Author: NBTC

Alipay has quietly opened a new front in the global AI race. The payments giant behind one of the world’s largest financial apps has launched an invite-only beta of its Alipay AI platform, giving enterprise developers, merchants, and third-party software vendors the tools to wire their services directly into its conversational AI ecosystem. The move is small in rollout, but enormous in implication — and it signals something larger happening inside Ant Group. Key takeaways Alipay launched an invite-only beta of its AI Open Platform, allowing merchants to convert existing mini-programs into AI-callable tools integrated with its conversational AI, Abao.…

In brief Owners of BIG3 NFTs have sued Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 professional basketball league over allegedly unfulfilled promises. $NFT purchasers, who paid as much as $25,000 apiece, expected to earn a share of team sales and get other benefits. The suit alleges they haven’t, and seeks damages and restitution as BIG3 aims to go public via SPAC deal. $NFT buyers expecting to have some ownership stake in professional 3-on-3 basketball teams from rapper and actor Ice Cube’s BIG3 league have filed a class action lawsuit against the league in the Superior Court of California—challenging the league’s past promises as it…

Traditional financial institutions are shedding their skepticism toward crypto, and the shift is accelerating in 2026. Banks, brokerages, and exchanges are racing to offer crypto products as demand from retail investors, institutions, and wealthy clients reaches a tipping point. David Ripley, co-CEO of crypto exchange Kraken, told Axios that “nearly all traditional financial services companies are gonna offer crypto, bitcoin, ethereum to their customers” — a development he called “a big story of 2026.” The turning point reflects a broader collision of mega-trends reshaping financial markets. Stablecoins, tokenization, AI, and extended-hours trading are converging to create a financial system that…

High Prices Trigger Miner Curtailments A record-setting heat dome that recently blanketed the eastern United States and forced the U.S. Department of Energy to issue emergency orders put the heat on bitcoin miners operating within or drawing power from the regions affected by the directive. The department’s directive authorized the PJM Interconnection to deploy additional generation units and tap backup power resources as needed. The grid operator, which serves approximately 67 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C., recently issued hot-weather alerts as triple-digit temperatures drove electricity demand toward historic highs. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at the…

In brief Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority is seeking to buy a blockchain analytics platform to police the country’s virtual assets market. The tool would monitor Bitcoin, Ethereum, and at least 20 other networks to flag fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion. The move follows the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act of 2025, which brought Kenya’s crypto sector under formal regulation for the first time. Kenya’s securities regulator wants to buy a blockchain surveillance system to help police the country’s fast-growing crypto market, as it prepares to license and supervise virtual asset firms under a new law. The Capital…

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said in a Wednesday podcast that the U.S. acquiring more than 5% of Bitcoin’s supply as a strategic reserve could “erase” the country’s ballooning national debt. Is Bitcoin The Key To Improving US Fiscal Health? In a conversation with Bitcoin Magazine host Spencer Nichols, Lummis stated that acquiring just 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply— roughly 1 million $BTC—and holding it for 20 years could reduce the national debt, currently over $39 trillion, by one-third to one-half. “And if we held even more than 5% of the world’s Bitcoin, it could actually erase our debt. So this…

BlackRock has launched the iShares Space Technologies UCITS ETF, giving UK and European investors listed exposure to space companies. BlackRock said the fund trades under the ticker STAR and tracks the STOXX Global Space Satellites and Drones Index. The product covers rocket makers, satellite firms, drone producers, and companies tied to their supply chains. BlackRock’s STAR ETF tracks space, satellites, and drones According to a Bloomberg report, the STAR ETF tracks an index of companies with direct revenue from space-related activities. According to BlackRock, eligible firms must earn at least 25% of revenue from space, satellite, or drone operations. The…

The United States and Iran appear to be closing in on a framework agreement that would end hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and begin unwinding sanctions that have strangled Iranian oil exports for months. President Trump described the deal as “largely negotiated” on May 24, with Iranian officials characterizing it as a framework for continued talks. For crypto markets, this isn’t just a geopolitics story. It’s a sanctions enforcement story, a stablecoin story, and potentially a precedent-setting moment for how digital assets function in international conflict zones. What the framework actually includes The proposed terms center on a 60-day…

BitGo has integrated the Neo X network, making institutional-grade custody and wallet services available for the EVM-compatible sidechain. Neo Global Development announced the integration on July 7. Founded in 2013, BitGo secures over US $100 billion in assets on its platform and serves thousands of institutional clients, exchanges, and service providers worldwide. The company went public on the NYSE in January 2026 and holds a federal cryptocurrency bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, alongside a New York Trust Charter from NYDFS. BitGo added 28 new blockchain networks in 2025 as part of a broader expansion…

Cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez spotlighted a prolonged lull in institutional buying pressure for Bitcoin as the apex cryptocurrency hit a 20-month low on Wednesday. Institutional Demand Dries Up Martinez pointed to the 46-day negative streak in the Coinbase Premium Index, a CryptoQuant metric that measures the price gap of Bitcoin between Coinbase and offshore exchanges. It is a widely used barometer for U.S. institutional demand and overall market sentiment. “A negative premium means $BTC is trading cheaper on Coinbase, suggesting that U.S. institutional buying pressure has dried up,” the analyst stated. Martinez also highlighted the “cooling period” in spot exchange-traded…