Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania has appointed Anca Petcu as Chief Operations and Transformation Officer and Deputy CEO, following approval from the National Bank of Romania.
Binance filed a lawsuit after the Wall Street Journal reported a Justice Department probe into Iran’s alleged use of the exchange to avoid sanctions. Update, March 11, 1:00 pm UTC: This article has been updated to add a statement by Binance that the exchange filed a defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal. Binance said Wednesday it is suing the Wall Street Journal after the newspaper reported that the US Justice Department was investigating whether Iran used the crypto exchange to evade US sanctions. Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against the Journal in the Southern District of New York, seeking damages and legal fees, and demanding a jury trial. Read more
The European Central Bank has launched Appia to guide Europe’s tokenized financial ecosystem anchored in central bank money, with early Pontes pilots planned for 2026. The European Central Bank (ECB) on Wednesday published its Appia roadmap, setting out a long-term plan for building tokenized wholesale financial markets in Europe anchored in central bank money. The roadmap is built around two linked initiatives. Pontes is the Eurosystem’s distributed ledger technology settlement solution, while Appia is the broader strategic framework for developing a future tokenized financial ecosystem. The ECB said Pontes is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2026. “With Appia, we are building a road from today’s financial system to tomorrow’s tokenized markets, firmly grounded in central bank money,” ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone said. Read more
XRP's weekly chart mirrors the 2017 setup that projects a massive upward rally, but bulls must first break resistance around $2. XRP’s (XRP) weekly price chart is starting to resemble a technical pattern that previously marked a major cycle low and preceded a sharp upside reversal. Key takeaways: XRP's weekly chart fractal resembles the 2017 cycle low before a 1,577% surge. Read more
Retail sales volume in Romania (excluding the trade with motor vehicles and motorcycles) fell by 9.1% in unadjusted data and by 6.5% when adjusted for seasonality and number of working days, in January 2026 compared to January 2025, the country’s statistical office INS said on Wednesday (March 11).