Author: NBTC

$XRP Ledger validator Vet has argued that $XRP is set to lead the next phase of decentralized finance (DeFi). In a post on X, Vet stated that traditional DeFi still has “a long way to go” before replacing traditional finance. Meanwhile, he believes $XRP is built to drive a more sustainable transition. According to him, the $XRP protocol’s design is better suited for high-value financial use cases, particularly those aiming to replicate or replace core TradFi systems. He pointed to deliberate design choices within the $XRP Ledger that prioritize stability over aggressive yield opportunities. In his view, these trade-offs make…

Ethereum price fell to an intraday low of nearly $2,250 on Monday as hopes for a peace deal in the U.S.–Iran conflict faded. According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum (ETH) price fell over 3% to $2,258 on Monday before settling around $2,300 at press time. The token has fallen over 6% from its Friday high after tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the Strait of Hormuz, driving oil prices higher again and deteriorating investor appetite for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. With recent reports confirming that Iran will not be attending the peace negotiations with the U.S. in Islamabad…

U.S. crypto legislation faces rising pressure as Senate leaders are urged to move market structure rules forward. The Digital Chamber argued further delay could stall momentum and weaken Washington’s push for clearer digital asset oversight. Key Takeaways: The Digital Chamber increased pressure on Senate leaders to move the bill to markup. Senate Banking faces mounting urgency as the CLARITY Act remains stalled after House approval. Industry groups expect the next phase to accelerate digital asset oversight efforts. Senate Leaders Face Growing Pressure U.S. digital asset legislation faced renewed pressure on April 20 as blockchain trade association The Digital Chamber urged…

Aster, the $BNB Chain-aligned perpetuals exchange, has crossed 15 million registered users. The platform confirmed the milestone in a post on April 19, with its live counter ticking higher almost immediately after the announcement. The number puts Aster firmly in second place among perp DEXs, trailing only Hyperliquid on most volume metrics while pulling ahead of rivals like edgeX, Lighter, and ApeX. How big is 15 million in perp DEX terms? In its official post, Aster said 15,050,000 traders had signed up. The figure on asterdex.com has since moved to 15.14 million. For context, the user count sat near 9.5…

Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute, has given a frank evaluation of decentralized finance’s current situation, highlighting structural risks that still impede innovation. DeFi not doing well Gaevoy expressed concerns about composability and how interconnected protocols increase risk rather than distribute it, saying that things appear pretty bleak for DeFi innovation at this stage, in response to recent developments. His argument is based on a fundamental tenet of DeFi. Protocols can build upon one another thanks to composability, which is frequently touted as one of the industry’s greatest advantages. In reality, the same characteristic produces tightly coupled systems in which a…

Ethereum Foundation developer and researcher Barnabé Monnot indicates that the latest crypto hacks highlight a larger goal for Ethereum as well as many crypto assets. Over the weekend, the crypto market woke up to news regarding the exploit of the KelpDAO protocol. A $293 million exploit of Kelp’s bridge allowed attackers to use stolen rsETH, a liquid restaking token widely used in DeFi, as collateral to borrow funds on lending platforms, sparking concerns from the broader crypto market. The attacker stole about 116,500 rsETH, a token issued by Kelp DAO that represents “restaked” Ethereum by targeting a bridge built using…

Something is clearly shifting inside the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse isn’t staying quiet about it. Responding to recent comments from Paul Atkins, he described the new direction as a long-overdue reset, especially after what he sees as a difficult period for the crypto industry under earlier leadership. From “War on Crypto” to a Reset Garlinghouse directly contrasted Atkins’ approach with former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, saying the agency had drifted away from its core mission of protecting investors. Instead, he argues, it leaned heavily into enforcement, creating confusion and pushing innovation out of the…

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced it will remove certain trading pairs from its margin trading platform. According to the official statement, the removal of these margin trading pairs will take effect on April 24, 2026, at 09:00 AM. According to the announcement, a number of currency pairs will be delisted, affecting both cross-margin and isolated margin trading. The pairs to be removed under cross-margin include $AAVE/$ETH, $STX/$BTC, $ICP/$BTC, $SEI/$BTC, $AAVE/$BTC, $UNI/$BTC, $LTC/$ETH, $NEAR/$BTC, $XLM/$BTC, and $ADA/$ETH. On the isolated margin side, the following pairs will be delisted: $STX/$BTC, $ICP/$BTC, $SEI/$BTC, $AAVE/$BTC, $UNI/$BTC, $LTC/$ETH, $NEAR/$BTC, $XLM/$BTC, and $ADA/$ETH. Binance stated that…

As part of efforts to scale AI agents, aiming to provide them with greater intelligence, adaptive, and cross-chain capabilities, Kuvi Labs, an AI-driven crypto interface that powers next-gen DeFi trades, today entered into a strategic alliance with Agnt.hub, a Web3 execution infrastructure for trusted AI agents. The partnership enabled Kuvi to integrate Agnt’s AI infrastructure to bring a decentralized execution, interoperability, and verifiability solutions required to provide its AI agents with trustless computing, privacy-preserving data flows, and cross-chain orchestration capabilities. Kuvi is an AI-driven crypto platform that has expertise in making DeFi asset transactions simple, in terms of ensuring digital…

Well-known market analyst Ansem issued a sharp warning for Ethereum investors as, according to him, the fundamental value proposition of Ethereum is weakening and could lead to a collapse below the $1,000 mark by the end of the current year. As Ansem points out, the “$ETH thesis” has been consistently deteriorating over the past few years. Not only has Solana become the main hub of retail activity in this cycle, but Hyperliquid has also taken the lead in decentralized perpetuals trading. The idea of general-purpose rollups has failed to gain meaningful traction, and Vitalik Buterin has “publicly abandoned” this development…