Scenius Sync (Issue #110)

With Biden Exit Kamala Urged To Support Crypto & Change Perception, Messari CEO Selkis Resigns After Inflammatory Tweets, ETH ETFs To Begin Trading Today, & Moon or Doom Guessing Game on Telegram?

Scenius: The intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. The communal form of the concept of genius.

Welcome to The Scenius Sync.

Our mission with this concise publication is twofold:

1. Share the essential stories driving the crypto industry and markets.

2. Highlight innovative applications and mainstream adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.

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Essential News 🗞

1. Kamala Harris Urged by Lobbying Group to Support Crypto and 'Change Perception'

   • The Digital Chamber, a digital asset trade association, is urging presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to embrace the U.S. cryptocurrency industry as part of her would-be presidential campaign, following President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection. In the letter sent on Monday, the Digital Chamber recommends that Vice President Harris foster “open dialogue” with key crypto industry leaders, as well as include pro-crypto language in the Democratic Party’s platform. The trade group also advises Harris to select a pro-crypto running mate in a bid to repair her party’s rocky relationship with digital asset holders and companies.

2. Empire Newsletter: Why bitcoin fell after Biden’s exit

   • Bitcoin’s immediate reaction was negative, shedding roughly 2.5%. But it didn’t stay that way, we were up slightly on the day, and still ahead by around 8% over the last week. ETH saw a similar response, though it’s now hovering around $3,400. “This is [net or net-negative] for BTC, short term, as Trump was hoping Biden would stay in the race, as he would be an easy opponent to beat in November,” Rich Rosenblum, co-CEO of GSR said. He added that Trump’s expectations were clear in his choice of vice president. 

   • Additional coverage from CoinDesk here: Bitcoin Briefly Tops $68K as Biden Dropout Riles Up Crypto Bulls and The Block here: Bitcoin to benefit from 'the Trump trade' ahead of November US elections, analysts say

3. Ryan Selkis Quits as Messari CEO Following Inflammatory Tweets

   • Ryan Selkis stepped down as CEO of Messari, the crypto data and research firm he co-founded, following a series of inflammatory tweets about politics, civil war and his desire for an immigrant to get expelled from the country. He announced his departure Friday on X, the social media platform where he pumped out a flood of controversial messages this week.

4. Gemini reaches settlement with IRA Financial Trust over $36M exploit

   • Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has reached an agreement with retirement and pension platform IRA Financial Trust, concluding a lawsuit initially filed in 2022. In a July 18 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Analisa Torres dismissed the case filed by IRA Financial Trust with prejudice after the firm and Gemini Trust said they had agreed on a settlement. The lawsuit, initially brought by IRA in June 2022, alleged that Gemini misrepresented security protections.

5. WazirX halts trading following $230 million exploit, offers bounty for recovered funds

   • Indian crypto exchange WazirX, following the $230 million exploit it experienced on July 18, has halted trading across its platform. The company has also announced a recovery program, offering up to 10% of the hacked total ($23 million) for recovering the funds and up to $10,000 for assistance freezing the funds. However, evidence suggests North Korea’s Lazarus Group is the attacker, and assets are very rarely recovered from the group’s hacks. 

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Ethereum ETFs To Begin Trading Today, Cboe Confirms

   • Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will be listed for trading on Tuesday, July 23, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (or Cboe) confirmed Friday via notices posted to its website. Cboe said that the following spot Ethereum ETFs will begin trading on Tuesday: 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF (CETH), Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET), Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF (QETH), and VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV).

   • Additional coverage from Decrypt here on why Ethereum ETFs May See ‘Lower-Than-Anticipated Demand’

2. Asia’s First Inverse Bitcoin ETF To Launch Today In Hong Kong

   • The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) is poised to make history today with the launch of Asia's first inverse Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) Inverse Product will begin trading on July 23rd. The ETF will invest in short positions on Bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This gives traders exposure to the daily inverse performance of the underlying Bitcoin futures index.

3. Coinbase alumni raise $21 million for web3 gaming infrastructure startup NPC Labs

   • NPC Labs has raised $21 million in funding from Pantera Capital, Hashed and others. The web3 gaming infrastructure startup, co-founded by three former Coinbase employees, aims to increase the adoption of on-chain gaming via B3.fun, a scaling platform built on Base. Pantera Capital led the latest seed round worth $18 million, bringing NPC Labs' total funding to $21 million, including a recent pre-seed round worth $3 million, the startup said Monday. Other investors in the rounds include Makers Fund, Hashed, Collab+Currency, Sfermion, Mirana Ventures, Bitscale Capital and Mantle EcoFund.

4. ‘Moon’ or ‘Doom’? OKX Launches Bitcoin Price Guessing Game on Telegram

   • Crypto exchange OKX has launched a Telegram game that asks gamers to guess Bitcoin’s price every five seconds. The game also asks users to link their OKX account for future “surprises,” suggesting potential benefits for players. This comes amid an explosion of Telegram-based crypto games such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat. Most of these have been tap-to-earn games which prompt the player to furiously click a digital coin to earn in-game points—which, in some cases, convert to a crypto airdrop further down the line. 

5. Cosmos' Keplr wallet to add EVM support in bid to serve modular community

   • Keplr, the most popular wallet app on the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, is adding support for Ethereum and its Layer 2 blockchains — in a move to strengthen its position as a multi-layer wallet solution. Its latest integration is expected to allow users to view and manage Ethereum-based assets directly within the Keplr interface. According to Josh Lee (co-creator), the integration of Ethereum support with Keplr is expected to draw a broader user base — particularly appealing to those active across Cosmos and chains based on execution environments such as Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Additionally, it aims to support emerging modular projects that utilize both ecosystems.