A French energy giant is halting a plan to build an offshore wind farm near the New York-New Jersey coastline following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory earlier this month.
TotalEnergies SE, the Paris-based oil and gas conglomerate, said it would halt the project in what industry observers say is a sign of things to come under a second Trump administration.
Offshore wind, I have decided to put the project on pause with Trumps return, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne told a conference in London on Tuesday. His comments were reported by Bloomberg News.
Pouyanne said that the company plans to revisit the project in four years, when political winds in the US could shift once again.
I said to my team, the project in New York, well see that in four years, he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News. But the advantage is its only for four years.
Total’s subsidiary, Attentive Energy, was one of six companies that committed a total of $4.37 billion in 2022 to build offshore wind farms in New York Bight — the body of water that hugs the coastline stretching from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to the Montauk Point on Long Island’s eastern tip.
The planned project is still in the early stages as the companies recently obtained leasing rights from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management — the federal agency which operates under the auspices of the Department of the Interior.
Many of the largest offshore wind companies put a brave face on the election results, pledging to work with Trump and Congress to build power projects and ignoring the incoming presidents oft-stated hostility to them.
In campaign appearances, Trump railed against offshore wind and promised to sign an executive order to block such projects.
We are going to make sure that that ends on Day 1, Trump said in a May speech.
Im going to write it out in an executive order. Its going to end on Day 1.
They destroy everything, theyre horrible, the most expensive energy there is, Trump said. They ruin the environment, they kill the birds, they kill the whales.
There is almost 65 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity under development in the US, enough to power more than 26 million homes, and some turbines are already spinning in several states, according to the American Clean Power Association.
Currently operating projects include the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project and the South Fork Wind Farm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point.
Trump is unlikely to end those projects but might have more leverage over ones still in the planning stage, those in the debate say.
Amid the changing political landscape, we are not surprised to see a developer pause an offshore wind project thats in the preliminary stages of development, Timothy Fox, a managing director of the Washington-based research firm ClearView Energy Partners, told Bloomberg News.
We think other projects that are not in the advanced stages could stall too.
Meanwhile, the outgoing Biden administration is shelling out billions of dollars for clean energy and approving major offshore wind projects as officials race to secure major climate initiatives before President Joe Bidens term comes to an end.
Last month, the BOEM approved the nations 10th large offshore wind farm, the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, in September, reaching the halfway mark for Bidens goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
On Oct. 1, the agency gave a key approval to an offshore wind farm project in New Jersey.
Opinion by: Scott Buchanan, chief operating officer of Bitcoin Depot
A new proposal to install Bitcoin ATMs in federal buildings highlights an important question: Can crypto truly go mainstream without a stronger physical presence? For years, the industry has focused on software and decentralization, but its reluctance to invest in real-world infrastructure is starting to show. Without physical access points, crypto risks becoming an exclusive, insiders-only system, rather than the open alternative it sets out to be.
Everyone loves to talk about decentralization. There’s a good reason behind this. It defines the movement, shapes the technology, and supportsthe vision of a better financial system. While the industry focuses on code and algorithms, it lacks something basic. A decentralized system that exists only online is not genuinely decentralized.
Physical infrastructure is the missing link
Bitcoin’s physical infrastructure is the missing link. Without tools like ATMs, kiosks and access points at traditional retail locations, crypto remains out of reach for millions. Decentralization is not just about removing intermediaries. True decentralization requires expanding access. Without real-world touchpoints, even the most advanced network becomes limited to a closed circle of insiders.
For crypto to become mainstream, it must be easy to reach digitally and physically. That means showing up in places people already go and seamlessly integrating into people’s lives. Many groups in the American population still rely on cash or don’t have access to traditional banks. According to the latest Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation report, around 5.6 million American households don’t have a bank or savings account. Bitcoin ATMs give these users access without needing an app, a bank account or a crash course in blockchain. Most crypto tools today assume a level of financial fluency and infrastructure that millions simply do not have. The result is a digital-only ecosystem that locks out newcomers and widens the divide between early adopters and everyone else.
User-friendly screen in the right place
Physical infrastructure helps address this issue. A Bitcoin ATM in a grocery store or gas station is not just a convenience but a bridge to financial inclusion. It is an invitation to someone who has never bought crypto, telling them they can participate. No bank, no broker, just a user-friendly screen in a familiar place.
These machines also generate new economic activity. Local businesses benefit from increased foot traffic as the kiosks create passive revenue. For many communities, they provide access to a parallel financial system that was previously out of reach. This is a tangible example of crypto’s real-world utility. It is already happening, and it is measurable.
The crypto industry’s blind spot
The industry often treats physical infrastructure like an afterthought. The obsession with building new digital solutions has created a blind spot. Innovation without usability builds systems that serve the few but exclude the many. If someone can buy Bitcoin (BTC) at the same place they buy their morning coffee, that is when crypto stops feeling like an obscure digital asset and starts becoming part of everyday life.
As governments increase regulation, trusted and transparent interfaces will become more important. When operated within regulatory frameworks, Bitcoin ATMs offer a way to provide access between traditional finance and digital assets. They are familiar, easy to monitor and offer a more approachable entry point for the general public.
Like any financial tool, Bitcoin ATMs have drawn scrutiny, particularly in cases where bad actors use them. Rather than dismissing the machines themselves, we should focus on investing in better oversight, stronger consumer education and smarter regulation. The overwhelming majority of people who use Bitcoin ATMs do so for legitimate reasons: to send remittances, to move money securely or to access digital assets without traditional banking barriers. Building trust does not mean avoiding or dismantling physical access, but improving it.
The first time someone uses Bitcoin should not involve reading a white paper or navigating a tutorial. It should be as familiar as using an ATM or tapping a payment terminal. This is not an argument against innovation. Software and protocols will continue to evolve and play an important role. Physical infrastructure provides something those tools cannot: trust through presence. When people can see and use crypto in their neighborhood, at a store they already visit or in a format they already understand, it changes how they think about crypto and who it is for.
According to Coin ATM Radar, there are over 30,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the US. It’s a meaningful start, but still only a small step toward widespread access.
Crypto’s long-term success will depend not just on innovation but also on inclusion. That means building more than networks; it means building presence. When people can interact with crypto in the physical world, it stops being abstract and becomes usable. That is how digital finance becomes everyday finance.
Opinion by: Scott Buchanan, chief operating officer of Bitcoin Depot.
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.
The Katana Foundation, a nonprofit focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) development, is launching its private mainnet, aiming to unlock greater crypto asset productivity via deeper liquidity and higher yields for users.
The Katana Foundation launched a DeFi-optimized, private blockchain, Katana, on May 28, incubated by GSR Markets and Polygon Labs, with the public mainnet launch set for June.
The new blockchain will enable users to earn higher yields and explore DeFi in a “unique, optimized yield environment” that unlocks latent value through an ecosystem that makes every digital asset “work harder,” according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
“DeFi users deserve ecosystems that prioritize sustainable liquidity and consistent ‘real’ yields,” wrote Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs and core contributor at Katana, adding:
“Katana’s user-centric model turns inefficiencies into advantages, establishing a truly positive-sum environment for builders and participants alike.”
Source: Katana
Katana aims to solve the crypto industry’s liquidity fragmentation issue, which can cause significant price slippage, as one of the main barriers limiting institutional DeFi participation
To reduce the value slippage in DeFi, Katana’s blockchain concentrates the liquidity from numerous protocols and collects yields on all potential sources to create an ecosystem with deeper liquidity and more predictable lending and borrowing rates.
2025 Institutional Investor Digital Assets Survey. Source: EY-Parthenon
Institutional participation in DeFi is set to triple over the next two years to 75% from 24% of 350 surveyed institutional investors, according to management consulting firm EY-Parthenon.
To tackle the growing institutional liquidity needs, Katana’s liquidity pool is composed of multiple protocols, including lending protocol Morpho, decentralized exchange (DEX) Sushi and perpetual DEX Vertex, enabling users to trade “blue-chip assets” without needing crosschain transfers.
Katana has also incorporated Conduit’s sequences and Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network.
Katana to compound DeFi yield from “Ethereum-based opportunities”
Katana aims to boost sustainable yield by building a cohesive DeFi ecosystem. For instance, VaultBridge deploys bridged assets into overcollateralized, curated lending strategies on Ethereum via Mopho to earn yield, which is routed back and compounded on Katana.
The protocol will reinvest network fees and a portion of application revenue back into its ecosystem.
“This reduces reliance on short-term incentives, generates consistent yield, and as it grows, acts as an increasingly stable backstop during periods of volatility and liquidity shocks,” Polygon Labs’ Boiron told Cointelegraph, adding:
“Yield is distributed pro-rata to each chain using VaultBridge protocol based on their share of total deposits into VaultBridge.”
“So if Katana supplies 20% of the total vault deposits, it receives 20% of the yield back,” he added.
Katana will subsequently allocate its share of yield to users through boosted DeFi incentives across “core apps” such as Sushi, Morpho or Vertex. The yield is generated from “Ethereum-based opportunities and then enhanced through Katana’s core applications,” said Boiron.
Polygon Labs’ CEO previously criticized DeFi protocols for fueling a cycle of “mercenary capital” by offering sky-high annual percentage yields (APYs) through token emissions.
Beyond infrastructure-related limitations, regulatory uncertainty remains another significant barrier to institutional DeFi adoption.
2025 Institutional Investor Digital Assets Survey. Source: EY-Parthenon
Regulatory concerns were the main barrier to entry, flagged by 57% of institutional investors as the main reason for not planning to participate in DeFi activities.
Hamas’s Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar has been “eliminated”, according to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But Israeli military sources have said they are not yet able to confirm the death.
Hamas has also not yet confirmed the apparent killing of its leader.
Meanwhile, with Gaza on the brink of famine, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations broke down in tears as he spoke of the suffering of its people.
Image: Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour broke down in tears as he spoke of the suffering of people in Gaza
Riyah Mansour told the Security Council: “Children are dying of starvation. The images of mothers embracing their motionless bodies. Caressing their hair, talking to them, apologising to them, is unbearable.”
He added: “I have grandchildren.I know what they mean to their families. And to see this situation over the Palestinians without us having hearts to do something is beyond the ability of any normal human being to tolerate. Flames and hunger are devouring Palestinian children. This is why we are so outraged as Palestinians everywhere.”
Sinwar was one of Israel‘s most wanted and the younger brother of the Palestinian militant group’s former leader Yahya Sinwar.
The older sibling was the mastermind of the October 7 2023 attack, which killed 1,200 people in Israel, with around 250 others taken hostage into Gaza.
The attack triggered Israel’s assault on Gaza which decimated the territory, with more than 53,000 people killed, mostly women and children, and over two million displaced, according to health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally of fatalities.
Image: Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israel in October 2024. File pic: AP
Speaking to the Knesset on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu included Mohammed Sinwar in a list of Hamas leaders killed in Israeli strikes. Later, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) sources said they were not yet able to confirm the death.
The prime minister said: “We have killed tens of thousands of terrorists. We killed (Mohammed) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar.” He did not elaborate.
Image: Benjamin Netanyahu’s claimed could not be confirmed. Pic: AP
The Israeli military had said it struck a Hamas command centre under the European Hospital in the Sinwars’ hometown of Khan Younis, and it declined to comment on whether Sinwar was targeted or killed.
At least six people were killed in the strike and 40 wounded, Gaza’s health ministry said at the time.
Sinwar rose through ranks
Like his older brother, Mohammed Sinwar joined Hamas after it was founded in the late 1980s as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. He became a member of the group’s military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades.
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Sinwar rose through the ranks to become a member of its so-called joint chiefs of staff, bringing him close to its longtime commander, Deif, who was killed in a strike last year.
“In the last two days, we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas,” the Israeli leader told the Knesset.
Mr Netanyahu also spoke about how Israel was “taking control of food distribution”, a reference to a new aid distribution system that has been criticised and boycotted by humanitarian groups and the UN.
One killed at site of aid hub
The development comes after one person was killed and 48 others injured when forces opened fire on a crowd that overwhelmed an aid hub in Gaza, according to local health officials.
Palestinians have become increasingly desperate for food after almost three months of Israeli border closures. A blockade has recently been eased.
People broke through fences around the distribution site on Wednesday, and a journalist with the Associated Press said they heard Israeli tank and gunfire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares.
It was not yet known whether the death and injuries were caused by Israeli forces, private contractors or others.
The Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which set up the hub outside Rafah, said its military contractors had not fired on the crowd but “fell back” before resuming aid operations. Israel said its troops nearby had fired warning shots.
The UN and other humanitarian organisations have rejected the new system, saying it will not meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food to control the population.
Israel has vowed to seize control of Gaza and fight until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and exiled, and until the militant group returns the last 58 hostages, including around a third thought to be still alive.
‘This is a man-made catastrophe’
Meanwhile, a US trauma surgeon who has been working in Gaza urged the UN Security Council to not “claim ignorance” about the humanitarian devastation.
Dr Feroze Sidhwa said: “Let’s not forget, this is a man-made catastrophe. It is entirely preventable. Participating in it or not allowing it to happen is a choice.
“This is a deliberate denial of conditions necessary for life: food, shelter, water and medicine. Preventing genocide means refusing to normalise these atrocities.”
The UN World Health Organization has documented around 700 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza during the war. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as command centres and to hide fighters.