News linked to both this project and an event.
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.
According to an official announcement, the blockchain infrastructure protocol project IOTA has named Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria as the first countries to implement the ADAPT initiative. These three countries were selected through a rigorous evaluation process assessing their political commitment, regulatory readiness, maturity of digital infrastructure, and private-sector engagement. Launched in November 2025, the African Digital Access and Public Infrastructure for Trade (ADAPT) initiative is spearheaded by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and co-developed with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the World Economic Forum, and the IOTA Foundation. ADAPT aims to build shared digital infrastructure for intra-African trade, covering digital identity, cross-border data exchange, and payment interoperability.
on the 18th local time that U.S. health officials announced on the 16th that an adult resident of Douglas County, Colorado, died from a Hantavirus infection. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stated that an investigation into the incident is underway and clarified that this case is not related to the Hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship "Hondius." Additionally, preliminary investigation results indicate that the patient contracted the virus locally through contact with rodents.In Colorado, rodents are the most common source of Hantavirus transmission. The patient's identity information and exact date of death have not yet been disclosed. (CCTV)
According to Cointelegraph, a survey conducted by POLITICO and Public First among 2,035 U.S. adults found that only 4% of respondents said they would consider candidates’ cryptocurrency policy positions when deciding whom to vote for. The survey also revealed that only 18% of respondents ranked establishing regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrency markets as a congressional priority; 27% supported government efforts to promote cryptocurrency as a mainstream financial asset, while 31% opposed it. Additionally, over half of respondents stated they would not consider trading cryptocurrency, and 45% viewed investing in cryptocurrency as a risk not worth taking.
According to The New York Times, OpenAI opened its first lobbying office—named “Workshop”—in Washington, D.C., this week, just a few blocks from the White House, aiming to advance policies supporting data center expansion and unrestricted use of copyrighted content. In Q1 2026, OpenAI’s federal lobbying expenditures reached $1 million, doubling year-on-year. Its competitor Anthropic also opened an office in Washington, D.C., in April this year; its lobbying spending last year surged tenfold to $3 million. Meanwhile, Meta, Nvidia, and Alphabet collectively spent $47.8 million on lobbying last year—a 22% increase year-on-year. According to the citizen watchdog group Public Citizen, one-quarter of all federal lobbyists in Washington, D.C. are now engaged in AI-related issues, a sharp rise from 11% in 2023.
According to CoinDesk, Denis Beau, Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, has publicly called on Europe’s public and private sectors to jointly advance the development of euro-tokenized money to counter the dominance of U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins. This stance stands in clear contrast to that of European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, who remains cautious toward private stablecoins—citing financial stability risks posed by USDT, USDC, and others—and favors a central bank–led digital euro initiative expected to launch in 2029. Beau outlined a “triple objective” for Europe’s development: aligning with central bank monetary services; enabling regulated institutions to issue pan-euro tokenized private money; and strengthening the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework. His position closely aligns with that of the Qivalis consortium—a group comprising 12 major European banks, including ING, BBVA, and BNP Paribas—which plans to launch a private digital euro this year. Beau also revealed that the eurosystem will roll out its first tokenized wholesale central bank money service before year-end.
: tZERO, a regulated securities trading platform, has announced the integration of its tokenization issuance platform with the Aptos network, enabling issuers to directly issue Real World Asset (RWA) tokens on this high-performance public chain, further broadening the path for institutional-grade assets to be placed on-chain.Aptos is being positioned as the underlying network for institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure and is consistently attracting integration by traditional finance and compliant tokenization platforms. Currently, tokenized funds from institutions including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are already operating on the chain. With tZERO's integration, the compliant asset issuance and trading infrastructure on Aptos is further enhanced, covering the full-chain capabilities from issuance, circulation, to settlement.
Odaily Seer Channel monitoring shows that in Polymarket's prediction event "Will the US confirm the existence of aliens before 2027?", a new account purchased $61,000 on the outcome that the US will not confirm the existence of aliens before 2027, with an opening price of 83¢.Public documents primarily involve records of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) sightings and investigations, but have not officially confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life or alien technology. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has previously denied claims by some whistleblowers regarding the government's secret possession of alien technology, including related testimony from David Grusch in 2023.Odaily Seer Channel continues to monitor the prediction market, seeing changes before pricing.
The Fuzhou Gulou District People's Court recently concluded a dispute arising from investment in virtual currency. Chen transferred 480,000 yuan to Liu for foreign exchange financial management. Liu converted the funds into USDT and invested them on an overseas platform. After the platform was shut down, Chen sued the court demanding a refund. The court reviewed the case and found that this transaction model formed a closed loop of receiving RMB, converting to USDT, cross-border transfer, and foreign exchange trading, constituting a disguised form of foreign exchange trading and suspected of economic crimes.The court ruled to dismiss Chen's lawsuit and transferred relevant materials to the public security authorities for handling. The Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court upheld the original ruling. The court reminded that civil legal acts related to investing in virtual currency that violate public order and good customs are invalid, and any losses incurred therefrom shall be borne by the investor themselves.
According to Bloomberg, Zondacrypto, Poland’s largest digital asset trading platform, stated that it is on the verge of collapse after attracting approximately $100 million in deposits from Polish users and has suspended services for customer accounts. Poland’s National Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into alleged fraud. The report notes that Zondacrypto is registered in Estonia, and its collapse is exerting political pressure on allies of Donald Trump at the Polish Presidential Palace.
Odaily News: New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on Wednesday prohibiting state government employees from using non-public information to trade in prediction markets or assisting others in profiting from it. This move aims to address growing concerns over "insider betting" in prediction markets.According to the executive order, all government officials appointed by the governor or under her jurisdiction, as well as members of public agencies, are prohibited from using any non-public information obtained in the course of their duties to seek profits or avoid losses in prediction markets or similar services. They are also barred from assisting others in such activities. The governor mentioned in the document that the current "rapid expansion of prediction markets" has drawn regulatory attention.The day before, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also issued a similar executive order, banning state government personnel from using non-public information to participate in prediction market betting.Meanwhile, prediction market platform Kalshi disclosed that it has launched investigations into three insider trading cases involving candidates and has imposed fines and trading suspensions on the relevant individuals. One of those penalized is Mark Moran, a candidate in the Virginia State Senate Democratic primary, who was penalized for betting on his own campaign and stated he "hoped to be caught."
According to Caixin, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a consultation paper on April 17, 2026, proposing more accommodating regulatory capital guidelines for crypto assets on permissionless blockchains (i.e., public blockchains) ahead of implementing the Basel Committee’s new capital requirements for crypto assets. The current Basel framework is viewed as overly stringent in its classification of public blockchain-based assets, potentially stifling banking-sector innovation. MAS plans to abandon a “one-size-fits-all” classification approach and instead allow public blockchain-based crypto assets that meet a set of principle-based criteria to be classified as Group 1 crypto assets—carrying lower risk weights and less stringent prudential requirements—to achieve regulatory technology neutrality.
Odaily News U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk did not attend a hearing on the 20th where he was summoned to testify by the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office in France. As the owner of the social media platform X, Musk is under investigation for issues on the platform, including the dissemination of child pornography and deepfake content. The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed to French business news channel BFM TV that Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino were absent from the hearing, stating that "their presence or absence will not hinder the continuation of the investigation work." (Xinhua News Agency)
According to Bloomberg, just days after the Pentagon designated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, Anthropic PBC has hired Ballard Partners—a lobbying firm linked to U.S. President Trump. This collaboration comes amid an ongoing dispute between Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense (i.e., the Pentagon). Public filings indicate that Ballard Partners will represent Anthropic in policy communications and lobbying activities.