Holiday debt hangover poised to be ‘particularly nasty’ this year, analyst says

Published

1 year ago

December 20, 2023

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While retail sales are strong, typically an indication of a healthy consumer, an industry economist is deeply concerned about how consumers will pay it all off when the bill comes.

Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman’s concerns were heightened, in particular, after noticing an uptick in usage for buy now, pay later (BNPL) services as consumers battle growing debt obligations.

These payment services were up 40% year over year on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to data from Adobe.

This uptick suggests that “a lot of people are close to the edge,” and it’s one reason why Rossman believes the “holiday debt hangover could be particularly nasty this year.”

“I think the substantial surge in BNPL usage (on top of already explosive growth in recent years) shows how many people are looking for quick, affordable financing,” he said.

These services like Klarna or Afterpay are advertised as interest-free loans that can be paid in weekly or monthly installments.

And while it can help ease cash-flow issues, financial experts say there are hidden risks when shoppers rely on the services too much.

“While one could use these plans to their advantage, I do worry theyre too easy sometimes, and there isnt enough visibility on credit reports, and sometimes people can trick themselves into spending too much,” Rossman said.

For example, four $50 payments don’t sound like a lot, but Rossman said it “conceals the fact that its really $200, and you may already have multiple similar plans running with different providers.”

Consumers can hit late fees if they don’t have the funds to cover the installments, pushing them deeper into a hole.

Credit cards can be a great tool when they are paid in full and consumers maximize rewards. However, only about 53% of cardholders do so.

For the 47% who carry a balance month to month, credit card debt can be a big problem.

What’s worse, balances and rates “have never been higher,” he said.

Several years of high inflation and high interest rates have “eroded a lot of households savings and buying power.” If families are stacking more debt on top of that during the holiday season, it “poses trouble at least at the household level,” he noted.

Rossman noted that any excess savings from the pandemic are pretty much gone at this point, “so I worry the rising debt trend could catch up to people, especially if the job market takes a turn for the worse.”

Politics

75% of VASPs registered in the EU will not be able to comply with MiCA

Published

59 mins ago

March 13, 2025

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75% of VASPs registered in the EU will not be able to comply with MiCA

Opinion by: Slava Demchuk, co-founder and CEO of AMLBot

All virtual asset service providers (VASPs) registered in the EU before 2025 must comply with Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) requirements this year. Not all will be able to do so.

The MiCA regulation is, in essence, a good legal framework for the crypto industry, but it also has some disadvantages, especially for crypto startups and small businesses.

Looking at the case of Estonia and its implementation of crypto licenses in 2017, it is possible to predict that around 75% of VASPs will need to cease their operations in the EU.

What happened in Estonia with crypto licenses?

In 2017, Estonia was one of the first EU member states to introduce a crypto licensing process. Getting a crypto license (a VASP registration) was easy and fast. No physical presence, share capital requirement, or proof of having sound Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) systems in place were required. The result? By 2019, Estonia had issued around 2,000 crypto licenses.

Starting in 2019, however, Estonia adopted several amendments to the law, incorporating requirements similar to MiCA. As a consequence, the majority of licensed crypto companies were not able to comply with new requirements and lost their licenses. Today, Estonia has only around 45 licensed crypto businesses.

Current situation in the EU with VASP registration

Similar situations will occur in countries with light VASP registration requirements, such as Poland and the Czech Republic. There are around 1,600 VASPs registered in Poland, owing to the easy and fast process of registering in the country before the MiCA implementation. With minimal requirements, one can open a company and receive a VASP registration in these countries within a few weeks.

These licensing processes completely changed in 2025 when MiCA entered fully into force. All the registered VASPs must comply with new requirements, which will be the same regardless of their country of incorporation; otherwise, they will be required to cease their business.

Recent: 10 stablecoin issuers approved under EU’s MiCA — Tether is left out

Most of them will not be able to comply, based on previous experience, such as when 1,900 companies lost their VASP registrations in Estonia. Those license losses occurred as a result of several key factors:

Their size: Many registered VASPs were one-to-three-person companies that provided essential exchange in p2p platforms or over-the-counter. They will not have enough resources to comply with strict MiCA requirements.
The cost: Acquiring a MiCA license is expensive. It was previously possible to receive VASP registration in Poland or the Czech Republic for 2,000-4,000 euros. The price for a MiCA license is much more than that, typically around 30,000-80,000 euros, depending on the business model and country of incorporation.
The requirements: Companies that apply for a MiCA license must prove they have many complex processes in place, including but not limited to AML/KYC, data protection and cyber resilience. Therefore, the company must hire many specialists and build many processes. Based on the number of VASPs registered in Poland, those 1,600 VASPs will need to find 1,600 AML/compliance officers (one per VASP) by July 2025 — when all VASPs in Poland shall comply with MiCA — that have relevant knowledge, expertise and pass the fit-and-proper test. This will be nearly impossible.

In addition, MiCA has high share capital requirements ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 euros, depending on the services a company provides. Many currently registered VASPs are startups or small companies whose revenue will not be able to cover all the costs needed to build the processes mentioned above and satisfy the share capital requirements.

Where does that leave the small businesses and the startups? They will not be equipped to comply with MiCA.

Opinion by: Slava Demchuk, co-founder and CEO of AMLBot.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Environment

BETA Technologies completes demonstration eCTOL flights across 6 airports in Utah [Video]

Published

1 hour ago

March 13, 2025

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BETA Technologies completes demonstration eCTOL flights across 6 airports in Utah [Video]

Mere weeks after signing an agreement with Utah Aerospace and Defense to bring Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to the state, eVTOL and eCTOL developer BETA Technologies demonstrated the capabilities of its aircraft through a series of successful flights over the course of three days.

BETA Technologies is a fully integrated electric aircraft and systems developer based in Vermont. It’s been three years since the young company debuted its first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the ALIA–250.

That BETA vessel has since been renamed the ALIA VTOL and completed a piloted test flight transitioning mid-air about a year ago. We also got a closer look at its five-passenger interior this past October.

In addition to the ALIA VTOL, BETA has also been developing an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane called the ALIA CTOL. It has flown tens of thousands of test miles en route to evaluation flights for FAA certification. As we’ve reported in the past, that aircraft is targeting full approval for commercial operations by 2025.

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BETA has completed its first bonafide production build of the eCTOL in South Burlington. Following a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the production-ready aircraft took to the skies for a test flight last November, piloted by its founder and CEO.

Most recently, BETA signed an agreement with 47G (Utah Aerospace and Defense) to establish AAM operations in the state, to work alongside the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) to identify locations to install multimodal charging infrastructure and identify priority routes for eVTOL and eCTOL rides.

To garner excitement for its technology, BETA recently completed three days’ worth of ALIA eCTOL demonstration flights around Utah to showcase the quiet, efficient mobility potential of its aircraft.

BETA’s eCTOL technology shines above Utah

BETA Technologies shared details of its successful eCTOL flight demonstrations, including the aircraft traveling to six different Utah airports covering over 350 miles. Those visits included Salt Lake City Airport, Provo Airport, Heber City Airport, Logan-Cache Valley Airport, Ogden Airport, and Vernal Airport.

BETA shared that its all-electric flight technology is not only quieter and more sustainable but also cuts the travel distance to those airports by two-thirds compared to relative drive times. 47G and UDOT hosted the flight demonstrations alongside BETA Technologies as the former works to bring commercial operations to the state. Carlos Braceras, Executive Director of UDOT, spoke about BETA’s eCTOL technology and what it means for the future of mobility in Utah:

We move people—and the things they need—using more than just roads. These demonstrations are more than just a technology showcase — they represent a fundamental shift in how we think about mobility. Utah’s population grows and we face increasing demands on our ground transportation system, we know that advanced air mobility offers innovative new solutions to address our evolving mobility needs.

The BETA ALIA can transport up to five passengers at a time or up to 1,250 pounds of cargo. Looking ahead, BETA and its new partners in Utah will align to establish a statewide electric charging network for both aircraft and electric vehicles, create pilot training programs, and develop a model to forecast flight operations.

The agreement with BETA is part of a broader effort from 47G to integrate advanced air mobility into Utah’s transportation sector by the 2034 Winter Olympic Games, which will be held in Salt Lake City. Chris Metts, 47G Project Alta Executive Director, also spoke:

By integrating cutting-edge electric aircraft into our mobility ecosystem, we are ensuring the highest standards of safety, advancing medical response capabilities and driving technological innovation that will create lasting benefits for communities across the state. Utah is attracting investment, accelerating the development of critical infrastructure and enabling the deployment of aircraft that make our transportation system safe and truly multimodal.

The Utah Department of Transportation posted video footage of the BETA eCTOL flight demonstrations; you can view it below:

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Environment

Binance token rises following report that Trump family has discussed stake in the crypto exchange

Published

2 hours ago

March 13, 2025

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Binance token rises following report that Trump family has discussed stake in the crypto exchange

The Binance logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Binance’s BNB token bucked the wider crypto downturn on Thursday, jumping 4% following a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump family has held talks to secure a financial interest in the U.S. arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Such a deal would notably link the Trumps to a firm that pleaded guilty to breaking anti-money laundering laws in 2023.

According to the Journal, Binance first approached Trump allies last year, pitching a deal that could help the embattled exchange regain its footing in the U.S. At the same time, its founder, Changpeng Zhao — better known as CZ — has been angling for a presidential pardon after serving four months in prison for violating anti-money laundering laws.

A spokesperson for Binance.US said the company declined to comment.