Author: NBTC

OpenLedger, a blockchain infrastructure company, is betting that ‘agentic payments’ — transactions initiated and executed by AI agents without human intervention — will emerge as the defining use case at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Ram Kumar, co-founder of OpenLedger, shared the prediction in a recent interview with The Block, outlining a future where AI agents handle not only payments but also trading and other financial activities. Why Agentic Payments Matter The concept of agentic payments is gaining traction as AI systems become more autonomous and capable of performing tasks that traditionally required human oversight. In the crypto…

While Bitcoin remains stagnant, analysts on on-chain analysis platforms have noted that a sustained bottom in the market has yet to be confirmed. Nansen reported that the possibility of Bitcoin retesting the $52,000 to $58,000 region remains. According to the company, this week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision and Strategy’s second-quarter financial results are among the key catalysts that could determine Bitcoin’s next direction. CryptoQuant data showed a significant divergence between individual investors and whales in Bitcoin transfers to Binance. According to Binance Whale to Exchange Flow data, the total value of Bitcoin sent to the exchange by whales over…

Fireplace, the prediction markets trading terminal that raised $1.5 million in February, told users on August 10 that it is shutting down and gave them until September 30 at 23:59 UTC to close positions, withdraw funds, and export their accounts. “We’re shutting down Fireplace,” the company posted. “To everyone who traded with us and supported us along the way, thank you. It was a hell of a run.” No reason for the closure appears anywhere in the announcement, and a reply asking whether the problem was volume drew no response from the company. Fireplace asked anyone building in prediction markets…

Aligned published the terms of its ALIGN airdrop on Tuesday, 20 months after registration for the drop closed. The company did not say when the token launches. Every figure in the post is pegged to a token generation event that Aligned has not set a date for. The ALIGN contract on Ethereum records 26 holders and no transfers. CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap both carry preview pages with no price. And sale.alignedlayer.com, the site Aligned built for the public auction it announced in April, now displays one line: “THE SALE HAS BEEN CANCELED.” Ten Thousand Token Line The Genesis Drop covers 8.74%…

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advanced its framework for locally listed spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from proposed principles to draft regulations while revising its approach to foreign digital asset custodians. The regulator said Monday it is seeking feedback on two consultation papers. One contains draft regulations for Thai crypto ETFs, while the other proposes principles governing the qualifications of foreign digital asset custodians engaged by mutual and private funds investing in digital assets. During the initial stage, asset managers could establish passive ETFs tracking Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH), the only two eligible crypto assets.…

Centralized crypto exchanges lost 31.2% of their spot crypto trading volume in July, falling to $727 billion and marking the lowest monthly total since October 2023. Decentralized exchanges also lost volume, but only 9.82%, settling at $176 billion. That gap pushed DEXs to a record 19.5% share of combined spot volume. Where the CEX collapse concentrated BlockBeats’ July crypto trading-platform ranking shows spot volume on major CEXs fell 35.5% month over month, while perpetual futures volume fell a smaller 19.6%. The gap suggests spot was the weakest part of centralized crypto trading, while demand for leveraged trading proved relatively more…

Rejections at $65,500 Resistance Drag Prices Lower Bitcoin showed its volatility again on Monday, experiencing two sharp price swings even as tensions in the Middle East eased. After barely holding above $64,600 late Sunday, the cryptocurrency jumped to a session high of $65,500 as markets reacted to reports of a pause in fighting between U.S. and Iranian forces. Despite pulling back to just over $65,000 shortly afterwards, bitcoin held ground through most of early Sunday morning. By 2:15 a.m. EDT, it reclaimed $65,500, only for an ensuing sell-off to push it under $65,000 nearly six hours later. A third attempt…

Key takeaways – Kalshi’s valuation went from $11 billion in December 2025 to $22 billion in March 2026, and it is reportedly now in talks for a $40 billion round that could close this quarter. – Polymarket was valued near $8 billion when Intercontinental Exchange committed $2 billion to it last October. It is now fielding a round that could price it above $20 billion. – Kalshi has told investors it is exploring an IPO for late 2026 or early 2027, complicated by state lawsuits alleging it runs an illegal gambling operation. – Bernstein analysts think the bigger story is…

Canary Capital has filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot $TRX exchange-traded fund (ETF), the company announced via a post on X. The proposed fund, which would trade under the ticker TRXS, aims to track the price of Tron’s native cryptocurrency, $TRX, directly, rather than through futures contracts. The filing marks another step in the asset manager’s aggressive push into crypto ETFs, following its earlier applications for spot Litecoin and $XRP funds. If approved, the $TRX ETF would be the first of its kind in the U.S., offering investors regulated…

The US Treasury has expanded its Iran sanctions framework to cover the country’s digital asset sector, citing more than $100 million in crypto payments allegedly used to facilitate Iranian oil sales. On Monday, the Treasury said the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued sectoral sanctions determinations covering digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. The agency also sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels across nuclear, missile, cyber and oil networks. The digital asset determination allows OFAC to sanction foreign individuals and companies that operate in or provide services supporting Iran’s digital asset sector. The Treasury said Iran increasingly…