Author: NBTC

Dubai-based fractional property investment platform Stake has secured $31 million in Series B funding, bringing its total capital raised to $58 million, as it accelerates expansion across Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and increases investment in artificial intelligence and tokenization technology. The latest funding round was led by Emirates NBD PJSC, described as the Gulf’s third-largest bank by market value. Returning investors included Mubadala Investment Co., Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm Wa’ed Ventures, and Middle East Venture Partners. Additional participants were Mena Venture Capital Fund, Property Finder, STV NICE, GFH Partners, and Ellington Properties, according to co-founder Rami…

WTI oil futures are now volatile enough to become the provenance of crypto traders. The XYZ:CL contract climbed to the top spot of activity on Hyperliquid. Crypto traders have not given up on oil, now moving into the WTI oil futures. The HIP-3 contract from Trade.XYZ is now the most active, passing even gold, silver and the main XYZ stock index. The recent rush to oil recalls previous shifts to new hot meme tokens, as some of the trades were directional bets, without a deeper understanding of the market. The recent oil volatility also caused unexpected sharp liquidations, previously reserved…

Key takeaways Blockchain scalability is primarily constrained by the storage layer. LayerZero achieved 3,000,000 updates per second with its storage layer innovation. Blockchain inefficiency arises from nodes reproducing the same computation. Zero can scale up to 2,000,000 transactions per second at a very low cost. Current blockchain solutions face a trade-off between centralization and scalability. Future blockchain systems should aim for millions of nodes and transactions per second. The transition from MPT to log-based databases enhances performance significantly. Generating proofs for transactions increases node efficiency without full computation. The shift towards centralized systems by institutions undermines decentralized tech value. LayerZero’s…

TL;DR: The Scarcity Index on Binance has risen to 0.67, confirming that more $ETH is currently leaving the exchange than entering. Despite price sideways movement near $2,050, net outflows to cold wallets suggest “smart money” accumulation. Ethereum faces critical resistance at $2,150, a level it must overcome to validate the current supply scarcity thesis. While the price of the market’s second-largest cryptocurrency frustrates retail investors with sideways movement, the Ethereum Scarcity Index on Binance has issued a bullish signal sparking optimism. This indicator reached a value of 0.67, reflecting a steady reduction in available supply on the exchange. THIS GUY…

A new study suggests that token launch timing barely changes how the asset performs in the long run. The report by Haseeb Qureshi, a managing partner at crypto VC firm Dragonfly Capital, analyzed every token that had its listing announced by Binance, filtering out stablecoins, wrapped assets and other non-independent tokens. The sample covers 202 tokens in total. When the tokens were split by launch environment — 101 tokens went to market in bull markets and 33 in bear markets — the performance gap all but disappeared. Token launches per market cycle. Source: Dragonfly Capital Also, Qureshi noted, regardless of…

Hyperliquid emerged as one of the growing exchanges in February. For the previous month, centralized markets saw an outflow of activity, affecting Binance with a 16% outflow of volumes. Hyperliquid accounted for some of the trading volume in February, while centralized exchanges slowed. Overall trading activity declined by 11.5%, with the biggest outflows on the spot market. Derivative activity contracted by only 0.7% in February, as volumes and open interest were already lowered following last October’s market crash. Hyperliquid expanded its activity by 24% Hyperliquid expanded its activity by 24%, extending a trend in which activity shifted to perpetual futures…

Key takeaways OpenClaw is a major advancement in AI, shifting from language processing to agency. AI agents with system-level access pose security risks but have transformative potential. The age of agentic AI will significantly impact programming and technology. Code Rabbit CLI safeguards against errors in AI-generated code. Integrating AI into customer service is crucial for efficiency and quality. Managing large code bases requires specialized tools for complexity and orchestration. Images in prompts enhance the context for AI agents. The integration of AI into daily life represents a significant phase shift in user experience. Creative problem-solving in AI transcends traditional coding…

Key Takeaways Curation in DeFi is crucial for guiding users through the chaotic early crypto markets. Risk curators ensure market efficiency by maintaining appropriate lending and borrowing rates. Curators are evolving into infrastructure providers, leveraging best-in-class systems. Transparency issues in DeFi have led to user distrust. Lessons from past DeFi failures will shape future investment products. The composability of risk in on-chain markets can lead to significant vulnerabilities. Isolating risk in decentralized platforms is essential for user protection and retention. Curators in decentralized applications build trust similarly to traditional businesses. Ethereum and Solana are expected to remain dominant base layers…

BlackRock’s staked Ethereum exchange-traded fund has tallied $15.5 million in trading volume on its first trading day, which a market analyst described as “very, very solid” despite falling short of two similar Solana staking products that launched last year. Nasdaq data shows the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) had 592,804 shares traded on its debut on Thursday, with Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noting on X that the product turned over around $15.5 million. “Very, very solid for a day 1 ETF launch,” Seyffart said. The ETF invests and stakes Ether ($ETH), locking up the tokens on the blockchain with…

Pred, a peer-to-peer sports prediction exchange built on Coinbase’s Base network, has secured $2.5 million in funding led by Accel, with backing from Coinbase Ventures’ BEF fund and Reverie, according to a Tuesday statement. The fresh capital will support hiring, liquidity expansion, and onboarding users globally as the platform develops trading infrastructure tailored for sports markets. Pred is currently operating in private beta with an invite-only access program. The exchange enables participants to trade positions on sports outcomes directly with one another, bypassing traditional bookmakers that set odds and manage risk internally. Execution times reach 200 milliseconds with spreads below…