Author: NBTC

Exchange listings accelerated during the latest market cycle, as centralized exchanges doubled down. Listing expanded despite the loss of enthusiasm for altcoins. Exchange listings doubled compared to previous market cycles, led by MEXC additions. While previously tokens would wait for months, MEXC was willing to provide almost immediate listings to new tokens. The listings often resulted in losses, but the market still offered a wider selection of new assets. Based on Cryptorank data, listings reached 5.35K new tokens in just 700 days, compared to 1,444 days during the previous cycle. Returns on new listings remained relatively low, with a median…

Aave, one of the largest decentralized lending platforms, debuted its long-awaited v4 upgrade on Ethereum, aiming to push DeFi beyond crypto trading and into broader financial markets. The upgrade has been in development for about two years and is designed to make it easier to use Aave for a wider range of lending and borrowing activities, including those tied to real-world assets. The introduction follows months of internal debate over governance and value flow through the protocol. Disputes over interface fees, contributor roles and proposals to redirect product revenue to the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) have highlighted tensions between decentralization…

Tether Gold (XAUT), a tokenized gold asset, smashed its previous daily perpetual trading volume record on March 23 on Binance. As XAUT traded at approximately $4,552 on March 25, its perpetual trading, a crypto derivatives product that allows traders to speculate on the price of gold without ever owning the actual asset, peaked on the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. On Monday, the XAUT perpetual volume on Binance spiked to $6.40 billion, thereby climbing to become the fifth most traded perpetual pair on the exchange, according to data from CryptoQuant. Earlier this month, XAUT’s perpetual volume on this exchange…

The fast-growing decentralized finance (DeFi) market is increasing in size and adoption, which is creating more demand for the systems that support it. One of the biggest challenges facing both DeFi platforms and their associated developer communities is the efficiency of executing transactions and the confidence in the long-term viability of existing automated processes (“smart contracts”). To address these issues, MixMax has entered an official partnership with GamePad.co in order to create a better, more reliable, higher performing ecosystem for the next level of DeFi users. Bridging the Gap in DeFi Infrastructure GamePad.co has established itself as an important provider…

As Japan heads to the polls on Sunday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is staking her political future on translating approval ratings of 60-80% into a parliamentary majority that could accelerate crypto reforms. Takaichi has turned the election into a referendum on her leadership, declaring she is “putting my future as prime minister on this election.” She called the parliament dissolution move an “extremely weighty decision” that would “determine Japan’s course together with the people,” setting up the country’s second general election in as many years.  Japan has endured inflation above 2% for 45 consecutive months, with falling real wages…

Traders appear to have known something the public did not, and they placed their bets accordingly. Lawmakers, economists, and market observers have once again accused President Donald Trump of insider trading after a series of oddly timed trades on prediction markets and oil futures were made shortly before the president made remarks regarding the Iran war. On Polymarket, a website where users bet real money on the outcome of world events, eight newly created accounts placed a combined $70,000 in wagers on whether a ceasefire would be declared in Iran before the end of March. If that outcome comes true,…

Nasdaq-listed Forward Industries (FWDI) is uniquely positioned to consolidate the beaten-down digital asset treasury space because it carries no corporate debt and is completely unlevered, giving it room to play offense while peers retrench, according to Ryan Navi, the company’s chief investment officer. “Scale plus an unlevered balance sheet is a real advantage in this market. We can play offense when others are playing defense,” Navi told CoinDesk in an interview. “Forward Industries has strategically avoided leverage and debt by design, giving us the flexibility to responsibly deploy leverage when market opportunities arise, Navi said. “The foundation we’ve built for…

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has hired a new head of design with deep roots in crypto product development, as the platform continues to expand into payments and financial services. Benji Taylor said in Wednesday post that he now leads design for X under its ties to xAI and SpaceX. Taylor founded Los Feliz Engineering, the team behind self-custody crypto wallet Family. Aave Labs, the development firm behind $42 billion decentralized lender Aave, acquired the company in 2023, after which Taylor served as chief product officer until October 2025. Most recently, he was head of design at Base, the…

Key takeaways Stablecoins provide a safer and more efficient alternative to traditional banking. The future of finance will involve the tokenization of all assets, including equities and bonds. BitGo’s operational controls and regulatory frameworks are crucial for building market structure in crypto. BitGo is stronger than most competitors due to its readiness and strategic planning. Going public benefits BitGo by strengthening the business and enhancing transparency. The US capital markets will transition to digital, bringing inherent risks. Custody risk in crypto is unique due to the nature of bearer instruments. Exchanges should not extend counterparty credit risk. Clients prefer cold…

The number of traders expecting an interest rate cut at the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting has risen to 23%, following investor fears of a hawkish stance from Kevin Warsh, US President Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve chair nominee. Investors and traders forecasting a rate cut surged by nearly 5% from Friday, when only 18.4% signaled they were expecting an interest rate cut, according to data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group. Those anticipating a rate cut in March forecast a 25 basis point (BPS) cut, with no investors expecting a rate cut of 50 BPS or more.…