News linked to both this project and an event.
According to The Block, Korean payment service provider NHN KCP has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ava Labs to jointly build a Layer 1 network for payment use cases on Ava Cloud. The initiative will focus on three key areas: sub-second payment confirmation, on-chain transaction data encryption, and customizable merchant payment infrastructure. The two parties will also explore business opportunities including tokenized deposit models, multi-stablecoin settlement architectures, and cross-border payments. Justin Kim, Head of Asia at Ava Labs, stated that the mainnet launch timeline for this L1 will depend significantly on the progress of South Korea’s cryptocurrency regulatory framework.
According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice jointly filed an application with a federal court on Tuesday evening seeking to block Arizona from enforcing its state gambling laws against prediction market operator Kalshi. The two agencies argue that Kalshi’s contracts—tied to real-world events such as sporting events and elections—are, in substance, financial derivatives (swaps) subject to the Commodity Exchange Act and the federal regulatory framework, rather than state-level gambling regulations. Arizona had previously brought criminal charges against Kalshi, with a trial scheduled for April 13. Courts across the country have issued conflicting rulings: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (New Jersey) has leaned toward supporting the federal regulatory position, while other district courts have remained open to the state’s arguments.