Theresa May pokes fun at successors but praises Rishi Sunak – and issues warning over populism in politics

Published

11 months ago

May 17, 2024

admin

Former prime minister Theresa May has poked fun at her successors in Number 10, while issuing a warning to them to avoid delving into populist politics.

Giving a speech to reporters at an event in parliament, she spoke about her recent book tour, joking it was interesting to see how rival political titles would be categorised in bookshops.

“Liz Truss’s 10 Years To Save The West?” she quipped. “Well, given Liz’s reputation and record, maybe it should be 10 days to save Britain.

“That one probably goes under sci-fi and fantasy.”

Politics live: Sunak hit with blunt question on Loose Women

And how about Boris Johnson’s upcoming memoir? “That will undoubtedly be shelved under ‘current affairs’,” she joked.

‘Answers in politics are not easy’

But making a more serious point, Mrs May – who is standing down as an MP at the next election – said all those politicians who followed her needed to be aware of the “potential threat from within Western democracies” – namely populism.

“We have seen the rise of populist politicians around the world and populism seeks to divide,” she said.

“It seeks to divide our societies and it seeks to provide easy answers – and actually the answers in politics and government are not easy.

“And people will feel even more let down if they grasp for that easy answer which is being provided by that populist politician.”

Analysis on populism:
Nationalists are gaining power – could it happen here?

‘Need for politicians to instil sense of service’

Asked if any of her successors had “fallen into that trap” of becoming populists already, Mrs May joked: “Now let’s see, how many successors have I had?”

But she added: “There is an element of politics today… that comes into the populism issue, which is a sort of expectation of celebrity.

“And I think certainly you could say some of my successors have fallen more into that category of celebrity than I did in my time in Number 10.

“But I think there is a real need for us as politicians to instil that sense of service and show it through our service to our constituencies, fundamentally.”

‘Bringing stability is critical’

The current prime minister avoided a roasting from his predecessor, however, with Mrs May saying Rishi Sunak had brought “stability” to the role – and could even win the next election.

“Let’s face it,” she said. “[Voters] saw quite a bit of change under us and things happening, and they wanted some stability, and I think Rishi has brought that stability.

“He is having success in relation to the economy, as we have seen from GDP and inflation and hopefully interest rates in the summer, and bringing that stability is critical – being willing to say ‘actually I am here to get the job done’.”

Politics

70% chance of crypto bottoming before June amid trade fears: Nansen

Published

1 hour ago

April 2, 2025

admin

70% chance of crypto bottoming before June amid trade fears: Nansen

The cryptocurrency market may see a local bottom in the next two months amid global uncertainty over ongoing import tariff negotiations, which have been limiting investor sentiment in both traditional and digital markets.

US President Donald Trump is set to detail on April 2 his reciprocal import tariffs, measures aimed at reducing the country’s estimated trade deficit of $1.2 trillion in goods and boosting domestic manufacturing.

While global markets took a hit from the first tariff announcement, there is a 70% chance for cryptocurrency valuations to find their bottom by June, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at the Nansen crypto intelligence platform.

The research analyst told Cointelegraph:

“Nansen data estimates a 70% probability that crypto prices will bottom between now and June, with BTC and ETH currently trading 15% and 22% below their year-to-date highs, respectively. Given this data, upcoming discussions will serve as crucial market indicators.”

“Once the toughest part of the negotiation is behind us, we see a cleaner opportunity for crypto and risk assets to finally mark a bottom,” she added.

Both traditional and cryptocurrency markets continue to lack upside momentum ahead of the US tariff announcement.

“For the main US equity indexes and for BTC, the respective price charts failed to resurface above their 200-day moving averages significantly, while lower-lookback price moving averages are falling,” wrote Nansen in an April 1 research report.

“Fragile market psychology highlights the necessity of “good news,” mainly on US growth and on tariffs,” added the report.

Bitcoin needs to hold $82k amid crypto market “wait and see” mode: analyst

Investors are currently in “wait and see mode” and are hesitant to take on large positions as markets lack direction.

However, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index remained above the “extreme fear” mark for a third consecutive session, which suggests a marginal improvement despite continued caution, Stella Zlatareva, dispatch editor at digital asset investment platform Nexo, told Cointelegraph.

“This reinforces the view that markets are in a wait-and-see mode,” Zlatareva told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Bitcoin continues to consolidate within the $82,000 – $85,000 range after experiencing a period of directional recalibration in Q1. The asset is navigating this zone with key support at $82,000 and upside potential toward $86,500 and $90,000 if broader sentiment stabilizes.”

Other traders are awaiting a Bitcoin breakout above $84,500 as a signal for more upside momentum amid the ongoing tariff uncertainty.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

Politics

VanEck eyes BNB ETF with latest Delaware trust filing

Published

2 hours ago

April 2, 2025

admin

VanEck eyes BNB ETF with latest Delaware trust filing

Investment company VanEck filed to register a Delaware trust company for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking Binance-linked BNB cryptocurrency.

VanEck, on March 31, registered a new entity under the name VanEck BNB ETF in Delaware, according to public records on the official Delaware state website.

In filing 10148820, the entity is registered as a trust corporate service company in Delaware, hinting at a potential spot BNB (BNB) ETF in the United States.

According to social media reports, VanEck is the first company to propose a potential BNB ETF in the US, potentially signaling an expansion of BNB Chain — formerly known as Binance Chain — across traditional financial products in the market.

BNB ETP product already exists in Europe

While VanEck is the first to move toward a potential BNB ETF product in the US, similar products have been trading in Europe for several years.

Prominent European crypto asset manager 21Shares launched a BNB exchange-traded product (ETP) in Switzerland in October 2019, according to TradingView.

TradingView data suggests that 21Shares BNB ETP has only $15 million in assets under management (AUM), a 0.3% share of Switzerland’s total crypto AUM of $5.3 billion as of March 28, as reported by CoinShares.

The product reportedly saw a significant drop in fund flows in the past year, totaling 537 million euros, or $580 million.

What is BNB?

Formerly known as Binance Coin, BNB is the native digital asset of the BNB Chain, which is now described as a “community-driven and decentralized blockchain ecosystem for Web3 decentralized applications.”

BNB was launched by Binance in July 2017 as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain as a tool to incentivize users to trade on their platform and pay for fees at a discounted rate.

Delaware, United States, Binance, Binance Coin, ETF — *Five top crypto assets by market capitalization. Source: CoinGecko*

At the time of writing, BNB is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency asset by market capitalization, worth about $88 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Altcoin filings surge with Trump administration

VanEck’s BNB ETF trust filing is just one of many new US altcoin ETF filings and registrations that have followed Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January.

In early March, VanEck registered a similar Delaware trust for an ETF tracking the price of Avalanche (AVAX), also becoming one of the first companies to register such a trust.

Many ETF issuers have filed for an XRP (XRP) ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with at least nine companies submitting standalone XRP ETF filings as of March 12.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Politics

SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

Published

7 hours ago

April 2, 2025

admin

SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and crypto exchange Gemini have asked to pause the regulator’s suit over the exchange’s Gemini Earn program, saying they want to discuss a potential resolution.

In an April 1 letter to New York federal court judge Edgardo Ramos, lawyers representing the SEC and Genesis requested a 60-day hold on the case and that all deadlines be pulled “to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.”

“In this case, the parties submit that it is in each of their interests to stay this matter while they consider a potential resolution and agree that no party or non-party would be prejudiced by a stay,” the letter states.

The lawyers added that a stay was in the court’s interest as “a resolution would conserve judicial resources” and proposed that a joint status report be submitted within 60 days after the entry of the stay.

The SEC sued Gemini and crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital in January 2023, alleging they offered unregistered securities through the Gemini Earn program.

In March 2024, Genesis agreed to pay $21 million to settle charges related to the lending program, but the enforcement case against Gemini remains outstanding.

The letter did not specify what a possible resolution would entail, but the SEC has dropped several lawsuits it launched against crypto companies under the Biden administration, including against Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken.

In February, Gemini said the SEC closed a separate investigation into the firm as the regulator winds back its crypto enforcement under President Donald Trump.

“The SEC cost us tens of millions of dollars in legal bills alone and hundreds of millions in lost productivity, creativity, and innovation. Of course, Gemini is not alone,” Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said at the time.

OpenSea, Crypto.com and Uniswap, among others, have also recently reported that the SEC had closed similar probes into their companies that were investigating alleged breaches of securities laws.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29