Author: NBTC

Crypto startup Saturn is raising funding for an on-chain dollar product, USDat, that routes yield from Strategy’s Bitcoin-linked credit instruments into DeFi. The round included $500,000 from YZi Labs and a $300,000 angel raise led by Sora Ventures, as Saturn positions USDat as a dollar-denominated token whose returns are tied to Strategy’s STRC preferred equity. STRC is a Nasdaq-listed perpetual security that currently pays an annualized dividend of 11% distributed monthly, according to Strategy. Rather than framing USDat as a conventional yield-bearing stablecoin, Saturn is packaging public-market credit exposure into a blockchain-native format. Saturn’s USDat turns Strategy-linked yield into a…

2 February 2026 – Tether, the world’s leading stablecoin issuer, announced the expansion of USD₮ and Tether Gold (via XAUt0*) support within MiniPay, Opera’s self-custodial wallet built on the Celo blockchain. The initiative is helping millions of users across emerging markets gain stable, dollar-denominated access to value and savings, reinforcing Tether’s role in advancing global financial inclusion. USD₮, with a market capitalization of over $186 billion, remains the most widely used and trusted digital dollar globally. Its integration into MiniPay enables users to send, receive, and hold USD₮ with a tap, without navigating the complexities of the blockchain. Opera’s MiniPay…

Some email exchanges included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents contain striking details about contacts between Epstein and early players in the cryptocurrency sector. The documents particularly highlight statements that are considered to be potentially linked to the stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT). In a 2014 email, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce sent to Jeffrey Epstein, stating that he wanted to associate Larry Summers, a prominent figure at the time, with Noble Markets (NASDAQ digital currency exchange) and Tether. In the message, Pierce wrote, “I would like to involve him in Noble Markets and Tether.” Brock Pierce is known as one…

South Korea plans to cap corporate and professional crypto holdings at 5% of equity, steering most institutional flows into top‑20 coins while it finalizes ETF and stablecoin rules. Summary FSC draft guidelines would let corporates buy only the top 20 coins by market cap, with debate ongoing over whether to include dollar stablecoins like $USDT.​ Final rules, expected by February, will add price limits and split trading to curb volatility as institutions enter, likely concentrating liquidity in Bitcoin and possibly Ethereum.​ The coming Digital Asset Basic Act will set won‑stablecoin rules and open the door to South Korea’s first spot…

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has issued a comprehensive statement regarding the “FUD” (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) content circulating on social media about the platform in recent days. CZ responded individually to a number of issues, including the Polymarket allegations, the “supercycle” narrative, news of Bitcoin sales, and speculation surrounding the SAFU fund. CZ stated that an event circulating on social media, allegedly reaching a $7 million volume on Polymarket related to Binance, was completely fake. Zhao argued that this event did not exist on Polymarket or any other prediction market, saying, “If there really was such a volume, I…

Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT), the special-purpose vehicle set to take tokenization firm Securitize public early this year, saw its stock rise Thursday after Citron Research backed the firm and criticized Coinbase (COIN) for withdrawing support for crypto market structure legislation. “Coinbase wants the benefits of CLARITY without the competition it would create,” wrote Citron, led by Andrew Left. “[Coinbase isn’t] pushing back because the bill is bad for crypto — they’re pushing back because a cleaner version might be better for Securitize than for them.” Securitize, which has issued over $4 billion in tokenized assets and holds the licenses…

Key Takeaways Morningstar’s GenAI 20 Index includes top generative AI companies such as Databricks, Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI, weighted by exposure. The index uses PitchBook’s private market data to maintain continuous coverage from late-stage VC through public listing, filling a gap in traditional benchmarks. Morningstar, the investment research and data firm, today introduced the PitchBook GenAI 20 Index, a benchmark designed to track leading generative AI companies across private and public markets. The index leverages PitchBook’s private-market dataset to provide exposure to late-stage, venture-backed firms in the generative AI sector. Databricks holds the top portfolio weight at 21.4%, followed by…

Quantra, a Real-World Asset (RWA) and artificial intelligence (AI) blockchain infrastructure Protocol that tokenizes computing power and energy assets, has announced its strategic partnership with Crypto Burger. Crypto Burger is a Bitcoin Runes-based project that began as a real-world $BTC payment moment. The core purpose behind this partnership is to support execution-first Bitcoin ($BTC) assets through $BURGER. 🤝Quantra × Crypto BurgerQuantra is pleased to highlight Crypto Burger @CryptoBurgerBTC , a Bitcoin Runes project that originated from a real-world $BTC payment moment and has since evolved toward executable, settlement-oriented usage on Bitcoin.From a cultural signal to an… pic.twitter.com/JuypiyBNc6 — Quantra (@quantra_rwa)…

SEC Chair Paul Atkins told Fox Business in December that he expects US financial markets to move on-chain “in a couple of years.” The statement landed somewhere between prophecy and policy directive, especially coming from the architect of “Project Crypto,” the Commission’s formal initiative to enable tokenized market infrastructure. However, what does “on-chain” mean when applied to $67.7 trillion in public equities, $30.3 trillion in Treasuries, and $12.6 trillion in daily repo exposures? And which parts can realistically move first? The answer requires precision. “On-chain” isn’t a single thing: it is a four-layer stack, and most of what Atkins described…

US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase continues to expand its product and asset diversity. In its latest announcement, the company stated that it has added DeepBook ($DEEP) and Walrus ($WAL) tokens to its official asset listing roadmap. This development has been interpreted as bringing these projects one step closer to being listed on the Coinbase platform. According to information shared by Coinbase, the launch date for trading on $DEEP and $WAL has not yet been finalized. Trading will begin only after sufficient market maker support is secured and the necessary technical infrastructure is ready. Coinbase stated that the launch date will be…