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COP26 President Alok Sharma has said he wants “more out of every country” and now is the time to deliver on limiting temperature rises to below 1.5C.

Ahead of around 120 world leaders gathering at the event in Glasgow on Monday for a two-day summit, Mr Sharma urged them to do more to help the planet.

Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Mr Sharma said: “My message to them is very clear, leave the ghosts of the past behind you and let’s focus on the future and unite around this one issue that we know matters to all of us, which is protecting our precious planet.”

He said the summit of world leaders at COP26 is very important for agreeing a consensus but added there are two whole weeks of “detailed negotiations” following that two-day summit – and without a deal “the future is really quite unimaginable”.

“This is a chance for all these countries to show leadership, this is the point where they have to stand up and be counted,” he said.

“I want more out of every country.

“But I think the point is we have made progress and then we’re going to have to take stock on where there is a gap between where the commitments are and where we need to be.”

More on Cop26

He said it is important that leaders discuss how to close that gap over the next decade.

But he played down the significance of China and Russia’s leaders not turning up in Glasgow, saying they have “both announced net zero targets for the middle of the century” and that all countries need to show leadership on climate change.

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Sharma heckled during youth climate speech

However, he said the challenge at COP26 is more difficult than in Paris in 2015.

“Paris was a brilliant achievement, an historical achievement, but it was a framework agreement,” he said.

“What we have had to do since then is agree some of the detailed rules and some of the most difficult rules are still outstanding after six years. That makes it really challenging and, of course, we know that the geopolitics is more difficult than it was at the time of Paris.”

The government is hoping a detailed agreement will be made between countries around the world at the end of the fortnight of COP26.

Asked if Mr Sharma thinks it will end in a deal, he said: “That is what I’m driving towards and I think what I’ve always said is what we need to come out of Glasgow is saying with credibility that we have kept 1.5C alive.

“That 1.5C really matters.”

'Pilgrims' march through Glasgow
Image:
Protests have already started in Glasgow

He added at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels there will be countries in the world that will be under water, which is why an agreement is needed on how to tackle climate change over the next decade.

Labour’s Emily Thornberry told Trevor Phillips on Sunday the summit is “not a giant photo opportunity” for Boris Johnson and called on him to “summon up all the statesmanship he has” to get countries to agree to a deal.

This year’s summit is particularly important as it will be the first time the parties will review the most up-to-date plans for how they will limit global warming to 2C but ideally 1.5C, a goal set under the Paris Agreement at COP21.

Ambitions to achieve that may be depleted as a draft joint statement by G20 leaders contains few concrete actions to limit carbon emissions, according to Reuters journalists who have seen the statement.

Boris Johnson told Sky News’ Beth Rigby on Saturday that success in the fight to tackle global warming “is going to be very difficult” but “the whole of humanity is in the ring”.

On Friday, he said “Team World” was “5-1” down at half-time in the battle to save the planet.

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SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

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SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

PayPal says the US Securities and Exchange Commission has abandoned its investigation into the payment giant’s US-dollar stablecoin.

PayPal said in an April 29 regulatory filing that the SEC concluded its investigation into PayPal USD (PYUSD) and wouldn’t be taking any action.

The company said it received a subpoena from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement over its stablecoin in November 2023. 

“The subpoena requests the production of documents. We are cooperating with the SEC in connection with this request,” PayPal stated at the time.

In its latest filing, the firm said the SEC notified it in February that the agency “was closing this inquiry without enforcement action.”

PayPal has said its stablecoin is 100% redeemable for US dollars and “fully backed” by dollar deposits, including short-term treasuries and cash equivalents. 

However, the stablecoin has struggled to gain momentum in a crowded market dominated by rivals Tether and Circle. PYUSD has a market capitalization of just $880 million, less than 1% of Tether’s (USDT) $148.5 billion.

PayPal’s stablecoin has seen better growth this year with a 75% increase in PYUSD circulating supply since the beginning of 2025, according to CoinGecko. It remains down 14% from its peak supply of just over $1 billion in August 2024. 

SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin
PayPal USD market capitalization. Source: CoinGecko

Earnings on PYUSD, Coinbase partnership

That growth could be bolstered by a company announcement on April 23 introducing rewards for PYUSD in a new loyalty offering that will enable US users to earn 3.7% annually for holding the asset on the platform. 

Meanwhile, on April 24, PayPal announced a partnership with Coinbase to increase the adoption of PYUSD. 

“We are excited to drive new, exciting, and innovative use cases together with Coinbase and the entire cryptocurrency community, putting PYUSD at the center,”  said Alex Chriss, PayPal President and CEO.

Related: PayPal to offer 3.7% yield on stablecoin balances: Report

The payments giant also reported robust first-quarter earnings and the completion of significant share repurchase activities. 

The firm beat Wall Street estimates, earning $1.33 per share in the first quarter, topping analyst expectations of $1.16. Revenue rose 1% from a year before to $7.8 billion. 

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BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

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BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds

Asset manager BlackRock has filed to create digital ledger technology shares from one of the firm’s money market funds, which will leverage blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for investors.

The DLT shares will track BlackRock’s BLF Treasury Trust Fund (TTTXX), which may only be purchased from BlackRock Advisors and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the firm said in its April 29 Form N-1A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The money market fund holds over $150 million worth of assets, invested almost entirely in US Treasury bills and cash.

BlackRock said that the shares “are expected to be purchased and held through BNY, which intends to use blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for its customers.”

Unlike the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), DLT shares won’t be tokenized but will instead be used as a transparency tool to verify ownership.

BlackRock will continue to maintain traditional book-entry records as the official ownership ledger.

BlackRock didn’t propose a ticker or set a management fee for the DLT shares in its filing.

A minimum initial investment of $3 million worth of DLT is required for institutions seeking to purchase the digital shares.

BlackRock follows Fidelity’s March 21 filing to list an Ethereum-based OnChain share class, which seeks to track the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) — an $80 million fund consisting almost entirely of US Treasury bills.

While the OnChain share class filing is pending regulatory approval, Fidelity expects it to take effect on May 30.

Wall Street heavyweights continue to explore blockchain use cases

Asset managers have increasingly turned to blockchain to tokenize Treasury bills, bonds and private credit over the past few years.

Related: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF buys $970M in BTC as inflows surge, boost market

The treasury tokenization market is currently valued at $6.16 billion, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL at $2.55 billion, while the Franklin Templeton-issued Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (BENJI) secures over $700 million worth of real-world assets, according to rwa.xyz.

BlackRock files to create digital shares tracking one of its money market funds
Market caps of blockchain-based Treasury products. Source: rwa.xyz

Ethereum remains the chain of choice for tokenizing treasury assets, and currently houses over $4.55 billion worth, while the Stellar network and Solana round out the top three at $474.9 million and $274.5 million, respectively.

The potential of RWA tokenization has also been championed by BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, who believes the technology could revolutionize investing.

Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

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US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules

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US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules

US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control can’t restore or reimpose sanctions against the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, a US federal court has ruled.

Austin federal court judge Robert Pitman said in an April 28 judgment that OFAC’s sanctions on Tornado Cash were unlawful and that the agency was “permanently enjoined from enforcing” sanctions.

Tornado Cash users led by Joseph Van Loon had sued the Treasury, arguing that OFAC’s addition of the platform’s smart contract addresses to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list was “not in accordance with law.” 

OFAC had sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022, accusing the protocol of helping launder crypto stolen by the North Korean hacking collective, the Lazarus Group.

The agency dropped the platform from the sanctions list on March 21 and argued that the matter was “moot” after a court ruled in favor of Tornado Cash in January.

This latest amended ruling prevents OFAC from re-sanctioning Tornado Cash or putting it back on the blacklist.

Initially, the court denied a motion for partial summary judgment and granted in favour of the Treasury. However, the Fifth Circuit reversed the decision and instructed the lower court to grant partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, which led to the sanctions being revoked. 

In March, the Treasury argued there was no need for a final court judgment in the lawsuit.

US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules
An excerpt from Judge Robert Pitman’s ruling. Source: CourtListener

Crypto body petitions White House over Tornado Cash

On April 28, the DeFi Education Fund petitioned White House crypto czar David Sacks to have prosecutors drop charges against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm.

Related: Samourai Wallet, feds ask for time to mull dropping crypto mixer case

Storm was charged in August 2023 with helping launder over $1 billion in crypto through the protocol, and his trial is still set for July.

The group said that the Department of Justice was attempting to hold software developers criminally liable for how others use their code, which they argued was “not only absurd in principle, but it sets a precedent that potentially chills all crypto development in the United States.”

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