crypto Sprint: the shock plan of the CFTC to regulate digital finance Project Crypto: the SEC updates the rules for DeFi and tokens The future of US crypto regulation: shared standards, strengthened protections Crypto Sprint: the shock plan of the CFTC to regulate digital finance With the Crypto Sprint initiative, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) aims to quickly implement the recommendations contained in the 2023 report of the President’s…