Kemi Badenoch says failing to spend more on defence ‘is not peacekeeping, it is weakness’

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3 months ago

February 17, 2025

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Kemi Badenoch has said failing to spend more on defence “is not peacemaking, it is weakness” as Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders face pressure from Donald Trump to increase NATO contributions.

The Conservative leader told the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference: “Totalitarian states like Russia, Iran and North Korea are coordinated in their efforts.

“Failing to spend more on defence is not peacemaking, it is weakness.

“And it only emboldens their threats to democracy and global stability.”

Politics latest: PM jets off to Paris for emergency meeting

Her comments came ahead of an “emergency meeting” of European leaders in Paris over what to do about defence spending following a dramatic change in US policy.

President Trump has said the US no longer sees the defence of Europe as its primary concern – a major policy change after 80 years – and called for Europe to spend more on helping Ukraine in their war against Russia while the US should spend less.

He has called for other NATO members to spend 5% of their GDP on defence.

Currently, the UK spends 2.3%, but the government has said it wants to reach 2.5%. However, it has yet to say when this commitment will be announced, let alone by what date the target will be met.

Sir Keir has said he is willing to send British troops to help on the ground in a peacekeeping role.

On Monday, he said the UK has to spend more on defence as “that’s the reality of the situation we find ourselves in”.

He reiterated his government’s commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence, an increase from the current 2.3%, but said “we’ll set out that path” only when the strategic review of defence is published.

“But part of my message to our European allies is that we’ve all got to step up on both capability and on spending and funding,” he said.

“That includes the UK, which is why we’ve made that commitment to spend more.”

There are concerns Mr Trump has effectively sidelined Ukraine – and Europe – as he held a long call with Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, but Kyiv nor other European officials were on the call.

A US delegation, including secretary of state Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the president’s Middle East envoy, is in Saudi Arabia this week to start talks with Russian officials on ending the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is on a state visit to neighbouring United Arab Emirates, said Ukraine will not be taking part and did not know anything about the talks.

US officials said there are no plans for representatives from other major European powers to join the talks.

This has caused indignation from Kyiv and Europe as for the past three years, under Joe Biden, US policy stated there would be no negotiations without Ukraine around the table.

Lord Dannatt, head of the British Army from 2006-2009, told Sky News over the weekend Mr Trump has chosen a 5% of GDP target because that is what was being spent on defence during the last decade of the Cold War and meant NATO had the military capability that prevented the Cold War turning hot.

He added: “2.5% it isn’t enough. We should be moving more towards 3% or 3.5%.

“Now, we can’t do that overnight, but we can grow the defence budget over the next few years and we need to do so in response to what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine and making sure that we can play our part in the collective security of Europe.”

Lord Dannatt said the UK’s defence capability is in a “woeful state” due to successive governments as he cautiously welcomed Sir Keir saying he will increase spending.

He called for other countries to “step up”, and said if the UK leads by increasing defence spending other nations are likely to follow.

“We have a collective responsibility to increase our defence capability, to deter further aggression from Vladimir Putin while supporting Ukraine to have a just settlement to this war,” he said.

Politics

Canada ‘got it wrong’ labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec

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3 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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<div>Canada 'got it wrong' labeling stablecoins securities — NDAX exec</div>

Tanim Rasul, chief operating officer at Canadian crypto exchange NDAX, said Canada “got it wrong” categorizing stablecoins as securities in 2022, and the country needs to realize that every other regulatory regime is looking at stablecoins as payment instruments.

Rasul made the remarks during a panel on May 13 at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto, pointing to Europe’s crypto regulatory framework as a model for Canada to consider:

“I’m sure the regulators are wondering if this was the right choice to approach stablecoins as a security. […] I would just say, look at MiCA, look at the way they’re approaching stablecoins. It’s a payment instrument. It should be regulated as such.”

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) classified stablecoins as “securities and/or derivatives” in December 2022, following “recent events in the crypto market,” such as the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX just a month before.

Canada, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Stablecoin — *Canadian Web3 Regulation panel at Blockchain Futurist Conference. Source: Cointelegraph*

The agency elaborated on stablecoin rules in February and October of 2023, placing such tokens under the umbrella of “value-referenced crypto assets.”

Canada’s stance on digital assets led many top crypto companies, including Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Paxos, to scale back operations in the local market. Crypto exchange Gemini also announced exit plans in September 2024.

The regulatory setback, however, hasn’t stopped Canada’s digital asset market from flourishing. According to Grand View Research, the local crypto industry posted revenue of $224 million in 2024, higher than in previous years. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.6% until 2030, when it is forecast to reach $617.5 million in annual revenue.

Stablecoins have emerged as key crypto use case

Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to a fiat currency, have emerged as a key use case for digital assets. According to DefiLlama, the current market capitalization for all stablecoins is at $242.8 billion as of May 14, up 51.9% in the past 12 months.

Nation-states and economic blocs are increasingly working on stablecoin regulations to tackle the rising usage across the world. While the most used stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, there is demand for stablecoins pegged to other fiat currencies.

Magazine: Legal Panel: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Politics

CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

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5 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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CFTC commissioner will step down to become Blockchain Association CEO

Summer Mersinger, one of four commissioners currently serving at the US financial regulatory body Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will become the next CEO of the digital asset advocacy group the Blockchain Association (BA).

In a May 14 notice, the Blockchain Association said its current CEO, Kristin Smith, would step down for Mersinger on May 16, allowing an interim head of the group to work until the CFTC commissioner assumes the role on June 2. Though her term at the CFTC was expected to last until April 2028, the BA said Mersinger is set to leave the agency on May 30.

The departure of Mersinger, who has served in one of the CFTC’s Republican seats since 2022, opens the way for US President Donald Trump to nominate another member to the financial regulator. Rules require that no more than three commissioners belong to the same political party.

Like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC is one of the significant US financial regulators whose policies impact digital assets. Lawmakers in Congress are currently working to pass a market structure bill to clarify the roles each agency could take in overseeing and regulating crypto.

New leadership at the Blockchain Association had been expected since Smith announced her departure on April 1 to become the next president of the Solana Policy Institute. A spokesperson for the Blockchain Association had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Some of the biggest crypto firms in the US, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs and Chainlink Labs, are members of the Association. The organization “support[s] a future-forward, pro-innovation national policy and regulatory framework for the crypto economy,” according to its website.

Changing the leadership at a major US financial regulator

A nominee of former US President Joe Biden, Mersinger has called for standardized crypto-related policies and said the CFTC was the “ideal regulator for the cryptocurrency spot market.” Some expected she would lead the regulator following the election of Trump and the departure of then-CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, but Commissioner Caroline Pham took on the role in an acting capacity in January.

Trump chose former commissioner Brian Quintenz to chair the CFTC in February, but his nomination has not moved through the Senate for a vote in roughly three months. Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero reportedly said she plans to leave the agency once Quintenz is confirmed, potentially giving Trump the chance to nominate three new commissioners to fill the five-seat panel.

Any CFTC commissioner picked by the president needs a majority vote in the Senate to be confirmed for a five-year term or to fill in for a resigning member.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Politics

Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Published

8 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Bitcoin more of a ‘diversifier’ than safe-haven asset: Report

Bitcoin’s fluctuating correlation with US equities is raising questions about its role as a global safe-haven asset during periods of financial stress.

Bitcoin (BTC) exhibited a strong negative correlation with the US stock market when analyzing the short-term, seven-day trailing correlation, according to new research from blockchain data provider RedStone Oracles, shared exclusively with Cointelegraph.

However, RedStone said that the 30-day indicator signals a “variable correlation” between Bitcoin price and the S&P 500 index, with the correlation coefficient ranging from -0.2 to 0.4.

This fluctuating correlation suggests that Bitcoin “doesn’t consistently function as a true hedge for equities” due to its lack of a strong negative correlation below -0.3, which is needed for “reliable counter movement during market stress,” the report said.

The research suggests that while Bitcoin may not be a dependable hedge against stock market declines, it offers value as a portfolio diversifier.

This fluctuating dynamic signals that Bitcoin often moves independently from other assets, potentially offering additional returns while other assets are struggling. Still, Bitcoin has yet to mirror the safe-haven dynamics of gold and government bonds, RedStone suggests.

Bitcoin needs to “mature” before decoupling from stock market

While Bitcoin is poised to grow into a safe-haven asset in the future, the world’s first cryptocurrency still needs to “mature” as a global asset, according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer at RedStone.

“Bitcoin still needs to mature before decoupling from stock markets,” Kazmierczak told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Increased institutional adoption will absolutely help — we’re already seeing this effect with corporate treasury investments reducing Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility and with BlackRock repetitively praising BTC as an asset in a portfolio.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin will see growing recognition as a portfolio diversifier, with an annualized return of over 230% for the past five years, which “significantly outperformed” both stocks and traditional safe-haven assets, Kazmierczak said, adding that “even a small 1–5% Bitcoin allocation can meaningfully enhance a portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s declining volatility supports BTC’s growing maturity as a global financial asset. Bitcoin’s weekly volatility hit a 563-day low on April 30, a development that may signal more stable price action.

Bitcoin’s price volatility fell below the realized volatility of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, signaling that investors are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a long-term investment vehicle, Cointelegraph reported on May 13.