Author: NBTC

AMRO Economists Argue American AI Dominance Might Cement Stablecoin Popularity Two economists from the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) suggest that the winner in the artificial intelligence (AI) race will not be the nation with the most powerful model, but the nation that manages to establish the currency that these models – and the infrastructure around them- will be based upon. Chengxu Fu and Xiaguo Huang recently proposed that a reinforced economic loop with energy for AI datacenters, AI infrastructure, and the cost of AI use itself priced in U.S. dollars could lead to increased dominance of the U.S. dollar…

Crypto trader Ansem has questioned whether token buybacks can create lasting value on their own, pointing to the wide valuation gap between Hyperliquid’s $HYPE and Pump.fun’s $PUMP. In a July 17 X post, he argued that both businesses generate large revenues and regularly repurchase their tokens, yet the market values them very differently. According to Ansem’s figures, Hyperliquid generates about $800 million in annualized revenue and carries a fully diluted valuation near $65 billion. Pump.fun, by comparison, generates roughly $440 million in annualized revenue while $PUMP trades at an FDV of about $1.4 billion. He said the contrast challenges the…

For those who haven’t followed the BIP-110 fight, it is essentially a proposed change to Bitcoin’s rules that would restrict how much non-financial data, such as images or files, users can embed in the blockchain. Supporters argue the restriction would curb what they call “spam” that consumes block space and steer the protocol back toward its original job of moving money. So far, support remains scarce, with less than 50 blocks left before mandatory signaling begins at block 961632, in less than eight hours from now at 9 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Signaling sits at just 2.6% at press time.…

As is known, the US Federal Reserve (FED) announced its eagerly awaited July decision and, as expected, kept the policy interest rate unchanged. However, some FED members opposed the decision to keep it unchanged. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack was one of these members. Speaking to Reuters, Beth Hammack explained why she advocates for interest rate increases. Hammack stated that inflation was likely to remain high and not spontaneously fall to the 2 percent target, and therefore he voted in favor of raising interest rates at the July meeting. Hammack pointed out that prolonged high inflation and delays in tackling…

$XRP settles transactions in three to five seconds, while Bitcoin usually takes about ten minutes to confirm one. The gap comes down to one design choice: $XRP does not use mining. Its ledger relies on trusted validator nodes that agree on transactions through voting, skipping the energy-heavy computation Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work system requires. How Does Bitcoin’s Proof-Of-Work System Slow Things Down? Bitcoin, launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, uses Proof-of-Work (PoW). Miners compete to solve a cryptographic puzzle, and whoever solves it first adds the next block. The puzzle is intentionally hard, and that difficulty protects the network from…

Paul Sztorc, the developer behind the Drivechain proposal and BIP 300, announced the change in an Aug. 7 update. ECX is a new blockchain that copies Bitcoin’s full transaction history at a set block height, crediting nearly every Bitcoin holder (minus some of Satoshi’s coins) with an equal amount of ECX. Bitcoin’s own network is not altered by the process. Sztorc Breaks the Launch Into Three Steps Under the plan, an “alpha” version of ECX activates Aug. 23 at block 963648. A “beta” version follows Sept. 20 at block 967,680. The permanent, full release is set for Oct. 31 at…

TD Cowen has maintained its $260 price target and buy rating on Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), according to a recent report. The firm highlighted that the company’s primary focus is on restoring its preferred stock (STRC) to par value, a move that could signal confidence in its capital structure. Strategic Focus on Preferred Stock The report, cited by The Block, indicates that Strategy is prioritizing the recovery of its STRC preferred shares. This focus comes despite the company posting a significant net loss of $8.22 billion in the second quarter. The preferred stock, which trades on Nasdaq, has been under pressure,…

Brain (BRAIN), a new memecoin developed on the Base blockchain, experienced a remarkable surge after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong changed his social media profile picture. Investors interpreted Armstrong’s move as indirect support for the project, causing the token’s price to rise sharply in a short time, with its market capitalization briefly exceeding $30 million. According to market data, BRAIN’s total market capitalization later declined slightly, stabilizing at approximately $20.14 million. Despite this, the token achieved one of the most remarkable performances of the day, gaining over 3,800% in value in the last 24 hours. The main reason for the rise…

The Michigan State Retirement Fund has increased its stake in Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) by 141%, bringing its total holdings to 14,000 shares valued at approximately $1.34 million. The disclosure, reported by Binance News and sourced from BitcoinTreasuries.NET, underscores a growing trend among public pension funds to allocate capital to companies with significant bitcoin treasury operations. Context and Significance This move by Michigan’s pension fund reflects a broader institutional shift toward indirect bitcoin exposure. Instead of directly purchasing the cryptocurrency, some funds are opting for shares in companies like Strategy, which holds substantial bitcoin reserves on its balance sheet. Strategy, under…

Cardano developer Input Output is handing control of core blockchain infrastructure to outside teams, reducing the network’s dependence on the company that built it, Input Output announced Friday. Input Output said the handover is the next phase of Cardano’s decentralization. It covers Cardano’s Haskell node, Plutus smart-contract platform, Daedalus wallet, Hydra scaling technology and developer relations. Specialist companies include Se7en Labs, a development agency specializing in Solana blockchain infrastructure, and Teragone, a specialist software development and cryptographic research team that leads the development of Mithril, a stake-based signature protocol for the Cardano blockchain. Both will take responsibility for some of…