Author: NBTC

Crypto remains a marginal payment option among euro area businesses even as other forms of digital payments gain ground, according to a new European Central Bank (ECB) report. Just 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets, the ECB said in its survey on companies’ cash use, published Thursday. Cash remains the most widely accepted payment method, with 92% of companies with physical points of sale accepting it. The ECB surveyed 8,205 businesses across the 21 euro area countries, covering retail, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and arts, entertainment and recreation. Market research firm Ipsos conducted the telephone…

Polkadot’s treasury lets any $DOT holder propose a funding request, put it to an on-chain vote, and get paid directly from a shared pool of network revenue, without needing approval from a company or foundation. This system, called OpenGov, replaced a smaller council-based model in June 2023 and now governs how the network funds everything from core development to security audits and marketing. What Funds Polkadot’s Treasury? Polkadot began rolling out a new funding structure in phases starting March 12, 2026. Under Phase 1, the network stopped burning $DOT system-wide: treasury burns halted, and $DOT from validator slashes now routes…

Bridging the Deposit Gap Ireland will exclude high-risk financial products, including crypto assets and derivatives, from its new state-backed savings and investment scheme, officials said. According to a local report, the retail investment initiative, unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Simon Harris, is designed to encourage Irish households to shift billions of dollars out of low-interest cash deposits and into traditional capital markets. The initiative aims to address a long-standing pattern among Irish savers. Irish households hold an estimated $197 billion in bank deposits, with cash accounting for roughly 38% of household financial assets — well above…

Nikita Bier said Tuesday that X will add buy and sell buttons for crypto inside posts, calling it a follow-on to Cashtags, the price-chart feature he built. He made a similar promise in January, and Cashtags shipped in April without in-app trade execution. Bier stepped down as X’s head of product on Aug. 5 and now holds the title in an advisory capacity only. Nikita Bier said on Tuesday that X is close to adding buy and sell buttons for crypto directly inside posts. It is a promise X has now made, in some form, at least three times since…

After peaking around $25 billion a day during the 2025 crypto bull market, Bitcoin ($BTC) spot volume has crashed to the lowest level since 2024. The Bitcoin spot volume, which measures the total spot volume in United States dollars, has plunged to around $4.5 billion a day, according to data from Checkonchain analyzed by Finbold on July 30 $BTC spot volume. Source: Checkonchain The Bitcoin spot volume has tumbled below $5 billion a day for the first time since its rally in the first half of 2024, which was catalyzed by the approval of several U.S. spot $BTC ETFs (exchange-traded…

The moves followed CoinDesk’s report late Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was set to further delay its anticipated “innovation exemption,” which is expected to make it easier for companies to offer trading in tokenized securities. Concerns from the White House and Wall Street over the proposal’s legal footing and potential market impact have held up the plan. Adding to the uncertainty, the SEC canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday where commissioners planned to consider whether to propose new rules creating a tailored offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. The impact wasn’t limited to stocks.…

Polymarket has strengthened its trade surveillance and investigation systems ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, as the prediction market operator faces scrutiny over insider trading and American access to its international platform. Reuters reported on Aug. 31 that Polymarket’s new global head of investigations and intelligence, Shana Bautista, said the company has systems capable of identifying unusual trading activity as election-related markets attract closer attention. “I’m confident that I’m able to get the resources and the support I need,” Bautista told Reuters in her first interview since joining Polymarket in June. “I can tell you that we have the systems…

Agentic onchain payments have shown signs of a rebound over the past few weeks, with last week registering their busiest week year to date. According to the latest data from Token Terminal, there were 8.7 million x402 stablecoin transfers in the week starting August 17, which was more than double the 4.1 million recorded the week prior. For the most part of the year, weekly counts were near 2 million and bottomed below 1 million in March. The uptick only started in June and has held since. However, despite this recent climb, the agentic payments sector is still well short…

Investor Lawrence Lepard says the current crypto bear market is creating one of the strongest long-term buying opportunities in years. While fear around Bitcoin and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) continues to dominate the market, he argues the selloff looks similar to previous cycle bottoms, when investors had already capitulated before prices recovered sharply. Why Analyst Is Buying “Strategy” Lepard revealed that he recently increased his position in Strategy, calling the recent selloff an overreaction. According to him: Strategy remains a leveraged play on Bitcoin, making it more volatile than holding BTC directly. The company’s balance sheet is much stronger than critics…

South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), has taken a new stake in Circle, the issuer of the $USDC stablecoin, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing, dated August 12, reveals that KIC held 65,443 shares of Circle during the second quarter of the year, valued at approximately $4.1 million. This marks the fund’s first disclosed investment in the stablecoin issuer. Strategic shift in crypto portfolio KIC’s investment in Circle represents a notable expansion of its digital asset portfolio. Previously, the sovereign fund had focused on established crypto-related equities, including…