Latest news with #VanLoon
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Virgil van Dijk: How Liverpool captain became world's best
Suddenly he was back where it all began. Last month Virgil van Dijk made a secret visit to his old Dutch club Willem II to bring back a youth football said: "It's my way of giving back and helping nurture the next generation of world-class talent. This tournament gives rising stars the platform they need to take the next step towards their dreams."Fittingly, the next edition of the 'Virgil Legacy Trophy' in September will feature all of the clubs where Van Dijk played in his career, plus the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and it was in Tilburg, a Dutch city in the southern province of North Brabant, where the current Liverpool captain gained invaluable insights about football and he prepares to lift his second Premier League title with Liverpool, we look at how the 33-year-old centre-back learned from early setbacks to become one of the best in the world. 'Some youth managers even saw him as lazy' Van Dijk joined Willem II's then-acclaimed academy in 2001 as a was a club that had defied the odds just a few years earlier by finishing second in the Eredivisie in 1998-99 and reaching the Champions after his arrival, Jan van Loon was installed as academy director."There was actually no striker who stood a chance against him," Van Loon said. "He was physically strong and he had a natural talent to take balls off opponents at exactly the right moment. "I remember in games we would sometimes say to him: 'Watch out Virgil, there is an opponent behind you.' He would be very relaxed, like: 'Yeah, OK, no worries.'"I recall a game against Ajax, where he would mark their best player. We were saying 'make sure he doesn't touch any ball,' and that's exactly what Virgil would do."Yet there was still room for improvement, Van Loon, added: "So now and then he could come across as laconic, a bit too easy going. Maybe at times some youth managers even thought of him as lazy."That image was partly created by his timekeeping, as Van Dijk would sometimes arrive late for training sessions. It even got to the point where some coaches wondered whether the young defender should remain at the club. But when Van Loon took a closer interest in the young footballer, he also gained insight into Van Dijk's personal life. He said: "His parents were divorced and at times he had to look after his younger brother and sister. Sometimes he had to take them from school and make them lunch, before jumping on the bus to Willem II. "That meant he could be late now and then, and if I asked him about the reasons he would always explain in detail what had happened. "One time I remember his little brother had asked him for peanut butter on his bread, something he had to go and get in the supermarket - and subsequently he just missed the bus. That period has shaped him both as a human and footballer." 'It takes a village to raise a child' Van Dijk's impressive performances finally saw him offered a chance to play for the second team, when he was playing for Willem's on the day of the match he had to submit a report for school, which he hadn't completed. School was paramount for the club, so he risked missing his big break,"I said to Virgil: 'Let's look for a solution together'," Van Loon added. "He was really popular with his classmates, not because he was a footballer but just as a human being. "He asked a few of his peers and everything was done in time. Not that they wrote the assignment, but they did help him. The night before the game I got a message from the teacher saying everything was fine. "That teacher also played his part. That's why I always say it takes a village to raise a child. You need several people around you to push you in the right direction."Van Loon, who also had a spell as head of coaching at Arsenal's academy, noticed how Van Dijk nurtured his people skills by recognising who could help said: "He developed a skill to assemble people around him who would be best for his career. He would ask for extra attention from the best staff members, because he instinctively felt they could make him better. "That was very special, I also saw that with players like Bukayo Saka and Frenkie de Jong, who were also in the academy of Willem II."At the club there was an exercise physiologist, who knew how to relate strength training to the role of centre-back. When exercises were finished, Virgil said: 'No, we'll continue for a while.' There you could see his inner drive, even though some other coaches had an impression that he was lazy." 'My body was broken and I couldn't do anything' As a teenager, Van Dijk combined his time playing at the Willem II academy with a part-time job as a despite growing in stature and switching from right-back to centre-back, not everyone was convinced by Van Dijk at Willem and clubs hesitated to offer him a first professional contract."Inside the club there wasn't a unanimous opinion about him and I think Virgil felt that, that the opinions of the technical people were divided," Van Loon said. FC Groningen took the opportunity and signed a 19-year-old Van Dijk in 2010 - despite Willem finally making him an defender felt his own club were late with their offer and opted to take a different path in his made his professional debut in May 2011 and impressed in his first full season the year after - until serious illness stopped him in his took two trips to different hospitals to diagnose him with appendicitis, peritonitis and a kidney infection, and he had to be operated on straight Dijk, said at the time: "My body was broken and I couldn't do anything. At such a moment, the worst scenarios are whizzing around your head. For the first time in my life, football was very much a side issue. My life was at risk."At some point I had to sign some papers. It was a kind of testament. If I died, a part of my money would go to my mum." 'Probably the best I've worked with as a manager' The operation went well but, despite a quick recovery and some impressive performances, the top clubs in Holland didn't express a big interest. It was then Celtic signed him for about £2.5m in 2013."He came in the first day and trained. I had a chat with him and said 'enjoy yourself here because I don't think you'll be here long'," then manager Neil Lennon recalls."He's got pace, composure, physicality, technically brilliant. The progress was impossible to stop. He was such a good player - probably the best I've worked with as a manager."After two seasons, including two league titles and a Scottish Cup, Van Dijk moved to Southampton."I always thought he had the game and he's proven that," said Lennon. "He could play for any team in the world and I'm surprised Manchester United or Manchester City, Barcelona or Real Madrid didn't come in and buy him rather than Liverpool at the time."Van Dijk became the world's most expensive defender when he signed for Liverpool in 2018 for £ has since won the Champions League, Premier League, an FA Cup, two League Cups, the Club World Cup and won the 2019 UEFA player of the year award. He is now just one win away from his second Premier League Loon, said: "He has adapted to new and more challenging situations. He has become captain and the way he deals with the coaching staff and press is very impressive. "I'm very proud of what he has achieved. And he did it himself, there is no-one who solved things for him."He had to pull the strings and take the initiative. It gives such a boost to young people who may also start with nothing and who work to achieve their goals in life."
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tornado Cash Sanctions Lifted In Major Policy Shift
In a dramatic policy reversal that signals a potential sea change in the regulation of decentralized finance, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on March 21, 2025 that it has removed economic sanctions against Tornado Cash, the controversial cryptocurrency mixing service that has been under U.S. sanctions since August 2022. The decision, reflected in the Treasury's filing in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, marks a significant victory for privacy advocates and crypto developers who have long argued that code itself should not be the target of sanctions. WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: A seal on the exterior of the U.S. Department of Treasury building Tornado Cash is a virtual currency mixer operating on the Ethereum blockchain. It enables anonymous transactions by obscuring the origin, destination, and counterparties involved. By pooling and redistributing funds, Tornado Cash enhances privacy—but this feature has made it a very popular tool for laundering stolen assets, especially in high-profile cyber heists. On August 8, 2022, the platform was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order 13694 for providing financial, material or technological support for cyber-enabled activities originating outside the U.S. OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash for 'failing to impose effective controls' that prevented malicious actors from laundering funds through the crypto mixer. The activities connected with mixing and laundering the money were considered to pose a significant threat to U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic stability—mainly when they involve the theft of funds, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial data for commercial gain or competitive advantage. The OFAC designated Tornado Cash for its role in laundering over $455 million in cryptocurrency stolen by the Lazarus Group, a hacking organization linked to North Korea. Tornado Cash mixed over $7.6 billion worth of Ether since its launch in August 2019 up until 2022, according to Chainalysis. Almost 30% of the funds sent through it have been tied to illicit actors. "Based on the Administration's review of the novel legal and policy issues raised by the use of financial sanctions against financial and commercial activity occurring within evolving technology and legal environments, we have exercised our discretion to remove the economic sanctions against Tornado Cash," Treasury stated in its announcement. As part of this action, over 100 Ethereum wallet addresses associated with Tornado Cash will be removed from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, effectively ending nearly three years of restrictions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized the administration's balanced approach: "Digital assets present enormous opportunities for innovation and value creation for the American people. Securing the digital asset industry from abuse by North Korea and other illicit actors is essential to establishing U.S. leadership and ensuring that the American people can benefit from financial innovation and inclusion." The reversal follows a November 2024 ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court that OFAC had "overstepped its congressionally defined authority" when it sanctioned the cryptocurrency mixer. Central to the court's decision was the determination that Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts cannot be classified as "property" under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The court reasoned that with immutable smart contracts, "there is no person in control and therefore 'no party with which to contract,'" according to documents filed by the Treasury Department. This legal interpretation creates a significant precedent for how decentralized protocols might be regulated in the future, potentially limiting the government's ability to sanction code rather than individuals. Despite lifting sanctions on the platform itself, Treasury officials emphasized their continued commitment to combating illicit activity in the cryptocurrency space, particularly North Korean hacking operations. "We remain deeply concerned about the significant state-sponsored hacking and money laundering campaign aimed at stealing, acquiring, and deploying digital assets for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Kim regime," the Treasury statement noted. The pivot suggests a potential shift from targeting platforms to focusing on the individual actors exploiting them. This approach has already been demonstrated in cases against Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, who were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in August 2023, and Alexey Pertsev, who was sentenced by a Dutch court to over five years in prison in May 2024. For the cryptocurrency industry, the delisting represents both an opportunity and a challenge. Privacy-focused tools like Tornado Cash, which has been used to launder an estimated $7.6 billion in virtual assets since its creation in 2019, can now potentially operate without the chilling effect of sanctions, although we know that the real effect of sanctions has been minimal. Cryptocurrency intelligence firms suggest this development will force a rethinking of compliance approaches. Rather than simply avoiding sanctioned platforms, businesses may need to develop more sophisticated methods for identifying and preventing transactions with illicit actors. The Treasury's decision ultimately acknowledges the complex reality of regulating decentralized technology: code itself may be neutral, but accountability for how that code is used remains a priority for law enforcement worldwide. This is not an easy task, but regulators need to find answers to these challenges quickly, as the risks are only going to increase with time.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Comeback? Treasury U-Turn on Tornado Cash Shocks Markets
The U.S. Treasury just dropped sanctions on Tornado Cash after a deeper policy reviewmarking a notable shift in how Washington views crypto. The decision, filed under Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, reflects a growing recognition that digital assets aren't going awayand blanket crackdowns may no longer be the answer. While the Treasury made it clear it's still laser-focused on cyber threats, especially those tied to North Korea, it's also acknowledging the other side of the coin: financial innovation and inclusion. This pivot could quietly reshape the future for DeFi platforms and crypto infrastructure projects long caught in regulatory limbo. For investors, it sends a clear signal that U.S. regulators might be starting to embrace a more adaptive frameworkone that evolves alongside the tech rather than stifling it. It also raises new questions: who's next in line for regulatory redemption, and what does that mean for capital flow in crypto-related markets? One stock to keep an eye on is Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). With its crypto exposure and vocal role in digital asset conversations, Tesla could see upside if the market interprets this move as the start of a friendlier regulatory climate. As policy shifts open the door to broader institutional engagement, names with blockchain ties may be early beneficiaries. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Comeback? Treasury U-Turn on Tornado Cash Shocks Markets
The U.S. Treasury just dropped sanctions on Tornado Cash after a deeper policy reviewmarking a notable shift in how Washington views crypto. The decision, filed under Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, reflects a growing recognition that digital assets aren't going awayand blanket crackdowns may no longer be the answer. While the Treasury made it clear it's still laser-focused on cyber threats, especially those tied to North Korea, it's also acknowledging the other side of the coin: financial innovation and inclusion. This pivot could quietly reshape the future for DeFi platforms and crypto infrastructure projects long caught in regulatory limbo. For investors, it sends a clear signal that U.S. regulators might be starting to embrace a more adaptive frameworkone that evolves alongside the tech rather than stifling it. It also raises new questions: who's next in line for regulatory redemption, and what does that mean for capital flow in crypto-related markets? One stock to keep an eye on is Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). With its crypto exposure and vocal role in digital asset conversations, Tesla could see upside if the market interprets this move as the start of a friendlier regulatory climate. As policy shifts open the door to broader institutional engagement, names with blockchain ties may be early beneficiaries. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
