The Associated Press (AP) announced a non-fungible token (NFT) drop this week to celebrate 175 years of photojournalism. The organization plans to auction 10 NFTs that represent iconic photographs taken throughout history, some coupled with music scores. Proceeds from the auction will support the organization's journalism efforts.

In Europe, the Italian post office, which operates an online marketplace in addition to mail delivery, has turned to Hyperledger Besu to build an integrated loyalty points system. According to a press release, the system allows customers to accrue points through merchant apps and convert those points into fungible loyalty tokens that can be redeemed across the platform for a variety of rewards.

Spanish economic authorities have launched a royal decree that grants the country's financial services regulator the authority to regulate crypto-asset advertising. According to reports, the decree is based on the premise that cryptocurrencies pose risks related to anonymity, self-custody of private keys and accessibility.

In the United Kingdom, a self-regulating ad industry organization recently banned an advertising campaign by Luno, a cryptocurrency exchange, "for being misleading and irresponsible." The ads reportedly encouraged people to buy bitcoin, stating that "it's time to buy," without warning consumers that the asset is highly volatile and risky. The exchange has reportedly agreed not to post such ads in the future and to include a "risk warning" on future ads.

According to a recent press release from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers have lost more than $80 million to cryptocurrency scams since October 2020 – a more than 10-fold year-over-year increase. The median amount individual consumers reportedly lost as a result of the scams was $1,900. According to the FTC, consumers between the ages of 20 and 49 "were over five times more likely than older age groups to report losing money to a cryptocurrency investment scam."

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