Author: NBTC

Russia’s legislative framework for digital assets took a significant step forward this week as the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, approved the first reading of a government-proposed amendment on cryptocurrency taxation. The bill, reported by Bits.media, aims to establish a clearer and more structured tax regime for digital currency transactions within the country. Key Provisions of the Initial Bill The proposed legislation introduces a specific method for calculating the tax base for cryptocurrency transactions. Under the current draft, the taxable amount would be determined by the difference between the sale price and the acquisition cost of the digital…

As of 18 May 2026, risk stays tilted lower, with Bitcoin price today mirroring cautious flows after last week’s rejected 80k test, while intraday sellers cap bounces. BTC/USDT — daily chart with candlesticks, EMA20/EMA50 and volume. Market logic first Bitcoin trades near 76,985 after last week’s run at 80k, slipping below near-term resistance and chopping in the lower half of its daily range. Meanwhile, risk-off positioning dominates. Total crypto market cap is down about 1.45% over 24h. The Fear & Greed Index is at 28, and dominance near 58.3% hints at capital hiding in Bitcoin while alt risk is being…

The US economy added 115,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April, more than doubling the consensus forecast of 55,000. But the number also represents a meaningful deceleration from March’s 178,000 additions. Unemployment held steady at 4.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Where the jobs actually landed Healthcare, transportation, and retail were the primary engines of April’s gains. ADP’s private sector report showed 109,000 new jobs against expectations of 99,000. Within the ADP data, education and health services led the way with 58,000 new positions. Construction added 30,000 jobs. On the flip side, trade and transportation shed 58,000 positions. The…

Space, a leveraged prediction market project operating within the Solana ecosystem, faced intense selling pressure immediately after its launch with its native token, SPC. According to the data, the token’s market capitalization rose to over $83 million shortly after its official listing, but then rapidly declined to approximately $5.9 million. Thus, SPC lost more than 90% of its value in a single day. Market observers and on-chain analysis indicate that the decline is largely due to early-stage selling by large whales. According to data, the top five wallets control approximately 70% of the total supply, while the top twenty addresses…

The European Union is preparing to impose sanctions on 11 cryptocurrency platforms accused of facilitating the circumvention of international sanctions against Russia. The move, confirmed by Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, marks a significant escalation in the bloc’s efforts to close loopholes in its financial restrictions. Expanding the Sanctions Net Kallas announced that the 11 platforms would be included in the EU’s 21st sanctions package against Russia. While she did not name the specific platforms, she stated that the bloc would also strengthen its existing ban on providing crypto-asset-related services to certain third…

The European Commission is in active talks with two of the world’s most powerful AI companies over access to their most advanced models, and the conversations are going very differently depending on which company you ask. OpenAI has committed to granting EU cybersecurity defenders access to its GPT-5.5-Cyber model, a move that Brussels has received warmly. Anthropic, meanwhile, has been in four to five meetings with Commission officials, but those discussions haven’t yet produced similar access to its Mythos system. OpenAI takes the cooperative lane That’s essentially what OpenAI has done. The company’s GPT-5.5-Cyber model is being positioned as a…

In brief The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit 4.63%—a 16-month high—up 70 basis points since the Iran War began, as odds of a 2026 rate cut collapsed to 2%. Spot Bitcoin ETF outflows reached $1 billion for the week ending May 15, the largest weekly exit since late January, per SoSoValue. Analysts say $77,000 is the critical threshold—a break below with elevated open interest could put a $70,000 retest in play. Bitcoin fell to a three-week low over the weekend as a surge in U.S. Treasury yields sent ETF outflows to their worst level since late January and drove more…

Lumentum Holdings, the photonics and optical technology company trading under the ticker LITE, is being added to the Nasdaq-100 Index effective May 18, 2026. It replaces CoStar Group (CSGP) in the index that tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange. The inclusion caps one of the more remarkable growth stories in the semiconductor-adjacent space. LITE shares have surged between 145% and 150% year-to-date in 2026, building on a 339% gain in 2025. The company’s market capitalization now sits at roughly $70 billion, dwarfing CoStar Group’s $13 billion valuation and making the swap look almost inevitable. From…

The New York State Department of Financial Services [NYDFS] has proposed a sweeping new stablecoin regulation framework. It is designed to align the state’s oversight regime with federal standards under the $GENIUS Act, signaling that New York intends to remain at the center of U.S. stablecoin supervision. The proposal by Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow builds on New York’s 2022 stablecoin guidance. It introduces additional operational, reserve, cybersecurity, and redemption requirements for issuers operating under NYDFS oversight. “The $GENIUS Act’s provisions mirror DFS’s stablecoin framework,” Asrow said in the announcement. The proposal states that the updated rules are intended to ensure…

Bitcoin price started a fresh decline below the $78,500 zone. $BTC is consolidating and might struggle to stay above the $76,500 support. Bitcoin failed to stay above $78,500 and extended losses. The price is trading below $78,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There is a bearish trend line forming with resistance at $77,700 on the hourly chart of the $BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair might extend losses if it stays below the $77,700 and $78,500 levels. Bitcoin Price Dips Further Bitcoin price failed to stay above the $78,500 support zone. $BTC remained in a bearish…