Assisted dying in doubt as rollout could be delayed until at least 2029

Published

7 days ago

March 26, 2025

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Assisted dying may not available in England and Wales until at least 2029 after MPs approved an extension of the rollout period.

An initial two-year “backstop” will now increase to four years after the change was proposed by Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

Ms Leadbeater said she was disappointed to propose the extension and acknowledged the “upset” felt by some supporters of the bill, but said it was “more important to do this properly than to do it quickly”.

The four-year delay, passed by the committee scrutinising the legislation, now means the law is unlikely to be operational until at least 2029 – the year by which the next general election must take place.

After the vote in the early hours of Wednesday, Ms Leadbeater said the bill will come back to the Commons in a “safer, fairer, and more workable” form.

MPs on the committee also voted for assisted dying to be available free on the NHS.

One MP said the extension of the backstop risked the bill being abandoned.

Tom Gordon, a Liberal Democrat MP, told The Guardian that “delaying implementation risks pushing it beyond the next election, where it could be abandoned altogether”.

“We have thoroughly scrutinised and strengthened this bill, ensuring it is safe and robust. Every extra year means more unnecessary suffering for those who cannot afford to wait,” Mr Gordon said.

The charity Humanists UK, which backs the assisted dying bill, said it regretted the delay.

Its chief executive Andrew Copson said: “Many other countries already have safe assisted dying laws and none of them has taken more than 19 months to implement them, apart from one that was subject to a court challenge.

“So it really shouldn’t have to take four years for the one here. If it does, people who need this change in law will continue to die in ways not of their choosing.”

But Conservative MP Danny Kruger argued that the bill was a fundamental change to the founding principles of the NHS, which he said would become the “national health and assisted suicide service”.

The overnight vote marks the end of two months of committee scrutiny, and the bill is likely to return for a debate and vote by all MPs in the coming months.

Opponents of the bill have warned that people could be put under pressure to end their lives.

But supporters have said the law will allow people suffering with difficult illnesses the choice over when to end their lives.

Last month, Ms Leadbeater removed a key safeguard that said every assisted dying case must be scrutinised by a High Court justice.

Citing concerns this could overwhelm the court system, Ms Leadbeater instead proposed that cases will be reviewed by panels including a senior lawyer, a psychiatrist, and a social worker.

The bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales who are expected to die within six months to request assistance from a doctor to end their life.

MPs initially voted in support of the bill in November, with 330 MPs supporting it and 275 rejecting it.

Meanwhile, the Isle of Man’s parliament became the first part of the British Isles to pass assisted dying legislation.

Its assisted dying bill will be sent for royal assent, having had its final reading by members of the legislative council on Tuesday.

The bill, for adults resident on the island for five years who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of no more than 12 months, could formally become law later this year with an assisted dying service potentially in place by 2027.

Politics

70% chance of crypto bottoming before June amid trade fears: Nansen

Published

2 hours ago

April 2, 2025

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70% chance of crypto bottoming before June amid trade fears: Nansen

The cryptocurrency market may see a local bottom in the next two months amid global uncertainty over ongoing import tariff negotiations, which have been limiting investor sentiment in both traditional and digital markets.

US President Donald Trump is set to detail on April 2 his reciprocal import tariffs, measures aimed at reducing the country’s estimated trade deficit of $1.2 trillion in goods and boosting domestic manufacturing.

While global markets took a hit from the first tariff announcement, there is a 70% chance for cryptocurrency valuations to find their bottom by June, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at the Nansen crypto intelligence platform.

The research analyst told Cointelegraph:

“Nansen data estimates a 70% probability that crypto prices will bottom between now and June, with BTC and ETH currently trading 15% and 22% below their year-to-date highs, respectively. Given this data, upcoming discussions will serve as crucial market indicators.”

“Once the toughest part of the negotiation is behind us, we see a cleaner opportunity for crypto and risk assets to finally mark a bottom,” she added.

Both traditional and cryptocurrency markets continue to lack upside momentum ahead of the US tariff announcement.

“For the main US equity indexes and for BTC, the respective price charts failed to resurface above their 200-day moving averages significantly, while lower-lookback price moving averages are falling,” wrote Nansen in an April 1 research report.

“Fragile market psychology highlights the necessity of “good news,” mainly on US growth and on tariffs,” added the report.

Bitcoin needs to hold $82k amid crypto market “wait and see” mode: analyst

Investors are currently in “wait and see mode” and are hesitant to take on large positions as markets lack direction.

However, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index remained above the “extreme fear” mark for a third consecutive session, which suggests a marginal improvement despite continued caution, Stella Zlatareva, dispatch editor at digital asset investment platform Nexo, told Cointelegraph.

“This reinforces the view that markets are in a wait-and-see mode,” Zlatareva told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Bitcoin continues to consolidate within the $82,000 – $85,000 range after experiencing a period of directional recalibration in Q1. The asset is navigating this zone with key support at $82,000 and upside potential toward $86,500 and $90,000 if broader sentiment stabilizes.”

Other traders are awaiting a Bitcoin breakout above $84,500 as a signal for more upside momentum amid the ongoing tariff uncertainty.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

Politics

VanEck eyes BNB ETF with latest Delaware trust filing

Published

3 hours ago

April 2, 2025

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VanEck eyes BNB ETF with latest Delaware trust filing

Investment company VanEck filed to register a Delaware trust company for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking Binance-linked BNB cryptocurrency.

VanEck, on March 31, registered a new entity under the name VanEck BNB ETF in Delaware, according to public records on the official Delaware state website.

In filing 10148820, the entity is registered as a trust corporate service company in Delaware, hinting at a potential spot BNB (BNB) ETF in the United States.

According to social media reports, VanEck is the first company to propose a potential BNB ETF in the US, potentially signaling an expansion of BNB Chain — formerly known as Binance Chain — across traditional financial products in the market.

BNB ETP product already exists in Europe

While VanEck is the first to move toward a potential BNB ETF product in the US, similar products have been trading in Europe for several years.

Prominent European crypto asset manager 21Shares launched a BNB exchange-traded product (ETP) in Switzerland in October 2019, according to TradingView.

TradingView data suggests that 21Shares BNB ETP has only $15 million in assets under management (AUM), a 0.3% share of Switzerland’s total crypto AUM of $5.3 billion as of March 28, as reported by CoinShares.

The product reportedly saw a significant drop in fund flows in the past year, totaling 537 million euros, or $580 million.

What is BNB?

Formerly known as Binance Coin, BNB is the native digital asset of the BNB Chain, which is now described as a “community-driven and decentralized blockchain ecosystem for Web3 decentralized applications.”

BNB was launched by Binance in July 2017 as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain as a tool to incentivize users to trade on their platform and pay for fees at a discounted rate.

Delaware, United States, Binance, Binance Coin, ETF — *Five top crypto assets by market capitalization. Source: CoinGecko*

At the time of writing, BNB is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency asset by market capitalization, worth about $88 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Altcoin filings surge with Trump administration

VanEck’s BNB ETF trust filing is just one of many new US altcoin ETF filings and registrations that have followed Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January.

In early March, VanEck registered a similar Delaware trust for an ETF tracking the price of Avalanche (AVAX), also becoming one of the first companies to register such a trust.

Many ETF issuers have filed for an XRP (XRP) ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with at least nine companies submitting standalone XRP ETF filings as of March 12.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Politics

SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

Published

8 hours ago

April 2, 2025

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SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and crypto exchange Gemini have asked to pause the regulator’s suit over the exchange’s Gemini Earn program, saying they want to discuss a potential resolution.

In an April 1 letter to New York federal court judge Edgardo Ramos, lawyers representing the SEC and Genesis requested a 60-day hold on the case and that all deadlines be pulled “to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.”

“In this case, the parties submit that it is in each of their interests to stay this matter while they consider a potential resolution and agree that no party or non-party would be prejudiced by a stay,” the letter states.

The lawyers added that a stay was in the court’s interest as “a resolution would conserve judicial resources” and proposed that a joint status report be submitted within 60 days after the entry of the stay.

The SEC sued Gemini and crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital in January 2023, alleging they offered unregistered securities through the Gemini Earn program.

In March 2024, Genesis agreed to pay $21 million to settle charges related to the lending program, but the enforcement case against Gemini remains outstanding.

The letter did not specify what a possible resolution would entail, but the SEC has dropped several lawsuits it launched against crypto companies under the Biden administration, including against Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken.

In February, Gemini said the SEC closed a separate investigation into the firm as the regulator winds back its crypto enforcement under President Donald Trump.

“The SEC cost us tens of millions of dollars in legal bills alone and hundreds of millions in lost productivity, creativity, and innovation. Of course, Gemini is not alone,” Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said at the time.

OpenSea, Crypto.com and Uniswap, among others, have also recently reported that the SEC had closed similar probes into their companies that were investigating alleged breaches of securities laws.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29