Author: NBTC

Police in Osaka, Japan, have arrested three men on suspicion of laundering proceeds from an investment fraud ring by converting stolen funds into stablecoins and other virtual assets, according to Kyodo News. The arrests mark a significant escalation in Japan’s efforts to police cryptocurrency-related financial crime, particularly involving over-the-counter (OTC) trading channels that operate outside regulated exchanges. Details of the Alleged Scheme The three suspects are accused of converting approximately 14 million yen (roughly $93,000) stolen from 10 victims across six prefectures into stablecoins and other digital assets to obscure the origin of the funds. Investigators identified the men as…

Europe’s MiCA deadline is turning access and infrastructure into the same question: which crypto apps remain available, and who controls the rails underneath them? BitGo Europe GmbH announced a partnership with Bielik.io, a Warsaw-based crypto trading platform, to support regulated trading access across the EEA by integrating BitGo Europe’s Crypto-as-a-Service infrastructure. Through that integration, eligible Bielik.io users are expected to access deposits, supported digital asset trading, and custody via Bielik’s mobile app, while BitGo Europe provides the regulated infrastructure beneath. The deal is small enough to look like a normal platform partnership. It is also specific enough to show one…

Grayscale Research Head Zach Pandl said that Strategy’s 50 basis point increase in the STRC dividend next week may not be enough to restore market confidence. According to Pandl, such an increase would raise the company’s dividend obligations by approximately $100 million over the next two years. However, this step is not expected to significantly improve investor confidence. Related News Binance Founder CZ Explained the Reason Behind the Drop in Bitcoin and Altcoins Pandl stated that a more effective step to restore market confidence might be for Strategy to sell over $3 billion worth of Bitcoin. He noted that this…

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is falling today because Wall Street is suddenly staring at three ugly things at once: Google is losing major AI people, rivals are getting louder in the AI race, and the company is spending eye-watering money to keep up. The stock fell by approximately 7 percent by the closing bell on Monday, making it its biggest one-day decline in about a year. On Tuesday, investors will be looking to see if Google can retain its top talent, defend its Gemini strategy, and generate value from large-scale investments in artificial intelligence before its margins look sloppy. Google loses…

On-Demand Liquidity is Ripple’s flagship use of $XRP, a way to settle cross-border payments in seconds without banks pre-funding accounts around the world. This guide explains how it works, the trapped capital it frees, and why its own stablecoin now competes for the job. Table of Contents The problem ODL was built to solve What On-Demand Liquidity actually is A worked example: a payment through ODL Why $XRP is used as the bridge What ODL unlocks: freeing trapped capital ODL, RippleNet, and Ripple Payments The stablecoin question Risks and limits to understand Frequently Asked Questions On-Demand Liquidity, usually shortened to…

A New Line Between Lawmaking and Betting Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), chairman of the Committee on House Administration, unveiled the measure recently, framing it as a basic ethics guardrail. “It is inappropriate for members of Congress to trade on the outcomes of elections or public policy,” Steil said. The bill targets a fast-growing corner of the market where users can wager real money on whether a specific government policy, government action or political outcome will happen. Under the legislation, House members, their spouses and their dependent children would be prohibited from placing such bets. Crucially, the ban is narrow, covering…

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has announced a temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals for Taiko (TAIKO), citing an issue with the project’s mainnet network. The exchange made the announcement on its official notice board, alerting users to the disruption and advising them to monitor further updates. Details of the Suspension According to Bithumb’s statement, the halt is a precautionary measure to protect user assets while the network issue is being investigated. The exchange has not specified the exact nature of the problem, but such suspensions are common when exchanges detect irregularities or potential security risks on a blockchain network.…

Bitcoin ($BTC) is showing fresh signs of short-term holder capitulation after roughly 50,000 $BTC moved to exchanges at a loss over the past day. At the same time, the market capitalization of short-term holders fell to $237.7 billion, its lowest level since October 2024. The rise in loss-driven selling comes as tighter monetary conditions and weakening institutional demand continue to weigh on Bitcoin, as analysts underlined a “deeply unfavorable” environment for $BTC. Short-term Bitcoin holders show renewed stress CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha said Bitcoin’s short-term holder (STH) market capitalization fell to $237.7 billion on June 26, its lowest level since…

Groq raised $650 million to expand its inference cloud business six months after licensing its semiconductor technology to Nvidia and losing its founder. The funding round was led by Disruptive and Infinitum. Groq’s press announcement said existing investors also participated. The company did not disclose a new valuation. Groq was valued at $6.9 billion after its September $750 million fundraising round. Groq pivots to cloud infrastructure after Nvidia deal In December 2025, Nvidia signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement for Groq’s language processing unit (LPU) technology, a chip designed specifically for running AI models. As part of that arrangement, Nvidia hired…

Elon Musk has unveiled a promo video for the new financial service X Money, which turns the social network into a full-fledged bank alternative and challenges traditional fintech giants such as Venmo and Cash App. The platform offers savings accounts, instant payments, passwordless access via passkeys, and Visa debit cards with no foreign transaction fees. Through its banking partners, X Money provides unprecedented FDIC insurance of up to $10 million, while early users are already testing the system in real time and reporting high interest rates on balances and cashback on purchases. However, for the crypto community, which has been…