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.

Who gets the yield? CLARITY Act becomes fight over onchain dollars

Since missing its Jan. 15 markup date and being pushed to the end of the month, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act is becoming a proxy fight over who gets to intermediate US dollar yield onchain — open decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and payment rails, or a narrow club of large custodians and banks? With the latest draft tightening how rewards on stablecoins can be offered, critics, including stablecoin issuers and institutional DeFi platforms, warn the bill risks exporting onchain credit offshore rather than making it safer in the United States. Coinbase revolt highlights mounting industry unease Coinbase’s decision…

LegalJan 17

Revolut stablecoin payment volumes surge 156% in 2025: Research

Stablecoin adoption on fintech Revolut’s banking platform showed “exponential growth” in 2025, with stablecoin payment volumes increasing 156% to $10.5 billion as stablecoins carve their place in global payments. While Revolut hasn’t published official payment volume data for 2025, crypto researcher Alex Obchakevich estimated that the share of stablecoin volume on Revolut compared to total payment volumes has nearly doubled to 0.583% compared to 2024. “Despite the small absolute share, the dynamics are impressive,” Obchakevich said, citing data from Dune Analytics. Revolut’s stablecoin payment volume and estimated total payment volume for 2024-2025. Source: Obchakevich Research Bloomberg Intelligence predicted on Thursday…

ExchangesJan 17

What Every Indian Must Know

RBI’s 2026 banking rules in India emphasize borrower protection and transparency measures. New norms ban foreclosure fees, speed credit score updates and clarify nominee rules. Gold loan rules standardize LTV caps, valuations, and enforce faster collateral returns. New banking rules issued by the Reserve Bank of India will take effect in 2026, influencing how loans, credit reporting and gold-backed lending are regulated. The Reserve Bank of India introduced updated norms covering loans, credit reporting and gold-backed lending, according to regulator notifications and commentary by crypto enthusiast Zia ul Haque. The updates released between June and September 2025 are meant to…

LegalJan 17

Most Influential: Javier Pérez-Tasso

When Javier Pérez-Tasso took over as CEO of Swift in 2019, few expected the banking utility giant, known for handling trillions of dollars in transactions between banks every day, to build its own blockchain network just a few years later. This feature is a part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2025 list. Under Pérez-Tasso’s leadership, Swift has done just that, quietly becoming a behind-the-scenes player in blockchain’s institutional pivot. Swift — formally known as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication — is more than a five-decade-old banking utility that handles trillions of dollars in transactions between banks every day. It…

BlockchainJan 17

Cross-Chain Liquidity Protocol LI.FI Raises $29M in Series A Extension

LI.FI, a Berlin-based protocol that aggregates onchain swaps and cross-chain bridges for developers, has raised a $29 million Series A extension led by Multicoin Capital and CoinFund, bringing its total funding to $51.7 million, the company said in a press release Thursday. The company previously raised $17.5 million in a Series A round in May 2023. The startup positions itself as a universal liquidity layer that abstracts away fragmentation across blockchains, token standards and bridging solutions. Its non-custodial, open-source infrastructure aggregates third-party bridges and decentralized exchanges behind a single integration, allowing applications to route trades and move assets across chains…

RegulationJan 17

'We Shouldn't Give Up Now'

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has stated that the industry should not give up on the high-stakes market structure bill. "We shouldn't give up, we're so close," Garlinghouse said. The Ripple boss has stressed that crypto companies need to keep working "constructively" with Washington. As reported by U.Today, Garlinghouse recently spoke out about the deepening divide within the crypto industry at the highly exclusive CfC St. Moritz conference in the Swiss Alps. Coinbase's abrupt decision to withdraw its support for the bill has left the future of U.S. crypto regulation hanging in the balance. The Ripple CEO has acknowledged that Armstrong…

LegalJan 17

Prediction market volume hits record $702M despite recent scrutiny

Recent US regulatory action seeking to restrict prediction markets hasn’t slowed activity in the first weeks of 2026, with trading volumes hitting a record $701.7 million on Monday. Prediction market Kalshi accounted for two-thirds of total trading volume at $465.9 million, while competitors Polymarket and Opinion tallied $100 million worth of trades, Dune Analytics data from Gate Research shows. The $701.7 million tally beat the previous record of $666.6 million set the day before, with Kalshi leading trading volumes by a similar margin. Daily trading volume on prediction markets since September 2024. Source: Dune Analytics Prediction markets have become one…

ExchangesJan 17

Bitcoin's hashrate continues to fall as the price spike doesn't convince miners to turn machines back on

Bitcoin miners entered early 2026 in a familiar but increasingly unforgiving setup: network hashrate is slipping from late-2025 highs, difficulty is adjusting on a delay, and power costs remain the hard constraint that decides which fleets stay online and which go dark. The result is a market that can look resilient on the surface, especially when Bitcoin bounces, but remains fragile at the margin, where a single difficulty uptick or a regional power spike can turn “operating” into “curtailing” quickly. Hashrate is cooling after a late-2025 high Bitcoin’s network hashrate has cooled from its late-2025 peak pace and has not…

MiningJan 17

Disney brings Mickey, Marvel and Star Wars to Sora in $1B OpenAI deal

Key Takeaways Disney will license characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars to OpenAI's Sora platform. Disney is making a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and will use its AI tools for new digital experiences. The Walt Disney Company has reached a multiyear agreement with OpenAI to become the first major content licensing partner for Sora, the generative video platform that creates short-form user-prompted clips. The deal allows Sora and ChatGPT Images to generate fan-inspired content using more than 200 animated, masked, and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, along with props, vehicles, and iconic…

RegulationJan 17

Senate Democrats serious about crypto bill reboot, they said in call with industry

U.S. Senate Democrats have returned to negotiations over the best approach to a crypto market structure bill, hosting a Friday call with representatives of the crypto industry in which the lawmakers were strongly engaged over the next steps, according to people familiar with the talks. After this week's high-profile legislative setback that saw a sudden delay in the Senate's first voting on the legislation, the Democrats sought to demonstrate they're still ready to move a bill. And participants came away from the noon call with a sense that the Senate Agriculture Committee is still trying to make its end-of-month target…

LegalJan 17