Author: NBTC

The UAE Ministry of Interior and the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) have teamed up to to combat virtual asset financial crimes using specialized task forces, electronic platforms, and training programs. As per the press release, this agreement highlights the UAE’s commitment to safeguarding its financial system while fostering leadership in the digital economy. The aim of the collaboration is to unify efforts when it comes to information sharing on virtual asset service providers, such as crypto exchanges, custodians, and others. VASPs, the MOI, and VARA, will share information on illicit transactions, and unlawful practices. The UAE Ministry of…

Bitcoin’s adventure above $100,000 was short-lived as the asset plummeted below that level roughly 24 hours after breaching it yesterday. As expected, the altcoins have suffered even more, with massive price drops from the likes of LINK, DOGE, AVAX, SUI, SHIB, and many others. CryptoPotato reported yesterday that BTC’s price finally broke above $100,000 after a nearly three-week hiatus. This came after the latest MicroStrategy purchase. The asset kept climbing in the following hours and peaked during the Tuesday morning Asian trading session at just under $103,000. However, it failed to continue its run and started to lose value gradually.…

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. They say crypto rapidly ages you. Look no further for proof than the ETH chart. More specifically, the ETH chart in comparison to Intel stock. Their trajectories share an uncanny resemblance. The chart below plots the price of ETH in pink against Intel stock in blue but with caveats: INTC is set over the past 50 years (it went public in 1971) on weekly intervals. ETH is set over the past seven years on daily intervals. ETH is advanced by around two and a half years —…

Consensys, the Ethereum software developer best known for its MetaMask wallet, has twice been hit by U.S. authorities’ attempts to exclude it from the financial system, despite the best efforts of its bank the second time around, founder and CEO Joe Lubin said in an interview. The company survived what’s known as Operation Chokepoint 2.0 by holding redundant backup accounts to avoid getting into any operational difficulties. Lubin also said he was personally hit during the purge. Chokepoint 2.0 refers specifically to the debanking of crypto businesses and executives as result of pressure exerted during President Joe Biden’s administration by…

In a recent tweet, Michael Saylor, the executive chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy, highlighted the company’s record-breaking Bitcoin achievement in the past year: the acquisition of 258,320 BTC. Saylor disclosed that MicroStrategy acquired 258,320 BTC for $22.07 billion in 2024, at an average price of nearly $85,450 per BTC. This acquisition resulted in a remarkable 74.3% BTC yield for the year. Starting the year 2024 with 189,150 BTC, MicroStrategy realized a BTC gain of 140,630 BTC, averaging 385 BTC per day. $MSTR acquired 258,320 BTC for $22.07B (~$85,450/BTC) in 2024 and achieved a 74.3% BTC Yield, starting the year with…

Institutions are increasing their Ethereum ($ETH) holdings, according to data from Lookonchain. During the past two days Cumberland the major trading firm conducted a withdrawal of 62,381 ETH amounting to approximately $174 million from active trading platforms. The funds passed through Coinbase Prime after Cumberland directed the money transfer from exchanges. It seems that institutions are accumulating $ETH.In the past 2 days, #Cumberland withdrew 62,381 $ETH($174M) from exchanges and transferred it to #CoinbasePrime.https://t.co/AT53HHa36m pic.twitter.com/6NJxnKxjZH — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 6, 2025 Large Investors Withdraw ETH, Signaling Long-Term Confidence The ongoing movement of Ethereum assets by large investors indicates their interest in…

As the overall crypto market struggles to reclaim a bullish stance, XRP meme coin PHNIX has pumped over 50%. In the last 24 hours, while Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have shown clear signs of struggle to reclaim a bullish stance, a few lesser-known coins have pumped double digits. One of the top gainers, as per CoinGecko’s list, is Phoenix (PHNIX). PHNIX is an XRP (XRP) meme coin that has pumped from a 24-hour range of $0.00004662 to as high as $0.0000698. PHNIX 24H price chart | Source: CoinGecko Crypto analyst Gordon recently tweeted that meme coins on the XRP…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has flagged nearly 20,000 financial promotions in 2024, which were then “withdrawn or amended.” The figure almost doubled compared to the previous year’s flagged ads. Misleading Financial Ads Are Growing In the announcement today (Friday), the British regulator highlighted concerns with crypto assets, debt solutions, and claims management company promotions. Amid the regulatory action, 9,197 promotions for claims management companies, mostly related to housing disrepair and motor finance claims targeted at vulnerable consumers, were withdrawn. “Over the past year, we have seen a growing number of misleading and illegal financial promotions,” said Lucy Castledine, Director…

@lookonchain analytics account on the social media network X has published data regarding daily inflows registered by spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on January 7. Fidelity has managed to leave BlackRock behind by inflows in their spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Jan 7 Update:10 #Bitcoin ETFsNetFlow: +8,238 $BTC(+$828.97M)🟢#Fidelity inflows 3,625 $BTC($364.8M) and currently holds 209,135 $BTC($21.05B).9 #Ethereum ETFsNetFlow: +33,780 $ETH(+$122.72M)🟢#iShares(Blackrock) inflows 33,618 $ETH($122.14M) and currently holds 1,114,423… pic.twitter.com/FEs5tEBmNo — Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 7, 2025 Fidelity wins by BTC but loses by ETH inflows @lookonchain shared that on January 7, the net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs constituted an impressive $828.97 million…

Ethereum’s highly anticipated Pectra upgrade is set to go live, with key testnet fork dates now announced. According to expectations, Pectra will first launch on the Holesky and Sepolia testnets before an official mainnet deployment is scheduled. In a tweet, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko shared the expected dates for upgrading public Ethereum testnets: Holesky Testnet will fork at slot 3,710,976 on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at 9:55:12 p.m. UTC. Sepolia Testnet will fork at slot 7,118,848 on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 7:29:36 a.m. UTC. Pectra is going live 🥳Holesky will fork at slot 3710976 (Mon, Feb 24 at 21:55:12…