UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer has today announced that he’s to step down as leader of the Labour party, triggering a leadership contest that will likely result in the former Mayor of Greater Manchester and member of Parliament for Makerfield Andy Burnham being handed the keys to 10 Downing Street.

Burnham won a key local election last week in the Makerfield constituency, a victory perceived to be an indicator of public appetite for his role as Labour leader.

But what does Burnham know about crypto?

Burnham attended a crypto event in Manchester in 2024 that was hosted by local crypto group Manchester Blockchain Alliance and Coinbase-backed crypto lobbying firm Stand With Crypto.

In a nine-minute speech, he spoke about the importance of expanding the digital sector in the city, the benefits of crypto’s tendency to “disrupt,” and how young people need to be able to see the job opportunities crypto can provide.

Read more: Russia offered crypto to firebomb Sir Keir Starmer’s home, report

He said that Manchester could become a “web3 powerhouse,” and that when it comes to marrying economic progress with social progress, “web3 could be the democratisation of it all.”

Despite noting that his understanding of crypto is “rudimentary,” he said, “I’m in, I’m bought in, I love the sound of it.”

Stand With Crypto has its own crypto position checkers for politicians and claims that both Burnham and Starmer have “no stance” on crypto. This is despite their public statements on the sector. 

Farage still dogged by billionaire backing scandal

Burnham has already found himself embroiled in the controversy surrounding Nigel Farage’s £5 million gift from billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborne.

Indeed, in a now deleted post, Farage used AI to depict immigrants in a dinghy holding placards in support of Burnham. Farage claimed Burnham acted “for them.” 

In response, Burnham noted that Farage was “getting desperate,” and said, “Maybe keep your crypto millions for something else.”

Read more: Nigel Farage accused of undervaluing Christopher Harborne jet loan by $666K

Days before this comment, Burnham also said that “the crypto money is kicking in” when responding to a user that claimed their social media feed was negatively geared against him because “power brokers are clearly paying the big bucks to keep [Burnham] out.”

Burnham’s comments were made one month after Farage was revealed to have accepted £5 million ($6.6 million) from Harborne. 

Farage kept the sum a secret and maintains that it didn’t have to be declared as it was a personal gift for security and helping to deliver Brexit. 

Harborne has donated over £25 million ($33 million) to Reform UK. These donations were partly why the UK, under Starmer’s leadership, introduced a cap on political donations from overseas donors in March. 

Burnham thinks cap on donations is right

Burnham told Byline Times that he would welcome a cap, noting that he would’ve started higher than the £100,000 ($132,000) cap currently set and reduce it over time. 

He said a cap would help stop the “perception of any one party being unduly influenced or swayed by one person or organisation.”

Alongside this donation cap, the UK also introduced a temporary ban on political crypto donations until UK regulation catches up.

The most recent crypto regulations came from the Bank of England today. The bank relaxed its proposed stablecoin regulation, dropping plans to cap the amount an individual can hold and instead introducing a £40 billion ($53 billion) issuance limit for each stablecoin.

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Key Takeaways

• Alphabet shares declined approximately 6% Monday, reaching $343.30 during morning hours
• Noam Shazeer, Google VP and Gemini AI co-lead, is departing for OpenAI
• John Jumper, Nobel laureate and AlphaFold creator, is leaving Google DeepMind for Anthropic
• California court rejected Google’s motion for a new trial in youth addiction lawsuit
• Analysts maintain Strong Buy rating with average target price of $427.38

Alphabet shares tumbled approximately 6% during Monday’s trading session, settling at $343.30 in morning activity, as the tech giant confronted multiple adverse developments simultaneously. The decline deepened to 7% at certain points throughout the day, erasing roughly $250 billion from the company’s market valuation.

Alphabet Inc., GOOGL

The most significant impact stemmed from consecutive announcements of prominent AI researchers joining competing organizations.

Noam Shazeer, holding the position of VP of Engineering at Google and serving as co-lead for the Gemini AI platform, revealed his decision to transition to OpenAI. The company had invested approximately $2.7 billion to recruit Shazeer back from Character.AI barely two years prior.

Shortly afterward, John Jumper, a Nobel Prize recipient and senior research scientist at Google DeepMind who co-developed AlphaFold, announced his move to Anthropic following nearly a decade at Google.

AlphaFold successfully predicted structural configurations for more than 200 million proteins, representing a transformative achievement with significant ramifications for medical research and biological sciences. The departure of the scientist responsible for this innovation — to a competing firm — carries substantial weight.

These consecutive departures sparked renewed debate about whether Google is falling behind in the artificial intelligence competition. Several market observers cautioned that the performance differential between Gemini and cutting-edge models from OpenAI and Anthropic might be widening.

Mounting Legal Challenges Compound Investor Concerns

In legal developments, a California court rejected Google and YouTube’s request for a retrial following a jury verdict determining their platforms were intentionally designed to create addictive behavior in minor users. This decision exposes Alphabet to financial liabilities and potential similar legal actions.

The United Kingdom’s proposed prohibition on social media access for individuals under 16, combined with enhanced chatbot regulations, introduces additional uncertainty for YouTube’s younger demographic and associated advertising income.

Market participants are also scrutinizing Alphabet’s financial position. The corporation recently executed an $84.75 billion equity offering, prompting speculation about potential suspension of share repurchase programs. Its projected capital expenditures for 2026 range between $180–$190 billion, a threshold anticipated to squeeze free cash flow profitability.

Market Conditions Offered Little Relief

The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1% while the S&P 500 decreased 0.4% Monday, yet Alphabet’s losses significantly exceeded these benchmark indices. This disparity indicates company-specific challenges rather than general technology sector weakness.

GOOGL currently trades substantially beneath its 52-week peak of $408.61. The stock has surrendered considerable appreciation accumulated from its 52-week bottom of $162.

Important perspective: Alphabet’s Google Cloud division maintains expansion momentum, with its committed contract backlog exceeding annual revenue figures. Core business fundamentals remain intact.

Social media discussion contributed to selling pressure. Citrini Research published analysis on X suggesting hyperscale cloud providers might issue more than twice current projected debt levels during 2027–2028 to finance AI infrastructure — including processors, computing facilities and related equipment. This assessment unsettled investors already concerned about AI capital deployment exceeding financial returns.

Notwithstanding Monday’s selloff, Wall Street analysts haven’t abandoned their bullish stance. The consensus rating on GOOGL stands at Strong Buy, supported by 28 Buy recommendations and five Hold ratings issued during the previous three months. The mean price objective reaches $427.38, suggesting approximately 23% appreciation potential from present trading levels.

The departures also come as the foundation has unveiled a new strategic framework known as “CROPS,” an acronym standing for cypherpunk values, resilience, open-source development, permissionlessness and security. Foundation leaders presented the framework as a way to clarify the EF’s mission and reinforce Ethereum’s core values as the ecosystem becomes increasingly decentralized. Supporters viewed it as a reaffirmation of Ethereum’s founding principles, while critics argued it did little to address concerns about execution, organizational effectiveness and the network’s competitive position.

Among the most vocal critics was former Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist, who suggested the recent spate of executive departures reflected deeper management issues rather than disagreements over strategy.

“The people who are leaving the Ethereum Foundation are CROPS believers,” Feist wrote on X. “The problem isn’t with the strategy, it’s with management.”

Feist’s comments were notable because they challenged the prevailing idea that recent departures stemmed from dissatisfaction with the foundation’s new direction. Instead, he argued that many of those leaving supported the CROPS vision itself, making the loss of talent a reflection of leadership shortcomings rather than ideological disagreements. “The exodus of talent is truly bearish for Ethereum, sadly,” he added.

Other community members echoed concerns about the Foundation’s internal dynamics. “It makes me sad to see the dysfunction at the Ethereum Foundation,” head of engineering at Coinbase Yuga Cohler wrote on X.

Key Takeaways

• ACN shares plummeted 18% immediately following fiscal Q3 earnings, finishing the week down approximately 25% in the company’s worst-ever weekly decline
• TD Cowen downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, reducing its price target from $258 to $150
• New bookings contracted 3% quarter-over-quarter, with executives attributing the decline to major deals being postponed to fiscal 2027
• Both Truist and Jefferies lowered their price targets, with Truist noting approximately $100M in revenue headwinds from Middle East geopolitical tensions
• Fourteen analysts have reduced earnings projections; while no analysts currently recommend selling ACN, none identify immediate catalysts for recovery

Accenture (ACN) shares were hovering around $120–$123 on Monday, continuing a devastating selloff from last week that erased nearly 25% of the stock’s value — marking the most severe weekly decline in company history.

Accenture plc, ACN

The collapse started Thursday when ACN plunged 18% to close at $127.98 following the release of fiscal Q3 earnings. The company reported revenue of $18.7 billion, narrowly missing the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion, while adjusted earnings per share of $3.80 exceeded the $3.72 projection. However, the earnings beat failed to compensate for disappointing forward guidance and a 3% sequential decline in new bookings.

TD Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin spearheaded Monday’s analyst downgrades, reducing ACN from Buy to Hold and slashing his price target from $258 down to $150.

“Our thesis anticipating stability before eventual recovery proved incorrect,” Bergin acknowledged. He stated there was no defensible justification for maintaining a positive recommendation “given the deteriorating fundamentals.”

The bookings shortfall proved most concerning. Bergin characterized the 3% decline as completely unexpected — his forecast had anticipated at least marginal growth.

Company leadership attributed the weakness to multiple large contracts being deferred into fiscal 2027. However, Bergin observed that even accounting for an estimated $1 billion in timing-related shortfalls, managed services bookings would still have registered negative growth — an outcome he believes would have disappointed investors regardless.

Wall Street Continues Slashing Price Targets

Truist Securities reduced its price objective to $150 from $210 while maintaining a Hold rating. The firm highlighted approximately $100 million in revenue disruption stemming from Middle East geopolitical instability, with impacts anticipated to persist through Q4 and possibly longer.

Truist had previously downgraded ACN several weeks ago, citing constrained client budgets, AI-related revenue displacement, and geopolitical uncertainties. Spillover effects from Iranian tensions emerged during the closing weeks of Q3, and the firm anticipates further lengthening of client decision timelines.

Jefferies analyst Surinder Thind likewise trimmed his price target, lowering it to $130 from $185 while retaining his Hold stance. He had identified weakening demand trends as early as March. Thind pointed to reduced revenue and earnings forecasts for calendar year 2027 and emphasized that geopolitical pressures are compounding already subdued discretionary technology spending.

RBC Capital decreased its target to $175 from $253. Guggenheim made a smaller adjustment to $185 from $225 while preserving its Buy recommendation.

Current Analyst Consensus

Among 30 firms monitored by FactSet, 17 maintain Buy or Overweight ratings on ACN. The other 13 assign Hold ratings. Currently, zero analysts rate the stock as a Sell.

Nevertheless, 14 analysts have lowered their earnings projections for the coming period, according to InvestingPro data. The stock is trading near its 52-week low of $125.60, with RSI indicators suggesting the shares have entered oversold conditions.

CEO Julie Sweet identified Middle East geopolitical tensions as a contributing factor to quarterly underperformance. The company has simultaneously maintained its acquisition strategy focused on cybersecurity capabilities and established partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic to develop agentic AI solutions.

ACN stock was changing hands at $120.85 Monday afternoon, declining approximately 5.6% for the session.