Author: NBTC

John Rose, US Representative serving Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District, is strongly critical of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) action against Robinhood. The Congressman called the SEC and its Chair, Gary Gensler “rogue regulators” in a recent post on X. According to him, the federal agency went beyond its intended role of protecting investors and maintaining fair markets. He believes that instead of stifling innovation, the SEC should prioritize investor protection. “The [SEC] exceeded its mandate to protect investors and maintain fair, orderly markets by issuing a Wells Notice to [Robinhood App], a precursor to enforcement action,” the Congressman…

Quick Take Data from Coinwarz shows the Bitcoin network is gearing up for another difficulty adjustment, scheduled for April 24 at approximately 1:57 PM UTC. The adjustment is expected to be over 2.2%, pushing the difficulty to a new all-time high of 88.30T. Ahead of the halving on April 20, there was a notable surge in hash rate, peaking at an unprecedented 650 eh/s. Subsequently, post-halving, there has been a modest decline of approximately 4% to 625 eh/s. However, the resilience of the hash rate post-halving has surpassed initial expectations. The increased hash rate can be attributed to miners plugging…

If you’re reading this ensconced in a traditional finance career, you know the deal: If money is idle, make it do more work. Are you, for instance, a broker with collateral quietly sitting in a vault? That’s boring! Do that rehypothecation thing! Use it to finance your own trades! (The Lehman Brothers–fomented global financial crisis of 2008 helps illustrate what can go wrong.) The cryptocurrency biz has invented its own version of rehypothecation, called something else, of course: restaking. It caught fire on Ethereum (ETH) with the help of EigenLayer (which is inching toward an airdrop of its EIGEN token).…

The euphoria around meme cryptocurrencies on the Solana (SOL) blockchain seems to be losing its momentum. In the last seven days, almost all of them witnessed double-digit losses. Solana (SOL) meme coins: 19 of 20 largest cryptos close week in red The last seven days brought significant losses to the segment of Solana (SOL) meme cryptocurrencies. Shiba Inu (SHIB) competitors on Solana (SOL) lost 25% on average, with Peng (PENG) and Book of Meme (BOME) being the worst sufferers. It should also be noted that Dogwifhat (WIF), a flagship cryptocurrency of the segment, demonstrated strong performance amid the collapse. It…

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is increasing its oversight of crypto users. Approximately 1.2 million accounts are being scrutinized for potential tax discrepancies. This significant action comes as interest in crypto continues to rise, prompting the ATO to examine personal data and transaction details provided by crypto exchanges. How Australia Investigates Crypto Tax Evasion In an effort to combat tax evasion, the ATO’s latest initiative aims to uncover any unreported exchanges of crypto assets for currency or other goods and services. Due to the complexity of the crypto industry, there is often a genuine lack of awareness about tax obligations.…

Though traditional financial giants have often maintained a rather hostile attitude toward Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies in general, there has been a parallel trend of them quietly investing in digital assets and, more frequently, related stocks and funds. A particularly stark example of this was the revelation that the traditionally antagonistic Vanguard has been making substantial investments in BTC mining firms. More recent developments have, however, helped many of these firms step into the broadened space of the crypto markets more openly with few events being as impactful as the approval of 9 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that came…

Ethereum’s latest upgrade may have worked a bit too well, bringing unwelcome consequences for long-term Ethereum (ETH) investors. As advertised, the Dencun hard fork slashed transaction fees by over 90% on multiple Ethereum layer-2 networks shortly after going live on March 13. the median Ethereum transaction fee today is up to four times lower than before Dencun when comparing periods of similar network activity, according to market intelligence platform CryptoQuant. With users paying less in fees, however, the Ethereum network is now burning the circulating ETH supply at its slowest rate since the Merge in September 2022. In fact, the…

In recent months, memecoins popularity surged within the crypto ecosystem. These assets had captured community attention with their origins rooted in beloved internet animal memes and shared interests among various crypto communities. However, the frenzy surrounding these assets recently veered into unsettling territory as new memecoins bearing offensive names and symbols, including racial slurs, anti-Semitic references, and Nazi imagery, emerged. Racist Memecoins Irks Crypto Community This development sparked swift and severe backlash, drawing condemnation from the cryptocurrency community. Camila Russo, a respected cryptocurrency journalist, expressed dismay at those purchasing these tokens in the present era. However, she acknowledged the freedom…

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed its final remedies-related reply brief and supporting exhibits in the Ripple lawsuit. Popular defense lawyer James Filan shared the development on X yesterday, stating that the motions are still sealed. According to Filan, the SEC’s filing will remain sealed until May 8, when a redacted version will be filed publicly. Notably, the SEC’s and Ripple’s lawyers will meet and confer today, May 7, to identify necessary redactions before the documents are unsealed. Possible Arguments in SEC’s Reply Brief Although the SEC’s reply remains sealed at press time, legal commentators expect…

The OP_CAT covenant proposal has been formally introduced as “BIP-420,” with the aim of enabling smart contracts, secure bridges, and on-chain trading on the Bitcoin network. introducing BIP-420: formal Bitcoin Improvement Proposal for OP_CAT it’s a historic day! today, after a long wait, the OP_CAT proposal formally received a BIP number. meet BIP-420! BIP-420 enables covenants on bitcoin, allowing for smart contracts, secure bridges, on-chain… pic.twitter.com/z6ItJT7LX4 — Udi | BIP-420 🐱 (@udiWertheimer) April 22, 2024 The proposal, authored by Ethan Heilman and Armin Sabouri, seeks to reintroduce the OP_CAT opcode to Bitcoin via a backward-compatible soft fork by redefining the…