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The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe.

John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years.

The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue.

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He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come online to replace the gaps.

“We face increasing global threats,” Mr Healey said in a written statement that was released at the same time as he addressed MPs.

“War in Europe, growing Russian aggression, conflict in the Middle East and technology changing the nature of warfare. As a result, defence needs increased resilience and readiness for the future.”

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At the same time, though, he said the defence budget faced “serious financial pressures”.

Defence Secretary John Healey speaking in parliament on Wednesday
Image:
Defence Secretary John Healey speaking in parliament on Wednesday

He repeated a pledge that the government would set out a course to lift the defence budget to 2.5% of national income – but yet again without giving a date.

The defence secretary then spelt out what “difficult decisions” meant in reality.

“To ensure that Britain is kept secure at home and strong abroad in a changing world, defence needs to make changes too. Difficult decisions are required,” he said.

The weapons systems on the chopping block are:

• The Royal Navy’s two amphibious assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. They will be taken out of service at the end of the year – around a decade early in a blow to the ability of the Royal Marines to launch land assaults from the sea.
• A fleet of 17 Royal Air Force Puma helicopters, as well as 14 of the military’s oldest Chinook helicopters
• A fleet of 47 Watchkeeper drones – each worth about £5m – barely six years since they entered into service
• HMS Northumberland, a Type 23 frigate, which is in need of costly repairs and has already operated well beyond an 18-year out-of-service date
• Two large Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler – vessels which carry fuel and supplies to enable the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers to operate around the world.

HMS Albion, a British Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, arrives at Harumi Pier in Tokyo, Japan August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Image:
HMS Albion is due for the chopping block. File pic: Reuters

HMS Bulwark.
Pic: PA
Image:
HMS Bulwark. Pic: PA

The announcement, while uncomfortable, is designed to be the least damaging way to reduce costs while retaining capability.

It comes ahead of a plan by the government to publish a sweeping new review of defence in the spring, which is being drawn up by an external team and is expected to recommend extensive changes across the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

The Ministry of Defence says that the equipment that is being axed – the term used is “accelerated retirement” – was selected because it is outdated and military chiefs need to focus finite money and personnel instead on the weapons systems most suited to modern warfare.

However, Russia’s war in Ukraine has demonstrated that old, outdated weapons are better than no weapons at all.

The Russian armed forces have relied heavily on old tanks, artillery guns and helicopters to fight after the weapons they used in the first weeks and months of the war were destroyed.

It takes years to build warships and helicopters.

Sir Keir Starmer will face uncomfortable challenges at the sight of amphibious assault vessels and Chinook transport helicopters being sold off or scrapped regardless of how old they are.

Yet it costs money to keep equipment in storage just in case it is needed.

Limited funds allocated to defence mean that military chiefs appear to have decided that scrapping weapons early is the least worst option.

The decision to scrap the British Army’s Mark 1 version of the Watchkeeper drone at a time when drones are such a dominant asset on the battlefield may also be tricky to defend.

A Watchkeeper drone on display in France in 2012.
File pic: AP
Image:
A Watchkeeper drone on display in France in 2012. File pic: AP

However, the programme has been beset by delays, cost overruns and flaws.

The first Watchkeeper drones only started operating around 2018 – some eight years late.

They also struggle to operate in poor weather conditions – limiting their utility.

The rapid pace of evolving technology in drone warfare – where the development cycle is a mere six to eight weeks – means that the technology inside Watchkeeper, which was conceived of more than 14 years ago, may well be easily defeated in a fight.

It is understood that scrapping the aircraft means that the army will be able to focus money on developing new innovative drone capabilities.

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DeFi security and compliance must be improved to attract institutions

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DeFi security and compliance must be improved to attract institutions

DeFi security and compliance must be improved to attract institutions

Opinion by: Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch

Institutional players have been closely watching decentralized finance’s growth. Creating secure and compliant DeFi platforms is the only solution to build trust and attract more institutions.

Clear waters attract big ships

Over the past four years, institutional DeFi adoption has gone from 10% of hedge funds to 47%, and is projected to rise to 65% in 2025. Goldman Sachs is reaching their arms to DeFi for bond issuance and yield farming. 

Early adopters are already positioning themselves in onchain finance, including Visa, which has processed over $1 billion in crypto transactions since 2021 and is now testing cross-border payments. In the next two years, institutional adoption will speed up. A compliant regulatory framework that maintains DeFi’s core benefits is necessary for institutional adoption to engage confidently. 

DeFi’s institutional trilemma

It is no secret that many DeFi security exploits happen every year. The recent Bybit hack reported a $1.4 billion loss. The breach occurred through a transfer process that was vulnerable to attack. Attacks like these raise concerns about multisignature wallets and blind signing. This happens when users approve transactions without full details, rendering blind signing a significant risk. This case calls for stronger security measures and improvements in user experience.

The threats of theft due to vulnerabilities in smart contracts or mistakes by validators make institutional investors hesitate when depositing large amounts of money into institutional staking pools. Institutions are also at risk of noncompliance due to a lack of clear regulatory frameworks, creating hesitation to enter the space. 

The user interface in DeFi is often designed for users with technical expertise. Institutional investors require user-friendly experiences that make DeFi staking possible without relying on third-party intermediaries.

Build it right, and they will come

Institutional interest in bringing traditional assets onchain is enormous, with the tokenized asset market estimated to reach $16 trillion by 2030. To confidently participate in DeFi, institutions need verifiable counterparties that are compliant with regulatory requirements. The entry of traditional institutional players into DeFi has led some privacy advocates to point out that it can counter the essence of decentralization, which forms the bedrock of the ecosystem.

Recent: Securitize to bring BUIDL tokenized fund to DeFi with RedStone price feeds

Institutions must be able to trust DeFi platforms to maintain compliance standards while providing a safe and seamless user interface. A balanced approach is key. DeFi’s permissionless nature can be achieved while maintaining compliance through identity profiles, allowing secure transactions. Similarly, transaction screening tools facilitate real-time monitoring and risk assessment. 

Blockchain analytics tools help institutions to maintain compliance with Anti-Money Laundering regulations and prevent interaction with blacklisted wallets. Integrating these tools can help detect and prevent illicit activity, making DeFi safer for institutional engagement.

Intent-based architecture can improve security

The relationship between intent-based architecture and security is evident; the very design is built to reduce risks, creating a more reliable user experience. This protects the user against MEV exploits, a common issue of automated bots scanning for large profitable trades that can be exploited. Intent-based architecture also helps implement compliance frameworks. For instance, restricting order submissions to clean wallets and allowing resolvers to settle only the acceptable orders.

It’s well understood that in traditional DeFi transactions, users rely often on intermediaries like liquidity providers to execute trades or manage funds. This leads to counterparty risk, unauthorized execution and settlement failure. The intent-based architecture supports a trustless settlement that ensures users commit only when all conditions are met, reducing risk and removing blind trust from the picture.

DeFi platforms must simplify interactions and UX for institutional investors. This system bridges the gap between. Through executing offchain while ensuring security, the intent-based architecture makes DeFi safer and more efficient. However, one of the challenges to this includes integrating offchain order matching while maintaining onchain transparency.

Late adopters of DeFi will struggle to keep up

For the early adopters of DeFi, there is a competitive advantage in liquidity access and yield advantages, whereas late adopters will face more regulatory scrutiny and entry barriers. By 2026, the institutional players that have failed to adopt DeFi may struggle to keep up. This is seen in the examples of early adopters like JPMorgan and Citi’s early tokenization projects. TradFi leaders like them are already gearing up for onchain finance.

The way forward

Regulatory bodies, supervisory agencies and policy leaders must provide clear, standardized guidelines to facilitate broader institutional participation. Uniform protocols underpinning wider institutional involvement are underway. DeFi platforms must be prepared beforehand to provide all the necessary pillars of compliance and security to institutional players who want to embrace mainstream adoption. Executing this shall require combined efforts from regulators, developers and institutions.

Opinion by: Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch.

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.

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Kalshi accepts Bitcoin deposits in bid to woo crypto-native users

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Kalshi accepts Bitcoin deposits in bid to woo crypto-native users

Kalshi accepts Bitcoin deposits in bid to woo crypto-native users

Prediction marketplace Kalshi has started taking Bitcoin (BTC) deposits in a bid to onboard more crypto-native users.

The company that lets users bet on events ranging from election outcomes to Rotten Tomatoes film ratings has seen a strong uptake among crypto traders, Kalshi told Cointelegraph on April 9. For instance, event contracts for betting on Bitcoin’s hour-by-hour price changes have seen $143 million in trading volume to date, a spokesperson said.

Kalshi is a derivatives exchange regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As of April 9, it listed some 50 crypto-related event contracts, including markets for betting on coins’ 2025 highs and lows, as well as on headlines such as US President Donald Trump’s proposed National Bitcoin Reserve. 

Kalshi accepts Bitcoin deposits in bid to woo crypto-native users

Kalshi has doubled down on crypto event contract markets. Source: Kalshi

The platform started accepting crypto payments in October when it enabled stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) deposits. 

Kalshi relies on ZeroHash — a crypto payments infrastructure provider — for off-ramping BTC and USDC and converting the deposits to US dollars. The exchange accepts BTC deposits only from the Bitcoin network.

 

Kalshi accepts Bitcoin deposits in bid to woo crypto-native users

Most Kalshi traders no longer expect core tokens to earn positive returns this year. Source: Kalshi

Related: Kalshi traders place the odds of US recession in 2025 at over 61%

More accurate than polls

Launched in 2021, Kalshi rose to prominence ahead of the US’s November elections

It became a top venue for trading on 2024 political events after winning a lawsuit against the CFTC, which tried to block Kalshi from listing contracts tied to elections. 

The regulator argued that political prediction markets threaten the integrity of elections, but industry analysts say they often capture public sentiment more accurately than polls

For instance, prediction markets, including Kalshi, accurately predicted Trump’s presidential election win even as polls indicated a tossup.

“Event contract markets are a valuable public good for which there is no evidence of significant manipulation or widespread use for any nefarious purposes that the Commission alleges,” Harry Crane, a statistics professor at Rutgers University, said in an August comment letter filed with the CFTC.

As of April 9, Kalshi traders peg the odds of the US entering a recession at 68%, according to its website.

In March, Kalshi partnered with Robinhood to bring prediction markets to the popular online brokerage platform. Robinhood’s stock rose some 8% on the news

Kalshi competes with Polymarket, a Web3-based prediction platform. Polymarket processed more than $3 billion in trading volumes tied to the US presidential election despite being off-limits for US traders.

Magazine: Bitcoin heading to $70K soon? Crypto baller funds SpaceX flight: Hodler’s Digest, March 30 – April 5

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No crypto project has registered with the SEC and ‘lived to tell the tale’ — House committee hearing

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No crypto project has registered with the SEC and ‘lived to tell the tale’ — House committee hearing

No crypto project has registered with the SEC and ‘lived to tell the tale’ — House committee hearing

United States securities laws are not flexible enough to account for digital assets, as evidenced by the parade of crypto-native companies that have tried and failed to get into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) good graces, Rodrigo Seira, special counsel to Cooley LLP, told a House Committee hearing on April 9.

The hearing, titled American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets Aligning the U.S. Securities Laws for the Digital Age, featured Seira, WilmerHale partner Tiffany J. Smith, Polygon chief legal officer Jake Werrett and Alexandra Thorn, a senior director at the Center for American Progress.

“It is clear that the current securities regulatory framework is not a viable option to regulate crypto. It fails to achieve its stated policy goals,” Seira said in his opening remarks. “[T]he idea that crypto projects can come in and register with the SEC is demonstrably false.”

No crypto project has registered with the SEC and ‘lived to tell the tale’ — House committee hearing

Cooley LLP special counsel Rodrigo Seira addresses the committee on April 9. Source: House Committee on Financial Services

Seira acknowledged that crypto promoters who raise capital for a new enterprise should be subject to federal securities laws. 

“In practice, however, virtually no crypto projects have successfully registered their tokens under federal securities laws and lived to tell the tale,” he said, adding: 

Projects that tried to comply with [the] SEC’s current regulatory requirements expended significant resources and effort only to fail or survive in a state of regulatory uncertainty. Moreover, registration is not a simple one-time process. Registering a token in the same manner as a stock triggers an obligation to operate as a publicly reporting company […].”

Related: Crypto has a regulatory capture problem in Washington — or does it?

Righting the ship

In introducing the witnesses, Representative Bryan Steil, who heads the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence, acknowledged regulatory roadblocks, which he said were put in place by the previous administration. 

No crypto project has registered with the SEC and ‘lived to tell the tale’ — House committee hearing

Congressman Bryan Steil addresses the hearing on April 9. Source: House Committee on Financial Services

Under President Donald Trump, lawmakers are attempting to right the ship by passing sensible legislation, said Steil.

One of the first steps occurred last week when the House Financial Services Committee advanced the STABLE Act, which is designed to regulate payment stablecoins tied to the US dollar and other fiat currencies. 

No crypto project has registered with the SEC and ‘lived to tell the tale’ — House committee hearing

Source: Financial Services GOP

A month earlier, the Senate Banking Committee advanced the GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoin issuers by establishing reserve requirements and requiring full compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.

The next step is “advancing the second half of this agenda: comprehensive digital asset market structure legislation,” said Steil.

Representative Ro Khanna told a digital asset conference last month that a market structure bill will cross the finish line this year.

The purpose of such legislation is to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets, including their legal categories and the enforcement jurisdiction of agencies such as the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

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