Author: NBTC

Ethereum developers are racing to bring native privacy to the world’s largest smart contract blockchain as investors warn that delays could weaken $ETH’s claim as crypto’s default settlement layer. The pressure has intensified as the market rotates toward privacy-focused assets while Ethereum struggles to hold investor attention amid its current wave of FUD and questions over its identity. $ETH has fallen roughly 30% this year and recently traded near $2,000, even as Zcash has registered double-digit gains during the same period. That divergence has turned privacy from a long-running cypherpunk goal into a product deadline for Ethereum. The network still…

Kevin Warsh, the new chairman of the Fed, took office during one of the most challenging economic periods. FOX reporter Charles Gasparino wrote that Warsh has to contend with both high inflation and pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut interest rates. Consumer inflation in the US has risen to 3.8% on an annualized basis, reaching its highest level since May 2023, with increased energy prices due to the Iran conflict playing a significant role in this rise. Data released last week showed that producer prices increased even more than consumer prices. In the futures markets, investors are reportedly…

Cardano web3 wallet Lace has seen a slew of improvements in recent weeks. The update revolves around the Lace 2.0 extension, which brings Cardano, Midnight, and Bitcoin in one place so that users can manage their assets without bouncing between wallets or interfaces. In a recent tweet, the Lace team outlined improvements for Lace version releases in recent weeks. Quick update on Lace 2.0, we’ve been busy behind the scenes smoothing things out and making the experience better with each release.What’s been fixed:2.0.3• Fixed an issue where some users saw a white screen and couldn’t complete migration or connect to…

Launched in February 2025 by the Ethereum Foundation in collaboration with Hyperlane and Bootnode, the Open Intents Framework (OIF) is gaining traction as shared infrastructure for building and executing cross-chain intents. With backing from over 30 teams, including heavyweights like Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, ZKsync, and Starknet, the project is positioning itself as a neutral standard rather than a proprietary product. What the framework actually does OIF provides the toolkit for cross-chain intents to work across multiple chains. It includes smart contracts, open-source solvers, aggregators, and an SDK that developers can plug into without asking anyone’s permission. The core architecture relies…

Bitcoin continued trading under pressure on May 26 as traders assessed weakening momentum, cooling derivatives activity, and shifting exchange flows. The world’s largest cryptocurrency hovered near $76,500 after another failed attempt to reclaim the $82,000 resistance zone. Although buyers defended major long-term support levels, market sentiment remained cautious as technical indicators pointed to fading bullish strength. Bitcoin Struggles Below Key Resistance Bitcoin’s recent structure reflects a market trapped between heavy resistance and fragile support. Price action slipped below the 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages, signaling weaker short-term momentum. However, BTC still traded above the 100-day and 200-day averages, which…

This article was updated with comments from Bitmine chairman Tom Lee. Ethereum price has remained under pressure near the $2,100 zone after failing to reclaim a key long-term resistance level, while analysts warned that the asset still risks another major leg lower unless bulls recover momentum above $2,500. According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum ($ETH) price traded near $2,086 on Wednesday, holding slightly above the psychological $2,000 support area after weeks of sideways consolidation. The token has struggled to sustain rebounds since rejecting the 200-week simple moving average near $2,470 earlier this quarter, with traders continuing to rotate cautiously amid…

Iran may be trying to turn the Strait of Hormuz into an insurance market. State-linked Fars News reported that Iran’s economy ministry has been working on a plan to manage shipping through the Strait using marine insurance policies and financial responsibility certificates, with payments settled in bitcoin. The platform, called Hormuz Safe, is said to offer cover for maritime cargo moving through the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waterways. Fars said that policies would be issued quickly, carry cryptographic verification and become active once payment is confirmed. A signed digital receipt would then be provided to the…

The $XRP Ledger ecosystem is preparing two major upgrades aimed at expanding XRPL beyond payments and settlement. XRPL Foundation Community Director Hussain Zangana, known online as Vet, shared details about the planned additions through recent posts on X. According to Zangana, the roadmap includes a native decentralized lending protocol and a programmable escrow system designed to support advanced financial activity directly on XRPL. The updates are expected to build a broader on-chain credit infrastructure while keeping XRPL’s low-cost transaction model intact. Native lending system targets on-chain credit markets The planned lending protocol would allow liquidity pools and fixed-term crypto loans…

The long-awaited Clarity Act was passed on 14th May by the Senate Banking Committee with a bipartisan 15-9 vote. Despite growing optimism across crypto markets, the crypto market bill still faces several major political and regulatory obstacles. Which could still stop the CLARITY Act from becoming official U.S. law. Here’s how? Senate Bill Merger Still Creates Risk One of the first major hurdles comes from merging two separate Senate versions of the legislation. The Banking Committee’s bill focuses mainly on financial regulation, while the Senate Agriculture Committee version handles commodity classifications and CFTC oversight. Both versions now need to be…

As part of efforts to address limitations in user experience and automation, Arc, an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain built by Circle for stablecoin-focused finance, today entered into a strategic partnership with SumPlus, an AI-powered decentralized platform. This alliance enabled Arc to integrate AI agents from SumPlus’ AI-driven decentralized network to enhance stablecoin usability, autonomy, and security on its L1 blockchain. Arc is a permissionless, EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain network developed and managed by Circle, the company behind the $USDC stablecoin. Since its launch in August 2025, this stablecoin-focused Layer-1 blockchain network continues to offer an environment for stablecoins, tokenized assets, economic contracts,…