Today in crypto, Banca Sella gets MiCA clearance for crypto services in Italy, President Donald Trump backed the CFTC in its jurisdiction battle over prediction markets, and Bitcoin mining stocks rallied on Tuesday as more miners pivot to AI.
Banca Sella gets MiCA clearance for crypto services in Italy
Italian bank Banca Sella announced that it has completed its notification process with the Bank of Italy under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, allowing it to offer crypto-asset services.
On Wednesday, the bank said it is the first bank in Italy authorized to offer crypto-asset services, adding that the approval will allow it to launch a solution focused on the custody, transfer and receipt of digital assets in 2026, aimed at “selected categories” of customers.
Banca Sella is the commercial bank of Sella Group. According to Sella Group, it has almost 300 branches and more than 2,400 employees.
The approval gives Italy’s banking sector a regulated entry point into digital assets under MiCA, as European financial institutions move from crypto pilots and partnerships toward licensed custody, tokenized payments and stablecoin infrastructure.
Andrea Tessera, managing director of digital banking at Banca Sella, said tokenization is contributing to a shift toward “instant, interoperable, and programmable” payments. He said the bank’s planned crypto service is part of that shift.
Sella announces MiCA approval. Source: Sella
Trump backs CFTC on prediction markets
US President Donald Trump has backed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as having the “exclusive authority” over prediction markets, amis mourning action by state regulators’ against the platforms.
“It is critically important that the CFTC’s exclusive authority over Prediction Markets is maintained, and that they will thrive,” Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, also taking aim at several officials whose states have launched legal action against prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket.
“Under my leadership, we are setting ‘rules of the road’ that are the Gold Standard for the States,” Trump wrote. “We cannot have SCUM like Chris Christie, Letitia James, Tim Walz, and JB Pritzker setting the rules!”
Source: Donald Trump
Multiple states have sued or issued cease-and-desist orders to prediction markets, arguing they violate state laws by offering gambling without a license. The platforms have also launched their own actions, which has been backed by the CFTC, which argues it has sole authority to regulate them.
Trump, whose son Donald Trump Jr. is invested in and on the advisory board for Polymarket and is also an adviser to Kalshi, said last month he was “never much in favor” of prediction markets, but softened his stance days later, saying the US would “get left out in the cold” if it didn’t allow the platforms.
Bitcoin mining stocks jump as AI infrastructure boom boosts sector outlook
Bitcoin mining stocks rallied Tuesday, reflecting a broader equity surge driven by optimism around artificial intelligence productivity gains as more miners pivot toward AI and high-performance computing workloads.
In addition to TeraWulf (WULF), which rallied by as much as 17% on news of a Kentucky data center acquisition site, Hut 8 (HUT), IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) closed more than 5% higher on the day.
The rally underscores growing investor enthusiasm for Bitcoin miners that are repurposing parts of their energy infrastructure and data center capacity to support AI and high-performance computing applications — businesses viewed as potentially more stable and lucrative than crypto mining alone.
The gains came as the S&P 500 index hit fresh record highs above 7,500, led by a sharp rally in information technology and semiconductor stocks.
11 public Bitcoin miners have a planned power portfolio of roughly 27 gigawatts. Source: Bernstein