Author: NBTC

Abraxas Capital built up a short position on Brent oil in the past few days. The fund carries $135M in notional value, betting on a decline in oil despite the mounting geopolitical tensions. Abraxas Capital kept expanding its perpetual futures position on crude oil. The fund bet on a downturn for the Brent contract as represented on HIP-3. Abraxas Capital carries $2B in assets under management and specializes in using traditional finance strategies through all available crypto markets. Abraxas used two main wallets to short both Brent and WTI light crude oil through Trade[.]XYZ. Both wallets contain a Brent short…

Ethereum ($ETH) continues to trade in a highly volatile environment along with the rest of the crypto market. Recently $ETH had an attempt to begin regaining bullish momentum after briefly returning to a major support area; however, it subsequently fell through that level again. Traders and analysts alike are questioning where $ETH will go next after this latest move. Daan Crypto Trades brought this “failed break above” to light, indicating that trading interest has now been neutralized until all prices return to defined target zones. Technical Breakdown – The Battle for $2,100 Ethereum’s recent decline below $2100 is viewed by…

Tokenized stocks just crossed $1 billion in total value locked, and crypto strategist Tanaka thinks most people in the market are still underestimating what that number actually signals. “If you ask me what the next market trend is, I would say tokenized stocks,” Tanaka wrote in an X post, framing the thesis around a problem that doesn’t get enough attention: access. In the last three weeks alone, the SEC formally approved tokenized securities trading on Nasdaq, and Congress held one of its most significant tokenization hearings to date. The Access Problem Driving Real Demand For investors outside the United States,…

Law and Ledger is a news segment focusing on crypto legal news, brought to you by Kelman Law – A law firm focused on digital asset commerce. This Week in Crypto Law The opinion editorial below was written by Alex Forehand and Michael Handelsman for Kelman.Law. This week in crypto law highlighted a growing reality: legal and regulatory uncertainty is no longer just a compliance issue. Rather, it is actively shaping markets, business decisions, and global policy. From stalled U.S. legislation impacting price forecasts to aggressive enforcement actions abroad, the legal landscape continues to define the trajectory of digital assets.…

South Korea’s Naver Financial has pushed back the timeline for its planned share swap with Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit, according to a regulatory filing posted on Monday. In a filing with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the company said it expects to hold a shareholder vote on Aug. 18 and complete the transaction on Sept. 30, marking a roughly three-month delay from earlier target dates of late May or early June. Naver Financial’s plans to acquire Dunamu were first revealed in September 2025, as local news agencies Yonhap and Chosun reported the company was preparing a share…

A group of Ethereum projects have announced a new effort aimed at fixing a growing problem in Ethereum: its ecosystem is becoming too fragmented. Revealed at the EthCC conference in Cannes, the project — called the “Ethereum Economic Zone” (EEZ) — is designed to make Ethereum’s many add-on networks (known as layer 2s, or L2s) work together more seamlessly. The framework is being developed by Gnosis, Zisk and the Ethereum Foundation. Gnosis is a longtime Ethereum infrastructure developer, while Zisk focuses on zero-knowledge proving technology. It comes as Ethereum for years relied on L2 networks to scale, though these networks…

The world’s largest asset manager continues to move aggressively into crypto. BlackRock now plans to hire a Managing Director of Digital Assets in New York. This role carries a salary of around $350,000 and signals a serious long-term commitment. The firm wants a leader who can shape its approach to crypto, stablecoins, and tokenized finance. This step shows that traditional finance no longer treats crypto as an experiment. Wall Street once viewed crypto with caution and skepticism. That narrative has shifted dramatically over the past few years. BlackRock digital assets initiatives now sit at the center of its innovation roadmap.…

Stablecoin-backed payment systems are becoming embedded into everyday transactions across Southeast Asia, as infrastructure providers expand partnerships with card issuers and regional payment networks. Data from Singapore-based StraitsX shows that between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the same period in 2025, transaction volume tied to its card program increased 40 times, while the number of cards issued rose 83-fold. Card Infrastructure Expands Alongside Market Growth StraitsX operates primarily as a backend provider, enabling partners to issue stablecoin-linked cards rather than offering consumer-facing products. Through its role as a Visa BIN sponsor, the firm supports issuers, including RedotPay, which processed…

An enormous cryptocurrency whale with deep ties to the mining sector has executed a headline-grabbing withdrawal from the world’s largest exchange. According to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, a wallet linked to Chun Wang, the co-founder of the major Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, recently withdrew 9,000 $ETH from Binance. The transfer, which was valued at approximately $17.86 million, caught the attention of on-chain researchers due to the sheer size. Decentralized yield The F2Pool-linked wallet immediately deposited the entire 9,000 $ETH sum into Aave, a leading decentralized lending and borrowing protocol. The whale is putting the capital to work to earn a…

Two former Blackstone professionals Connor Dougherty and Lily Yarborough have closed a $25 million round to digitize private credit, betting blockchain can unlock faster and more transparent lending. The seed round was led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Susquehanna’s crypto arm, Maven11, and TeraWulf founders, Fortune reported Monday. The company declined to disclose its valuation. Dougherty and Yarborough are building their startup, Valinor, a gateway between traditional finance and crypto. The duo, who began their careers as analysts at banks before joining Blackstone’s private credit arm, believe private credit is the next major category to move onchain, and…