Pi Network dominated headlines on May 14 when it officially introduced a $100 million venture fund aimed at jumpstarting real-world utility for its ecosystem. The announcement officially introduced Pi Network Ventures, a Silicon Valley-style investment initiative that will fund startups…

Interview | Inside Pi Network’s $100m fund for real-world utility

Kristin Johnson of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has 
announced that she plans to depart the agency before 2026.
In a May 21 notice, Johnson said she planned to step down from the CFTC &#8220;later 
this year,&#8221; having completed her term, which ended in April. The commissioner 
filling a Democratic seat at the financial regulator had served since March 
2022 after being nominated by former President Joe Biden.
In her farewell message, Johnson cited her work as a sponsor of the Market 
Risk Advisory Committee, which dealt with &#8220;nascent issues that arise with the 
introduction of decentralized financial products such as digital assets or 
cryptocurrency and other emerging markets.&#8221;
_CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson. Source:__CFTCJohnson_ _on X_
Her departure could come before US President Donald Trump nominates a 
replacement and has them confirmed by a Senate majority. Commissioners Summer 
Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero previously said they would step down on 
May 30 and May 31, respectively, and acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said she 
planned to move &#8220;to the private sector&#8221; if Brian Quintenz were to be the next 
Senate-confirmed head of the agency.
One position on the five-seat CFTC panel has been empty since the departure of 
former chair Rostin Behnam in February. Under CFTC guidelines, commissioners 
can continue to serve beyond the end of their terms until a &#8220;successor is 
appointed and has qualified,&#8221; provided it is before the next session of 
Congress.
_**Related:**__**KuCoin &#8216;s settlement with CFTC in flux after Trump policy 
shift**_
## CFTC shakeup amid proposals for crypto market structure
Johnson&#8217;s notice suggested that the entire leadership of one of the most 
significant financial regulators in the US could be replaced by Trump&#8217;s picks 
as early as 2026. The president nominated Quintenz to serve as CFTC chair in 
February, but the Senate had not moved for a vote to confirm him in more than 
three months.
Along with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the CFTC has handled 
specific regulatory and enforcement issues related to digital assets. However, 
the lack of &#8220;clear rules of the road,&#8221; according to some lawmakers and 
industry leaders, has led to calls for a law establishing a digital asset 
market regulatory structure, clarifying the roles each agency would have to 
play.
_**Magazine:**__**SEC &#8216;s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered**_

CFTC exodus: Fourth commissioner to depart 'later this year'

Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of blockchain technology company Solana Labs, has 
revealed the next steps for its soon-to-be-shipped Seeker device and the 
overall ecosystem. The steps include a new, trustless architecture, a native 
token, and the Seeker ship date.
According to the announcement, Solana Mobile will ship the device starting 
Aug. 4. Seeker is the company&#8217;s second-generation device, after the Saga Web3 
phone that launched in April 2023.
The company unveiled the Seeker phone in September 2024, saying it wouldn&#8217;t 
just be a &#8220;memecoin phone.&#8221; So far, it has pre-sold 150,000 units.
The Solana Seeker has gone through two sale phases: The Founder window, where 
the price for each device was $450, and the Early Adopter window, where the 
price per device was $500.
Assuming the lower price window, Solana Mobile could generate at least $67.5 
million in gross revenue from device sales. For comparison, the iPhone 
generated $199.3 billion in revenue for Apple in 2024.
The new architecture that will govern future Solana Mobile devices is called 
TEEPIN, which stands for &#8220;Trusted Execution Environment Platform 
Infrastructure Network.&#8221; It is a three-layer architecture &#8212; hardware, 
platform, and network layers &#8212; that will allow users, developers, and device 
makers to participate in a trustless environment.
Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder and CEO of Solana Labs, called TEEPIN &#8220;the next 
evolution in mobile&#8221; and a framework where trust is &#8220;verified by 
cryptography.&#8221;
In addition, Solana Mobile is planning to launch &#8220;SKR,&#8221; the native asset of 
the Solana Mobile ecosystem. &#8220;It transforms the traditional mobile business 
model by giving stakeholders actual ownership in the platform,&#8221; said Emmett 
Hollyer, general manager at Solana Mobile.
_**Related:**__**Solana lacks &#8216;convincing signs&#8217; of besting Ethereum: 
Sygnum**_
## Solana Saga
Solana Mobile&#8217;s first released device, Saga, initially elicited mixed 
reactions from the Web3 community &#8212; some hailed it as Web3&#8217;s &#8220;iPhone moment,&#8221; 
while others pointed to the network&#8217;s outages as a drawback.
The Saga phone didn&#8217;t take off until late 2023, when a surge in the value of 
memecoins stored on the devices turned them into unexpected profit machines. 
Some units were listed on eBay for thousands of dollars, driven by growing 
demand. By December 2023, the Saga had completely sold out.
_**Magazine: Memecoins are ded &#8212; But Solana &#8216;100x better&#8217; despite revenue 
plunge**_

Solana Mobile reveals trustless architecture, token for Seeker device

World, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman&#8217;s digital identification project, raised $135 
million from venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital 
Crypto, the company said in an announcement.
The capital will be used to expand World&#8217;s network of iris-scanning orbs and 
infrastructure in the United States, where the company said in April it would 
operate in six cities, and increase coverage around the globe, according to 
the announcement.
More than 12.5 million individuals in over 160 jurisdictions have been issued 
a World ID, the company said.
The project, which collects biometric data from individuals to establish 
&#8220;proof of personhood,&#8221; faces regulatory headwinds and bans in several 
countries. Critics of the project say that offering financial incentives for 
biometric data violates informed consent, sparking a debate about the ethics 
of centralized digital ID systems and data privacy.
_Major components of an iris-scanning World orb visualized. Source:__World_
 _**Related:**__**Alarm bells ring in US over OpenAI &#8216;s crypto project 
World**_
## Scrutiny of Worldcoin continues, more governments ban project
Brazil&#8217;s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) in January ordered World to 
stop providing services in the country due to concerns that incentivizing 
biometric data collection via cryptocurrency payments violates informed 
consent.
The ANPD upheld the decision to ban World in March, citing the company&#8217;s 
business model of offering cryptocurrency payments to users in return for 
their biometric data.
World faces fines of 50,000 Brazilian reais ($8,851) per day if it continues 
to operate in the country.
_Translated statement from Brazil &#8216;s ANPD maintaining the World suspension. 
Source: __Brazilian Government_
Indonesia&#8217;s Ministry of Communications and Digital (Komdigi), a data and 
communication watchdog, suspended World&#8217;s business license on May 4 after 
accusing some of the company&#8217;s subsidiaries of failing to register as digital 
asset service providers under the Electronic System Operator Certificate 
Registration (TDPSE) framework.
Komdigi has launched an investigation into the project and will meet with 
representatives from the subsidiaries following the suspension to clarify the 
matter.
The bans in both countries follow a December 2024 order from the Bavarian 
State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA), a German data 
protection regulator, demanding that World adhere to the European Union&#8217;s data 
protection standards by allowing individuals the option to easily delete their 
biometric data from the network.
_**Magazine:**__**Worldcoin fined again! Crypto store clerk runs off with 
$500K cash: Asia Express**_

Sam Altman's World raises $135M from Andreessen, Bain, to expand network

A New York jury found Braden John Karony, the former CEO of cryptocurrency 
company SafeMoon, guilty of three felony charges after less than a day of 
deliberation.
According to May 21 reporting from the courtroom, in the US District Court for 
the Eastern District of New York, a jury convicted Karony of conspiracy to 
defraud the United States, money laundering, and wire fraud. Prosecutors and 
defense lawyers presented their cases over the roughly two-week trial that 
kicked off with jury selection on May 5.
Karony, former chief technology officer, Thomas Smith, and the platform&#8217;s 
creator, Kyle Nagy, were charged in 2023 for having allegedly &#8220;diverted and 
misappropriated millions of dollars&#8217; worth&#8221; of SafeMoon&#8217;s SFM token. Smith 
testified against Karony at trial, while Nagy reportedly fled to Russia and 
was at large as of May 21.
The criminal trial involving a cryptocurrency company executive was seen by 
many as a bellwether for how Joseph Nocella, the interim US Attorney for the 
district, could handle cases involving digital assets and fraud. Nocella, a 
Donald Trump appointee, took office on May 5.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it 
becomes available.

Jury convicts ex-SafeMoon CEO on all charges

Lbank announced on May 20 that it has temporarily suspended new user 
registrations from the United Arab Emirates to comply with regulatory 
requirements set by Dubai&#8217;s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. Existing UAE 
Users Face Service Restrictions Lbank, the British Virgin Islands-based 
cryptocurrency exchange, announced May 20 it has temporarily suspended new 
user registrations from the […]