Author: Oliver Torsney

A U.S. federal court has sentenced a senior promoter of the collapsed IcomTech cryptocurrency scheme to nearly six years in prison, reinforcing authorities’ hard line against crypto-related fraud. Magdaleno Mendoza was sentenced to 71 months in prison by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for his role in the large-scale IcomTech Ponzi scheme and for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. Mendoza pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal reentry. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, IcomTech launched in mid-2018 as a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company.…

The European Union should actively embrace decentralised finance while putting strong safeguards in place to manage its risks, according to a new analysis by the Bruegel think tank. Rather than treating DeFi as a fringe or purely speculative phenomenon, the paper argues that Europe should integrate it into its financial system in a controlled and transparent way. Bruegel’s core message is that DeFi represents a genuine technological innovation, not just a regulatory headache. Blockchain-based financial infrastructure can reduce costs, increase competition, and enable new forms of financial services if it operates within a clear public policy framework. DeFi as infrastructure,…

The U.S. labor market is showing clear signs of cooling, with official Federal Reserve and government data pointing to slower hiring, rising unemployment, and easing wage pressures. The shift marks a departure from the tight labor conditions that dominated the post-pandemic recovery and is now shaping expectations for U.S. monetary policy in 2026. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED database, nonfarm payroll growth has slowed markedly in recent months, with job gains increasingly concentrated in healthcare, education, and government. Employment growth in technology, manufacturing, and business services has weakened, reflecting reduced corporate investment and cost-cutting pressures.…

Visa has launched stablecoin settlement in the United States, enabling banks and fintechs to settle transactions using dollar-backed digital tokens directly on its network. The move marks a significant step toward integrating stablecoins into mainstream payment infrastructure and adds pressure on European policymakers debating the role of a digital euro. The payments giant said the new service allows eligible partners to settle obligations in regulated U.S. dollar stablecoins rather than relying solely on traditional card settlement processes. Visa described the launch as a breakthrough that brings stablecoins closer to real-world payment flows. By enabling on-chain settlement, Visa is positioning itself…

The Banque de France has warned that Europe’s growing reliance on non-European payment technologies risks undermining monetary stability and strategic autonomy. Speaking in Paris on 11 December 2025, First Deputy Governor Denis Beau said rapid digitalisation, tokenisation and geopolitical tensions are reshaping euro payment systems in ways that require urgent policy action. In a keynote address at the Assises des Technologies Financières, Beau argued that the decline of cash and the dominance of international card networks such as Visa and Mastercard have increased Europe’s dependence on foreign players. While digital payments have improved efficiency and convenience, he said they also…

Germany’s payments landscape is changing rapidly, with contactless card payments and instant credit transfers gaining ground, according to the Bundesbank. The trend highlights how consumer behaviour is moving toward faster, more digital forms of money, a shift that is central to the European Central Bank’s digital euro project. In a recent analysis, the Bundesbank said card payments have become the dominant electronic payment method in Germany, driven largely by the widespread adoption of contactless technology. Debit cards account for the largest share, reflecting their role in everyday retail transactions. Instant credit transfers are also growing, allowing funds to be settled…

JPMorgan Chase has launched a tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain, marking a significant step in Wall Street’s shift toward onchain financial infrastructure. The new product allows institutional investors to hold and transact money market fund shares as blockchain tokens rather than through traditional fund registers. The fund, called the My OnChain Net Yield Fund, is issued using JPMorgan’s in-house digital assets platform, Kinexys. It tokenizes shares in a conventional money market fund that invests in short-term, low-risk instruments, offering daily yield while enabling blockchain-based settlement and transfers. JPMorgan has seeded the fund with its own capital and…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a new Investor Bulletin aimed at helping retail investors understand the basics of crypto asset custody. The guidance focuses on how digital assets are stored, who controls them, and why custody decisions carry significant risks. According to the SEC, crypto wallets do not actually hold crypto assets. Instead, they store private keys, which are secret codes that allow investors to access and transfer their holdings. Losing these keys usually means losing access to the assets permanently, with no recovery mechanism. The bulletin highlights the difference between hot wallets and cold wallets.…

Five major crypto and fintech firms have moved a step closer to becoming regulated banks in the United States after receiving conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The decision signals a shift in how US regulators are integrating digital asset companies into the traditional financial system. According to CoinDesk, the firms are Ripple, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, and Paxos. Each has received preliminary approval to establish a national trust bank, a specialized banking charter that allows custody and fiduciary services but not retail deposits or lending. The OCC confirmed that the approvals are…

Netflix has greenlit a new comedy film centered on cryptocurrency mishaps, with Jennifer Garner set to star and produce, according to a report by Decrypt. The movie, titled One Attempt Remaining, uses the loss of access to a crypto wallet as the core driver of its story. The film follows a divorced couple who realize that the cryptocurrency they acquired years earlier is now worth a fortune. Their problem is that they cannot remember the password, and they have only one remaining attempt to unlock the wallet before the funds are permanently lost. Jennifer Garner will play one of the…