Author: NBTC

The blockchain research and development firm Babylon Labs submitted a Temperature Check to Aave DAO on Monday, seeking approval to integrate Trustless Bitcoin Vaults with Aave V4 and onboard native $BTC as collateral without bridges, wrappers, or custodians. Key Takeaways: Babylon Labs filed a May 25 Temp Check asking Aave DAO to accept native $BTC collateral via Trustless Bitcoin Vaults on Aave V4. The $BTC Vault Swap Spoke targets Aave’s $5B WBTC supply, currently underused on the borrow side, to drive new demand. If the Temperature Check passes, Babylon Labs advances to ARFC review, with audits by Coinspect, Sherlock, and…

Mastercard has completed the acquisition of BVNK, a UK-based stablecoin infrastructure startup, for $1.8 billion. The deal marks one of the largest moves by a traditional payments giant into the digital currency space, signaling a strategic shift in how global money movement may be handled in the coming years. What BVNK brings to Mastercard BVNK provides technology that enables businesses to send, receive, and manage stablecoin payments across more than 130 countries. The company holds payment licenses in multiple jurisdictions, giving it regulatory credibility in a sector often scrutinized by authorities. Its infrastructure allows for near-instant settlement using stablecoins, which…

The Trump administration is preparing to sign an executive order that would create a formal vetting regime for advanced artificial intelligence models before they reach the public. The move represents a notable pivot for an administration that has largely championed deregulation across the tech sector. The draft order, reported to span 16 pages, focuses specifically on what the AI industry calls “frontier” models, the most powerful and capable systems being developed by companies like Anthropic. In English: the government wants to kick the tires on cutting-edge AI before anyone else gets to drive it. What the order actually does At…

The CLARITY Act is moving toward the Senate floor with a promise crypto has spent years asking for: a clearer federal map for digital asset markets. The under-covered risk is that the map runs through the CFTC, making CFTC crypto regulation a capacity test for spot-market oversight after its payroll workforce fell by more than one-fifth. The Senate Banking Committee advanced H.R. 3633 on May 14 by a 15-9 vote, putting the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 closer to floor consideration after the House passed the bill in July 2025. Votes and signing timelines have dominated the crypto…

Binance Futures continues to expand its strategy of integrating traditional financial assets into crypto derivatives markets. The exchange announced it will list a new USDⓈ margin-based TradFi perpetual futures contract, CBRSUSDT, on May 19, 2026, to offer users more trading options. The new contract opened for trading at 12:30 PM and offers investors leverage of up to 10x. According to a statement by Binance, the CBRSUSDT perpetual futures contract will track the price of Cerebras Systems Inc. Class A shares (CBRS) traded on Nasdaq. This will allow investors to trade on the company’s price movements via cryptocurrency without directly purchasing…

Bitcoin mining financialization is no longer a fringe idea inside crypto. Instead, it is moving to the center of a new pitch for the industry: turn mining from a simple hunt for coins into a structured business built on energy, hardware, and financial products tied to hash rate. That shift is being framed through the rise of a broader $BTC Ecosystem model, where mining is bundled with infrastructure, capital allocation, and long-term energy strategy. In practice, the argument is less about how many Bitcoin a machine can produce and more about how mining capacity itself can become a financial asset.…

Something quietly remarkable happened in early 2026: roughly 65% of agentic AI payments are already running on Solana. Not Ethereum, not Arbitrum, not Base. Solana. While most of the crypto world spent 2025 debating memecoins and ETF inflows, autonomous AI agents were busy choosing their preferred settlement layer, and they overwhelmingly picked the chain that could keep up with them. This isn’t a narrative pushed by Solana’s marketing team. It’s an observable pattern emerging from on-chain data, SDK adoption rates, and the infrastructure choices made by the teams actually building autonomous agent frameworks. The implications for both the AI and…

MARA Holdings (MARA), one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin holders, has allocated $4.3 million toward personal security for its top executives, according to a recent company filing. The expenditure includes bulletproofing vehicles and installing home security systems, measures the company deems necessary due to the heightened risks associated with its substantial cryptocurrency reserves. Security Spending Breakdown The Financial Times first reported the details from MARA’s regulatory filing. CEO Fred Thiel’s personal security costs totaled $4.3 million, which included $430,000 for vehicle armor and $58,000 for a home security system. CFO Salman Khan’s security expenses reached $3.95 million, featuring a…

KelpDAO said it has completed the operational phase of its rsETH recovery plan. This comes after transferring the final tranche of 20,373.72 rsETH into the protocol’s OFT adapter. It marked the latest step in restoring confidence around the liquid restaking asset’s cross-chain backing infrastructure. In an update published on 25 May, KelpDAO said the transfer finalized a broader refill process that saw approximately 116,000 rsETH replenished into the rsETH OFT adapter over the last two weeks with support from Aave. The protocol added that minting, redemption, and reward operations have been functioning normally since the system resumed operations following the…

BlockBooster, a Web3 incubation service provider, has announced the launch of a $50 million digital venture fund, as reported by Reuters. The fund is set to invest across several high-growth areas within the blockchain and artificial intelligence sectors, including AI infrastructure, on-chain trading platforms, on-chain asset management solutions, and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Strategic Focus Areas for the New Fund The fund’s allocation targets four primary verticals, each representing a significant intersection of blockchain technology and traditional finance. AI infrastructure investments will likely support projects building decentralized computing networks and data verification layers. On-chain trading and asset management…