Author: NBTC

Bitcoin ($BTC) stayed wedged at $64,000 on Wednesday’s Wall Street open as gold hit six-week highs. Key points: Gold analysis eyes Chinese demand as the precious metal hits its highest levels in six weeks. Bitcoin sees a second day of lackluster performance against US stocks as the S&P 500 builds on all-time highs. China in spotlight as gold rebounds past $4,200 Data from TradingView showed continued $BTC price inertia contrasting with upside for both precious metals and US equities. $BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView Gold gained 2.8% on the day to hit $4,213 per ounce, its highest levels since June…

OpenPayd, a financial infrastructure provider for businesses, has joined the Fireblocks Network for Payments. The company is the first provider to go live on the network in the UK and Europe, giving more than 2,400 participants access to its fiat payment infrastructure. The Fireblocks Network connects payment rails, blockchains, and stablecoin systems with tools for on- and off-ramp services, foreign exchange, and remittances. The network has processed more than $14 trillion in transaction volume and includes exchanges, fintech companies, banks, payment providers, and liquidity partners. Participants can connect to OpenPayd through the Fireblocks Console or API without building a separate…

XRPL validator Hussein Zangana, better known as Vet, has urged the $XRP community to stop spreading claims that SWIFT is using $XRP or will adopt it soon. According to Vet, these claims distract from the real progress happening across the $XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem. His comments came after former SWIFT Chief Innovation Officer Tom Zschach publicly dismissed renewed speculation that SWIFT would integrate $XRP. Focus on Real XRPL Growth In a post on X, Vet told investors to “block” influencers who claim SWIFT is already using $XRP or say with certainty that it will in the future. He said these…

“New York intends to make event contract derivatives waste away under its iron curtain of state gaming laws before the courts get the chance to issue final rulings,” he said. “These are financial exchanges that offer financial instruments and operate across state lines. They match the bid from a resident of one state with the offer of a resident from another state and submit the trade to a clearinghouse that backstops the transactions of customers throughout the country. New York has no business regulating these interstate financial markets.” The CFTC had previously sued New York over its stance on prediction…

$XRP withdrawals from centralized exchanges have surged as the token continues to struggle in a prolonged downtrend. Notably, $XRP has lost more than 72% from its $3.6 all-time high, but exchange data shows that more $XRP exchange transactions now involve withdrawals. $XRP Exchange Withdrawals Reach a Seven-Year High Market watcher Amr Taha called attention to this trend in a recent analysis, noting that withdrawals have reached their highest share of $XRP exchange transactions since 2019. Importantly, the increase appears across both Binance and the wider centralized exchange market. On Aug. 14, withdrawals made up 56.85% of $XRP exchange transactions on…

The Graph says onchain AI agents need identity, structured data and payments to act autonomously. Artificial intelligence and blockchain have spent years developing largely along parallel tracks. AI has become increasingly capable of reasoning, interpreting instructions and making decisions, while blockchain networks have created programmable financial systems that can operate without centralized intermediaries. The next stage is bringing those capabilities together. The result could be an internet populated not only by human users, but also by autonomous AI agents capable of discovering information, making decisions, interacting with protocols and paying for services on their own. That future requires more than…

Large cryptocurrency holders are accumulating Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH) as valuations approach levels associated with the final stage of a bear market, according to CryptoQuant. Rising whale balances during price weakness can reduce available supply and concentrate ownership among larger holders, the blockchain analytics company said in its latest Smart Money report seen by Cointelegraph. Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose to about 3.06 million $BTC from 2.87 million $BTC in December 2025, with accumulation accelerating after Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in June. Source: CryptoQuant Ethereum wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 $ETH collectively held a record…

Tether, the company behind the widely used stablecoin $USDT, announced that its gold-backed digital token XAUT has received Shariah compliance certification from Amanah Advisors, a recognized Islamic finance advisory firm. The certification confirms that XAUT aligns with Islamic finance principles, which prohibit interest (riba), excessive uncertainty (gharar), and speculation (maysir). What the Shariah Certification Means for XAUT The certification from Amanah Advisors positions XAUT as a permissible (halal) asset for Muslim investors and institutions seeking exposure to gold through digital means. Islamic finance requires underlying assets to be tangible and free from prohibited elements. XAUT tokenizes ownership of physical gold…

XRPL validator Vet (Hussein Zangana) has argued that the $XRP Ledger’s consensus mechanism is better suited for long-term sustainability than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW) model. According to Vet, Bitcoin’s mining system was highly effective at distributing $BTC in the network’s early years. However, he believes it could face economic challenges as block rewards continue to decline. In a post on X and an accompanying video presentation, Vet compared the supply dynamics of Bitcoin and $XRP. He argued that “supply distribution is only a short-term challenge, while consensus algorithms are permanent.” Bitcoin Early Success Came With Long-Term Trade-Offs Zangana explained that Bitcoin’s…

Foreign Crypto Laundering Ring Dismantled Russian authorities recently dismantled a financial laundering ring operating out of the Moscow City business district, disrupting nine foreign-coordinated cryptocurrency channels used to funnel stolen funds abroad. In a joint operation by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), law enforcement detained more than 20 employees from unregistered cryptocurrency exchange offices operating in Moscow. According to an FSB statement, the unregistered exchanges allegedly acted as a critical bridge for Ukrainian call centers targeting Russian citizens through phone and online fraud. Scammers maintained constant contact with victims — often targeting vulnerable…