Author: NBTC
The US and China tariff tensions continue. As the two countries announce their moves one after another, Bitcoin and altcoins have been the assets that have been hit the hardest by this war. BTC and the market surged yesterday after Donald Trump announced the suspension of tariffs for most countries. However, Singapore-based trading firm QCP Capital has warned about the recent recovery in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices. QCP analysts argued that the retaliatory race between China and the US could turn into a classic bull trap. QCP stated that this is not the time to relax, it is time to…
This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. More than a half decade into DeFi, the sector is still somewhat of a wild west beset by elevated risk, unpredictable yields and the occasional crisis. Mary Gooneratne, co-founder of Solana DeFi startup Loopscale, wants to give blockchain borrow-lend a facelift. “A lot of those [existing DeFi] architectures were designed kind of as a function of Ethereum’s constraints,” Gooneratne said in an interview. Lightspeed has learned exclusively that Loopscale is opening its protocol to the public today, marking the end of its closed beta phase. Loopscale’s distinguishing…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially approved options trading on spot Ethereum ETFs—a move similar to what it previously did for Bitcoin spot ETFs. What Does ETH ETF Options Approval Mean? This approval allows financial institutions to create and list options contracts tied to spot Ethereum ETFs, giving investors more ways to hedge their positions or speculate on Ethereum’s price movements within a regulated U.S. framework. One of the key updates in the approved filing is a position and exercise limit set at 25,000 contracts per investor, on exchanges like Nasdaq ISE. This relatively conservative limit is…
As Islamic finance nears $12.5 billion, Shariah-compliant crypto projects aim to serve two billion Muslims — yet supply lags behind growing demand. A new report by INPUT touches on the growing demand for Shariah-compliant crypto products, even as the market struggles to meet the expectations of the world’s two billion Muslims seeking ethical, interest-free financial services. The Islamic finance sector, currently valued at $8 billion, is projected to reach $12.45 billion by 2028, growing at a rate of 11.7% annually, according to the report and a note shared with crypto.news. This rising interest is creating momentum for platforms that align…
Kaal Dhairya, a Shiba Inu top developer, reveals the reason behind the delayed launch of the ecosystem’s dollar-pegged SHI stablecoin. The broader Shiba Inu community has been anticipating the launch of SHI, an algorithmic stablecoin for the SHIB ecosystem. Reason Behind Shiba Inu SHI Stablecoin Launch Delay Recall that in 2021, the Shiba Inu ecosystem team announced plans to expand its ecosystem by releasing new projects like SHI stablecoin, a collectible card game (CCG), and a reward token. Four years later, the team has kept its word by launching the CCG (Shiba Eternity) and the ecosystem reward token–TREAT. However, it…
CryptoQuant data shows increasing investor demand for Bitcoin, with wallets holding 1K–10K BTC rising faster than their 30-day average. Bitcoin’s price has experienced significant fluctuations recently, dropping below $75,000. Meanwhile, the BTC price has gained nearly $9,000 from its recent lows, briefly hitting $83,500. Although it couldn’t maintain the momentum to climb further, Bitcoin’s current price remains above $81,000 following a minor correction. Its market capitalization now sits at $1.62 trillion, with dominance over alternative crypto surpassing 60%. Amid the recent Bitcoin recovery, large crypto investors are loading their bags. Data from CryptoQuant reveals that the number of wallets holding…
The Trump family’s crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, has denied the project sold off millions worth of Ethereum earlier this week at a massive loss, dismissing reports to that effect as “wholly inaccurate.” “The claims that World Liberty Financial has sold any of its holdings are wholly inaccurate,” a company representative told Decrypt Thursday. “WLFI has not sold any positions as currently reported. Speculation to the contrary is false.” Yesterday, reports circulated that the project sold $8 million worth of ETH at a significant loss in the thick of market tumult incurred by President Donald Trump’s oscillating tariff policies. The…
Donald Trump’s institution of large tariffs, and then temporary delay on some of them, has thrown the market into chaos, and some, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have claimed that the Trump administration may have been using insider information to trade the chaos. On April 2, Trump announced a 10% tariff on all countries, as well as various other tariffs that were calculated based on apparent trade deficits, resulting in a number of bizarre situations like applying tariffs to islands with no permanent human residents. There were additional large tariffs on China that brought the total tariff quantity on the country…
Ripple is preparing to unlock 1 billion XRP from its escrow accounts on May 1, 2025, continuing its monthly release cycle. Based on current XRP prices on April 10, the token unlock is valued at approximately $2 billion in market value. Following XRP’s launch in 2012, Ripple initially retained 80 billion of the total 100 billion token supply, gradually distributing portions to the market over time. In 2017, the company implemented an escrow system to lock the still undistributed 55 billion XRP, with programmed monthly unlocks. Ripple escrows to unlock 1 billion XRP for May sales Much like the unlocks…
On Wednesday, Westpac CEO Anthony Miller apologised to a customer after the bank blocked a $30,000 transfer to Australian crypto exchange CoinSpot and froze their accounts. The customer, known only as Tim, had deposited $50,000 into his Westpac account earlier this month and attempted to move a portion of the funds to CoinSpot to invest in Bitcoin. The transaction was halted, triggering a call from Westpac’s risk management team. Tim recorded the conversation and played it on Sydney’s 2GB radio earlier this month, where the staff member repeatedly challenged him on the purpose of the transfer, suggesting his answers lacked…