2025-09-03 12:14
US Bancorp partners with NYDIG for bitcoin custody service SEC's previous guidance made crypto custody capital-intensive for banks Spot bitcoin ETFs gain popularity, attracting banks' interest in custody services Sept 3 - U.S. Bancorp is restarting its bitcoin custody service after a more than three-year pause, as the Trump administration's pro-crypto posture has encouraged traditional financial institutions to delve deeper into digital assets. U.S. Bank's bitcoin custody program - which the firm first announced it would offer in 2021 - is geared toward institutional investment managers with registered or private funds, and for the first time, bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Crypto firm NYDIG will act as the sub-custodian, meaning NYDIG will provide custody of the underlying asset while U.S. Bank will serve as the client-facing intermediary, the bank said. Sign up here. "Having a bank-owned provider that has that strength and stability and continuity, I think, gives clients a lot of comfort in an evolving part of the market," said Stephen Philipson, head of wealth, corporate, commercial, and institutional banking at U.S. Bank (USB.N) , opens new tab. Bitcoin custody service involves an institution safeguarding bitcoin on behalf of a client. Minnesota-based U.S. Bank's bitcoin custody offerings were jettisoned after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2022 issued an accounting bulletin that made it too capital-intensive for lenders to hold crypto tokens such as bitcoin on behalf of clients. That guidance was repealed earlier this year after U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Since then, a spate of banks has indicated their interest in providing various crypto services to their clients. Citigroup is also exploring custody services for digital assets that back crypto-related investment products, an executive told Reuters last month. Banks have eyed asset managers that issue spot bitcoin ETFs as potential custody clients, particularly as those products have exploded in popularity amid bitcoin's soaring price this year. Roughly a dozen asset managers have launched ETFs tracking the spot price of bitcoin since the SEC authorized such products last January. The largest bitcoin ETF, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O) , opens new tab, has more than $80 billion in market capitalization. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab dominates the custody business for spot bitcoin ETFs, and has previously said that it serves as the custodian for more than 80% of issuers of crypto ETFs. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-bancorp-revives-institutional-bitcoin-custody-service-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 12:02
Focus on US jobs data, due for release on Friday Trump administration to ask Supreme Court for expedited tariff ruling Gold rally may still have room to run in 2025, analysts say Sept 3 (Reuters) - Gold hit another record high on Wednesday, consolidating gains above the $3,500 level on growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut this month and concerns over U.S. tariff policy and the independence of its central bank. Spot gold was up 0.4% at $3,547.27 per ounce as of 1132 GMT, after hitting an all-time high of $3,549.53 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 0.6% to $3,613.30. Sign up here. Adding to market uncertainty and potential trade tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said it will ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on tariffs that a U.S. appeals court found to be illegal last week. "The tariff issues and roadblock provided by the Supreme Court will be a critical test for Trump, (and) irrespective of the outcome, gold provides a welcome respite from market turbulence for investors," said independent analyst Ross Norman. "Rate cuts are starting to look baked in, but questions are now arising whether there will be further cuts. Lower rates would stimulate economic activity in the U.S. as well as further weaken the dollar... providing a strong tailwind to gold." Trump has been exerting relentless pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates, and publicly discussed firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In a sharp escalation, Trump last month attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, setting off a critical legal test over the Fed's ability to function without political interference. Rate-cut expectations and worries over the Fed's independence have weighed on the U.S. dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab, which is down more than 9% since the start of the year, making gold less expensive for overseas buyers. Investors are pricing in a 92% chance of a 25 basis-point Fed rate cut at the end of its policy meeting on September 17, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment. "I do think given the geopolitical risk and Federal Reserve outlook, the gold rally may still have room to run in 2025," said Zain Vawda, analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA. All focus is now on U.S. non-farm payrolls data, due on Friday, for clues on the size of the Fed's potential cut. Analysts see spot gold in a $3,600-$3,900 range in the near to medium term, with potential to test the $4,000 level in 2026 if economic and geopolitical uncertainties persist. Elsewhere, spot silver eased 0.1% to $40.87 per ounce after hitting its highest since September 2011. Platinum gained 0.1% to $1,404.09 and palladium rose 1.7% to $1,153.46. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-adds-record-rally-rate-cut-bets-trade-turmoil-lift-demand-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 11:59
EU parliament and governments will vote, outcome uncertain French, EU farm lobby, greens have opposed the accord Updated EU-Mexico deal also set to be presented BRUSSELS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The European Commission is set to present an EU trade accord with South America's Mercosur bloc for approval on Wednesday, hoping to win over the main critics of the deal - France, Poland and European farmers - with promises of safeguards. The European Union and the bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay reached the free trade agreement last December, some 25 years after negotiations were launched. Sign up here. Now it will be put up for consent in the European Union, requiring a vote in the European Parliament and a qualified majority among EU governments, meaning 15 of 27 members representing 65% of the EU population. Neither is a given. The Commission and proponents such as Germany and Spain say the Mercosur deal offers a way to offset the loss of trade due to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and to reduce reliance on China, notably for critical minerals. France, the EU's largest beef producer, has previously branded the deal "unacceptable", while Poland, another farming heavyweight, has repeatedly expressed its opposition. Hoping to offset their concerns, the Commission will propose a mechanism whereby preferential Mercosur access for sensitive farm products such as beef could be suspended if the imported market share or volumes rose by 10% or prices fell by that amount, a European official said. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that his country continued to oppose the deal, but no longer had other partners to block it. It was then essential to have such a defence measure in place, he said. The EU executive has said the Mercosur agreement is the largest it has ever agreed in terms of tariff reductions and is a necessary part of the EU's push to diversify trade ties. Since Trump's re-election last November, the EU has gone into overdrive in seeking trade alliances, accelerating talks with India, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates and deepening ties with existing free trade partners Britain, Canada and Japan. The Commission will also present an updated EU-Mexico agreement, struck in January, on Wednesday. European farmers have repeatedly protested over the Mercosur deal, saying it would lead to cheap imports of South American commodities, notably beef, that do not meet the EU's green and food safety standards. The Commission has denied this is the case. European green groups also oppose the accord. Friends of the Earth has called it a "climate-wrecking" deal. They hope it will be blocked, either in the parliament, where the Greens and far right are critics, or by EU governments. However it now appears that there will not be a large enough group of governments to reject the deal. EU proponents of the deal see Mercosur as a growing market for European cars, machinery and chemicals and a reliable source of critical minerals for its green transition, such as battery metal lithium, for which Europe is now dependent on China. They also point to agricultural benefits, given the deal would offer greater access and lower tariffs for EU cheeses, ham and wine. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/eu-seeks-win-over-opponents-mercosur-trade-deal-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 11:32
MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Mir Salam Khan mourns the loss of his wife and three children in Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern province of Kunar, hit by an earthquake of magnitude 6 that crumbled thousands of homes. "We buried them with wooden planks and plastic sheets so the soil would not fall directly on the bodies," said the 65-year-old resident of the village of Mazar Dara. "That was all we could do." Sign up here. The shallow midnight tremor, Afghanistan's deadliest quake in years, killed more than 1,400 people and destroyed more than 5,000 houses, officials of the Taliban administration have said, but harsh weather and rugged terrain have hampered rescue work. Here the dead are usually wrapped in shrouds and placed in graves topped with cement slabs. With supplies scarce and many destroyed homes, however, survivors said they were forced to improvise, with wood and plastic picked out of the wreckage. "We have never witnessed such an earthquake in history," said Yunus Khan, 45, seated amid the rubble of his mud-brick home that traps two of his children, while three more were among the 12 of his family who died. "All belongings were lost, the children were martyred," he added, surrounded by homes with crumbling walls, their wooden beams sticking out of rubble where children sat silently. "It was such a quake that it gave no one a chance," said Khan. "With one jolt, the entire village was destroyed." Most survivors remain stranded among the ruins, burying their dead in graveyards filling with freshly dug plots for children and adults. Aid workers are just reaching the remote hamlets. A single tent, shared by half a dozen families, sagged in the rain as helicopters circled overhead to ferry the wounded to hospital. "Last night it rained and we had no shelter," Yunus said. "Five or six families are in one tent, there are no supplies. Even the bodies lay out in the rain, waiting to be buried." Farmer and livestock owner Namirullah, 30 joined about 50 neighbours in digging through rubble with their bare hands. "The martyrs are still trapped and the injured are so many," said the volunteer from the nearby village of Chapa Dara. "People have abandoned their homes and are living in cornfields and orchards, terrified as aftershocks come every few minutes." The defence ministry said the Afghan air force moved more than 1,900 people in 155 flights over two days, hundreds of wounded among them, as well as delivering 10,000 kg (22,000 lb)of supplies across the region. Hemmed in by mountains where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, Afghanistan is no stranger to such devastation. A quake in 2022 killed about 1,000 people, and successive shocks in 2023 flattened villages in Herat. Four smaller tremors rattled the country this year. Each new disaster strikes a nation crippled by poverty, war and shrinking aid, with the United Nations estimating that half the population of more than 40 million needed assistance even before Sunday’s quake. Two days later, Salam was still waiting for the bodies of his son and daughter to be pulled from the ruins of his home. He and his neighbours used shovels and their hands in an effort made painfully slow without earthmoving machinery. "Two of my children are still under the rubble," he said. "We can do nothing." https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/afghan-earthquake-survivors-hunt-loved-ones-pull-planks-rubble-graves-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 11:26
Nigeria's deal with TotalEnergies sets template for future gas deals New agreement aligns with Petroleum Industry Act, aims to boost Nigeria's gas economy Analysts caution on cost recovery and regulatory challenges in gas sector LAGOS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Nigeria’s production-sharing contract with TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab, its first guided by a new law designed to boost the OPEC member's gas production, will serve as a template for future deals, the oil regulator told Reuters on Wednesday. The country's Petroleum Industry Act adopted in 2021 recognised the distinct economics of oil and gas exploration and production and was followed by government incentives, such as tax credits and investment allowances for gas-only developments. Sign up here. The deal agreed by the French energy major and its local partner on September 1, covers oil and gas prospecting licences awarded last year for about 2,000 square km (772 square miles) in the Niger Delta Basin. “This new PSC (production-sharing contract) with TotalEnergies represents a policy shift, in line with the PIA, which aims to unlock Nigeria’s gas potential and support the transition to a gas-powered economy,” said Gbenga Komolafe, head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. Komolafe said all new deepwater and frontier acreage production sharing contracts will likely adopt similar gas terms and it sets a model for dedicated gas development contracts. Africa's largest oil producer is seeking to boost the share of gas in its energy mix both for economic reasons and as a transition fuel to cleaner energy. Nigeria's daily gas output was 1.31 million barrel equivalent (BOE) in July, compared with 1.86 million barrels of crude and condensates. Its estimated 210.5 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves are comparable to crude reserves, highlighting the gas sector's potential. However, infrastructure and regulatory gaps have hampered gas development in the past and the country continues to flare large volumes of gas. In July, the flaring rate, albeit at a three-year low, still exceeded 7% of total production. While officials are optimistic that more deals and investment will follow under the new framework, some analysts remain cautious. “The real challenge lies in the detail of cost recovery, particularly the timing, scope, and administrative process,” said Ayodele Oni, a Lagos-based energy lawyer and partner at Bloomfield Law Firm. Mikolaj Judson, analyst at Control Risk said that for the new incentives to be meaningful, wider reforms were needed in the sector where in the past infrastructure shortfalls and insufficient regulation have discouraged investment. Otherwise, "investors will continue to face various risks in developing gas projects," he said in a note to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nigerias-totalenergies-deal-marks-shift-gas-development-2025-09-03/
2025-09-03 11:25
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - There is early evidence that bond issuers and investors are making greater use of the euro, ING said in a report published on Wednesday to mark 100 days since ECB chief Christine Lagarde said the euro could become a viable dollar alternative. The report stressed that Europe needs to deliver credible reforms to support the euro's role as a global currency and that competing against the dollar would not be easy. Sign up here. Here are the ING report's key findings: WHAT THE REPORT SAYS Although the euro's share of global FX reserves held steady in Q1 at around 20%, year-on-year trends are positive and smaller reserve managers are emerging as new sources of demand for the euro. The euro's share of SWIFT international payments has stagnated so far this year but trade deals between the EU and countries such as India could see the currency used more in invoicing. And there has been some notable bond sales in euros by emerging markets, while foreign investors are playing an important role in buying additional bonds released into the market by the ECB's pull-back from bond-buying programs. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT The dollar's role as the world's No.1 reserve currency has been called into question this year by heightened policy uncertainty under U.S. President Donald Trump. With the deepest and most liquid capital markets globally, the dollar is unlikely to be replaced anytime soon. However, there is debate about who could benefit as sentiment towards U.S. markets turns, and the euro is a key contender. KEY QUOTE "It will rest on European politicians to make the euro zone an attractive investment environment and for euro-denominated assets to earn their fair share of global capital." "Now is an exceptional opportunity, but Christine Lagarde and Mario Draghi still have some work to do to convince European governments to think more boldly," ING said. CONTEXT Lagarde said in May that there was an opening for a 'global euro moment,' and the currency could become a viable alternative if governments strengthen the bloc's financial and security architecture. Mario Draghi, a former ECB chief and Italian prime minister, urged the EU in a 2024 report to forge a more coordinated industrial policy, make more rapid decisions and pursue massive investments to keep pace with the U.S. and China. BY THE NUMBERS Foreign investors bought around 186 billion euros worth of euro debt and roughly 46 billion euros of stocks between May and June, reinforcing support for the euro, ING said. Around 22% of euro zone government bonds are foreign-held – well below the 34% share for U.S. Treasuries – but the rise from 19% since the start of quantitative tightening shows foreigners absorbing bond sales and helping to contain a rise in yields, it added. https://www.reuters.com/business/early-signs-emerging-euros-beefed-up-global-status-ing-says-2025-09-03/
