Author: NBTC

Mastercard’s planned $1.8 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK is reinforcing a growing view on Wall Street that stablecoins are moving from a niche crypto tool to a core layer of global payments. Analysts say the deal signals a shift in how traditional financial networks see blockchain-based money movement. “Stablecoins are integral to the future of payments,” said Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev, framing the acquisition as validation that digital dollars are becoming embedded in mainstream financial infrastructure. Mastercard said Tuesday that it would acquire BVNK, a London-based firm that enables businesses to send, receive, store and convert stablecoins across…

SBI Ripple Asia and DSRV Labs Scrutinize $XRP Ledger for Japan–South Korea Payments In a significant move for cross-border payments in Asia,SBI Ripple Asia and South Korea’s DSRV Labs have signed an MOU to explore integrating the $XRP Ledger into the Japan–South Korea payment corridor, one of Asia’s busiest financial networks. Market analyst Xaif Crypto notes that this move could transform cross-border digital settlements, streamlining transactions for businesses and individuals alike. The $XRP Ledger, renowned for its speed, scalability, and low costs, is being considered as the core infrastructure for this corridor. By harnessing blockchain, the initiative aims to streamline…

Decentralized perpetuals exchange Lighter is rolling out Multi-Asset Margin today, enabling traders to post non-$USDC assets as collateral for perps trading. The feature debuts with $ETH as the first supported collateral asset, according to Lighter’s documentation. Users deposit a supported asset into their margin balance, and its value, discounted by a loan-to-value haircut, counts toward the account’s margin balance and can be used to open perpetual positions. The upgrade is limited to perpetual futures at launch, with $USDC spot trading collateralized by non-$USDC assets slated to follow. Lighter is rolling out the feature with conservative per-user and global supply caps…

Since the outbreak of the war with Iran on Feb. 28, bitcoin has started to diverge from software equities, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV), serving as a useful proxy for the sector. Bitcoin has been one of the strongest-performing assets during this period, rising more than 5% and trading back above $69,000, including a gain of more than 0.5% over the past 24 hours. IGV, in contrast, has fallen more than 2% since the conflict began. That gap suggests investors are starting to treat bitcoin and software stocks differently, at least in the near term. Until recently,…

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending a risk‑on regime across the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq even as crypto‑linked names like Coinbase and MicroStrategy once again trade more like volatile Bitcoin proxies than companies being valued on their own fundamentals. Summary Gate data cited by ChainCatcher show the Dow opening up 0.66%, the S&P 500 up 0.42% and the Nasdaq up 0.33%, extending a risk‑on regime where dips in U.S. equities remain shallow and quickly bought. Crypto‑linked stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy continue to trade less on cash flows and business execution and more as leveraged wrappers on Bitcoin,…

This quarter has witnessed a noteworthy rise in token sales in the crypto sector. In this respect, Unitas Labs ($UP), ZenChain ($ZTC), and Perle ($PRL) have emerged as the top names in token sales in the 1st quarter of 2026 in line with $ATH ROI. TOP TOKEN SALES BY $ATH ROI IN Q1 2026#UnitasLabs $UP – 38.16x#ZenChain $ZTC – 34.53x#Perle $PRL – 23.85x#Seeker $SKR – 7.42x#Sentient $SENT – 6.55x#Bitway $BTW – 4.74x#Katana $KAT – 3.18x#Infinex $INX – 2.31x pic.twitter.com/iDrQ1F2asV — PHOENIX – Crypto News & Analytics (@pnxgrp) April 2, 2026 As per the data from Phoenix Group, the other names…

Hyperliquid whales now hold $3.66B in nearly balanced perp positions, turning the on‑chain DEX into a real‑time gauge of institutional crypto sentiment. Whale traders on Hyperliquid, one of the fastest‑growing on‑chain derivatives exchanges, are currently running $3.66 billion worth of open perpetual futures positions, according to fresh figures from Coinglass. Of that total, $1.854 billion, or 50.64%, is parked in long exposure, while roughly $1.8 billion sits in shorts, leaving a near‑neutral long/short ratio of 1.03 that reflects finely balanced conviction among the platform’s largest accounts. Coinglass, which tracks whale activity on Hyperliquid through its dedicated whale tracker, notes that…

IREN could become the next major Bitcoin miner to transition into AI infrastructure following its multi-billion-dollar deal with Microsoft, underscoring a broader shift in mining economics, according to a new research report from Bernstein. The Bernstein analysts point to IREN’s rapidly expanding AI cloud division, where around 150,000 GPUs are already contracted, supporting an estimated $3.7 billion in annual revenue run rate once fully functional. A significant portion of this capacity is tied to a long-term agreement with Microsoft, which has committed to using GPU capacity for AI workloads over five years. The deal also includes substantial customer prepayments, helping…

Significant investor activity continues to attract attention in the cryptocurrency market. According to recent data, a Bitcoin whale transferred over $20 million worth of $BTC to the Binance exchange. According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, a wallet with the address “bc1q…kp4n” transferred approximately 300 $BTC to a Binance investment address today. The wallet reportedly still holds around 200 $BTC, which is worth approximately $13.75 million at current prices. According to the analysis, this wallet accumulated a total of 513 $BTC between January and March 2025. These purchases are estimated to be worth approximately $50 million during that period, with…

The $NFT market is witnessing a remarkable surge in prices across specific collections, even as overall demand and transaction volumes decline. Collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins have recorded sharp price increases in recent weeks, but industry data shows both the total number of buyers and general trading activity across the $NFT landscape have fallen considerably. Sharp price gains amid shrinking market Amid a contracting $NFT market, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins are standing out thanks to steep gains in their floor prices. In the past 30 days, the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s floor price…