Scenius Sync (Issue #115)

Telegram CEO Arrest In France Draws Concerns, Kraken Case Going to Trial, Trump Promotes Son's Crypto Project, Sony Teases Layer 2, & Babylon Launches Phase 1

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. TON Down 14% as Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France

   • Toncoin posted double-digit loss as French media reported that Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in the country. The warrant for his arrest stems from a criminal complaint by OFIM, an office of the French national police formed in November 2023, which considers Durov complicit because of Telegram's lack of moderation, in drug trafficking, distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and fraud due to Telegram's lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement, according to French network TF1.

   • More coverage from The Block here: Telegram CEO's arrest tied to cybercrime investigation of unauthorized 'cryptology' services, say French authorities and Decrypt here: Telegram CEO Remains in Custody as French President Macron Denies 'Political' Move

2. SEC’s Case Against Kraken Will Proceed to Trial, California Judge Rules

   • A federal judge ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission had brought plausible allegations against crypto exchange Kraken, meaning its lawsuit will proceed to trial. The SEC sued Kraken last year, alleging the exchange failed to register as a broker, exchange or clearinghouse.

3. Donald Trump Promotes Sons' Crypto Project on Truth Social

   • Former president Donald Trump promoted an upcoming family crypto project called ‘The DeFiant Ones" to his 7.57 million followers through his Truth Social account on Thursday. This comes after his sons teased a "huge" crypto announcement earlier this month, later suggesting the project would lean into DeFi.

4. Crypto Firm Abra Settles SEC Charges, Agrees to Pay Unspecified Fine

   • The SEC on Monday filed charges against cryptocurrency investment firm Abra—aka Plutus Lending LLC—for allegedly conducting unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities, and functioning as an unregistered investment company. Abra has already settled the charges related to its Abra Earn service and has agreed to pay an unspecified fine. An Abra spokesperson confirmed the settlement agreement to Decrypt and said that the Earn service was shuttered in 2022.

5. Grayscale unveils investment trust for Avalanche’s AVAX token

   • Grayscale Investments has expanded its portfolio of crypto investment products and launched the Grayscale Avalanche Trust. This new investment vehicle aims to offer accredited investors exposure to AVAX the native token of Avalanche's blockchain network. The trust, now open for daily subscriptions, operates similarly to Grayscale’s existing single-asset investment products, focusing exclusively on AVAX.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Sony Group teases launch of Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain with Startale Labs

   • Global conglomerate Sony Group’s joint blockchain venture with Startale announced the development of Soneium, its first Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain that focuses on scalability and user-friendliness with an aim for mainstream adoption. Soneium, upon launch, plans to deliver Web3 apps across a multitude of fields including entertainment, gaming and finance, leveraging Sony’s global Web2 presence, Sony Block Solutions Labs said in a statement.

2. PayPal's Stablecoin Hits $1B Market Cap as Incentives Boost Activity on Solana

   • Payments giant PayPal's (PYPL) stablecoin PYUSD surpassed the $1 billion mark in market capitalization last week, CoinMarketCap shows. Issued in conjunction with fintech company Paxos, PYUSD achieved this milestone as it more than doubled its supply since June. Despite the broader crypto markets cooling off during the summer doldrums, PYUSD user activity also surged. Monthly active wallet addresses topped 25,000 in July, up from 9,400 in May, according to Visa's stablecoin dashboard created with Alluvium.

3. Babylon launches phase one of its self-custodial bitcoin staking mainnnet

   • The Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon has launched the first phase of its self-custodial mainnet. The platform has already amassed 12,710 stakers performing over 20,600 staking delegations. 

   • Link to the announcement on X.com here.

4. Tokenized Treasury Funds Pass $2B Market Cap Amid BlackRock’s Explosive Growth

   • Less than five months after hitting $1 billion in market capitalization, tokenized Treasury notes have doubled in size again, crossing the $2 billion level on Saturday, according to data from RWA.xyz. Tokenized Treasuries are digital representations of U.S. government bonds that can be traded as tokens on blockchains such as Ethereum, Stellar, Solana, Mantle and others. While $2 billion is an impressive milestone for the recently launched funds, there is far more potential given the Treasury market's massive size of $27 trillion. The largest one, BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), is a big factor in this year's soaring market cap. Just six weeks after its late March launch, BUIDL became the largest tokenized Treasury fund at $375 million in market cap. Assets now stand at $503 million. Competitors include Franklin Templeton’s OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) and Ondo’s U.S. Dollar Yield (USDY), both of which have also seen explosive growth.

5. Wyoming is pushing crypto payments and trying to beat the Fed to a digital dollar

   • As crypto investing becomes more mainstream and institutionalized with bitcoin ETFs, Wyoming is already pushing into the next phase of growth for crypto: consumer payments. The state is creating its own U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, called the Wyoming stable token, which it plans to launch in the first quarter of 2025 to give individuals and businesses a faster and cheaper way to transact while creating a new revenue stream for the state. The group behind it is hoping it can serve as the model for a digitized dollar at the federal level.