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- [00:02]
A
Huge crowds of protesters march through Iran's capital. Live from the UK this is the Marketplace morning report from the BBC World Service. I'm Guy Kilty. Good morning. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Iran leading the government to shut down the Internet in the country. Rallies began nearly two weeks ago after shopkeepers demonstrated against a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency against the dollar. Protesters are now calling for the removal of Iran's supreme leader and at least 40 demonstrators and five security personnel have been killed during the unrest so far. J.R. gol from the BBC's Persian Service says that the country's weak economy is the key reason for the protests.
- [00:45]
B
The U. S led sanction has crippled the economy. The value of Iranian currency riols has sharply fallen against US dollar and this has created an unsustainable situation for so many people. Many people are strugg to make ends meet but also many people are unhappy about social restrictions and deep anger at political unaccountability. Corruption on highest level among the officials and also their families. I think there are a combination of so many different reasons people are coming to the street. It feels many of them have little to lose.
- [01:26]
A
The Swiss food and drink giant Nestle has said it's recalling more batches of its infant formula this time in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The BBC's Nick Marsh has been looking at this and has more details. Hi Nick.
- [01:39]
C
Hello Guy.
- [01:40]
A
So which products exactly are we talking about here and which countries are affected?
- [01:46]
C
We are talking about a range of Nestle products, specifically the SMA, the NAN, the BIBA and the AlphaMino baby formulas and follow on formula products. I'm sure people listening, parents young or old, they will be very familiar with these products. Big mainstream products sold all around the world. They were pulled from shelves earlier this week in Europe because of the possibility that they contain cellulite, which is a toxin created by a bacteria and it can give you food poisoning like symptoms like nausea, vomiting, that sort of not life threatening but you know, very unpleasant, very nasty, especially for small babies. Now that product recall has been widened to pretty much the rest of the world. I won't give you a complete list of course, but it's at least 37 countries and they include Australia, Brazil, Mexico, China and South Africa. So a real range of countries across the continent.
- [02:52]
A
These can be very costly, can't they for companies like Nestle? These recalls on this scale, yeah, they.
- [02:58]
C
Can be very costly. This specific recall, it's understood, won't be financially crippling to Nestle. They'll be able to, you know, to ride this wave. You know, this is one of the biggest food and drink companies in the world that we're talking about. I think the damage potentially could be more reputational than financial. But if this is dealt with quickly, especially if there are no reported cases of sicknesses and this is done efficiently and the products do get back on the shelves in good time, then an SLA will probably be able to overcome that challenge as well.
- [03:34]
A
Nick, many thanks for joining us on Marketplace.
- [03:36]
C
Cheers, guy.
- [03:38]
A
Let's do the numbers. Rio Tinto and Glencore have restarted talks over a merger that would create the world's largest mining company. If a deal is agreed, it would come almost a year after previous discussions between the two companies collapsed and create a business worth more than $260 billion. And shares in Minimax, a Shanghai based large language model company, rose 87% as it made its stock market debut on Friday. 2025 was quite a year for cryptocurrencies, from deregulation under the Trump administration and record high prices in August to a retreat from those highs in the months that followed. The BBC's Gideon Long spoke to the independent investment analyst and and expert on cryptocurrency's Susanna Streeter about last year's ups and downs.
- [04:27]
D
It certainly has been a rollercoaster. There were high hopes when Trump was re elected with all of these pledges for the US to become the crypto capital of the world. Then of course came the market turmoil of April and the tariffs and that battered crypto. But you've seen it rise yet again through the summer, reaching those record highs. But then we had the October crash of crypto and actually since the summer highs, you've seen crypto decline by around 30%. I think what you're seeing now is a lot more wariness creep back into the crypto market as well as a more risk off attitude which is emerging given concerns about an AI bubble as well.
- [05:09]
E
Donald Trump was initially fairly skeptical of cryptocurrencies, but as you say, as president, he's been very pro crypto. Just looking back on 2025, what were the big announcements that he and his government made to deregulate the crypto market?
- [05:25]
D
When you saw the US Pass the Genius act, that was quite a big move. It was a milestone. There was hope that there would be more legislation passed in 2025, but actually some of that's now being pushed back into 2026, essentially market structure, legislation defining how federal regulators will oversee the industry in the future.
- [05:49]
E
So some crypto deregulation in 2025, but I guess for a lot of investors it is still relatively niche. It's still seen as qu. Do you think it's likely to become more mainstream in 2026?
- [06:03]
D
You're probably likely to see more wariness in 2026 after all of this volatility that we've seen. Because some investors will have got their fingers burnt if they bought in at the peak in the summer and now seen their holdings decline by 30%. I think it may well scare some off. This is the problem with crypto. It is a speculative asset. As investors become a bit more wary, fewer may dip their toe into the water. And those that have may p and.
- [06:30]
E
So what are you expecting for next year? For 2026, there is an expectation that.
- [06:36]
D
The US Senate Banking Committee will have hearings on market structure legislation really determining how regulators are going to oversee the industry. That may encourage more investment into crypto. But I still think institutional investors will be only looking at crypto if they are at the fringes of their investment strategy.
- [06:57]
E
And when we think about cryptocurrencies, we tend to think about bitcoin. Any other cryptocurrencies which you think we should watch in 2026 and which might stand out?
- [07:05]
D
There are many, many coins and tokens. So I think we are still in the relatively early days of establishing just how crypto coins and tokens are going to be used in the wider financial system. I think as well, with development of stable coins, central bank digital currencies, there is a lot of evolution still in the industry to come.
- [07:27]
E
Susanna, thank you very much for joining us here on Marketplace.
- [07:30]
D
Thank you.
- [07:31]
A
In the UK I'm Guy Kilty with the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.
- [07:47]
F
Hey everyone. You already listened to Marketplace podcasts, so you know that it's important to understand how economic forces shape our lives. And that feels especially important now as we're all trying to make sense of the latest headlines. I'm Rima Reis, host of Marketplaces. This is Uncomfortable, a show that explores how money bumps up against our relationships, our choices, and the parts of life we don't always say aloud. And starting January 15th, we are back every single week. New stories, new questions, and the kind of conversations that make you feel less alone in this quickly changing economy. We're tackling questions like should I turn my hobby into a money making side hustle? How do I deal with layoff anxiety? Or what do we owe our parents financially? Don't miss an episode. Subscribe to this is Uncomfortable from Marketplace, wherever you get your podcasts.