Author: NBTC

Quatrefoil Data Services, a firm on a mission to provide institutional-grade benchmarks for digital assets, starting with a reference rate for Ethereum staking, has rolled out operations, the firm said on Monday Its flagship product, the Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR), measures yields from Ethereum validators and is designed to function as crypto’s equivalent of a “risk-free rate.” CESR was created by investment firm CoinFund and is already distributed by CoinDesk Indices. Asset managers and protocols including Coinbase and FalconX rely on it to design products and manage risk. Benchmarks are a core feature of traditional markets, underpinning everything from…

Vietnam has officially entered into a partnership with Tether, the issuer of the stablecoin USDT, to develop a regulated cryptocurrency market in the country. According to The Investor, the collaboration aims to provide guidance on regulatory frameworks, operational practices, and market infrastructure while piloting crypto exchange licenses. Vietnam’s Strategic Move into Crypto Vietnam recently passed Resolution 05/2025/NQ-CP, authorizing a five-year pilot program for licensed cryptocurrency exchanges. Under this framework, the government plans to license a maximum of five exchanges initially, paving the way for a fully regulated market in the future. The pilot program allows the government to test market…

In the past few months, a new class of public companies has raced to amass billions in crypto. The largest, after Michael Saylor’s bitcoin-focused Strategy, is BitMine Immersion (BMNR) chaired by Wall Street strategist Tom Lee, which now holds about 3.75% of ETH’s supply, according to Blockworks Research data. That begs the question: will digital-asset treasuries (DATs) turn their balance sheets into protocol leverage? In principle, DATs can garner real sway, suggests Ryan Watkins of Syncracy Capital, while skeptics counter that Ethereum’s governance process, client diversity and stubborn validator “social layer” make outright capture unlikely. While the issue quickly enters…

The Fed recently made an expected 25 basis point cut. However, in a statement after the meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that the road ahead would be challenging. Powell, in his speech on September 23, stated that the two-sided risk remains, saying, “The short-term risks to inflation are to the upside, and the risks to employment are to the downside, and that’s a challenging situation.” The Fed is Going Through a Difficult Period! Following Powell’s statements, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack also made similar statements. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Hammack said the Fed faces challenges trying to balance…

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is expanding its crackdown on tax evasion, warning that even crypto assets stored in cold wallets will be subject to seizure. According to a report from local news outlet Hankook Ilbo, an NTS official said the agency is prepared to carry out home searches and confiscate hard drives and cold wallet devices if the agency suspects that tax delinquents are hiding their crypto assets offline. “We analyze tax delinquents’ coin transaction history through crypto-tracking programs, and if there is suspicion of offline concealment, we will conduct home searches and seizures,” the NTS spokesperson reportedly…

Members of the sprawling Russian crypto mining industry may soon be offered loans against their Bitcoin as collateral. The idea, pitched by one of Russia’s systemically important banks, comes amid intensifying preparations to properly regulate crypto relations in the country. Moscow legalized the mining of cryptocurrency a year ago, but has yet to do the same regarding all other operations with the minted digital coins. Russian bank highlights demand for Bitcoin-backed loans Credit institutions are registering significant demand for loans secured by cryptocurrency, a high-ranking representative of a mid-tier Russian bank has indicated. Crypto-backed lending has a future in Russia,…

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced the formation of a new group of 47 researchers, engineers, and cryptographers who will work together to make Ethereum’s Layer 1 infrastructure safer and more private. According to analysts, this change in structure is a show of the institution’s seriousness about adding privacy features directly to the Ethereum ecosystem, moving it from a side project to a main development priority. Expanding Ethereum’s Privacy Framework In an October 8 blog post, EF noted that the “Privacy Cluster” integrates multiple ongoing projects under one umbrella, including long-running efforts by the Privacy & Scaling Explorations (PSE) team.…

Cipher Mining (CIFR) just delivered one of the most consequential weeks in its history, announcing a major AI hosting deal for its Barber Lake facility and a $1.1 billion convertible note offering, moves that together may redefine the company’s trajectory, broker Canaccord Genuity said in a report on Monday. Canaccord reiterated its buy rating on the stock and raised its price target to $16 from $12. The shares rose 1.2% in early trading to around $11.60. While the market had been expecting Cipher to secure an AI data center partner for Barber Lake before year-end, last week’s announcement went further…

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong slammed a Senate Democratic proposal that would regulate DeFi front-ends as brokers, calling it a “bad proposal” that threatens U.S. crypto innovation. Summary Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong criticized a Senate Democratic proposal to regulate DeFi front-ends as brokers, saying it would hinder U.S. crypto innovation. Other crypto advocates echoed the concern, warning the plan could effectively ban DeFi development in the U.S. “We absolutely won’t accept this,” Armstrong declared in a post on X, warning that the proposal would hinder innovation and prevent U.S. from becoming the crypto capital of the world. However, he acknowledged that…

Core DAO announced the winners of its Core Connect Global Buildathon on October 8, 2025, highlighting four projects that advance Bitcoin DeFi on its Layer 1 blockchain. The event, which drew over 200 submissions, culminated in four projects sharing the top honors after a selection process that included 13 semifinalists and a grand finale featuring five main finalists, along with two wildcard entries. Each winning team received $10,000 in CORE tokens, $10,000 in AWS Activate credits, eligibility for the Core Starter Program, six months of gas rebates on the Core mainnet, and technical support from Core DAO’s developer relations and…