News linked to this event type.
Odaily reports, In a recent video interview with Cointelegraph, Gate Founder and CEO Dr. Han stated that the crypto industry is transitioning from a primarily speculation-driven market towards a phase focused on infrastructure development and real-world applications. Dr. Han pointed out that stablecoins, RWA, AI, and asset tokenization are becoming core directions for the industry, and that clearer regulatory frameworks (such as the CLARITY Act) are expected to further drive innovation in DeFi, payments, and on-chain finance.Dr. Han also mentioned that high user entry barriers, security risks, and liquidity fragmentation remain significant challenges facing the industry. In the future, the crypto industry will further integrate with traditional finance, playing a more important role in areas such as payments, settlement, and the circulation of digital assets.Gate continues to deepen its multi-asset and TradFi strategy. In addition to expanding into assets such as stocks, metals, forex, indices, and commodities, it has also launched Pre-IPOs with the first project, SpaceX (SPCX). At the same time, as one of the first CEX platforms to integrate Polymarket, Gate is continuously promoting the development of the prediction market ecosystem, accelerating the construction of a comprehensive trading platform that spans crypto and traditional finance.
LayerZero Labs has released a recent incident report stating that on April 18, 2026, the KelpDAO rsETH cross-chain bridge, built on its cross-chain communication protocol, suffered an attack resulting in the theft of approximately 116,500 rsETH (around $292 million). Multiple security organizations, including Mandiant, CrowdStrike, and independent researchers, have attributed this attack to the North Korea-linked hacker group TraderTraitor (UNC4899).According to the report, the attack began on March 6, 2026. The attackers compromised a LayerZero developer account through social engineering, obtained session keys, and penetrated the RPC cloud environment. They further contaminated internal RPC node data and manipulated the returned results to deceive monitoring systems and the Decentralized Verification Network (DVN). Subsequently, the attackers launched a denial-of-service attack against external RPC providers, forcing the verification system to rely on the compromised nodes to generate forged cross-chain proofs, thereby successfully extracting the funds.LayerZero pointed out that the core vulnerability of this incident lay in the affected application adopting a "single-verifier" configuration. This allowed the target contract to execute asset releases upon receiving only a single valid signature, leading to the theft of rsETH.Following the incident, LayerZero Labs announced an adjustment to security policies. This includes no longer allowing its own DVN to act as the sole signer in a single-verifier configuration, rebuilding the affected cloud infrastructure, and introducing short-term credentials, instant permission upgrades, and multi-party approval mechanisms to enhance security. Additionally, zeroShadow and law enforcement agencies have initiated investigations and asset tracing. LayerZero stated it will continue to collaborate with ecosystem partners to strengthen the cross-chain security framework to address increasingly sophisticated nation-state attack threats.
: Digital asset infrastructure platform Fireblocks announced the launch of the "Agentic Payments Suite" to support the AI Agent payment framework of the x402 protocol, and simultaneously announced its joining of the x402 Foundation. It is reported that this suite covers the entire AI Agent payment process, including wallet infrastructure for Agents to initiate transfers, a merchant receiving layer, and settlement and risk control functions for compliant financial institutions. (Cointelegraph)
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced plans to launch futures contracts with "computing power" as the underlying asset, designed to track cost changes for GPUs and other computing resources supporting the AI industry. The product still requires regulatory approval. According to reports, ICE will collaborate with financial infrastructure company Ornn to develop a related derivatives pricing system based on its GPU Cost Index. This index will be used to underpin computing power futures contracts. (Bloomberg)
According to Bloomberg, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has revoked the Major Payment Institution (MPI) license of local cryptocurrency liquidity provider Bsquared Technology Pte. Ltd. (“BSQ”), prohibiting BSQ from offering digital payment token services in Singapore. MAS stated it identified “serious breaches” of regulatory requirements by BSQ last year. The report notes that this move is relatively uncommon for local regulators amid Singapore’s broader efforts to mitigate risks associated with the crypto industry.
Odaily Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) announced the revocation of the Major Payment Institution (MPI) license held by crypto payment company Bsquared Technology, citing deficiencies in risk management and conflict of interest policies, violations of outsourcing regulations, and the provision of false or misleading information to regulators on multiple occasions during the license application and on-site inspection processes. Bsquared obtained its license to offer digital payment token services 16 months ago and has now been required to submit a closure certificate from an auditing firm to confirm that all customer funds have been fully returned. MAS stated that it is further reviewing the responsibilities of the company's key management personnel. Currently, Singapore has approved only 37 institutions to provide digital payment token services, making license revocations relatively rare. (Bloomberg)
According to Fortune, Catena Labs—founded by Sean Neville, co-founder of Circle—has raised $30 million in its Series A funding round, led by Acrew Capital and a16z crypto, with participation from Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, and QED. Catena Labs focuses on developing tools that enable AI agents to conduct financial transactions securely. The company has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in New York for a national trust bank charter, seeking regulatory authorization to process payments and hold customer funds. Previously, in 2025, Catena Labs secured an initial $18 million financing round led by a16z crypto.
According to Caixin, the global tax “satellite surveillance system,” CRS 2.0, is accelerating its rollout worldwide. Cryptographic assets, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and certain electronic money products have now been included within the scope of financial asset reporting. Hong Kong plans to implement CRS 2.0 by 2028 and simultaneously advance the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). In the future, cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers, and operators of crypto ATMs will be required to report cryptocurrency–fiat currency conversions, cross-cryptocurrency swaps, and domestic and cross-border transfers of cryptographic assets. Reports must precisely specify the full names of assets—for example, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT)—and aggregate data by transaction dimension, including total market value, total holdings, and number of transactions. For retail payment transactions, individual transactions exceeding USD 50,000 must be reported separately. Although mainland China has not yet officially announced a timeline for implementing CRS 2.0, since 2025, tax authorities in multiple regions have begun notifying taxpayers—via phone calls and text messages—to self-report overseas income earned between 2022 and 2024 and fulfill their tax obligations accordingly. It is understood that CRS 2.0 will not only fully expose overseas-held cryptographic assets to tax oversight but may also trigger coordinated scrutiny by other regulatory bodies.
According to The Block, Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, stated that the UK’s future financial system will advance tokenization, with the retail payments system incorporating tokenized deposits, regulated stablecoins, and potentially a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Bank of England plans to publish a draft regulatory framework for systemic stablecoins next month and finalize it by the end of 2026—imposing temporary caps on stablecoin issuance volumes if necessary. Breeden also noted that the Bank of England will continue supporting banks in developing tokenized deposits and advancing initiatives such as the Digital Securities Sandbox and Digital Gilt.
According to the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, stated that gold can serve as a potential bridge between traditional finance and new finance. He emphasized that Hong Kong needs to provide more development opportunities for the digital asset market to support its sustainable growth. He also noted that, given the “convergence” trend between traditional and innovative finance, Hong Kong has opted not to establish a separate digital asset regulatory authority. Hui pointed out that both gold ETFs and blockchain-based tokenized gold products are already available in the market. Earlier, HSBC and Hang Seng Investment launched Hong Kong’s first tokenized, non-listed Hang Seng Gold ETF product on HashKey Exchange in April.
Bitget has announced a new market governance framework to further strengthen the ongoing oversight of listed assets, project teams, and market makers. The framework will focus on enhancing post-listing market monitoring mechanisms, tightening project team responsibility requirements, and accelerating the platform’s response and remediation processes when identifying abnormal trading behavior or suspicious wallet activity, aiming to improve market fairness and user protection.
According to CoinDesk, German stablecoin startup AllUnity plans to launch SEKAU—a Swedish krona-pegged stablecoin—in June, following final regulatory and operational approvals, and will issue it under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework. Meanwhile, AllUnity has also launched Agentic Payments, enabling businesses to receive transactions initiated autonomously by AI software agents and settle funds directly into local bank accounts. The system adopts Coinbase’s x402 payment standard and targets online digital services, content, and data sales. AllUnity is backed by DWS, Flow Traders, and Galaxy Digital, and is regulated by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
According to an official announcement, Kaiko—a provider of digital asset market data and analytics—has announced the acquisition of Cometh, a European decentralized finance infrastructure provider holding MiCA/CASP licenses. The acquisition aims to integrate data, analytics, indices, and on-chain infrastructure capabilities, while leveraging Cometh’s smart contract engineering expertise. Kaiko stated that upon completion of the transaction, the company will establish an integrated infrastructure covering BMR-authorized indices, MiCA-compliant products, oracles, and on-chain execution capabilities. Cometh previously obtained its MiCA/CASP license from France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification.
According to the Financial Times, Amsterdam-based company Qivalis has secured support from 37 European banks—including BNP Paribas, ING, and UniCredit—for its yet-to-launch euro-pegged stablecoin, making it the single euro stablecoin project with the largest number of European backers to date. Newly added supporters include ABN AMRO, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Rabobank. Qivalis has applied for a license from the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank), aiming for approval in the second half of this year, and plans to complete operational readiness upon license issuance.
the governor of South Carolina has signed a crypto rights bill, which prohibits state government use of CBDCs, protects individual self-custody rights, and exempts specific taxes on digital assets. (Solid Intel)
Odaily Odaily The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Public Safety Director Jon Anglin. The lawsuit stems from Minnesota's legislative approval of SF 4760, which imposes a comprehensive ban on prediction markets.The bill prohibits advertising, creating, operating, or promoting prediction market platforms, classifying event contracts on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket as wagers and banning them, with an original effective date of August 1. In the lawsuit, the CFTC argues that under the Commodity Exchange Act, it has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets, and is seeking a court order to block the state law. (cointelegraph)
South Carolina Governor has signed Bill S.163. This bill prohibits any government entity from accepting or requiring payment in, or participating in testing of, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs); permits individuals or businesses to transact using digital currencies; stipulates that digital assets must not be treated differently; specifies that digital currency transactions may be taxed only if the tax rate applied is identical to that applied to transactions conducted using U.S. legal tender; restricts certain digital currency operations within areas zoned for industrial use; mandates that digital asset mining operations must not impose any additional strain on the electrical grid to which they connect; requires digital mining enterprises to provide certain information upon request by the Public Service Commission; exempts persons engaged in digital mining operations from obtaining certain licenses; clarifies that persons providing certain services related to digital mining or staking do not constitute securities transactions; authorizes the Attorney General to bring legal action against individuals or entities that fraudulently claim to offer digital asset mining or staking services; and defines necessary terms.
on Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order titled "Integrating Financial Technology Innovation into the Regulatory Framework," directing the Federal Reserve to evaluate options allowing fintech and crypto companies direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment systems.The order urges the federal government to eliminate overly burdensome policies on financial technology innovation and requires the Federal Reserve to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the regulatory framework governing non-bank companies' access to reserve bank payment accounts and services. Additionally, the order directs the Federal Reserve to clarify whether the 12 Federal Reserve Banks have independent legal authority to grant or deny access to payment accounts and services, and requires the Fed to submit a report to the President within 120 days. (theblock)
GitHub posted on X platform, sharing more investigation details regarding the unauthorized access incident to its internal repositories. Yesterday, GitHub detected and contained an attack on an employee's device involving a malicious VS Code plugin. GitHub has removed the malicious plugin version, isolated the endpoint, and immediately initiated an incident response.Current assessment indicates that this activity only involved the theft of GitHub's internal repositories. The attackers' claim of approximately 3,800 repositories aligns with GitHub's investigation direction so far. GitHub has taken swift action to mitigate risks, rotating critical keys yesterday and overnight, and prioritizing the most impactful credentials. GitHub will continue analyzing logs, verifying key rotations, and monitoring subsequent activities. A more comprehensive report will be released upon completion of the investigation.
on May 19 that, according to ABC News, the US Department of Justice has signed an agreement stating it will "permanently prohibit" the IRS from reviewing the past tax returns filed by US President Trump, his family, and his companies. The DOJ has also agreed to establish a fund of nearly $1.8 billion to compensate Trump's allies who were "subjected to unjust prosecution." (Guancha.cn)