It is expected his resignation will be formally accepted on Wednesday morning, before the new first minister is confirmed.
The 69-year-old has been in the role since December 2018 and is expected to remain a member of the Senedd until the next election in 2026.
He took part in his final First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) on Tuesday afternoon and received a standing ovation from members across the political divide.
“The advice to any performer is always to leave them wanting more,” he said.
“After this afternoon, everybody will be looking forward to hear quite a bit less from me, I’m sure of that.”
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Image: Drakeford during his final FMQs as first minister. Pic: Welsh government
Mr Drakeford said when he was elected it was “certainly impossible to predict the state of perma-crisis which we were about to enter”.
“I’m looking forward to continue to play my part from the back benches, to supporting the new first minister and the Welsh government,” he added.
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Overcome with emotion, he thanked those with whom he worked, including civil servants and members of the Senedd.
“The last 12 months have been the hardest and the saddest of my life,” he said.
“People will not see beyond the chamber those small acts of kindness that happen every day, from people in every part of this chamber that help someone to get through those very, very difficult times.”
Image: Mark Drakeford prepares for FMQs. Pic: Welsh government
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies thanked Mr Drakeford for his leadership, which he said “benefited this country in coming through some of its darkest hours”.
“Thank you on behalf of the Welsh Conservatives for what you’ve done, both for me personally, but also for the country of Wales and for this institution and parliament,” he said.
“At a time of political challenges and the deepest personal adversity, Mark [Drakeford] brought thoughtfulness and good grace to public life at a time when such qualities were needed the most,” Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth added.
But Plaid Cymru, which is part of a co-operation agreement with Labour, has confirmed it will nominate its own leader for the position of first minister.
A party spokesperson told Sky News: “Plaid Cymru will nominate Rhun ap Iorwerth in the vote to elect a new first minister of Wales tomorrow.
“The math dictates that Vaughan Gething will secure a majority vote, but in the current political climate, questions about judgement and transparency requires alternative candidates to be considered.”
If approved as first minister by the Senedd, as expected, Mr Gething will become the first black leader of any European nation.
Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, faces a 20-year prison sentence as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking a severe penalty for his fraudulent activity.
The US DOJ on April 28 filed the government’s sentencing memorandum against Mashinsky, recommending a 20-year prison sentence due to his fraudulent actions leading to multibillion-dollar losses by Celsius customers.
The 97-page memo mentioned that Celsius users were unable to access approximately $4.7 billion in crypto assets after the platform halted withdrawals on June 12, 2022.
“The Court should sentence Alexander Mashinsky to twenty years’ imprisonment as just punishment for his years-long campaign of lies and self-dealing that left in its wake billions in losses and thousands of victimized customers,” the DOJ stated.
Mashinsky’s personal benefit was $48 million
In addition to listing massive investor losses resulting from the Celsius fraud, the DOJ mentioned that Mashinsky has personally profited from the fraudulent schemes in his role.
As part of his plea in December 2024, Mashinsky admitted that he was the leader of the criminal activity at Celsius, that his crimes resulted in losses in excess of $550 million, and that he personally benefited more than $48 million, the authority said.
An excerpt from the government’s sentencing memorandum against Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky. Source: CourtListener
The DOJ emphasized that Mashinsky’s guilty plea showed that his crimes were “not the product of negligence, naivete, or bad luck,” but rather the result of “deliberate, calculated decisions to lie, deceive, and steal in pursuit of personal fortune.”
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
The concept of a Russian ruble stablecoin received special attention at a major local crypto event, the Blockchain Forum in Moscow, with key industry executives reflecting on some of the core features a ruble-backed stablecoin might require.
Sergey Mendeleev, founder of the digital settlement exchange Exved and inactive founder of the sanctioned Garantex exchange, put forward seven key criteria for a potential “replica of Tether” in a keynote at the Blockchain Forum on April 23.
Mendeleev said a potential ruble stablecoin must have untraceable transactions and allow transfers without Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.
However, because one of the criteria also requires the stablecoin to comply with Russian regulations, he expressed skepticism that such a product could emerge soon.
The DAI model praised
Mendeleev proposed that a potential Russian “Tether replica” must be overcollateralized similarly to the Dai (DAI) stablecoin model, a decentralized algorithmic stablecoin that maintains its one-to-one peg with the US dollar using smart contracts.
“So, any person who buys it will understand that the contract is based on the assets that super-securitize it, not somewhere on some unknown accounts, but free to be checked by simple crypto methods,” he said.
Source: Cointelegraph
Another must-have feature should be excess liquidity on both centralized and decentralized exchanges, Mendeleev said, adding that users must be able to exchange the stablecoin at any time they need.
According to Mendeleev, a viable ruble-pegged stablecoin also needs to offer non-KYC transactions, so users are not required to pass their data to start using it.
“The Russian ruble stablecoin should have the opportunity where people use it without disclosing their data,” he stated.
In the meantime, users should be able to earn interest on holding the stablecoin, Mendelev continued, adding that offering this feature is available via smart contracts.
Russia opts for centralization
Mendeleev also suggested that a potential Russian version of Tether’s USDt (USDT) would need to feature untraceable and cheap transactions, while its smart contracts should not enable blocks or freezes.
The final criterion is that a potential ruble stablecoin would have to be regulated in accordance with the Russian legislation, which currently doesn’t look promising, according to Mendeleev.
Sergey Mendeleev at the Blockchain Forum in Moscow. Source: Bits.Media
“Once we put these seven points together […] then it would be a real alternative, which would help us at least compete with the solutions that are currently on the market,” he stated at the conference, adding:
“Unfortunately, from the point of view of regulation, we are currently going in the absolutely opposite direction […] We are going in the direction of absolute centralization, not in the direction of liberalization of laws, but consolidation of prohibitions.”
Possible solutions
While the regulatory side is not looking good, a potential Russian version of USDT is technically feasible, Mendeleev told Cointelegraph.
“Except for anonymous transactions, everything is easy to implement and has already been deployed by several projects, but it’s just not unified in one project yet,” he said.
The crypto advocate specifically referred to interesting opportunities by projects like the ruble-pegged A7A5 stablecoin, unblockable contracts at DAI, and others.
Regulation is necessary but not enough, Mendeleev said, adding that the most difficult part is the trust of users who must see the ruble stablecoin as a viable alternative to major alternatives like USDT.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Russia has continued to progress its central bank digital currency project, the digital ruble. According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the digital ruble is scheduled to be rolled out for commercial banks in the second half of 2025.
The morning political podcast which gives you all need for the day ahead in 20 minutes, usually with Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy.
But, for this episode, Anne is somewhere over the Atlantic travelling back from the US so Sam is joined by Politico’s Tim Ross.
Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has won the Canadian election. It’ll give Keir Starmer a centre-left ally at G7 but how will the PM position himself now in the Trump-Carney standoff?
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