Anti-government protests swept Europe this weekend, with France facing its most destructive unrest in years and Albania entering a sixth day of demonstrations. President Emmanuel Macron vowed to hold accountable those who “sought to bring down the Republic”, speaking after student-led cost-of-living protests escalated into clashes and looting across Paris, Marseille and Limoges, where the 19th-century city hall roof was set ablaze. In Tirana, protesters set fire to offices at the Supreme Court as demands for PM Edi Rama’s resignation intensified, a crisis Mu earlier traced to a widening gap between promised reform and perceived corruption.
Oil hovered near $109 a barrel as Ukraine resumed energy strikes and tankers were attacked in the Middle East. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it had prepared a “new operational plan” in response to any further US attacks, while the Strait of Hormuz remained a flashpoint. The elevated crude price compounds the cost-of-living pressures fuelling Europe’s protests. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 lost nearly 2% last week, though Nasdaq futures rose on Monday as investors bought the AI dip, suggesting the selloff may be short-lived.
Crypto markets were relatively calm, with Bitcoin at $81,756 and Ethereum at $2,390. But a dramatic weekend flush saw $52 million wiped from chip-stock perpetuals in ten minutes while US markets were closed, a structural risk Mu examined in detail. Meanwhile, the tokenization trend continues accelerating: Polygon’s $180 million acquisition of Coinme positions it to compete with Visa and Stripe, while Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley all flagged tokenization as a growth opportunity in recent earnings calls. Stablecoin payments hit $482 billion this year, up 45%, as Visa and Mastercard connect crypto rails to cash.
Elsewhere, Kosovo’s former president was sentenced to 25 years for war crimes, and four people died in a major fire at a Canadian military base in Alberta, as the province held a referendum on independence that could test national unity.
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