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April 30, 2025

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Italy flags risks in $2.75T crypto rally tied to Trump-era stablecoin boom

4 Mins Read

Italy’s central bank has raised concerns about potential financial instability as the global cryptocurrency market cap surged past $2.75 trillion in March 2025, led by Bitcoin’s dominance and fresh political momentum from President Donald Trump.

The warning comes amid a sharp revival in digital asset valuations following Trump’s return to office and his administration’s perceived support for the crypto industry.

Bitcoin alone now makes up more than 60% of the entire market, with prices nearing their all-time high.

The renewed rally has been accompanied by a surge in stablecoin adoption, especially USDT and USDC, which are widely used as trading pairs on crypto exchanges.

Italian regulators fear this stablecoin growth could strain the global financial system, especially during times of market stress.

Trump fuels crypto resurgence with policy and media moves

The current bull run in crypto markets is closely tied to political developments in the United States.

Since re-entering office in January 2025, President Trump has promoted a more accommodative stance on digital assets.

The Trump Media & Technology Group, a company affiliated with the president, announced the upcoming launch of a utility token and integrated digital wallet to support its Truth+ streaming platform.

This announcement followed months of speculation about a Trump-linked token initiative, and coincided with the broader rally in digital assets.

Analysts suggest that the perception of a crypto-friendly administration is helping to attract institutional and retail capital back into the market.

At the same time, Trump’s appointment of pro-crypto regulators and the disbandment of a Department of Justice task force on crypto fraud have raised questions about the level of oversight in the world’s largest economy.

These developments are fuelling optimism among investors, while also drawing criticism from watchdogs and financial regulators globally.

Italy and the EU fear stablecoin spillover effects

Italy’s central bank has highlighted the growing risk that dollar-pegged stablecoins pose to international financial stability.

These digital tokens are largely backed by US.

Treasury securities, and officials warn that any mass redemption or sudden liquidity crisis could create ripple effects across sovereign bond markets.

A recent statement from the Italian authorities noted that stablecoins, while useful for liquidity and payments, represent a “channel of contagion” that could link crypto markets directly to the traditional financial system.

In particular, concerns are growing that the euro could lose relevance if stablecoin use continues to expand in Europe.

Despite the EU introducing the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which aims to harmonise digital asset rules across member states, some policymakers feel that the current legal framework lacks the scope to address fast-moving developments in decentralised finance and cross-border token flows.

ECB President Christine Lagarde has previously stressed the need for coordinated global regulation, warning that “fragmented oversight” will not be sufficient to contain the systemic risks posed by digital currencies and private stablecoin issuers.

US regulation under Trump faces criticism

The US regulatory environment is also shifting under Trump’s leadership.

The president’s recent decisions, including removing certain crypto enforcement initiatives and backing a more lenient approach to stablecoins, have sparked controversy within the financial community.

A new legislative effort, the GENIUS Act, is also under review in Congress.

The bill proposes to create a national framework for stablecoin issuance and circulation but has been criticised by some lawmakers and economists for reducing the ability of federal agencies to respond to emerging risks.

Meanwhile, members of the Trump family have expressed public support for a new stablecoin venture.

This move has intensified scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, as well as concerns over how closely politics and digital assets are becoming intertwined in the United States.

As crypto markets gain traction once again, European regulators are urging global coordination to prevent another potential crisis.

With digital assets now embedded in both political strategies and financial products, the call for robust international oversight is growing louder.

The post Italy flags risks in $2.75T crypto rally tied to Trump-era stablecoin boom appeared first on Invezz

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In Business

IBM pledges $150 billion to boost U.S. tech growth, computer manufacturing

2 Mins Read

International Business Machines Corporation on Monday announced it will invest $150 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, including more than $30 billion to advance American manufacturing of its mainframe and quantum computers.

“We have been focused on American jobs and manufacturing since our founding 114 years ago, and with this investment and manufacturing commitment we are ensuring that IBM remains the epicenter of the world’s most advanced computing and AI capabilities,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a release.   

The company’s announcement comes weeks after President Donald Trump unveiled a far-reaching and aggressive “reciprocal” tariff policy to boost manufacturing in the U.S. As of late April, Trump has exempted chips, as well as smartphones, computers, and other tech devices and components, from the tariffs.

IBM said its investment will help accelerate America’s role as a global leader in computing and fuel the economy. The company said it operates the “world’s largest fleet of quantum computer systems,” and will continue to build and assemble them in the U.S., according to the release.

IBM competitor Nvidia, the chipmaker that has been the primary benefactor of the artificial intelligence boom, announced a similar push earlier this month to produce its NVIDIA AI supercomputers entirely in the U.S. 

Nvidia plans to produce up to $500 billion of AI infrastructure in the U.S. via its manufacturing partnerships over the next four years.

Last week, IBM reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company said it generated $14.54 billion in revenue for the period, above the $14.4 billion expected by analysts. IBM’s net income narrowed to $1.06 billion, or $1.12 per share, from $1.61 billion, or $1.72 per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

IBM’s infrastructure division, which includes mainframe computers, posted $2.89 billion in revenue for the quarter, beating expectations of $2.76 billion.

The company announced a new z17 AI mainframe earlier this month.

CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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In Politics

DOGE, Treasury discover $334M in improper payment requests due to foul codes

2 Mins Read

The U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered that hundreds of millions of dollars in improper payment requests were identified after going live with its first automated payment system last week.

In fact, the system found $334 million in improper payment requests that were flagged because of missing budget codes, invalid budget codes and budget codes without authorization.

DOGE, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, announced the discovery in a post on X.

In the post, DOGE said an example of an invalid budget code was if the payment was not linked to the budget. It also provided an example of a budget code without authorization, saying the budget had already been fully spent.

The news comes months after DOGE learned about an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item that accounted for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments, which was oftentimes left blank.

‘The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process),’ DOGE wrote in a post on X in February. ‘In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.’

DOGE thanked the U.S. Treasury for its work in identifying the optional field.

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and are also referred to as the ‘account.’

All financial transactions made by the federal government are classified by TAS when reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget.

DOGE’s announcement on Tuesday comes as it continues to find savings and fraud across all aspects of the government.

On the department’s site, it says $160 billion in savings have been discovered, equating to $993.70 in savings per taxpayer.

DOGE has been aggressive in its mission to root out wasteful spending and to downsize the scope of the federal government. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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