Author: NBTC

The fight over U.S. prediction markets has reached a new level of institutional confrontation. The fight is increasingly centering on federal preemption and the CFTC’s authority over event contracts. In testimony before a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, American Gaming Association CEO Bill Miller called the CFTC a “rogue agency” and accused it of making a “mockery of congressional intent” by allowing financial exchanges to facilitate what he called “backdoor sports betting.” AGA’s Bill Miller stresses that prediction markets are operating outside the safeguards that define legal gaming in the U.S. Consumer protections, responsible gaming tools, and integrity oversight are not…

Lolli, the bitcoin rewards platform owned by Thesis*, has partnered with Kard to let its more than 600,000 users earn bitcoin automatically on everyday card purchases without browser extensions, promo codes, or checkout changes. Key Takeaways: Lolli’s 600,000 users can now earn bitcoin automatically via Kard’s card-linked offer network as of May 19, 2026. Kard’s first-party transaction data from tens of millions of cardholders gives Lolli merchants a new bitcoin-native consumer channel. Thesis* plans to connect Lolli earnings to Mezo’s 1% APR borrowing layer, deepening its circular bitcoin economy stack. Lolli Drops Checkout Friction as Kard Deal Turns Linked Cards…

Institutional crypto activity grabbed market attention again after BlackRock transferred massive digital assets to Coinbase. According to OnchainLens, the asset management giant deposited 1,587 $BTC worth $122.55 million and 17,815 $ETH worth $37.79 million into Coinbase. The move immediately sparked speculation across the crypto market. Traders now wonder whether BlackRock plans further ETF-related adjustments or liquidity operations. The latest BlackRock Bitcoin transfer arrived during a sensitive period for the crypto market. Bitcoin continues to trade near key resistance levels while Ethereum maintains strong institutional momentum. Large on-chain movements from firms like BlackRock often influence trader sentiment because they may signal…

Institutional confidence around cross-chain infrastructure weakened sharply after the $292 million LayerZero-linked exploit exposed deeper bridge-security risks. Liquidity allocators also started reassessing how weaker verifier configurations can quietly amplify systemic counterparty exposure across DeFi ecosystems. For example – Turtle has tightened its due diligence framework by applying stricter risk pricing towards assets using lower-redundancy bridge structures. Assets relying on configurable or ad-hoc setups have increasingly faced allocation haircuts and weaker liquidity preference under rising institutional caution. Source: X Meanwhile, cross-chain tokens integrated with Chainlink CCIP gained stronger preference because institutions increasingly favored secure-by-default infrastructure models. That transition also reflected how…

The Ethereum Foundation (EF), the nonprofit organization tasked with stewarding the development of the Ethereum blockchain, is reportedly experiencing a significant loss of personnel. According to a report from crypto journalist Laura Shin, the departure stems from frustrations with the direct interventions of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Allegations of Internal Turmoil The claims originate from Kain Warwick, the founder of the decentralized finance protocol Synthetix. Warwick described former EF members as ‘missionaries’ who worked for below-market salaries without equity compensation. He alleged that Buterin’s hands-on management style led to the dismissal of key leadership figures, including co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak,…

Hark’s founder Brett Adcock, who also founded Figure AI, earlier today announced that the firm had completed a Parkway Venture Capital-ed Series A round that attracted $700 million at a $6 billion valuation from other tech giants, like NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), AMD Ventures, Intel Capital (NASDAQ: INTC), Qualcomm Ventures (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Salesforce Ventures (NYSE: CRM). Hark’s CEO, Brett Adcock, said the money will be used to scale its GPU infrastructure, grow its team from 70 to 200 engineers, and design new AI hardware. The company wants to build “personal intelligence” that is more advanced than basic chatbots; something with…

Ripple Backs SwissHacks 2026 as Challenge Sponsor, Bringing $XRP Ledger Innovation to Finance, Payments, and AI SwissHacks 2026 is emerging as one of Europe’s most closely watched fintech hackathons, reflecting a clear shift from experimentation toward building real financial infrastructure. According to Tenity, a global innovation platform focused on scaling early-stage financial technology, the event will take place in Zurich from June 19–21, bringing together developers, financial institutions, and investors for 48 hours of intensive, problem-driven building. A key headline this year is the participation of Ripple as a Challenge Sponsor, introducing three focused tracks built around enhancing the $XRP…

Rep. Nick Begich and Rep. Jared Golden introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (ARMA), a bipartisan effort that, if approved, will establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the U.S. that will have to be maintained for at least 20 years. Key Takeaways: Rep. Begich introduced ARMA to buy 1M Bitcoin, shifting market policy before Congress sets future crypto laws. Funding the reserve via gold, the US Treasury would buy 200K $BTC yearly, securing crypto property rights. Following a March 2025 EO, ARMA stabilizes US markets as Congress next drafts long-term crypto policy. Bipartisan Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill Introduced…

On May 19, 2026, Wego, Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) leading travel marketplace headquartered in Dubai, announced a partnership with Triple-A to launch stablecoin payments for flights and travel bookings. Wego Partners with Triple-A to Launch Stablecoin Payments According to sources, Wego, the leading travel app and online marketplace in the MENA region, has partnered with Triple-A, a global payment institution licensed in the US, Europe, and Singapore, to launch stablecoin payments for flights and other travel bookings. The integration allows travelers to complete bookings using supported stablecoins, while Wego receives full settlement in traditional local fiat currencies. Triple-A…

The Bitcoin community celebrated the 16th anniversary of “Pizza Day” on Friday, marking the first recorded commercial Bitcoin transaction, in which real-world goods were purchased with Bitcoin. In May 2010, software developer Laszlo Hanyecz published an online post offering 10,000 $BTC, which was valued at about $41 at the time, in exchange for two Papa John’s pizzas. At current market prices, the $BTC is worth more than $767 million, and at the all-time high of about $126,000 reached in October 2025, the 10,000 $BTC was valued at more than $1.2 billion. Nischal Shetty, the founder of crypto exchange WazirX, said:…