Author: NBTC

$XRP withdrawals from centralized exchanges have surged as the token continues to struggle in a prolonged downtrend. Notably, $XRP has lost more than 72% from its $3.6 all-time high, but exchange data shows that more $XRP exchange transactions now involve withdrawals. $XRP Exchange Withdrawals Reach a Seven-Year High Market watcher Amr Taha called attention to this trend in a recent analysis, noting that withdrawals have reached their highest share of $XRP exchange transactions since 2019. Importantly, the increase appears across both Binance and the wider centralized exchange market. On Aug. 14, withdrawals made up 56.85% of $XRP exchange transactions on…

The Graph says onchain AI agents need identity, structured data and payments to act autonomously. Artificial intelligence and blockchain have spent years developing largely along parallel tracks. AI has become increasingly capable of reasoning, interpreting instructions and making decisions, while blockchain networks have created programmable financial systems that can operate without centralized intermediaries. The next stage is bringing those capabilities together. The result could be an internet populated not only by human users, but also by autonomous AI agents capable of discovering information, making decisions, interacting with protocols and paying for services on their own. That future requires more than…

Large cryptocurrency holders are accumulating Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH) as valuations approach levels associated with the final stage of a bear market, according to CryptoQuant. Rising whale balances during price weakness can reduce available supply and concentrate ownership among larger holders, the blockchain analytics company said in its latest Smart Money report seen by Cointelegraph. Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose to about 3.06 million $BTC from 2.87 million $BTC in December 2025, with accumulation accelerating after Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in June. Source: CryptoQuant Ethereum wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 $ETH collectively held a record…

Tether, the company behind the widely used stablecoin $USDT, announced that its gold-backed digital token XAUT has received Shariah compliance certification from Amanah Advisors, a recognized Islamic finance advisory firm. The certification confirms that XAUT aligns with Islamic finance principles, which prohibit interest (riba), excessive uncertainty (gharar), and speculation (maysir). What the Shariah Certification Means for XAUT The certification from Amanah Advisors positions XAUT as a permissible (halal) asset for Muslim investors and institutions seeking exposure to gold through digital means. Islamic finance requires underlying assets to be tangible and free from prohibited elements. XAUT tokenizes ownership of physical gold…

XRPL validator Vet (Hussein Zangana) has argued that the $XRP Ledger’s consensus mechanism is better suited for long-term sustainability than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW) model. According to Vet, Bitcoin’s mining system was highly effective at distributing $BTC in the network’s early years. However, he believes it could face economic challenges as block rewards continue to decline. In a post on X and an accompanying video presentation, Vet compared the supply dynamics of Bitcoin and $XRP. He argued that “supply distribution is only a short-term challenge, while consensus algorithms are permanent.” Bitcoin Early Success Came With Long-Term Trade-Offs Zangana explained that Bitcoin’s…

Foreign Crypto Laundering Ring Dismantled Russian authorities recently dismantled a financial laundering ring operating out of the Moscow City business district, disrupting nine foreign-coordinated cryptocurrency channels used to funnel stolen funds abroad. In a joint operation by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), law enforcement detained more than 20 employees from unregistered cryptocurrency exchange offices operating in Moscow. According to an FSB statement, the unregistered exchanges allegedly acted as a critical bridge for Ukrainian call centers targeting Russian citizens through phone and online fraud. Scammers maintained constant contact with victims — often targeting vulnerable…

Ondo Perps, the real-world asset (RWA)-backed perpetual futures exchange built by Ondo Finance, has surpassed $8 billion in cumulative trading volume, according to a statement from the project. The milestone underscores growing demand for derivative products tied to tokenized assets, a sector that has gained traction as traditional finance explores blockchain-based rails. What Ondo Perps Offers Ondo Perps is designed to provide perpetual futures trading on assets that are backed by real-world instruments, such as U.S. Treasuries and money market funds. Unlike conventional crypto perps that rely on volatile collateral, Ondo Perps uses yield-bearing RWA tokens as margin, allowing traders…

Arbitrum activated ArbOS 61 Elara on Aug. 20, adding optional protocol-level transaction screening, priority-fee support and an alternative data-availability interface for dedicated chains, while changing base-fee administration and expanding Stylus capacity on Arbitrum One. The upgrade went live after approval through Arbitrum governance. The governance proposal included compliance and priority-fee capabilities in ArbOS 61 but left them intentionally disabled on Arbitrum One and Nova. The compliance filter is therefore not a new screening system for users of Arbitrum One; it is configurable tooling for owners of dedicated Arbitrum chains. Chain Owners Control the Filter Arbitrum’s technical documentation says compliance filtering…

Bitcoin treasury firm Strive bought 20 $BTC in the final week of July 2026, but its gross Bitcoin exposure per effective common share slipped by roughly 0.03% in the period. Strive’s Aug. 3 filing records 20 $BTC bought from July 27 through July 31, at an average price of approximately $63,191, including fees and expenses. Its Bitcoin holdings climbed 0.10%, from 20,000 $BTC on July 24 to 20,020 $BTC on July 31, and effective common shares climbed about 0.13% in the same period, from 84,099,973 to 84,209,973. Effective common shares combine Strive’s Class A and Class B stock. Using the…

The $NFT market recorded $95.48 million in sales over the past seven days, rising 170% as a single $55.03 million transaction involving the hybrid $NFT project Pandora accounted for most of the increase. According to a CryptoSlam seven-day dashboard captured on Aug. 22, $NFT sales increased to $95.48 million from approximately $35.29 million during the preceding period. The number of buyer addresses climbed 49% to 172,739, while seller addresses increased 50% to 159,275. Total transactions grew by a smaller 7.5% to 962,992, showing that the sharp increase in dollar volume was not matched by an equivalent rise in the number…