Author: NBTC

Two former senior executives at blockchain firm Theta Labs have filed whistleblower lawsuits in California, alleging the company and its chief executive, Mitch Liu, engaged in a years-long pattern of deception, market manipulation, and retaliation. The complaints, filed separately in Los Angeles Superior Court by former executives Jerry Kowal and Andrea Berry, allege that Liu used Theta Labs and its parent, Sliver VR Technologies, to inflate token prices through misleading partnerships and undisclosed insider token sales, while retaliating against employees who raised concerns. Liu and representatives for Theta Labs did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.  Theta…

Decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid has been among crypto’s breakout projects in 2025, but rivals’ lucrative rewards systems are vying to lure investors away. Cantor Fitzgerald forecasts Hyperliquid’s HYPE (HYPE) token to surge to $200 by 2035. Hyunsu Jung, CEO of HYPE treasury company Hyperion DeFi argues that the surge will be fueled by the Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal 3 (HIP-3). “We see HIP-3 as the major driver of Hyperliquid’s next phase of growth, and as a key enabler of the valuation framework proposed by Cantor,” Jung told Cointelegraph. Perpetual swaps are futures derivative contracts that track the price of an underlying…

Key Notes Etherscan cannot properly index many native-level ZKsync features. All on-chain data will migrate entirely to the ZKsync native explorer on January 7, 2026. Developers using Etherscan APIs must migrate before the deadline. ZKsync will end Etherscan support for the ZKsync Era on January 7, 2026. Block, transaction, and contract data will move fully to the ZKsync native explorer. Developers relying on Etherscan APIs must migrate before that date. According to a GitHub post, ZKsync no longer fits standard EVM assumptions. Interop transactions, cross-chain bundles, Gateway settlement, and new compilers like solx require an explorer that understands the protocol…

Aave founder Stani Kulechov is facing scrutiny over his recent $10 million purchase of AAVE tokens, with some in the crypto community claiming it was used to boost his voting power in a key governance proposal. In a Wednesday post on X, Robert Mullins, a decentralized finance (DeFi) strategist and liquidity specialist, argued that the purchase was meant to increase Kulechov’s “voting power in anticipation to vote for a proposal directly against the token holders best interests.” He added: “This is a clear example of tokens not being equipped to adequately disincentivize governance attacks.” Prominent crypto user Sisyphus echoed those…

U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Stephan Miran, the newest member of the board of governors after his recent confirmation, pointed a spotlight on stablecoins and the potential that their explosive growth — especially by foreign users — will have heavy consequences for monetary policy. “Stablecoins may become a multitrillion dollar elephant in the room for central bankers,” Miran said in a Friday speech in New York. He said that Fed staff projects “uptake reaching between $1 trillion and $3 trillion by the end of the decade.” “In total, under $7 trillion in Treasury bills are outstanding today,” he said. “If these…

Lawmakers are confronting rising pressure to modernize cryptocurrency tax policy as uncertainty clouds compliance, threatens U.S. competitiveness, and forces Congress to weigh legislative action amid warnings that capital and innovation could move offshore. Capitol Hill Braces for Crypto Tax Overhaul as Crapo Warns of Capital and Innovation Exit U.S. Lawmakers are confronting mounting pressure to overhaul cryptocurrency taxation as capital and innovation threaten to leave the United States. U.S. Senator from Idaho Mike Crapo laid out that urgency on Dec. 15, pressing Congress to act decisively on modernizing federal tax rules for digital assets. In his weekly column published on…

Crypto platform Backpack has expanded its services in Japan with the launch of a new Borrow and Lend feature. The rollout makes Japan the first market where Backpack offers crypto-backed lending at launch. The feature allows users to earn yield on assets or borrow funds without selling their holdings. The company confirmed the update on December 22. The service supports major assets including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP and USDC. However, Backpack clarified that the feature does not include spot or perpetual trading at this stage. Borrow and Lend Goes Live for Japanese Users With the new product, users can lend…

BLIFE Protocol is officially merged with Portal and formed a new entity under the brand Portal. The integration represents a major move in the Web3 gaming and interoperability business sector and was announced on December 22, 2025. The merger unites the Bitcoin-centric infrastructure and community of BLIFE and the cross-chain gaming and liquidity platform of Portal, which is expected to minimize fragmentation among blockchain gaming ecosystems. Today we are incredibly excited to announce that Portal has merged with @BLIFEProtocol, supported by @animocabrands and G-20.This is a major milestone in our mission to build the leading Web3 gaming platform – pushing…

Token swaps let users trade crypto directly via DeFi smart contracts and AMMs, tapping liquidity pools for instant, permissionless access to assets and yields. Summary Token swaps use smart contracts and AMMs to route trades through liquidity pools instead of order books or centralized intermediaries.​ Swaps act as the entry point into lending, staking, yield farming, and governance, moving liquidity seamlessly across DeFi protocols.​ Users keep self-custody, avoid account checks, and can trade 24/7, lowering barriers to experimenting with multiple on-chain strategies. Token swaps represent a decentralized finance (DeFi) mechanism that allows users to exchange one cryptocurrency token for another…

A prominent economist is pushing for a major change in how cryptocurrency markets operate, arguing they need rules similar to those of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to stop extreme drops in the values of digital assets. In a November 6 post on X, Alex Krüger said the absence of regulated market makers has left crypto vulnerable to drastic price collapses during volatile trading. The Case for Market Maker Rules In the post, the market expert explained that in traditional finance (TradFi), market makers, responsible for providing liquidity, have a legal duty to keep trading orderly. On the NYSE,…