Kenya court strikes blow to Worldcoin project

Kenya orders Worldcoin to delete biometric data

In a major international legal development, Kenya’s High Court has ordered the deletion of all biometric data collected by Worldcoin, the crypto identity project founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania.

The court ruled that the company violated data protection laws by incentivizing users to provide iris scans without valid consent. Kenya’s Data Protection Commissioner will oversee the deletion, which must be completed within seven days.

Worldcoin, now known simply as World, offers users WLD tokens in exchange for their biometric data, which is collected via “orb” devices. Critics argue the compensation undermines true informed consent.

The ruling comes just after Indonesian regulators suspended World for failing to register. The project has also faced legal hurdles in Germany, Hong Kong, and Brazil.

Despite this, World recently launched in six U.S. cities, offering tokens to new users in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. WLD fell 6.8% to $0.86 following the Kenyan decision.

Spark leads DeFi push into Treasuries

Spark, one of the leading on-chain allocators within the Sky ecosystem, has announced a significant expansion of its tokenized real-world asset (RWA) investments, committing an additional $1 billion to U.S. Treasury-backed digital products.

The new injection brings Spark’s total value locked (TVL) to $2.4 billion, solidifying its role as the top on-chain player in the tokenized Treasury market, according to DeFiLlama data.

This expansion follows Spark’s “Tokenization Grand Prix,” a months-long selection process in which 39 asset issuers competed to be included in its treasury allocation strategy.

After a rigorous vetting by Steakhouse Financial, Spark has reaffirmed its support for the same three funds as before: BlackRock and Securitize’s BUIDL, Superstate’s USTB, and Centrifuge-Anemoy’s JTRSY. Each of the selected funds is backed by short-duration government debt and designed for capital reinvestment upon maturity.

With its share now accounting for more than two-thirds of the $3.5 billion tokenized Treasury sector, Spark’s move underscores how decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are increasingly stabilizing yields and reducing volatility through exposure to traditional financial instruments. Spark also reported $40 million in Q1 revenue and recently launched a USDC Savings Vault with $41 million in deposits.

But while tokenized RWAs are gaining traction, Bitcoin continues to face legislative resistance in the U.S.

Florida withdraws Bitcoin reserve bills

Efforts to establish a state-level Bitcoin reserve in Florida officially ended on May 3, as House Bill 487 and Senate Bill 550 were pulled without a vote. The bills, which proposed allocating up to 10% of select public funds to Bitcoin, failed to gain traction before the session’s close.

Florida joins Arizona, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming in rejecting similar proposals, despite initial optimism from cryptocurrency advocates earlier this year. In Arizona, a bill passed both chambers but was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs, who argued that state retirement funds should not be exposed to “untested assets.”

Senator Wendy Rogers, one of the bill’s sponsors, criticized the veto and vowed to reintroduce the legislation, suggesting that a future administration could prove more receptive.

According to BitcoinLaws, only 36 of the original 45 state-level Bitcoin reserve bills remain active, and with legislative calendars closing, time is running out for many of them. Texas and New Hampshire are among the few states still advancing such proposals.

Trump hosts crypto dinners amid ethics concerns

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is intensifying his courtship of the crypto sector with two exclusive events that have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and watchdogs.

On Monday, the President attended a Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner hosted by super PAC MAGA Inc. at his golf club in Virginia. Guests reportedly paid $1.5 million per seat, with figures such as investor David Sacks in attendance.

Later this month, Trump will host a May 22 gala for holders of the $TRUMP memecoin at another of his clubs. The event is open only to the top 220 wallet holders, with the top 25 gaining access to a private reception and White House tour. The leaderboard is public, though most wallet owners remain anonymous.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized both events, calling the memecoin dinner “pay-to-play politics at its worst.” She has also raised concerns about USD1, a stablecoin co-founded by Eric Trump and crypto investor Zach Witkoff. The coin surged in value after a $2 billion investment into Binance from Abu Dhabi-based MGX Group.

“Looks like corruption, smells like corruption,” Warren said, accusing the Trump family of profiting from favorable crypto legislation.

Watchdog Accountable.US added that the memecoin dinner could allow anonymous wallets – potentially controlled by foreign actors – to gain access to the presidency.

Despite the criticism, the $TRUMP token’s value has jumped over 50% since the dinner was announced.

Riot sells Bitcoin amid post-halving pressure

Finally, in mining news, Riot Platforms has revealed it sold 475 BTC in April – worth $38.8 million – as it navigates tighter margins following the latest Bitcoin halving.

Despite the sale, the company retains 19,211 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at roughly $1.8 billion. Riot’s production dropped 13% from March, and industry-wide mining difficulty rose 35% year-on-year, according to CoinWarz.

Riot shares fell nearly 6% on Monday, reflecting broader concerns that post-halving economics may force more miners to sell reserves or consolidate operations.