Author: NBTC

NBTC

NBTC is the editorial account for NBTC News, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, exchanges, mining, regulation and digital asset markets. The editorial team focuses on clear sourcing, timely updates and practical context for crypto readers.

Dutch nominee to oversee crypto tax quits over CV scandal

The prospective nominee for the Netherlands Secretary of Finance, who would’ve overseen the newly approved 36% tax on unrealised crypto gains, has stepped down after lying about her CV’s credentials. Democrats 66 member Nathalie van Berkel announced yesterday that she would withdraw her bid to become Secretary of Finance after the news outlet De Volkskrant discovered multiple discrepancies in her resume. She claimed to have a master’s degree in public administration from Leiden University, to have studied law at Erasmus University, and that she had completed her higher professional education. De Volkskrant questioned her credentials, and over the course of…

RegulationFeb 27

Aztec rockets 80% following simultaneous Upbit and Bithumb listings

Aztec ($AZTEC), the native utility and governance token of Aztec Network, a hybrid public-private Ethereum layer 2 protocol, shot up over 80% today after Upbit and Bithumb, South Korea’s two dominant digital asset exchanges, listed the token. The dual debut unleashed a wave of Korean won-denominated buying, pushing the token from $0.019 to $0.037 and lifting its market capitalization to approximately $100 million from $57 million before the announcement. $AZTEC is now trading at $0.033, up 73% in the last 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows. Trading volume also ballooned as retail investors piled in, a pattern consistent with the so-called…

ExchangesFeb 27

Report Finds USDC Transfer Growth on Base Fueled by LP Rebalancing

A new analysis from Coin Metrics, authored by Senior Research Associate Tanay Ved, finds that January’s record $8 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transfer volume was largely driven by $USDC activity on Base, with much of the spike tied to decentralized finance ( DeFi) mechanics rather than payments. Tanay Ved of Coin Metrics Breaks Down $USDC’s $5.3T Month on Base Coin Metrics reported that adjusted stablecoin transfer volume reached a record $8 trillion in January 2026, with the bulk of growth concentrated in $USDC on Base. The report, titled “The Curious Case of $USDC on Base,” and authored by Tanay Ved,…

BlockchainFeb 27

U.S.-based DeFi group urges UK FCA to anchor crypto rules to 'unilateral control'

The DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has urged the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority to adopt a narrow, functional definition of “control” as it finalizes new rules for crypto asset activities. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group argued that regulatory obligations should hinge on whether an entity has unilateral authority over user funds or transactions, not merely whether it developed or contributed to a decentralized protocol, in a response to an FCA consultation paper shared exclusively with CoinDesk. “Control should be the determinative factor” of regulatory scope, DEF said, warning that software developers could otherwise be swept into intermediary-style obligations despite lacking custody…

DeFiFeb 27

the DAO’s second act focuses on Ethereum security

In the summer of 2016, the Decentralized Autonomous Organization, known as the DAO, became the defining crisis of Ethereum’s early years. A smart contract exploit siphoned millions of dollars’ worth of ether ($ETH) from that initial project, and the community’s response — a contentious hard fork to recover those funds, splintered the original chain from the current one, leaving the old chain behind, known as Ethereum Classic. The DAO was once the largest crowdfunding effort in crypto’s history, but faded into a cautionary tale of governance, security, and the limits of “code is law.” Now, nearly a decade later, that…

EthereumFeb 27

Anthropic Stake Now Implied at Up to $20B

Anthropic is reportedly gearing up for a new funding round that aims to raise about $10 billion at a valuation of roughly $350 billion. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks, with GIC and Coatue Management leading the round. In September, Anthropic raised $13 billion at a $183 billion valuation, meaning the new round would nearly double its price. The core product remains Claude, an AI chatbot already backed by Amazon and Google. The move confirms that large capital is still chasing top-tier AI, even at extreme prices. FTX’s Old Bet Turns Massive On Paper FTX bought…

MarketsFeb 27

Attorneys Clash Over Whether Ripple’s Actions Truly Affect XRP Price Movements

An exchange on social media between attorney and $XRP supporter Bill Morgan and former SEC attorney Marc Fagel has once again brought the spotlight back to a long-running question in the crypto industry: Did regulators unintentionally shape the winners and losers of the crypto market? The debate began when Fagel criticized crypto industry narratives, prompting Morgan to respond with a strong argument that regulatory decisions, especially who regulators chose to investigate and who they did not, may have helped create a market where a small number of cryptocurrencies dominate most of the total market value. The Argument Over Selective Enforcement…

RegulationFeb 27

Attorneys Clash Over Whether Ripple’s Actions Truly Affect XRP Price Movements

RegulationFeb 27

Polymarket ends trading loophole for bitcoin quants

After Polymarket quietly ended a substantial penalty on liquidity-removing ‘taker’ orders, quantitative traders (quants) lamented an end to their gravy train. For highly sophisticated market makers, that 500-millisecond quote-adjustment period granted them a superpower over slower traders. Unfortunately for them, Polymarket has ended its time incentive. Unsurprisingly, the money spigot used to flow from Polymarket and Kalshi advertising short-term binary options on the price of bitcoin ($BTC) to everyday speculators. Read more: Maduro Polymarket bet raises insider trading concerns The exchanges feature 5 and 15 minute betting markets on the price of bitcoin ($BTC). On their respective homepages, they place…

ExchangesFeb 27

Robinhood chain testnet records 4M transactions in first week, CEO says

Robinhood’s blockchain initiative has hit an early development milestone, with its Robinhood Chain testnet processing more than four million transactions within its first week of launch, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced on X. Summary Robinhood Chain processed over 4 million transactions in its first week, with CEO Vlad Tenev highlighting growing developer activity on the Ethereum Layer-2 network focused on tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and on-chain finance. While some X users called the milestone “seriously impressive,” others cautioned that testnet figures can be vanity metrics and questioned whether activity reflects real external development or internal stress testing. The blockchain push…

BlockchainFeb 27