Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, PAC-backed candidates won big in Texas, with more election funding planned, Banca Sella gets MiCA clearance for crypto services in Italy, and President Donald Trump backed the CFTC in its jurisdiction battle over prediction markets.

PACs laud Texas primary wins, look to back more pro-crypto candidates

After six Republican and Democratic candidates supported by cryptocurrency-backed interest groups won primaries for US House of Representatives and Senate seats in Texas, one of the biggest political action committees (PACs) said it would “aggressively back leaders” supporting crypto policies in the future.

On Tuesday, candidates notched six wins for congressional runoff primaries in Texas, supported by media spending and endorsements by the crypto industry-affiliates Fairshake, Defend American Jobs, Protect Progress, Blockchain Leadership Fund and Fellowship PACs.

Democrat Christian Menefee primaried incumbent Al Green for Texas’ 18th congressional district and Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton won against incumbent Senator John Cornyn with more than 63% of the vote. Four other Republican candidates — Tom Sell, Alex Mealer, Jon Bonck and Carlos De La Cruz — also won in smaller districts after being the beneficiaries of thousands of dollars in media spending by Defend American Jobs.

US Federal Election Commission (FEC) records showed more than $10 million combined was spent on supportive media and ads by the crypto-aligned PACs for the six candidates. The Fairshake PAC alone reported more than $193 million in its war chest as of January. Following its spending in the 2024 election cycle, the PAC said it would use the funds to support pro-crypto candidates in the 2026 midterms.

Source: Follow The Crypto

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.