A row is brewing between teaching unions and Number 10 over the impact AI could have on jobs, Sky News has learnt.
The National Education Union (NEU), the largest teaching union in the UK, is concerned AI teaching tools could lead to some in the profession losing work, particularly lower-paid teaching assistants whose tasks could become automated.
Alarm bells were set off in January when the government announced it was giving £1m in funding to 16 tech companies to build teacher AI tools “for feedback and marking, driving high and rising education standards”.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede told Sky News that while there were positive aspects to the rollout of AI, he felt there had “not been any meaningful discussion with the sector yet” and that the Department for Education (DfE) was “running away with itself”.
“AI can reduce workload, slash bureaucracy and there is a role to reduce admin and workload for teachers – but education and learning is ultimately a relational and social experience,” he said.
“AI can be used in a progressive way or it can be used in the way of Elon Musk,” he added, referring to the tech billionaire who is spearheading Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to cut federal waste.
“Elon Musk says we need to gamify education – his direction of travel is no teachers, no teaching assistants.
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“The profession is sick of having things done to it from the top down, without consideration of how it affects us.
“If it is used to free up educators’ time so they can focus their time more effectively, then fair enough – but we will resist a direction of travel that seeks to de-professionalise, deskill or replace teaching assistants.”
A DfE spokesperson rejected the NEU’s accusations, telling Sky News: “It is flat out wrong to suggest that we have not meaningfully engaged with the sector on the use of AI.
“From the initial call for evidence, through to our published policy on AI, we have communicated and engaged with the sector, and we will continue to do so as we use this great new technological era to modernise our education system, back our teachers and deliver for our children.”
The issue of AI nevertheless could pose a challenge for Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson who will have to balance the concerns of the unions alongside the government’s drive to use AI to maximise efficiency and make savings in its bid to stimulate a subdued economy.
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Elon Musk shows off ‘chainsaw for bureaucracy’
She has been subject to a number of hostile internal briefings suggesting her policy agenda, particularly on academies, has been driven by a desire to foster a close relationship with the unions, whose endorsement she may need in a future potential leadership bid.
An ally of Ms Phillipson described the briefings against her as “baseless and misogynistic”.
“It’s increasingly clear that they’re being made by people who are intent on attacking the prime minister by briefing against his allies,” they added.
Image: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. Pic: PA
The scale of the government’s ambition to take on the “blob” – the term used by former Tory education secretary Michael Gove to describe unions, councils and a civil service resistant to change – was made clear when Sir Keir Starmer announced NHS England would be scrapped and brought under ministers’ control in a bureaucracy crackdown.
He made the announcement in a speech heralding the benefits of AI, which he said could reform an “overstretched, unfocused” state, and deliver savings of up to £45bn.
He described AI as a “golden opportunity” to reform the state, which he said was “weaker than it has ever been -overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly, unable to deliver the security that people need”.
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Rob Poole, a teacher in the north of England who is also a member of the NEU, said large language models (LLMs) such as Chat GTP and Gemini were already being used in classrooms and help with planning lessons and assessments.
But he said that while AI was useful it could never replace the “personal connection” pupils – especially those with special needs – have with teaching assistants.
“AI doesn’t know that pupil or their needs,” he told Sky News.
“The rollout of AI needs to be done in consultation with the unions, which is not happening at the moment,” he added.
“We are concerned about the de-skilling teachers and a lack of professional autonomy – do we need teachers at all is the next question.”
Institutional investors are increasingly bullish on cryptocurrency, with 83% saying they plan to up crypto allocations in 2025, according to a March 18 report by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon.
Already, nearly three-quarters of firms surveyed said they hold cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and a “significant majority” said they plan to boost crypto allocations to 5% or more of their portfolios, the report said.
They are motivated by the view that “cryptocurrencies represent the best opportunity to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns over the next three years,” according to the report.
Coinbase, the US’ largest crypto exchange, and EY-Parthenon, a consultancy, based the findings on interviews with more than 350 institutional investors in January.
Among institutional altcoin holdings, XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) are the most popular, the survey found.
Coinbase and EY-Parthenon surveyed more than 350 financial institutions on crypto. Source: Coinbase
Meanwhile, stablecoins continue to see institutional uptake, with 84% of respondents either holding stablecoins or exploring doing so, the survey found.
According to the report, institutions are using “stablecoins for a variety of use cases beyond just facilitating crypto transactions, including generating yield (73%), foreign exchange (69%), internal cash management (68%), and external payments (63%).”
The survey found that only 24% of institutional investors currently use DeFi platforms, but that figure is expected to grow to nearly 75% in the next two years.
“Institutions are attracted to DeFi for myriad reasons, citing derivatives, staking, and lending as the use cases they are most interested in, followed closely by access to altcoins, crossborder settlements, and yield farming,” the report said.
2021 witnessed a fintech investment boom, with startups raising approximately $229 billion globally. Higher interest rates and tighter economic circumstances have since tempered that exuberance, but funds continue to pile into the sector. Indeed, the global fintech sector is expected to see a rebound in investment activity throughout 2025.
Why are investors continuing to bet big on this sector? The answer is simple. The current international finance system is in urgent need of modernization. Built for a pre-internet age, it relies on outdated processes, chains of intermediaries and a patchwork of non-standard regulations.
An aging and expensive system
Take SWIFT as a case in point. Founded in 1973, SWIFT remains the backbone of cross-border payments. SWIFT is nothing more than a messaging system that enables banks to communicate around transactions. It was never designed to manage funds or process transactions. As a result, a “make do and mend” approach has grown around international payments, characterized by a proliferation of intermediaries and local payment rails.
This antiquated, fragmented system creates significant friction in cross-border transactions, leading to delays, high costs and limited choice for individuals and businesses outside major economic blocs. Fees for international payments currently average 1.5% for businesses and all the way up to 6.3% for remittances. Payments can take up to several days to reach recipients.
This system hinders global commerce and exacerbates financial exclusion, particularly in the global south, where volatile local currencies and limited access to traditional banking services are common.
Many of these friction points could be resolved by stablecoins, making transferring money across borders as easy as sending an email. Indeed, the blockchain-based currency has the potential to revolutionize global finance.
Democratizing access to fiat currencies
For people in countries with volatile economies or unstable governments, stablecoins offer a safe haven for savings. Stablecoins pegged 1:1 to a fiat currency such as the US dollar provide consumers in these regions with a way to escape their national financial system with a trustworthy and transparent alternative that protects them from inflation and currency devaluation. This is particularly important in the global south, where economic instability can erode the value of hard-earned income and savings.
According to UBS, consumers in developing countries are also attracted to stablecoins due to the lower risk of government interference with the currency. The wealth management firm believes stablecoins are increasingly seen as “digital dollars” and used for everything from savings to transactions to remittances in these regions.
Empowering small businesses and freelancers
Stablecoins can significantly reduce the costs and complexities associated with international payments, enabling small businesses and freelancers to participate in the global marketplace on a more level playing field. This opens up new opportunities for entrepreneurship and economic growth in developing countries.
In our current payment system, physical money does not cross borders — only information does. A payroll company looking to pay a freelancer in a third country cannot do so directly and must use systems like Stripe, which uses virtual bank accounts to get around the problem.
With stablecoins, payroll companies can pay in any currency to any currency, using crypto on- and off-ramps to facilitate the payment. The business pays in dollars, for example, which is on-ramped to Tether’s USDt (USDT) and sent to the freelancer’s digital wallet, where they can either keep it or off-ramp it to their local currency. Stablecoins will prove to be, and are, a vital tool in helping businesses access global talent and fill their skills gaps.
Facilitating financial inclusion
Through offering an alternative to traditional banking systems, stablecoins also provide financial services to the unbanked and underbanked populations. This can be particularly transformative in regions with limited access to traditional financial infrastructure or in countries like Argentina, where there is low confidence in the national monetary system.
According to the Bank for International Settlements, stablecoins can enable a wide range of payments and provide a gateway to other financial services, replicating the role of transaction accounts as a stepping stone to broader financial inclusion.
Given their ability to provide access to financial services anywhere with an internet connection, stablecoins are seeing explosive growth in emerging markets. Use cases are expanding rapidly across Africa, Latin America, and parts of developing Asia, where they are being used to hedge against inflation, for remittances and cross-border payments, and as a simpler alternative to US dollar banking. This growth trajectory can be expected to continue in the years ahead.
A shot in the arm for global business
Stablecoins are rapidly rising in popularity and already total more than $233 billion in market capitalization, while transaction volumes in 2024 reached $15.6 trillion, surpassing those of Visa. In an increasingly uncertain world, they offer a stable, low-cost and rapid means of transferring money across borders, helping to increase financial inclusion and smooth access to global talent for employers. Stablecoins are a digital-first financial tool for a digital-first world and are ideally suited to replacing the current archaic international payments system.
Opinion by: Simon McLoughlin, CEO at Uphold
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.
Coinbase exchange’s stock price has received an optimistic price prediction from a Bernstein analyst, citing improving crypto regulatory clarity in the world’s largest economy.
Gautam Chhugani, an analyst at global asset management firm Bernstein, initiated coverage of Nasdaq-listed Coinbase (COIN) stock with an outperform rating and a price target of over $310.
The analyst expects improving mainstream cryptocurrency adoption, driven by US President Donald Trump’s administration, which intends to make crypto policy a national priority and make the US a global hub for blockchain innovation, according to a Bernstein research note seen by Tipranks.
If Coinbase shares manage to rise to $310, it would mean an over 64% rally from the current $188 mark, Google Finance data shows.
Coinbase stock may surge on improving crypto regulatory clarity in the US
Coinbase is set to benefit from crypto’s “ascendancy to the US financial mainstream” amid improving regulations, mainly due to the firm offering a one-stop platform for numerous crypto activities, wrote the research note, adding:
“COIN is described as a crypto exchange, but it is actually what a universal Bank would look like in the world of blockchain-based financial services.”
“COIN offers an exchange, broker/dealer, institutional prime desk, stablecoin banking, crypto payments, custodian bank, software and blockchain ecosystem services, all combined into a full stack ‘Amazon’ of crypto financial services,” added the report.
Crypto regulation is heading in a positive direction, with some analysts seeing the US Bitcoin reserve plan as the first “real step” for Bitcoin’s integration into the global financial system.
“The US has taken its first real step toward integrating Bitcoin into the fabric of global finance, acknowledging its role as a foundational asset for a more stable and sound monetary system,” Joe Burnett, head of market research at Unchained, told Cointelegraph.
While Trump has previously highlighted his intentions to bolster crypto innovation in the US, issuing regulatory frameworks takes time and setting the “right regulatory tone” will be crucial for the administration, according to Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of Fideum — a regulatory and blockchain infrastructure firm focused on institutions.