Author: NBTC

Kaiko’s recent tweet highlights a pivotal moment for cryptocurrency exchanges, revealing that both Crypto.com and Kraken are now valued at $20 billion. This valuation reflects a significant shift towards recognizing exchanges as integral parts of the financial infrastructure, moving beyond mere spot trading activities. For more details, see Kaiko’s insights here. The Key Development The cryptocurrency market is currently navigating mixed signals, with varying momentum across major assets. However, the recent valuations of Crypto.com and Kraken at $20 billion signal growing institutional interest in the crypto exchange sector. Investors are increasingly viewing these platforms as crucial components of financial infrastructure,…

Ripple’s UBRI Drives Breakthroughs in AI, Tokenization, and Post-Quantum Security Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) has expanded to more than 60 leading universities worldwide, highlighting the increasingly important role academia is playing in advancing blockchain innovation. The milestone was revealed in Ripple’s 2025–2026 Advancing Blockchain Research with Real-World Impact report, which notes that while blockchain technology is evolving at a rapid pace, many of its most transformative breakthroughs are emerging from university-led research. Since launching in 2018, UBRI has grown into a global research network that connects academic discovery with real-world blockchain applications. Through funding, technical support, educational resources,…

In recent weeks, Standard Chartered, which has been focusing on the DeFi space beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, has been examining Uniswap, Morpho, and Aave. At this point, British banking giant Standard Chartered, which previously expected a 40x increase in value for Uniswap, a 50x increase for Aave, and a 33x increase for Morpho, has now announced its target for Bitcoin. Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, who attended the Digital Asset Investment Analysis Forum 2026 in Yeouido, South Korea, announced his year-end target for Bitcoin. Kendrick stated that inflows into US spot ETFs and from institutional…

Asset management giant Grayscale is the latest crypto firm to delay its plans to go public due to market conditions, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The Stamford-based investment firm has paused its IPO preparations, and is unlikely to restart the process until the fourth quarter at the earliest, the person said, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private. DCG subsidiary Grayscale, one of the world’s largest crypto asset managers and the firm behind the Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC), filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO in November last year. “Due to the SEC-mandated…

More than two billion people worldwide currently lack access to safe water at home. Water.org, the nonprofit co-founded by actor Matt Damon and engineer Gary White, has launched the “Get Blue” campaign, which is meant to address this humanitarian crisis. According to a Tuesday announcement, Ripple, the San Francisco-based enterprise blockchain behemoth, has partnered with this non-profit alongside such giants as Amazon, Gap, and Ripple. Offsetting corporate footprints According to the data provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, direct water consumption by U.S. data centers will rise to 73 billion gallons by 2028. This enormous growth is, of course,…

The language that decides crypto’s biggest bill finally exists: a ban on federal officials issuing digital assets, enforced only by the Justice Department, with penalties of $250,000 a day, and a sunset clause dated to the next president’s inauguration. Here is what the text actually does, what it carefully does not, and the vote math it has to survive this week. For a year, the decisive section of the most important crypto legislation in American history did not exist. The CLARITY Act’s market-structure machinery, its asset taxonomy, its DeFi shield, its agency handoffs, was drafted, merged, and printed, while the…

RedotPay Rolls Out $XRP Card That Turns Holdings Into Global Spending Power RedotPay is expanding the real-world utility of the $XRP Ledger (XRPL) with the launch of a payment card that combines $XRP-backed credit, Ripple’s $RLUSD stablecoin, and Visa’s global payment network. As highlighted by crypto blockchain researcher BankXRP, the initiative allows users to spend without selling their $XRP, further bridging digital assets with everyday commerce. More notably, RedotPay is a fintech company that serves more than 8 million users across 100+ countries and processes roughly $12 billion in annualized payment volume. With the new card, users can pledge $XRP…

Jito has confirmed that Solana’s BAM node coverage is expanding, now live in Seattle. This development is significant as it allows more of Solana’s transaction flow to route through Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), enhancing security for users and applications alike. With this move, Solana is positioning itself to better protect its network participants. Breaking It Down The expansion of BAM node coverage in Seattle marks a strategic development for Solana, as it enhances the platform’s capability to secure transactions. By routing transaction flows through TEEs, Solana can provide default protection for its users and applications, which is crucial in today’s…

Axios reported that U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a draft 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and begin talks around Iran’s nuclear program, though President Donald Trump has yet to approve the agreement. The report followed overnight U.S. airstrikes on an Iranian military site near the Strait of Hormuz, the critical energy shipping route that has dominated macro traders’ attention over the past months. Though traders at this point have lost count of the number of imminent Middle East peace deals, they nevertheless bid stocks and bonds higher and oil lower on the Axios report. In the red…

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson believes Ripple may need Midnight, Cardano’s privacy-focused sidechain, to unlock the next phase of $XRP ecosystem growth. Speaking in a recent conversation with Wendy O, Hoskinson argued that while Ripple has built one of crypto’s strongest payment networks, there is still a major opportunity to expand $XRP’s role in DeFi, tokenization, and institutional finance. According to Hoskinson, crypto’s next phase will focus on privacy, interoperability, and real-world assets. Midnight targets each of these trends. “We think Ripple is going to be one of our biggest areas of growth,” Hoskinson said. The $XRP Opportunity The most interesting…