Crypto Breaking News

Cuba's economy is under severe pressure from tightening US sanctions, shrinking tourism and the loss of past economic lifelines from the Soviet Union and Venezuela. Cuban lawmakers have passed 176 free-market reforms aimed at expanding foreign and private investment, decentralizing the economy and liberalizing sectors including tourism, banking, property and agriculture. But economists and Cuban-American investors say Havana faces a credibility problem: the government has promised reform before, and it remains unclear whether it will truly reduce state control or simply buy time. Tourism could be an early opportunity if sanctions ease, but investors say Cuba will need legal, political and institutional change before capital returns at scale.

Pet owners are increasingly extending the longevity treatments humans pursue for themselves to their dogs, experimenting with supplements, red light therapy and drugs including rapamycin even as veterinarians urge caution about unproven treatments. Bloomberg News National Heath Care Reporter Anna Edney is on Bloomberg This Weekend and explains to hosts Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar that US pet spending is projected to reach $165 billion in 2026.

Bloomberg Businessweek Senior Reporter Amanda Mull says consumers are showing signs of fatigue with the polished faces, homes and lifestyles popularized by influencers, filters and increasingly AI-generated imagery. Mull tells Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar on Bloomberg This Weekend that the shift doesn't necessarily spell the end of Botox or other cosmetic treatments, but it may favor a more natural aesthetic as people seek individuality, physical media and experiences that feel less optimized for social media.

Marathon wine, wedding party size, suit sales rise and Gen Z's different wealth plan: Bloomberg News' Lisa Mateo joins Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar on Bloomberg This Weekend to share headlines you may have missed from over the week.

Florida's 19th Congressional District has drawn a crowded Republican field seeking to replace Byron Donalds, who is running for governor, with former Trump administration official Catalina Lauf gaining a potentially significant boost from the president's endorsement. Bloomberg News Government Senior Reporter Greg Giroux is on Bloomberg This Weekend to explain that the race comes as affordability, insurance costs and concerns about data centers emerge as campaign issues across Florida ahead of Tuesday's primary.

Meta faces a landmark federal trial brought by 29 states over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to addict young users and that the company improperly collected children's data. Bloomberg News Tech Reporter Alexandra Levine joins Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar on Bloomberg This Weekend to explain that the case could expose Meta to substantial penalties and potentially more consequential court-ordered changes to how its platforms operate.

Bloomberg News Middle East Reporter Dan Williams is on Bloomberg This Weekend discussing how the expiration of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding is unlikely by itself to trigger a return to all-out fighting, with diplomatic efforts over the Strait of Hormuz continuing despite repeated attacks on commercial vessels. Williams explains to hosts Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar that the Trump administration is increasingly emphasizing economic pressure on Tehran as hopes for a broader settlement remain elusive and Israel assesses whether sanctions could force Iran toward concessions.

Private equity has long promised investors better returns than public markets, while offering entrepreneurs like Dan Namerow life-changing exits. But the market that made those deals work has changed. Higher interest rates have made debt-financed buyouts harder to justify, while deals struck at peak valuations in 2020 and 2021 have become more difficult to exit. University of Chicago Booth professor Steven Kaplan says US buyout funds largely beat public markets for decades, but that pattern has reversed since 2019, while PitchBook reports that the backlog of companies held by private equity firms has risen to more than 33,000. The result is a tougher environment where firms are being judged less on leverage and multiple expansion, and more on whether they can actually improve the businesses they buy.

• eToro’s acquisition of TradeZero highlights a broader shift toward crypto and stock market integration.
• Exchanges are expanding beyond cryptocurrencies into tokenised stocks, equities, and multi-asset trading platforms.
• Regulation and licensing remain the biggest barriers to this next phase of digital asset expansion.

• Grayscale has withdrawn three crypto ETF applications, putting the spotlight back on the next wave of token approvals.
• The strongest comparable assets are Solana, XRP, Litecoin, and Ethereum, which remain central to ETF and institutional access discussions.
• The biggest challenge remains regulatory approval standards and how the US SEC evaluates different crypto assets.

Rescuers in western Colombia are still searching for survivors after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake killed at least 287 people. Bloomberg News Latin America Government Reporter Mie Dahl joins Bloomberg This Weekend from Bogotá and explains to hosts Joe Mathieu and Carol Massar that the disaster has also disrupted coffee exports and created an immediate leadership test for President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was sworn in just days before the quake struck.

Bloomberg News Cyber Security & Tech Reporter Katrina Manson got a firsthand look at autonomous drone-swarm technology that allows multiple aircrafts to coordinate and strike targets even when communications or GPS are disrupted. Joining Bloomberg This Weekend, Mason explains to Carol Massar that the Pentagon is testing the technology as part of its Swarm Forge program, but experiments in which AI identified civilian vehicles as potential targets highlight the risks as militaries push toward greater autonomy in warfare.