Today in crypto, the White House is pursuing a unified federal framework for artificial intelligence, highlighting Washington’s broader focus on tech governance. Meanwhile, South Korea’s tax agency is seeking a private custodian for seized crypto after a wallet seed phrase leak exposed government-held assets, and the World Gold Council released a framework for tokenized gold.
White House pushes unified AI framework across federal agencies
The White House has introduced a national AI framework aimed at creating a unified federal approach to artificial intelligence, warning that a patchwork of state-level rules could slow innovation and weaken US competitiveness. The proposal calls on Congress to preempt inconsistent state regulations and establish clear nationwide standards.
Key priorities include protecting children, addressing intellectual property concerns, safeguarding free speech and supporting workforce adaptation as AI adoption accelerates. The framework also emphasizes reducing regulatory friction and expanding infrastructure, such as data centers, to support AI growth.
While the framework doesn’t address crypto directly, its push for federal preemption over state rules echoes similar debates in digital asset regulation, where industry players have also called for clearer nationwide standards.
South Korea seeks private crypto custodian after security lapses
South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is moving to select a private custody provider for seized crypto assets after a February press release exposed a wallet recovery phrase and triggered the unauthorized transfer of confiscated tokens.
On Feb. 26, the NTS accidentally exposed a crypto wallet seed phrase in an official press release, resulting in the unauthorized transfer of crypto tokens valued at about $4.8 million. The release included an image of a Ledger cold wallet and a sheet of paper showing the mnemonic phrase without being blurred.
Citing people familiar with the matter, ZDNet Korea reported that the agency is reviewing a plan to outsource custody of confiscated crypto and is drafting selection criteria for providers. The NTS is reportedly aiming to select a provider within the first half of 2026.
The agency plans to evaluate candidates based on several factors, including security requirements, company size, and whether the firm holds insurance under South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act, ZDNet Korea reported.
Gold trade group releases framework for tokenized gold
The World Gold Council, a major gold trade association, and the Boston Consulting Group proposed a new platform on Thursday to modernize how the precious metal operates in digital financial systems.
The pair published a white paper on “Gold as a Service,” a new platform to “support the issuance and operation of scalable, interoperable digital gold products” that would connect the physical custody of gold with the digital systems used to issue and manage tokenized gold products.
“By standardizing essential market processes such as custody coordination, reconciliation, compliance, and redemption, the model aims to reduce operational complexity, improve access, and enable greater consistency across digital gold products,” the World Gold Council said.
Tether and Paxos have launched crypto-native tokenized gold products with their own custody, compliance and redemption models, but the World Gold Council’s standard could have more sway with institutions due to the trade group’s prominence.
