🧑‍⚖️ Tennessee bans crypto ATMs statewide, joining Indiana in fraud crackdown

Tennessee has become the second U.S. state to outright ban crypto ATMs, making it a misdemeanor to operate or host the machines anywhere in the state. Gov. Bill Lee signed House Bill 2505 into law on April 13 after it passed both chambers unanimously. It was officially codified on Thursday and will take effect July 1.

❌ It prohibits the installation or operation of "virtual currency kiosks," commonly known as bitcoin ATMs, which are often found in gas stations, convenience stores and shopping malls. The law applies to crypto ATM operators as well as businesses that allow them on their property.

❗️Violations carry a Class A misdemeanor, which can result in penalties of up to one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

🟠Crypto kiosks themselves are not inherently fraudulent. They function as point-of-sale machines that let users buy and sell cryptocurrencies for cash and transfer funds to external wallet addresses.

📈 But for years, international scammers have been using them to facilitate billions of dollars in fraud. Cryptocurrency kiosks were tied to nearly $390 million in reported losses in 2025 alone, according to FBI data, with older Americans accounting for a disproportionate share of victims.

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⚖️ DeFi Education Fund and other crypto leaders press SEC to lock in DeFi broker guidance

The DeFi Education Fund, alongside 35 other crypto industry leaders, is urging the SEC to formalize its recent decentralized finance interface guidance into formal rulemaking — a move supporters see as positive for long-term blockchain development.

🟠In a letter this week sent to the SEC, crypto groups pressed the agency to conduct rulemaking after it released a statement earlier this month that clarified certain user interface providers, such as DeFi wallets, do not need to register as broker-dealers.

"Specifically, the Commission should consider adopting a principles-based framework that provides clear, objective criteria for when activity falls within the definition of “broker,” iterating on the criteria in the Statement," — the groups said in the letter.

"Finalizing these principles would provide the legal certainty needed to support responsible innovation while preserving the Commission’s ability to regulate the intermediaries that pose the risks that the broker-dealer regulatory regime was designed to address," — the groups added.

🤝 Other advocacy groups signed the letter, including Crypto Council for Innovation, the Blockchain Association, and the Solana Policy Institute. Aave Labs, Andreessen Horowitz, Uniswap Labs, and Mysten Labs, Inc. also signed on.

On April 13, the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets released a staff statement to delineate that interfaces, such as DeFi wallets, would generally not be considered a broker-dealer and said it was an "interim step while the Commission continues to consider various regulatory issues."

❗️The DeFi Education Fund and other groups called the SEC's statement "an important step," but warned that the guidance may not have staying power.

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🇺🇸 President Donald J. Trump is making D.C. beautiful again!

For the first time in decades, the fountains are officially working at Lafayette Park in DC — thanks to President Trump personally funding it with others. Next up on President Trump’s renovation tour of Washington, D.C.: the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which he called “filthy” and “dirty” and in need of a major upgrade.

“It’s filthy, dirty — the water’s disgusting looking. It’s not representative of the country. Now we have a nice, clean surface on which we’re putting an industrial grade swimming pool topping,"— Trump said.

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🇨🇳 China’s auto giant unveils 1,400 TOPS robotaxi built on human-like reasoning

Chinese automotive giant Geely has introduced its first purpose-built robotaxi prototype, the Eva Cab. Unlike retrofitted vehicles, the model is designed from the ground up around AI, integrating a 196-billion-parameter Step 3.5 model with the company’s H9 high-level autonomous driving system.

According to Geely, the system reaches inference speeds of 350 TPS and can react up to three times faster than a human driver. The Eva Cab is capable of handling 99% of everyday driving scenarios, including more unpredictable environments like manual toll booths and unmarked rural roads, where it can effectively anticipate viable routes.

#BRICS

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⚡️Trump Evacuated, Gunman Detained After Shooting at Press Dinner

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington Saturday after shots were fired at the hotel where the event was taking place.

“A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service,” — Trump said at a press briefing at the White House Saturday.

Trump, in a late-night press conference at the White House, said one law enforcement officer was shot, but that the officer’s bulletproof vest did its job. A suspect is in custody.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro says White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter Cole Allen, a 31-year-old California teacher, is being charged with two counts: using a firearm during a crime of violence, and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

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