Scenius Sync (Issue #113)

Celsius Sues Tether, New IRS Crypto Tax Form, SEC Subpoenas Crypto VCs, Polymarket-Perplexity Partnership, Optimism's Superchain Roadmap, & Ripple Begins Stablecoin Testing

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.

If you find this newsletter valuable, please subscribe and share The Scenius Sync with your network 💪

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Essential News 🗞

1. Celsius sues Tether, seeking $3.5B over Bitcoin collateral sell-off

   • Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Celsius has filed a lawsuit against Tether alleging misappropriation of assets and seeking approximately $3.5 billion in BTC returns, damages and legal fees. Tether reports that Celsius, in its lawsuit, seeks the return of approximately $2.4 billion worth of Bitcoin. The lawsuit alleges that, during Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings, Tether loaned it a specific amount of Tether USDT (the company’s stablecoin backed by the United States dollar). In return for this loan, Celsius sent Tether 39,542.42 BTC in collateral. As the price of Bitcoin dropped, and per the two parties’ agreement, Celsius was required to provide further collateral to avoid liquidation. According to the lawsuit, Celsius claims Tether liquidated the BTC at a price point that almost exactly covered the debt without giving it the opportunity to provide additional collateral.

2. IRS Shares New Crypto Tax Form, Invites Industry Input

   • The new U.S. tax form for crypto investors' brokerage accounts is out, and it's been narrowed in significant ways from an earlier version. Crypto's 1099 form will "bring more ease and clarity" for those paying U.S. crypto taxes, according to IRS officials.

   • Helpful tweet addressing the changes here.

3. Crypto.com, Gemini join Coinbase in opposing CFTC proposal that could ban prediction markets

   • A proposed rule change by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that could threaten prediction markets such as the rapidly-growing Polymarket in the U.S. has been met with opposition from companies including Gemini, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Coinbase, and notable individuals such as influential blogger Scott Alexander. 

4. Crypto executives meet White House officials to discuss policy, grievances during virtual roundtable

   • Government officials, such as U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard, White House deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and Vice President Kamala Harris’ director of legislative affairs Kristine Lucius, attended the virtual meeting. Thursday’s meeting was different from last month’s because Brainard and Adeyemo were there, a source familiar said.  There was a bit of "airing of grievances," but they also spoke about use cases and policy outcomes, including what regulators should be looking for and a focus on jobs and economic impact, the source said. 

5. SEC subpoenas three crypto VCs in sign crackdown is gaining pace

   • The U.S. SEC has subpoenaed at least three crypto venture capital firms this year, according to a source familiar with the SEC’s investigation. The SEC’s investigation of crypto VCs signals that the agency is now looking at the beginning of the crypto capital funnel — the investors from whom the vast majority of crypto startups get their initial cash.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Prediction marketplace Polymarket partners with Perplexity to show news summaries

   • Prediction marketplace Polymarket, which lets users bet on real-world events, is partnering with AI-powered search engine Perplexity to display news summaries of events. When users click on an event on Polymarket, they will now see a summary of news related to the event based on search results from Perplexity. There’s also a search box that you can use to ask more questions.

2. Optimism is developing a native interoperability system for Layer 2 chains

   • Optimism developers revealed a roadmap plan to introduce native interoperability across Layer 2 chains in the ecosystem — such as OP Mainnet, Zora, Base and others. Layer 2 chains within the Optimism ecosystem — also called the Superchain — currently rely on the Layer 1 Ethereum mainnet for secure communication and asset transfer, which results in fragmented assets and users. The developers plan to introduce native interoperability in the Superchain, which aims to enable asset and user portability across chains and make them accessible anywhere through integrated applications. The objective of the interoperability solution is to make the Superchain operate like a single blockchain — allowing users, assets, and developers to move seamlessly across networks.

3. Marathon Digital intends to offer $250 million in covertible notes to buy more BTC

   • Marathon Digital Holdings has announced its intention to offer $250 million worth of convertible senior notes in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers. It plans to use the net proceeds from the sale to acquire additional bitcoin and for general corporate purposes.

4. Ripple Begins Testing Its Stablecoin on Ethereum and XRP Ledger

   • Ripple, the enterprise-focused blockchain service closely related to the XRP Ledger (XRP), said on Friday that it began testing its stablecoin on the Ethereum mainnet and XRP Ledger. "Ripple USD is currently in its beta phase and is being rigorously tested by our enterprise partners," the company said in a blog post. "This phase is crucial for ensuring that the stablecoin meets the highest standards of security, efficiency, and reliability before it becomes widely available, and after receipt of regulatory approval." The announcement came after Ripple laid out its plans in April to enter the rapidly growing stablecoin market with its own U.S. dollar-pegged token. Stablecoins are a $160 billion market currently and a key piece of infrastructure in the crypto economy used for trading and payments on blockchains.

5. EigenLayer competitor Symbiotic launches devnet, plans full mainnet in Q3

   • Restaking protocol Symbiotic has launched its devnet on the Ethereum Holesky test network ahead of a planned mainnet release later in Q3. Symbiotic allows users to deposit assets to secure third-party protocols, competing with EigenLayer. It sets itself apart by supporting a variety of ERC-20 tokens beyond just ether and specific derivatives.