Author: NBTC

Europe’s crypto industry is facing a defining compliance moment. On July 29, 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority published a new Q&A document designed to sharpen the edges of MiCA crypto regulations — and the questions it answers reveal just how much uncertainty has been building inside the sector. Key takeaways ESMA released a new Q&A on MiCA regulations on July 29, 2026, to clarify compliance requirements for crypto firms operating in the EU. The guidance addresses ESG ratings, MiFIR considerations, and MiCA-specific obligations relevant to crypto-asset service providers. Over 270 crypto-asset service providers are now registered under MiCA…

Digital Peso Stablecoins in Development in Argentina While dollar-pegged stablecoins, like USDC and USDT, are popular in Argentina as dollar proxies, local stablecoins are in the sights of fintech companies. A recent report from Iproup stresses that two banking holding groups are developing stablecoins pegged to the Argentine peso, focusing on offering programmable money services to institutions. BIND Group, a holding with over $2 billion in assets under management, which owns BIND Banco Industrial, would be developing a peso stablecoin through BEN, its in-house virtual asset service provider (VASP). The conglomerate also announced a partnership with Circle to provide institutional…

The number everyone cited in July was 288 percent. Tokenized stock trading volume nearly quadrupled month over month. The figure appeared in research notes, on crypto Twitter, and in three separate newsletter breakdowns. It was real. What nobody emphasized was the denominator. One product drove the surge. QQQB, a tokenized tracker mirroring the Nasdaq-100 index, accounted for the dominant share of July’s decentralized secondary-market volume in tokenized equities. The growth was genuine. The diversification was not. This is the pattern that has repeated across every tokenized-asset cycle since 2020. A single product finds traction. Volume surges. Headlines follow. Then the…

BlackRock announced that it had launched its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA). However, crypto research firm 10X Research is not so optimistic about the ETF’s chances of yielding absolute returns in nearly every market scenario. BITA, which began trading on the Nasdaq on June 16, holds a mix of spot Bitcoin and shares of BlackRock’s existing iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT). The fund then sells call options against roughly 25% to 35% of the portfolio each month, collecting premiums it distributes as income. Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, reportedly stated that BITA is a “hybrid Bitcoin exposure…

Warren Buffett believes Alphabet shares could outperform 90% to 95% of the stocks commonly recommended by Wall Street analysts. The Berkshire Hathaway chairman shared his view during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Following the interview, Alphabet (GOOGL) shares rose 3.65% to $370.82, increasing the value of Berkshire’s stake to more than $31 billion. Alphabet is now one of the largest holdings in Berkshire’s portfolio, behind only Apple and American Express. Buffett Confirms He Initiated the Alphabet Investment Investors had previously linked Berkshire’s Alphabet purchase to Greg Abel, the company’s new CEO. Buffett dismissed that speculation when CNBC host Becky…

Ripple CTO emeritus David Schwartz hints he remains involved with $XRP in a recent X conversation, despite stepping away from day-to-day duties at Ripple. Schwartz revealed in late September 2025 that he will step down from his day-to-day activities as Ripple CTO at the end of the year. Ahead of the announcement, he spun up his own $XRP Ledger node to publish its output data while researching other use cases for $XRP. Now, the Ripple CTO emeritus’s recent comments hint that his retirement does not imply abandoning $XRP. Schwartz responded to an X user who pointed to his recent observation…

Only three stablecoins from the world’s top 50 currently meet the EU’s MiCA standards — and that gap between market reality and regulatory compliance is bigger than most people realize. According to Patrick Hansen, Circle’s Senior Director of EU Strategy and Policy, the EU stablecoin market has made measurable progress under MiCA, but the numbers reveal just how much of the global stablecoin ecosystem still operates outside Europe’s regulatory perimeter. Key takeaways The EU currently has about 35 regulated e-money tokens issued by 21 entities under MiCA. Among the world’s top 50 stablecoins, only $USDC, $USDG, and $EURC are MiCA-compliant.…

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has approved a new project led by China to develop a global standard for Blockchain as a Service (BaaS), according to a report from China Central Television. The initiative will define technical requirements for infrastructure, network construction and operation, service management, smart contracts, and data interoperability and security. Germany, the UK, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, and Uganda have confirmed participation in the standard-setting process. What the BaaS Standard Will Cover BaaS allows enterprises to use blockchain technology without building and maintaining their own infrastructure, similar to how cloud services provide on-demand computing resources. The proposed…

“For most people, the biggest investment, their nest egg, is their home equity. Find a way to transform that into some kind of bitcoin exposure to a larger or to a smaller degree,” he said. “So then you can bet on the asset of the house appreciating, the house asset appreciating, and the bitcoin asset appreciating.” Salinas points to bitcoin’s long-term appreciation relative to real estate as evidence for his view. In January 2016, the price of bitcoin hovered around $400. A house in Central London sold for an average price of $1.6 million or 4,000 bitcoin. With home prices…

Investment manager Brookstone Capital Management reported 12,380 shares of Volatility Shares’ $XRP ETF with a fair value of $71,059 in its June 30 quarter-end holdings disclosure. Yet, social media is spreading a narrative of a massive $71 million position. Brookstone’s June 30 information table filed with the SEC lists the Volatility Shares $XRP ETF under CUSIP 92864M780, with 12,380 shares and a reported value of 71,059. Under the SEC’s current reporting rule, that means $71,059. X posts paired the share count with a rounded “$71M position.” Others repeated the $71 million interpretation just over an hour later. Since then, the…