Author: NBTC

In brief Venice AI raised $65 million at a $1 billion valuation in its first outside funding round. Founder Erik Voorhees said the company has surpassed 3 million users and become profitable. Voorhees argued AI surveillance—not model capability—is becoming the industry’s defining challenge. Venice AI has raised $65 million in its first outside funding round at a $1 billion valuation, founder Erik Voorhees announced Wednesday. In a post on X, Voorhees—a cryptocurrency industry veteran who is best known as the founder of the ShapeShift exchange—said the funding validates Venice’s mission to build a private, uncensored alternative to mainstream AI like…

Borg, however, said the biggest challenge is no longer the law itself but how regulators are applying it. He estimates Europe could go from roughly 3,000 registered crypto asset service providers to only 300 or 400 licensed firms under MiCA — which he indicated would suit the regulators just fine “I’m noticing that regulators are becoming more and more lazy,” Borg said. “They prefer having 20 operators to regulate rather than invest in more technology and more human resources to supervise more operators.” Who can afford transparency? Borg believes the growing cost of compliance is biased toward companies that can…

The Bitcoin [$BTC] halving is often misinterpreted as an instant price catalyst. In reality, it works through a gradual supply reduction effect, supported by Bitcoin’s technical setup. Notably, major upside phases have occurred in the 12-18 months after a halving, rather than immediately. After the 2016 halving, for instance, Bitcoin saw its main expansion in 2017, gaining over 1,000%. Similarly, after the 2020 halving, the strongest upside played out through 2020-2021, with a full-cycle rally of roughly 60%. By contrast, the second halves (H2) of 2018 and 2022 are widely viewed as late-cycle drawdowns. In 2018, Bitcoin fell 40%-45% in…

Machi Big Brother, one of Hyperliquid’s most-liquidated traders, was liquidated again on an Ethereum long and has now lost more than $80 million on the onchain derivatives exchange since September, according to onchain analytics firm Arkham. Arkham said the trader, whose real name is Jeffrey Huang, was liquidated for $341,000 on an $ETH position, taking his cumulative losses on Hyperliquid to $80.43 million since September 2025. To raise margin, Huang has been selling his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs; blockchain tracker Lookonchain reported he sold 34 of the NFTs over the past month for 326 $ETH, about $514,000, realizing a…

The crypto industry is going through a major cleanup in 2026, with more than 70 crypto projects shutting down during the first half of the year, according to data from RootData. The list includes projects that permanently closed, filed for bankruptcy, or simply went inactive after their websites stopped working for extended periods. Major Crypto Projects That Closed The shutdowns span nearly every sector of the industry. High-profile names include Loopring, Goldfinch, NFTfi, Nifty Gateway, Foundation, ZeroLend, Ionic, Rage Trade, Botanix, Over Protocol, Zero Network, Leap Wallet, Dmail, Step Finance, MilkyWay, Fantasy Top, and Parsec. Web3 gaming, $NFT, DeFi, Layer-2,…

Illinois just became the first state to tax crypto by the transaction. The new 0.2% levy hits nearly every trade, transfer, or custody service an exchange runs for an Illinois resident, and it takes effect January 1, 2027. Governor JB Pritzker signed the Digital Asset Tax Act in mid-June, tucked inside a $55.9 billion budget. Washington is in the middle of building a single national rulebook for crypto. The $GENIUS Act for stablecoins is already law, and the CLARITY Act for market structure is slowly approaching a Senate floor vote. Both promise the same thing: one set of rules for…

Why Did Bitcoin Fall While Traditional Markets Improved? According to the Bitfinex Alpha report published July 1, bitcoin began the third quarter by revisiting its cycle low near $58,000 despite financial conditions that would normally favor risk assets. Treasury yields eased, U.S. equities finished the quarter at record highs and gold weakened, yet bitcoin continued to retreat, reinforcing a divergence that has become one of the defining characteristics of the current market environment. This marks the fourth occurrence during the current cycle in which bitcoin has declined alongside falling Treasury yields. Analysts argue the pattern suggests that selling pressure is…

Its launch comes as Ethereum’s support ecosystem undergoes a broader evolution, following the debut of EthLabs and amid ongoing efforts by the Ethereum Foundation to respond to community criticism over transparency, communication and its role within the ecosystem by encouraging more independent organizations to take the lead on adoption and ecosystem growth. Vivek Raman, CEO of Etherealize, said on X that Ethereum Institutional is another example of Ethereum’s decentralized model in action. “Ethereum is not built by or run by a single organization,” Raman wrote. “Ethereum is a network of independent nodes that collectively make the infrastructure inevitable. Ethereum Institutional…

Instead of a shareholder vote on July 2, Adam Back will now have to wait until at least July 10 before his Bitcoin Standard Treasury (BSTR) can decide to advance its merger with Cantor Equity Partners. The third postponement in just a couple of weeks is the latest fork in the road for Back, whose Bitcoin treasury company remains locked in private placement talks for financing of up to $1.5 billion. Why did Bitcoin Standard Treasury push back its shareholder vote again? The Bitcoin Standard Treasury shareholder vote for the Cantor Equity merger continues to still be held up by…

Starting July 1, all licensed crypto exchanges and virtual asset service providers will be required to collect and exchange information regarding senders and recipients for every crypto transfer, regardless of the transaction’s value. Stricter Controls on Crypto Transfers New regulations enforced by the Australian financial regulator, AUSTRAC, mandate that all regulated crypto platforms exchange data for every incoming and outgoing transaction. These requirements cover the full names of the sender and recipient, country of residence, the type of wallet used, and information about the involved crypto company where applicable. Unlike some other regulatory regimes, the Australian rules apply regardless of…