Messi Integrates Apple Pay for Crypto Payments—Fintech and Football Collide
Lionel Messi’s latest play? Bringing crypto to the masses via Apple Pay. The football icon’s move signals another step toward mainstream adoption—just as Wall Street bankers scramble to pretend they ‘always believed’ in digital assets.
No more clunky wallet addresses or gas fees—just tap and pay. Apple’s walled garden meets crypto’s open frontier. Who saw that coming?
Bonus jab: TradFi brokers will now pivot from ‘crypto is a scam’ to ‘we offer secure custody solutions’ (with a 2% management fee, of course).
Congress divided over Trump’s 100-day progress in office
During Wednesday’s event, Trump defended his policies with plans for large-scale investments in infrastructure, healthcare, and technology, announcing $8 trillion in new private-sector commitments.
He introduced several CEOs, such as Hyundai’s Jose Munoz, Toyota’s Ted Ogawa, and Johnson & Johnson’s Joaquin Duato, promising that the company heads would invest in America and improve the country’s manufacturing output.
Yet, in Congress, the Senate narrowly rejected a proposed bill that would have blocked the POTUS from imposing trade tariffs. Congress had cast a 49-49 vote before Vice President JD Vance broke the tie to send away the liberals’ efforts against Trump’s trade policies.
Three Republican senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, broke ranks to support the measure, joining all present Democrats and Independents. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon lambasted the White House for being reckless with trade partners, saying Congress could not remain “an idle spectator in the tariff madness.”
“If it’s worse again in the second quarter, people would start asking, ‘Is it good policy, or is it a bad policy?’” explained Senator Paul, one of the resolution’s co-sponsors.
Retailers warn of goods shortages
In other related news, import activity at the Port of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s busiest gateways for goods from Asia, has nosedived in recent weeks following the imposition of new tariffs on China.
The drop-off is directly tied to steep tariffs now levied on imports from China, where duties on some goods have soared as high as 145%. In response, China has imposed retaliatory tariffs of up to 125% on US exports. According to supply chain firm Flexport, container bookings from China to America are down by as much as 60%.
Some production is shifting to locations like Vietnam and Thailand, with bookings from those countries rising between 5% and 10%, but retailers aren’t sure it will be enough to fill the gap left by China.
Despite the warnings, Trump is not worried about potential shortages, saying so during a televised appearance with cabinet members yesterday morning.
“Well, maybe the children will have to have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know?” he reckoned. “And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
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