Author: NBTC

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. I spent much of last week running between conference venues and side events during Solana Accelerate in New York City. Conferences tend to be announcement-heavy affairs, and Accelerate didn’t disappoint, bringing major updates on Solana’s core infrastructure, Solana’s phone startup and tokenized equities. And as I pointed out last week, change is in the air. Competition is heating up, and formerly-hyped areas of Solana’s ecosystem are starting to lose their luster. To elucidate some of that potential change, here are four big questions I have after Accelerate.…

A bold bet on BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF (IBIT) crossed the tape Tuesday, suggesting expectations for a “moonshot” or rapid price surge in the world’s largest publicly listed fund by month-end. On Tuesday, a trader picked up 3,000 contracts of the IBIT $77 strike call option expiring on June 27, according to data source Barchart.com. The trader paid a total premium of $39,000 for the bullish exposure. A call option gives the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a later date. A call buyer is implicitly bullish…

The price of Bitcoin was little changed on Friday as U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller argued that the U.S. central bank could start lowering interest rates as early as July. Bitcoin was recently changing hands at $104,300, flat over the past day and down 0.6% since Israel and Iran began exchanging missile attacks a week ago, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. Ethereum was flat over the past 24 hours to trade just around $2,500, while Solana ticked up slightly. With inflation running cooler-than-expected in recent months, Waller argued that the central bank has a green light to begin…

SMQKE, an XRP community figure and researcher, is rejuvenating community discussions on whether R3 still uses XRP for its Corda Settler platform. Notably, he presented videos and documents in an attempt to show that the platform still leverages XRP. Specifically, his findings trace the timeline of R3’s early integration of XRP. However, recent data indicates that the partnership might have quietly shifted direction over time. Demo Videos Showing R3 Corda Settler Uses XRP SMQKE shared a demo video R3 released on December 5, 2018, shortly after it launched Corda Settler. In the video, R3 demonstrated how the platform could settle…

Today, DIA—the decentralized oracle network that fuels both DeFi and real-world asset projects—announced a game-changing multichain grants initiative alongside its new mainnet staking program. By teaming up with over 15 leading blockchains, including Arbitrum, Avalanche and even up-and-coming networks like Somnia, DIA is picking up the tab on oracle fees for builders, letting them focus on coding instead of costs. Cost-Free Oracle Access for a Year Through the Oracle Grants Program, any team building on a supported chain can tap into DIA’s Lumina oracle stack completely free for up to 12 months. Whether you’re crunching price feeds for a lending…

The current state of the bitcoin market, which has failed to maintain its upward trend despite recent announcements from many companies adopting it as a reserve asset, has prompted concerns about the existence of paper bitcoin in the hands of custodians. Paper Bitcoin Woes Arise Due to Lack of Price Action The concept of paper bitcoin, tokens that don’t exist onchain and are only numbers in the computer of a custodian provider, is worrying members of the cryptocurrency community, who link this to the current lack of movement in the market. While bitcoin has indeed surpassed its latest record price…

The tokenization industry has gained momentum at breakneck speed. New use cases are continually emerging, with Boston Consulting Group projecting that the total size of this nascent sector could reach $16 trillion by 2030. Others believe it might take a little extra time. McKinsey recently forecast that the market capitalization of tokenized assets will hit $2 trillion by the end of the decade—and potentially $4 trillion in a bullish scenario. That would eclipse the current value of all cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in circulation. “Blockchain technology has the ability to expand participation in equity markets,” Colin Closser, investor relations manager at…

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently reacted to a Bitcoin conference demo in Las Vegas that showed the emergence of Bitcoin DeFi powered by Cardano technology. The demo showcased Lace Wallet’s ability to let users swap native Bitcoin directly for Minswap tokens on Cardano within the same interface. This demonstration signals new possibilities for Bitcoin holders to engage with decentralized finance on Cardano without leaving their wallets. Reacting to the demo, Hoskinson remarked, “Welcome to the age of Bitcoin DeFi, brought to you by Cardano.” Welcome to the age of Bitcoin DeFi brought to you by Cardano https://t.co/HplIBLK2bY — Charles Hoskinson…

Codex, a new blockchain network for stablecoins that secured $16 million earlier this year from Dragonfly Capital, Coinbase, Circle, and other notable investors, has officially launched its mainnet to help make digital dollars more practical for everyday finance. The network went live today, June 24, with native support for USDC, which means the stablecoin can move across Codex without needing a cross-chain bridge or wrapper. Per a press release shared with The Defiant, the goal of Codex is to offer a smoother way for businesses and institutions to use stablecoins just as their global capitalization has recently climbed above $250…

Today, Threshold Network announced the launch of tBTC on Starknet, bringing the Bitcoin asset into its DeFi ecosystem. tBTC: Starknet’s DeFi welcomes Bitcoin The layer-2 zk-rollup Starknet Threshold Network tBTC: Starknet’s DeFi welcomes Bitcoin tBTCaims to be the main decentralized asset backed 1:1 by Bitcoin within the layer-2 of Starknet. This will expand multi-chain access to Bitcoin, and make Threshold a more accessible decentralized Bitcoin bridge. The arrival of tBTC on Starknet opens new native DeFi opportunities concerning Bitcoin. The integration with Starknet allows the direct minting of tBTC through the Threshold interface. This way, users can deposit Bitcoin and…