‘We had conversation’ with P&O Ferries owner, says minister, after criticism ‘put £1bn investment under review’
The government had to “have a conversation” in order to secure the landmark DP World investment announcement that was reportedly derailed by comments from the transport secretary.
Appearing on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was asked how close the government came to losing the £1bn commitment in the London Gateway port.
Mr Reynolds said: “Look, we’ve had to have a conversation following some of the press reports.”
Politics latest: Minister quizzed on why Musk isn’t invited to investment summit
The £1bn pledge by the Dubai-based firm DP World – which owns P&O Ferries – was thrown into jeopardy after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh branded the shipping company a “rogue operator” and said consumers should boycott it.
In March 2022, P&O Ferries caused huge controversy by sacking 800 British seafarers and replacing them with cheaper, largely foreign workers, a move it said was required to prevent the company from collapsing.
Sky News revealed on Friday that the £1bn investment announcement was under review – before it was revealed yesterday that it would go ahead as planned.
DP World is now set to go ahead with a £1bn commitment in the London Gateway port. Pic: PA
Asked if the announcement – set to be the landmark pledge of the coming week’s investment summit – was almost pulled, Mr Reynolds would only say that it is now “going ahead”.
The minister was also questioned about why Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk was not going to be present at the government’s investment summit.
Elon Musk recently spoke at a Donald Trump rally. Pic: AP
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‘Why didn’t you invite Elon Musk?’
Pushed repeatedly about the reason for the world’s richest man’s non-attendance, Mr Reynolds said he would not comment on a “specific person”, but said the gathering was about “who can bring the kind of investments that will make the biggest difference” – before adding that “not everyone can come”.
Asked about the decision on the London Gateway port on Saturday, a DP World spokesperson told Sky News: “Following constructive and positive discussions with the government, we have been given the clarity we need. We look forward to participating in Monday’s International Investment Summit.”
The investment summit was announced in August, although it’s timing has been questioned due to it taking place before the budget on 30 October.
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While in opposition, Labour pledged to hold the event within the first 100 days of government – forcing their hand on the sequence of events after that deadline fell on Saturday.
When the summit was confirmed, the government claimed “up to 300 industry leaders” would be involved to “catalyse investment in the UK”.
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Reports over the summer suggested that Musk was not invited due to his controversial social media posts.
During the riots in the UK in the wake of the Southport stabbings, Musk regularly criticised Sir Keir Starmer on the billionaire’s social media platform X.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is considering a strategic reshuffling to strengthen its presence in the US market, a move that could see Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s majority stake in the company reduced.
Zhao’s controlling stake in Binance has been a “major hurdle” to the company expanding to strategically critical US states, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. Although no concrete plans have been announced, the conversation surrounding any potential action remains reportedly “fluid.”
The company is also considering partnerships with US-based companies, including asset manager BlackRock and decentralized finance (DeFi) platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which is linked to US President Donald Trump, to strengthen its footprint in the country.
Rumors of Binance’s return to the US began to circulate in October after Trump pardoned Zhao, fueled by speculation from crypto industry executives and comments that Zhao made on social media.
“Will do everything we can to help make America the capital of crypto and advance Web3 worldwide,” Zhao said in October after the pardon.
In June 2019, Binance announced that it would stop serving US customers, and a separate company, called Binance.US and operated by BAM Trading Services, was formed to provide regulatory-compliant services to US users.
In 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Binance Holdings Ltd. operated both Binance.com and BAM Trading Services.
Binance.US does not feature crypto derivatives or access to the global Binance exchange’s liquidity and operates as a completely separate crypto exchange.
Cointelegraph reached out to Binance and Binance.US but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The US is considered a key market for crypto exchanges and is ranked as the number two for global crypto adoption, according to Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Expanding to the US would open up US liquidity to the world’s largest crypto exchange.
Related: Binance names co-founder Yi He co-CEO alongside Richard Teng
Several US lawmakers voice opposition to the CZ pardon and the crypto industry
Trump’s pardon of Zhao in October drew backlash from several Democratic Party lawmakers in the US, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
Waters said the pardon was a form of pay-to-play and accused Trump of doing political favors for the crypto industry that “helped line his pockets.”
Warren, who is one of the most vocal critics of the crypto industry, also criticized the pardon, characterizing it as “corruption.”
The comments reflect pockets of resistance among some Democratic lawmakers to the crypto industry’s continued expansion in the US and could signal potential opposition to Binance returning to the US.
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KuCoin announced an exclusive multiyear deal with Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium from 2026 to 2028, making the exchange the music festival’s exclusive crypto and payments partner.
The move comes just weeks after KuCoin secured a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) service provider license in the European Union.
KuCoin’s MiCA play goes mass‑market
KuCoin EU Exchange recently obtained a crypto asset service provider license in Austria under the EU’s MiCA regime, giving it a fully regulated foothold in the bloc as Brussels’ new rulebook for exchanges, custody and stablecoins comes into force.
The Tomorrowland deal signals how KuCoin plans to use that status, not just to run a compliant trading venue, but to plug crypto rails directly into mainstream culture.
KuCoin said the Tomorrowland deal will cover Tomorrowland Winter 2026 in Alpe d’Huez, France, and Tomorrowland Belgium 2026 in Boom, Belgium, with the same arrangement continuing through 2028.
Related: Burning Man-inspired festival in Bali goes full Web3: Here’s how
From sponsorship to payment rails
KuCoin insists this is not just a logo play. A spokesperson at KuCoin told Cointelegraph that as an exclusive payments partner, the exchange is working with Tomorrowland to weave crypto into the festival’s existing payments stack so that “financial tools” sit behind the scenes of ticketing, merch and food and drink.
The stated goal is to keep the rails “intuitive and invisible,” rather than forcing festivalgoers through clunky wallets or unfamiliar flows, with KuCoin positioning itself as facilitating the secure and efficient movement of value while fans focus on the music.
The company declined to spell out exactly which assets and rails will be supported on‑site, or whether every purchase will run natively onchain, but said that KuCoin’s “Trust First. Trade Next.” mantra runs through its messaging.
The spokesperson stressed advanced security, multi‑layer protection and adherence to EU standards as the foundation for taking crypto beyond the trading screen and into live events.
Related: What is Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)?
Learning from FTX’s Tomorrowland flop
Tomorrowland’s organizers have been here before. In 2022, the festival announced a Web3 partnership with FTX Europe that promised NFTs and “the future of music festivals” before collapsing along with the exchange itself months later.
That experience makes the choice of a MiCA‑licensed partner, and the emphasis on user protection, more than cosmetic; it is a second attempt at bridging culture and crypto (this time with regulatory scaffolding and clearer guardrails).
Rather than setting public hard targets for user numbers or payment volumes by 2028, KuCoin is pitching success as “seamless integration” of crypto into the festival experience:
“We aim to demonstrate that digital assets can be a core component of global digital finance, moving from a niche technology to a mainstream utility. “
Related: Spain’s regulator sets out MiCA transition rules for crypto platforms
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