Gate News update, April 20. According to Gate market data, as of the time of writing, PIEVERSE (pieverse) is trading at $1.13. It is up 79.64% over the past 24 hours, with a highest price of $1.48 and a lowest price of $0.571. The 24-hour trading volume reached $14.2417 million. Its current market cap is approximately $197 million. Pieverse is an agent-native, compliance-first payment protocol stack. Its core mission is to build foundational payment infrastructure for Web3. By using on-chain verifiable invoices, receipts, and checks to timestamp value, it enables seamless, auditable transactions and perfectly connects blockchain data with real-world compliance needs (such as tax filings and audits). Pieverse is also rolling out x402b (an extension protocol supporting HTTP web payments) and the cross-project, general Timestamping Alliance. This information does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be mindful of risks related to market volatility.

World, a company co-founded by Sam Altman, announced new integrations with platforms like Zoom and Tinder, enhancing its World ID verification system. The upgraded protocol allows apps to use tiered identity checks, with 17.9 million users globally.

Anthropic has introduced an identity verification system for Claude, utilizing Persona for photo ID submission and potential live selfie checks to prevent misuse. Verification data remains confidential, with retries allowed for failed attempts. Accounts may face suspension for policy violations or age restrictions.

The Solana Foundation launched Solana Agent Skills on April 4, providing AI tools with prebuilt functional modules to simplify interaction with the Solana network. The official skill modules include error handling, security checks, and more. The community offers more than 60 skills, covering areas such as DeFi and payments.

Defense AI company Shield AI announced it has completed a $2.0 billion funding round, with its valuation jumping from $5.3 billion to $12.7 billion, a gain of 140%. The round was led by a major PE player, signaling a shift in the structure of defense technology investment. Shield AI and companies like Anduril have all achieved substantial valuation increases, indicating that the market’s outlook for defense AI firms has shifted toward evaluating platform potential. The U.S. military has also set AI and autonomous systems as a separate budget category, further driving the flow of defense technology funding.

Bitcoin mining pool operator Foundry Digital will launch a domestic Zcash mining pool in the United States next month, providing compliance review and operational control support for institutional and publicly listed company miners. The new mining pool will implement KYC and anti-money laundering checks, and mining rewards will be distributed through transparent addresses.

Some UK lawmakers have proposed a temporary ban on political cryptocurrency donations to address the risk of foreign funding interference, calling for a pause on such donations until clear regulatory guidelines are established. The proposal includes requiring donations to be processed through registered service providers and implementing strict source of funds verification. Compared to other countries, the UK places greater emphasis on political funding compliance and anti-money laundering checks, which could influence future policies.

ChainCatcher reports that according to JIN10, the Federal Reserve meeting minutes show that at the January meeting, Roberto Perli, the manager responsible for Federal Reserve financial market operations, noted that the New York Fed's trading desk conducted a "currency check" on the USD/JPY exchange rate, after which the dollar significantly depreciated. Following the release of the minutes, the USD/JPY briefly plummeted over 40 points, reaching a low of 154.33.

a16z Crypto's Daejun Park proposed that DeFi protocols should shift from "code is law" to "standards are law," strengthening security through standardized norms and immutability checks. The report shows that hackers exploited vulnerabilities to steal large amounts of funds, and developers are concerned about AI-assisted attacks. While immutability checks can improve security, they increase gas costs, which may lead to user attrition.

On January 14th, it was announced that the UK government has officially withdrawn the previously planned mandatory digital identity verification scheme. The scheme originally required all employees to use a government-issued digital identity credential for work authorization checks, no longer accepting traditional documents such as passports. Amid months of strong opposition, the government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer ultimately decided to make substantial concessions to this policy. Overall, this digital identity plan was seen as one of the flagship reforms of the UK government, but it sparked widespread controversy even before implementation. Several cross-party politicians, civil liberties organizations, and privacy advocates warned that a centralized digital identity system could become a highly sensitive data "honeypot," with potentially devastating consequences if attacked. Additionally, critics fear that the system could expand in the future to include housing, bank accounts, and even voting rights verification, evolving into an overreach surveillance tool.