The Italian municipality of Fornelli in the Molise region of Italy will be dedicating a monument to pseudonymous Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

In an April 23 Facebook post from the municipality, Fornelli said it plans to unveil the Satoshi artwork on May 1. Details surrounding the monument were unclear in the announcement, but the municipality said it had been designed by artist Mattia Pannoni and financed by the local government. 

“It is important, indeed fundamental, as an administration, to take into consideration all the new ideas that come from our young people,” said Fornelli Mayor Giovanni Tedeschi.

According to the local government, Fornelli has the “highest density of Bitcoin adoption in the world” among its roughly 1,800 residents. Other regions have attempted to use BTC or other cryptocurrencies to attract visitors, including the Bitcoin Beach area of El Salvador and the Swiss city of Zug, which accepts crypto payments for many local goods and services. 

Portraying a faceless individual through art

The identity of Satoshi, whether a single individual or a group of people, remains one of the biggest mysteries in the crypto space since the publication of the Bitcoin white paper in 2008. 

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Many artists, both crypto investors and otherwise, have released artwork attempting to represent the pseudonymous creator through statues and digital images. A common theme in these pieces is showing Satoshi without any clearly defined facial features, sometimes wearing a hoodie or working on a computer. 

According to the announcement, the monument will be unveiled in the Piazza Umberto I area of Fornelli on May 1.

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The White House said on April 24 that it received more than 10,000 public comments on its planned artificial intelligence action plan, indicating widespread interest in the technology as the global race for AI leadership accelerates.

Among the stakeholders providing inputs were AI giants such as OpenAI, Meta, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. In addition, organizations in academia, non-profits, and industry associations also took part in the discussion.

A preliminary review of comments from major private-sector companies highlighted several recurring themes, including the need for greater investment in US energy resources to support AI growth, foreign policy efforts to enhance the global influence of American AI firms, and improved infrastructure to advance AI development domestically.

Excerpt from Meta’s comments. Source: NITRD

In addition, many companies lobbied for an open, innovative framework to guide the American AI industry and provide safeguards to individuals.

The White House issued a request for comments on Feb. 6. The administration says these comments “will help define the priority policy actions needed to sustain and enhance America’s AI dominance.” US President Donald Trump has pledged to make the United States the “world capital” of AI and crypto.

National security concerns

National security emerged as a key concern among companies submitting feedback. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz wrote that “AI model development is an issue of national concern that should be regulated on a national level. It is critical to American national security, geopolitical objectives, and the nation’s economic and social welfare.”

OpenAI also raised the issue, explicitly naming China as a competitor with “strategic advantages,” including the capacity, as an “authoritarian state,” to rapidly mobilize resources.

In January 2025, Chinese company DeepSeek launched their R1 model, sparking alarm in the US tech sector and triggering volatility in domestic equity markets.

AI and crypto are widely viewed as two of the most transformative emerging technologies, with growing overlap of AI-powered agents and digital financial products.

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The US Federal Reserve has announced it would withdraw guidance for banks engaging in crypto asset and stablecoin-related activities.

”The Board is rescinding its 2022 supervisory letter establishing an expectation that state member banks provide advance notification of planned or current crypto-asset activities,” the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve explained in an April 24 statement.

Any crypto-related activities will now be monitored through the Federal Reserve’s normal supervisory process, it said.

The Federal Reserve is also rescinding its 2023 supervisory letter that impacted how state banks could engage in stablecoin activities.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.