Union boss says Starmer must show nation he ‘has what it takes’ to be PM

Published

4 years ago

September 23, 2021

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Sir Keir Starmer must use the Labour conference to show the nation he “has what it takes” to be prime minister, the leader of the GMB Union has said.

Gary Smith, who took over as general secretary earlier this year, told Sky News the Labour leader was “decent” and “committed”.

But he warned the party had become “disconnected from the concerns of ordinary working class people” and must still show it can “demonstrate common purpose”.

In a warning ahead of the conference in Brighton this weekend, Mr Smith urged the party to listen to the stories of working people, adding there were still some in Labour who “look down their nose”.

“I think what he’s got to do this week is sell his vision to the country, and demonstrate that Labour can come together with a common purpose, because if we don’t have common purpose, they cannot win,” Mr Smith told Sky News.

“It is up to him to demonstrate to the nation that he has what it takes to be a prime minister and I guess and that this is going to be a massive week for him”, he added.

Sir Keir is currently in negotiations with trade unions over his plans to scrap Labour’s one member, one vote system for electing the party leader, in favour of a return to an electoral college made up of unions and affiliate organisations, MPs and party members.

Some of the more left wing trade unions, such as the TSSA and CWU, have already said they will not back the proposals, and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said the changes would “rip our party apart”.

But Mr Smith signalled he recognised the need for changes.

“The current situation, I am very clear, does not work for ordinary trade union members, and is part of the dis-location between the Labour Party and ordinary trade union members,” he said.

The GMB boss said he hoped trade unions would be able to reach a joint position on rule changes by Saturday.

However he warned “very few of our members are giving much time worrying about what’s happening in the internal machinations of the Labour Party”.

“I think what we have to grasp is that there are millions of trade unionists in this country who are totally disconnected from the democracy of Labour, people who pay a political levy, and we are going to have to sort this out,” he said.

Earlier, shadow communities secretary Steve Reed told Sky News “I’m not Mystic Meg and I can’t tell you exactly what is going to happen” when asked if he thought the rule changes would pass.

Mr Smith, who is one of the most sympathetic union leaders to the Labour leadership, says he has not yet read the 11,500 word essay Sir Keir has written setting out his vision for the future of the party.

However, he rejected one of the flagship ideas set out in the pamphlet, which calls for the UK to become mostly carbon neutral by 2030.

“I think a lot of the debate around energy and the environment has been fundamentally dishonest,” he said.

“The energy market is broken, energy is very complex, and I don’t think politicians have entirely grasped that. We have a national security issue unfolding around energy, around security supplies.

“And of course, industry is going to struggle with rising energy costs. Low paid people the length and breadth of the country will really struggle as bills go through the roof, early in the new year.”

“So I think it’s good to have an aspiration, but you have to have a plan, and you have to have a plan for jobs,” he added.

Mr Smith has said he will use the party conference in Brighton, the first he will attend as general secretary, to speak about the lives of working people.

In contrast, the newly-elected leader of the Unite union, Sharon Graham, has said she will not be attending because she wants to focus on resolving disputes on behalf of her members.

Politics

Canada ‘got it wrong’ labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec

Published

55 mins ago

May 14, 2025

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<div>Canada 'got it wrong' labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec</div>

Tanim Rasul, chief operating officer at Canadian crypto exchange NDAX, said Canada “got it wrong” categorizing stablecoins as securities in 2022, and the country needs to realize that every other regulatory regime is looking at stablecoins as payment instruments.

Rasul made the remarks during a panel on May 13 at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto, pointing to Europe’s crypto regulatory framework as a model for Canada to consider:

“I’m sure the regulators are wondering if this was the right choice to approach stablecoins as a security. […] I would just say, look at MiCA, look at the way they’re approaching stablecoins. It’s a payment instrument. It should be regulated as such.”

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) classified stablecoins as “securities and/or derivatives” in December 2022, following “recent events in the crypto market,” such as the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX just a month before.

Canada, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Stablecoin — *Canadian Web3 Regulation panel at Blockchain Futurist Conference. Source: Cointelegraph*

The agency elaborated on stablecoin rules in February and October of 2023, placing such tokens under the umbrella of “value-referenced crypto assets.”

Canada’s stance on digital assets led many top crypto companies, including Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Paxos, to scale back operations in the local market. Crypto exchange Gemini also announced exit plans in September 2024.

The regulatory setback, however, hasn’t stopped Canada’s digital asset market from flourishing. According to Grand View Research, the local crypto industry posted revenue of $224 million in 2024, higher than in previous years. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.6% until 2030, when it is forecast to reach $617.5 million in annual revenue.

Stablecoins have emerged as key crypto use case

Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to a fiat currency, have emerged as a key use case for digital assets. According to DefiLlama, the current market capitalization for all stablecoins is at $242.8 billion as of May 14, up 51.9% in the past 12 months.

Nation-states and economic blocs are increasingly working on stablecoin regulations to tackle the rising usage across the world. While the most used stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, there is demand for stablecoins pegged to other fiat currencies.

Magazine: Legal Panel: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Politics

CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Published

3 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Summer Mersinger, one of four commissioners currently serving at the US financial regulatory body Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will become the next CEO of the digital asset advocacy group the Blockchain Association (BA).

In a May 14 notice, the Blockchain Association said its current CEO, Kristin Smith, would step down for Mersinger on May 16, allowing an interim head of the group to work until the CFTC commissioner assumes the role on June 2. Though her term at the CFTC was expected to last until April 2028, the BA said Mersinger is set to leave the agency on May 30.

The departure of Mersinger, who has served in one of the CFTC’s Republican seats since 2022, opens the way for US President Donald Trump to nominate another member to the financial regulator. Rules require that no more than three commissioners belong to the same political party.

Like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC is one of the significant US financial regulators whose policies impact digital assets. Lawmakers in Congress are currently working to pass a market structure bill to clarify the roles each agency could take in overseeing and regulating crypto.

New leadership at the Blockchain Association had been expected since Smith announced her departure on April 1 to become the next president of the Solana Policy Institute. A spokesperson for the Blockchain Association had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Some of the biggest crypto firms in the US, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Chainlink Labs, are members of the Association. The organization “support[s] a future-forward, pro-innovation national policy and regulatory framework for the crypto economy,” according to its website.

Changing the leadership at a major US financial regulator

A nominee of former US President Joe Biden, Mersinger has called for standardized crypto-related policies and said the CFTC was the “ideal regulator for the cryptocurrency spot market.” Some expected she would lead the regulator following the election of Trump and the departure of then-CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, but Commissioner Caroline Pham took on the role in an acting capacity in January.

Trump chose former commissioner Brian Quintenz to chair the CFTC in February, but his nomination has not moved through the Senate for a vote in roughly three months. Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero reportedly said she plans to leave the agency once Quintenz is confirmed, potentially giving Trump the chance to nominate three new commissioners to fill the five-seat panel.

Any CFTC commissioner picked by the president needs a majority vote in the Senate to be confirmed for a five-year term or to fill in for a resigning member.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Politics

Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Published

7 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Bitcoin’s fluctuating correlation with US equities is raising questions about its role as a global safe-haven asset during periods of financial stress.

Bitcoin (BTC) exhibited a strong negative correlation with the US stock market when analyzing the short-term, seven-day trailing correlation, according to new research from blockchain data provider RedStone Oracles, shared exclusively with Cointelegraph.

However, RedStone said that the 30-day indicator signals a “variable correlation” between Bitcoin price and the S&P 500 index, with the correlation coefficient ranging from -0.2 to 0.4.

This fluctuating correlation suggests that Bitcoin “doesn’t consistently function as a true hedge for equities” due to its lack of a strong negative correlation below -0.3, which is needed for “reliable counter movement during market stress,” the report said.

The research suggests that while Bitcoin may not be a dependable hedge against stock market declines, it offers value as a portfolio diversifier.

This fluctuating dynamic signals that Bitcoin often moves independently from other assets, potentially offering additional returns while other assets are struggling. Still, Bitcoin has yet to mirror the safe-haven dynamics of gold and government bonds, RedStone suggests.

Bitcoin needs to “mature” before decoupling from stock market

While Bitcoin is poised to grow into a safe-haven asset in the future, the world’s first cryptocurrency still needs to “mature” as a global asset, according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer at RedStone.

“Bitcoin still needs to mature before decoupling from stock markets,” Kazmierczak told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Increased institutional adoption will absolutely help — we’re already seeing this effect with corporate treasury investments reducing Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility and with BlackRock repetitively praising BTC as an asset in a portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin will see growing recognition as a portfolio diversifier, with an annualized return of over 230% for the past five years, which “significantly outperformed” both stocks and traditional safe-haven assets, Kazmierczak said, adding that “even a small 1–5% Bitcoin allocation can meaningfully enhance a portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s declining volatility supports BTC’s growing maturity as a global financial asset. Bitcoin’s weekly volatility hit a 563-day low on April 30, a development that may signal more stable price action.

Bitcoin’s price volatility fell below the realized volatility of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, signaling that investors are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a long-term investment vehicle, Cointelegraph reported on May 13.