Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £500m expansion of government action to tackle unemployment and support job seekers following the end of the furlough scheme.
In a speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday, Mr Sunak will outline fresh funding for schemes designed to increase the chances of employment for those looking for work.
The chancellor will hail the success of his “Plan for Jobs” during the COVID pandemic, including the now-ended furlough scheme that supported the wages of 11.6 million workers.
And Mr Sunak will also use his address to Tory members to set out his vision for a “future economy shaped by the forces of science, technology and imagination”.
“With enhanced infrastructure and improved skills we are going to make this country not just a scientific superpower, not just the best place in the world to do business, I believe we’re going to make the United Kingdom the most exciting place on the planet,” he will say.
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Ahead of his speech, Mr Sunak said he was ready to “double down” on his promise to “do whatever it takes” in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
“The job is not done yet and I want to make sure our economy is fit for the future and that means providing the support and skills people need to get into work and get on in life,” he added.
And the overall UK unemployment rate – from May to July – was estimated to have fallen back again to 4.6% from 4.7% a month earlier, having topped 5% earlier in the COVID crisis.
However, there have been fears that the official ending of the furlough scheme last week could see unemployment rise once more.
Within the chancellor’s new £500m package of support is an extension of the Kickstart scheme – which provides funding to create new jobs for 16 to 24-year-olds at risk of long-term unemployment – until the end of March.
Mr Sunak is also extending a Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) scheme – for those who have been unemployed for more than three months – by another year; and he is extending a Youth Offer of guaranteed support for all young people on Universal Credit until the end of 2025.
In addition, the chancellor is extending the £3,000 incentive for firms to take on apprentices until the end of January; he will expand support from work coaches for those on Universal Credit; and he will prioritise those who have left furlough and are looking for work on Universal Credit through the Job Finding Support service until the end of December
The package will also include a new offer for those aged over 50, with better access to information and guidance on planning for later life for those in work, and more intensive, tailored support for those who have lost their jobs.
Matthew Fell, chief policy director at the Confederation of British Industry, welcomed the chancellor’s plans for “pivoting from furlough to economic recovery”.
But he warned the success of Mr Sunak’s new package would be “measured by its ability to get people back into work”.
Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, claimed the action would “do nothing to compensate for the chancellor’s tax rises, cost of living crisis and cuts to Universal Credit which are set to hammer millions of working families”.
“The government’s struggling ‘Plan for Jobs’ has failed to hit its original targets; it is not creating the number of jobs needed and has failed to address the supply chain crisis Britain is experiencing,” he said.
And, ahead of Mr Sunak’s conference speech, SNP shadow chancellor Alison Thewliss claimed the UK was “facing a Tory-made cost of living crisis”.
“Rather than pandering to the Tory faithful, Rishi Sunak must take urgent steps to boost household incomes and reverse rising levels of poverty in the UK,” she said.
“He must ditch the callous cuts to the Universal Credit uplift and use the upcoming Budget to introduce a meaningful package of support to secure a fair and equal recovery from the pandemic.”
Prior to the chancellor’s speech on Monday, Brexit minister Lord Frost will kick off proceedings on the main conference stage in Manchester with a speech in which he will hail how the “long bad dream of our EU membership is over”.
The Tory peer will say a “British Renaissance has begun” as he highlights the government’s work in reviewing all EU law that was retained by the UK after Brexit.
Sir Keir Starmer will host a virtual meeting of world leaders to discuss peacekeeping in Ukraine, and he will use the call to say that now is the time for “concrete commitments”, Downing Street has said.
Around 25 leaders are expected to join the call on Saturday morning, in which they will discuss in more detail the peacekeeping mission the prime minister has called the ‘coalition of the willing’.
Sir Keir will ask allies to continue to ramp up military support to Ukraine.
He will also say countries need to increase economic pressure on Russia in the short term, and be prepared to support an eventual peace deal over the long term, should an agreement be reached.
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Attendees will also receive an update on the discussions of defence ministers and military chiefs in Paris this week, and they will all set out details of their own efforts to unlock further military support for Ukraine.
Downing Street has confirmed that some European countries, the EU Commission, NATO, Canada, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand are expected to join the virtual meeting.
More on Russia
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1:27
Is a ceasefire in Ukraine still viable?
Starmer: The world needs to see action
In a statement ahead of the call, the prime minister said: “We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal.
“The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.
“If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious and enduring peace, if they don’t, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war.”
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3:47
Peace ‘must be secure’, PM tells Sky News
He went on to accuse the Russian president of “trying to delay” by “saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place”.
“The world needs to see action, not a study or empty words and pointless conditions,” he continued.
“My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now. Until then, we will keep working around the clock to deliver peace.”
Sir Keir has said Britain could send peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire deal, but has called on Washington to offer a security ‘backstop’ to those forces.
Russia casts doubt on potential ceasefire
The meeting comes after Ukraine backed the US’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
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2:14
Putin lists ceasefire conditions
Moscow has reportedly also presented a “list of demands” to the US to end the war, which would include international recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces and an agreement that foreign troops not be deployed in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Mr Putin’s remarks were “very predictable” and “very manipulative”, adding that the Russian president was preparing to reject the ceasefire proposal he agreed with the US.
The agency responsible for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales announced that a National Crime Agency (NCA) officer was due to be charged with the alleged theft of Bitcoin worth roughly $75,000 in 2017.
In a March 14 notice, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had authorized the Merseyside Police to charge NCA officer Paul Chowles with 15 offenses related to the alleged Bitcoin (BTC) theft “during an investigation into online organized crime.” Authorities said Chowles could face one count of theft, 11 charges for concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property and three counts for acquiring, using or possessing criminal property.
The 50 Bitcoin, worth roughly $75,000 before the December 2017 bull run, was valued at more than $4.2 million at the time of publication at a BTC price of $84,541. The NCA officer is expected to appear at the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on April 25.
In April 2024, amendments to the UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act authorized NCA officers and local police to seize crypto from suspected criminals without arresting them. The Crown Prosecution Service did not mention how Chowles allegedly stole the Bitcoin or whether the funds were connected to illicit activities.
Crypto policies across the pond
The NCA said in December 2024 that it had seized roughly $26 million in cash and crypto and arrested 84 people as part of a global campaign to fight money laundering and organized crime. Some of the crypto addresses targeted by UK authorities at the time “showed regular exposure to Garantex.” The founder of the Russian crypto exchange was arrested in India in March and is expected to be extradited to the US to face criminal charges.
The UK government is expected to move forward on creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in 2025 following the Labour government’s election victory. The country remains a significant market for crypto users, with Coinbase securing approval to operate from the financial regulatory body in February.
In a significant regulatory development for the crypto industry, the United States House of Representatives voted to nullify a bill that threatened the privacy-preserving properties of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
In the wider crypto space, one of the Solana network’s most significant governance proposals was rejected; it sought to implement a mechanism to reduce Solana’s inflation rate by about 80%.
US House follows Senate in passing resolution to kill IRS DeFi broker rule
The US House of Representatives voted to nullify a rule requiring decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report to the Internal Revenue Service.
On March 11, the House of Representatives voted 292 for and 132 against a motion to repeal the so-called IRS DeFi broker rule that aimed to expand existing IRS reporting requirements to crypto.
All 132 votes to keep the rule were Democrats. However, 76 Democrats joined with the Republicans to repeal it.
This followed the Senate’s March 4 vote on the motion, which saw it pass 70 to 27.
The rule would have forced DeFi platforms, such as decentralized exchanges, to disclose gross proceeds from crypto sales, including information regarding taxpayers involved in the transactions.
After the vote, Republican Representative Mike Carey, who submitted the repeal motion, said, “The DeFi broker rule invades the privacy of tens of millions of Americans, hinders the development of an important new industry in the United States and would overwhelm the IRS.”
Congressman Mike Carey speaking after the vote. Source: Mike Carey
Solana proposal to cut inflation rate by up to 80% fails
A proposal to dramatically change Solana’s inflation system was rejected by stakeholders but is being hailed as a victory for the network’s governance process.
“Even though our proposal was technically defeated by the vote, this was a major victory for the Solana ecosystem and its governance process,” commented Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain on March 14.
Around 74% of the staked supply voted on proposal SIMD-228 across 910 validators, but just 43.6% voted in favor of it, with 27.4% voting against it and 3.3% abstaining, according to Dune Analytics. It needed 66.67% approval from participating votes to pass and only received 61.4%.
Jain added that this was the biggest crypto governance vote ever, by the number of participants and the participating market cap, of any ecosystem, chain or network.
“This was a meaningful scaling stress test — a social, rather than technical, stress test — and the network passed despite a wide stratification of diverging opinions and interests.”
Bitcoin $70,000 retracement part of “macro correction” in bull market — Analysts
Bitcoin’s potential retracement to $70,000 may be an organic part of the current bull market, despite crypto investor fears of an early arrival of a bear market cycle.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 14% during the past week to close at around $80,708 after investors were disappointed with the lack of direct federal Bitcoin investments in President Donald Trump’s March 7 executive order. It outlined a plan to create a Bitcoin reserve using cryptocurrency forfeited in government criminal cases.
Despite the drop in investor sentiment, cryptocurrencies and global markets remain in a “macro correction” as part of the bull market, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at the Nansen crypto intelligence platform.
BTC/USD, 1-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph
Most cryptocurrencies have broken key support levels, making it hard to estimate the next key price levels, the analyst told Cointelegraph, adding:
“This is a macro correction (US tech will be down by 3% in the future, as discussed), so we have to monitor BTC. Next level will be $71,000 – $72,000, top of the pre-election trading range.”
The analyst added: “We are still in a correction within a bull market: Stocks and crypto have realized and are pricing; a period of tariff uncertainty and fiscal cuts, no Fed put. Recession fears are popping up.”
Calls for stricter rules on political memecoins after $4 billion Libra collapse
Industry voices warned that politically endorsed cryptocurrencies must adopt stronger investor protections and liquidity safeguards to prevent another significant market collapse.
Investor sentiment remains shaken after the Libra (LIBRA) token, which was endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, suffered a $4 billion market cap wipeout due to insider cash-outs.
To avoid a similar meltdown, tokens with presidential endorsements will need more robust safety and economic mechanisms, such as liquidity locking or making the tokens in the liquidity pool non-sellable for a predetermined period, DWF Labs wrote in a report shared with Cointelegraph.
The report stated that tokens from high-profile leaders also need launch restrictions to limit participation from crypto-sniping bots and large holders or whales.
“Limiting bot and whale activity is essential in limiting the impact of individuals acting on insider information to corner a large percentage of the token supply,” according to Andrei Grachev, managing partner at DWF Labs.
Hyperliquid ups margin requirements after $4 million liquidation loss
Hyperliquid, a blockchain network specializing in trading, increased margin requirements for traders after its liquidity pool lost millions of dollars during a massive Ether (ETH) liquidation, the network said.
On March 12, a trader intentionally liquidated a roughly $200 million Ether long position, causing Hyperliquid’s liquidity pool, HLP, to lose $4 million, unwinding the trade.
Starting March 15, Hyperliquid will require traders to maintain a collateral margin of at least 20% on certain open positions to “reduce the systemic impact of large positions with hypothetical market impact upon closing,” Hyperliquid said in a March 13 X post.
The incident highlights the growing pains confronting Hyperliquid, which has emerged as Web3’s most popular platform for leveraged perpetual trading.
Hyperliquid has adjusted margin requirements for traders. Source: Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid said the $4 million loss was not from an exploit but rather a predictable consequence of the mechanics of its trading platform under extreme conditions.
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.
Of the top 100, the Hedera (HBAR) token fell over 24%, marking the biggest weekly decrease, followed by JasmyCoin (JASMY) down over 21% over the past week.
Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.