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March 27, 2025

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USDT issuer Tether eyes investment in Italian media firm Be Water amid global expansion

3 Mins Read

Stablecoin issuer Tether is reportedly set to acquire a significant stake in Italian media company Be Water as it cements its presence in the European Union.

According to a report citing unnamed sources familiar with the decision, Tether plans to invest around €10 million ($10.8 million) into Be Water.

The move has not yet been confirmed by either Tether or Be Water at the time of publication.

Tether strengthens Italian footing

Be Water is a Milan-based media group that owns podcast production companies Chora Media and Will Media, as well as Be Water Film, which focuses on film production and distribution. 

The company is known for producing narrative-driven content, including a podcast series in collaboration with Bloomberg titled “Quello che i soldi non dicono” (“What Money Doesn’t Say”).

While the exact motivation behind the deal is still unclear, the investment appears to be part of Tether’s ongoing push into Italy.

Earlier this year, Tether made headlines with its investment in Juventus Football Club, one of Italy’s most iconic sports brands.

The company acquired a minority stake as part of a broader plan to move beyond its core business of stablecoins and digital payments. 

At the time, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the investment would be a “pioneer in merging new technologies, such as digital assets, AI, and biotech, with the well-established sports industry to drive change globally.”

European expansion challenges

Tether’s journey through the broader European market hasn’t been entirely smooth. 

The company has faced mounting pressure from the EU’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

A number of major exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com, have pulled USDT from their platforms for European users.

As regulatory expectations tighten, Tether has yet to fully align with the bloc’s evolving compliance standards.

Expanding beyond crypto

Nevertheless, the recent developments follow a profitable year for Tether, with the company reporting $13 billion in profits for 2024. 

With returns from holdings in US Treasuries, Bitcoin, and other assets, the stablecoin issuer has been channeling excess capital, reportedly over $7 billion as of January 2025, into strategic investments beyond crypto and global expansion plans.

One area of focus for the company has been the artificial intelligence sector.

Last month, CEO Ardoino teased previews of several new AI-based products that the firm was currently developing.

Among the projects in the pipeline are a local AI voice assistant, a translator, and a Bitcoin wallet agent, which will all be a part of Tether’s upcoming AI SDK platform.

According to Ardoino, these tools would be bundled into something called Tether Data, the firm’s in-house AI toolkit built on the Bare runtime.

In terms of its global expansion progress, Tether has secured regulatory approvals in several jurisdictions, including Thailand and El Salvador, since the start of 2025.

The post USDT issuer Tether eyes investment in Italian media firm Be Water amid global expansion appeared first on Invezz

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In World news

Crypto Market Recap: GameStop Bets on Bitcoin, USDC Launches in Japan

4 Mins Read

Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Wednesday (March 26) as of 9:00 p.m. UTC.

Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at US$86,622.95, a 1.7 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The day’s trading range has seen a low of US$85,862.55 and a high of US$87,812.64.

The crypto market is under pressure following an executive order from US President Donald Trump to issue “secondary tariffs” of 25 percent on countries that purchase oil from Venezuela.

Bitcoin performance, March 26, 2025.

Chart via TradingView.

Ethereum (ETH) is priced at US$2,002.36, a 3.6 percent decrease over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday low of US$1.985.69 and a high of US$2,058.49.

Altcoin price update

  • Solana (SOL) is currently valued at US$137.76, down 5.2 percent over the past 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$136.39 and a high of US$144.21 on Wednesday.
  • XRP is trading at US$2.38, reflecting a 3.3 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency recorded an intraday low of US$2.36 and a high of US$2.45.
  • Sui (SUI) is priced at US$2.58, showing a 4.6 percent increase over the past 24 hours. It achieved a daily low of US$2.52 and a high of US$2.64.
  • Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.7285, reflecting a 2.7 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. Its lowest price on Wednesday was US$0.722, with a high of US$0.7632.

Crypto news to know

GameStop’s Bitcoin bet sparks meme stock rally

GameStop (NYSE:GME) shares surged close to 20 percent on Wednesday after the company announced plans to add Bitcoin to its treasury reserve assets, mirroring Michael Saylor’s Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR). The move comes as GameStop struggles with declining brick-and-mortar sales, having pivoted toward e-commerce under CEO Ryan Cohen.

Speculation around the retailer’s crypto ambitions grew after Cohen was seen with Saylor on social media last month. Analysts warn that GameStop’s exposure to Bitcoin could introduce more volatility to its stock.

The company, however, has been aggressive in cutting costs, doubling its fourth quarter net income to US$131.3 million despite a 30 percent revenue drop.

Microsoft declines after data center news

Shares of crypto miners and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed down after TD Cowen alleged that the tech conglomerate has abandoned plans for new data centers in the US and Europe.

Share prices for Bitcoin miners, including Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF), CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK), Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ), Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), dropped between 4 and 12 percent. Microsoft closed down 1.31 percent, while daily losses for the miners fell between 7 and 12 percent.

According to Bloomberg, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) have picked up some of the leases Microsoft has allegedly canceled or deferred over the last six months, although neither company has confirmed. In a statement from Microsoft obtained by the publication, the company said “significant investments” have left it “well positioned to meet (its) current and increasing customer demand.”

“While we may strategically pace or adjust our infrastructure in some areas, we will continue to grow strongly in all regions,” the spokesperson said. “This allows us to invest and allocate resources to growth areas for our future.”

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade launches on testnet

Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade launched on the Hoodi testnet on Wednesday after a series of technical issues delayed the mainnet launch, which was originally slated for sometime in March.

If the launch is successful, Pectra could hit the mainnet by April 25. The Pectra upgrade aims to improve Ethereum’s scalability, staking efficiency and developer capabilities.

USDC launches in Japan

Circle launched its stablecoin, USDC, in Japan on Wednesday. The launch was made possible through a strategic partnership with SBI Holdings (TSE:8473), a Japanese financial firm.

The launch comes after Circle and SBI received regulatory approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) earlier this month. The FSA’s green light paved the way for the companies to introduce USDC to the Japanese market, marking a significant step in the adoption of stablecoins in the country.

Following the regulatory approval, a launch date was announced on Monday (March 24).

At the time of this writing, USDC’s market capitalization was US$60.15 billion.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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In Business

Berkshire Hathaway employee wins $1 million in Warren Buffett’s March Madness bracket challenge

2 Mins Read

For the first time in nearly 10 years, a Berkshire Hathaway employee claimed Warren Buffett’s $1 million grand prize for his company’s NCAA bracket contest.

An anonymous employee from aviation training company FlightSafety International, a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire, won the annual internal bracket contest after correctly calling 31 of the 32 games in the first round of the men’s basketball tournament dubbed March Madness, according to a statement.

The 94-year-old Oracle of Omaha was finally able to give out the big prize after relaxing the rules multiple times since the competition’s inception in 2016. Originally, Buffett, a Creighton basketball fan, set out to award anyone who could perfectly predict the Sweet 16.

Then, in 2024, after the $1 million jackpot remained unclaimed, participants were given the advantage of waiving the results of the eight games among the No.1 and No. 2 seeds. Still, nobody cracked the code.

This year, the rules were changed again so anyone who picks the winners of at least 30 of the tournament’s 32 first-round games would be eligible to win the prize.

In fact, 12 Berkshire employees guessed 31 of the 32 first-round games correctly. The $1 million prize went to the person from that group that picked 29 games consecutively before a loss. That winner went on to pick 44 of the 45 games correctly.

The other 11 contestants are getting $100,000 each.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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In Politics

DOGE slashes billions more in expenses for programs like Peruvian climate change and gender equity in Mexico

2 Mins Read

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced it had terminated 113 contracts valued at $4.7 billion Tuesday, including a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) consulting contract for Peru’s climate change activities.

‘[Tuesday] agencies terminated 113 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $4.7B and savings of $3.3B, including a $145K USDA consulting contract for ‘Peru climate change activities,” the department posted on X.

DOGE also announced the Department of Labor had canceled $577 million in ‘America Last’ grants, totaling $237 million in savings.

The funding that was canceled included $10 million for ‘gender equity in the Mexican workplace,’ $12.2 million for ‘worker empowerment in South America’ and $6.25 million for ‘improving respect for workers’ rights in agricultural supply chains’ in the countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Also eliminated was $5 million to elevate women’s participation in the workplace in West Africa, $4.3 million to assist foreign migrant workers in Malaysia, $3 million to enhance Social Security access and worker protection for internal migrant workers in Bangladesh and $3 million for safe and inclusive work environments in the southern African country of Lesotho.

DOGE, led by Elon Musk, is a temporary organization within the White House created via executive order earlier this year.

President Donald Trump tasked the organization with optimizing the federal government, streamlining operations and slashing spending and gave the agency 18 months to do it.

The department has canceled numerous diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at federal agencies, consulting contracts, leases for underused federal buildings and duplicate agencies and programs.

As of March 26, DOGE claims on its site it has saved Americans $130 billion, or $807.45 per taxpayer.

DOGE critics contend the organization has too much access to federal systems and should not be permitted to cancel federal contracts or make cuts to various agencies.

Fox News Digital’s Eric Revell and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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