News linked to both this project and an event.
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)
Bybit has officially launched its new “Hold USD1 to Earn Tokens” campaign. Users only need to complete Level 1 KYC verification and hold at least 1 USD1 in their Bybit account to share daily WLFI rewards—no subscription or lock-up required; rewards are earned simply by holding. The campaign begins on May 19, 2026, at 10:00 UTC. During the campaign period, users can earn up to a 20% annualized return and compete for a total reward pool of up to 45,000,000 WLFI—climbing the USD1 Holding Leaderboard. USD1 is a regulated stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, fully backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasury securities and cash equivalents, and strictly pegged to the U.S. dollar. WLFI is the governance token of the World Liberty Financial ecosystem, enabling holders to participate in protocol governance and influence the ecosystem’s strategic direction. In this campaign, WLFI rewards will be distributed daily to USD1 holders on the Bybit platform. During the campaign, the system will take a snapshot of each user’s eligible USD1 balance once every hour—24 snapshots per day. WLFI rewards are expected to be credited to users’ main account funding wallets by approximately 06:00 UTC the following day.
: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig stated at Consensus 2026 that the CFTC has filed lawsuits against regulatory agencies in approximately five to six states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, and New York. The core dispute revolves around the regulatory authority over prediction markets. He noted that if rulings diverge across different circuit courts, the relevant cases could ultimately be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.Michael Selig said that the Commodity Exchange Act has clearly granted the CFTC exclusive regulatory authority over commodity derivatives, and that event contracts for prediction markets are financial derivatives traded on federally regulated exchanges, fundamentally different from traditional entertainment venue models. He argued that some state-level regulators are attempting to challenge federal law through local regulations, and the CFTC will continue to file lawsuits against such actions.
According to The Information, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Michael Selig announced that the agency is moving forward with efforts to limit states’ interference in prediction markets, aiming to prevent state-level regulatory measures from hindering—or even killing—the industry’s development. Reports indicate that Selig himself is a sports enthusiast, with numerous sports memorabilia displayed in his office—a sign of his long-standing interest in sports prediction markets. Since assuming office several months ago, he has moved swiftly on related initiatives, seeking to establish a more permissive federal regulatory environment for prediction markets and enabling more U.S. users to participate in prediction trading on sports events and other outcomes.
According to Fox News, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in collaboration with law enforcement agencies in Dubai, China, and Thailand, conducted a large-scale multinational joint operation that successfully dismantled at least nine overseas cryptocurrency scam centers and arrested 276 suspects, involving millions of dollars in illicit funds. In this operation, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California filed federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering against six suspects. Those charged include nationals from Myanmar and Indonesia, who operated scam organizations under names such as “Sanduo Group” and “Giant Company.” Dubai police arrested 275 suspects, while the Royal Thai Police apprehended one additional fugitive. These scam networks employed the “pig-butchering” scheme—building fake friendships or romantic relationships to gain victims’ trust, then luring them into transferring funds to fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms, after which the proceeds were laundered and transferred to criminal accounts. This operation aligns with the executive order signed by Trump on March 6, 2026, aimed at combating overseas criminal networks that exploit U.S. citizens. The FBI’s dedicated initiative, “Operation Level Up,” has notified approximately 9,000 victims and recovered roughly $562 million in losses for U.S. citizens. The FBI urges victims to report incidents through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
According to Cointelegraph, the European Central Bank (ECB) has endorsed the EU’s proposal to transfer financial market regulation—including oversight of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs)—from national regulatory authorities to a centralized EU-level regulator.
According to Cointelegraph, Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, stated at the EUROFI High-Level Seminar that the Bank of France is advocating for the European Union to strengthen payment restrictions under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on non-euro stablecoins—particularly U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins. Beau noted that existing regulatory measures may be insufficient to address the risks posed by widespread stablecoin adoption. Meanwhile, on April 7, the French National Assembly passed an anti-fraud bill that would require annual reporting of self-custodied crypto wallets with a value exceeding €5,000; however, the bill has not yet completed the legislative process.