Scenius Sync (Issue #118)

Token 2049 In Singapore, Mashinsky Faces 115 Years & Seeks Supportive Testimony, Coinbase Launches cbBTC, Paypal/Venmo Integrate ENS For Crypto Payments & Polymarket Nears $1B In Election Bets

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. Token 2049 Singapore Taking Place In Singapore Throughout the Week

   • This week in Singapore the industry's largest Asian conference will be taking place with over 20,000+ attendees representing 7000+ companies. This is the premier crypto event, organized annually in Dubai and Singapore, where founders and executives of the leading Web3 companies and projects share their view on the industry. The conference will shine a light on global developments, while taking a unique and widening perspective on the ecosystem and its vast opportunities.

2. Former Celsius CEO Mashinsky seeks testimony from six witnesses as he faces 115-year prison sentence

   • Former CEO Alex Mashinsky did not mean to harm anyone, his lawyers said in a memorandum filed on Friday. Mashinsky’s lawyers asked the New York district court to allow for witnesses, ranging from the crypto lender’s chief financial officer to chief revenue offer, to testify in his criminal trial.

3. New bill proposes joint SEC-CFTC committee to shape US crypto regulations

   • A newly introduced bill aims to create a joint committee between the U.S. SEC and the CFTC to study digital assets. House Financial Services Committee member John Rose introduced his bill on Thursday, called the Bridging Regulation and Innovation for Digital Global and Electronic Digital Assets, or the "BRIDGE" Digital Assets Act. "The current heavy-handed, regulation-by-enforcement approach isn’t working and is instead encouraging investment in this key innovation overseas," the Tennessee Republican said in a statement. "The Joint Advisory Committee on Digital Assets will provide a framework for the government and private sector partners to cooperate on a path toward success for the regulatory landscape of digital assets and private sector participants.”

4. Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals Fraud Conviction, Requests New Trial

   • FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has formally appealed his fraud conviction, requesting a new trial and accusing the judge overseeing his case of being unfairly biased against him. Last November, a New York jury convicted Bankman-Fried of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of his crypto exchange in November 2022. In March, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for his crimes. In the 102-page appeal filed Friday afternoon in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued Judge Kaplan was unfair to the FTX founder throughout the trial, making “biting comments undermining the defense” and “deriding” his testimony in front of the jury.

5. MicroStrategy buys additional 18,300 bitcoin for $1.1 billion, taking holdings to 244,800 BTC

   • Business intelligence firm and corporate bitcoin holder MicroStrategy acquired an additional 18,300 for approximately $1.11 billion at an average price of $60,408 per bitcoin between Aug. 6 and Sept. 12, according to an SEC filing on Friday. The company now holds 244,800 BTC, worth roughly $14 billion. MicroStrategy’s total holdings were bought at an average price of $38,585 per bitcoin, a total cost of around $9.45 billion, including fees and expenses, according to the company's founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Coinbase launches 'cbBTC' wrapped Bitcoin digital asset

   • Crypto exchange Coinbase has launched its cbBTC token—a wrapped version of Bitcoin —on the Ethereum network and its layer-2 scaling network Base.

     According to the Sept. 12 launch announcement, cbBTC is backed 1:1 with Bitcoin held by Coinbase and has no separate order book or trading pairs on the exchange’s platform. Coinbase’s wrapped Bitcoin works by automatically minting cbBTC at a 1:1 ratio when a user sends Bitcoin to a Base or Ethereum address. The opposite is also true; when a user sends cbBTC to a Coinbase address, the tokenized Bitcoin will automatically convert to standard Bitcoin. Tokenized versions of Bitcoin exist to add decentralized finance functionality to the scarce digital asset.

2. Paypal, Venmo integrate Ethereum Name Service for crypto payments

   • Paypal and Venmo have integrated the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) into their payments platforms, ENS Labs announced Tuesday. ENS is a decentralized naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain that gives readable names to crypto addresses. Now users of Paypal and Venmo can enter the recipient’s ENS name directly in the search field when sending crypto, and the payment platforms will automatically identify the wallet addresses linked to the ENS. The feature will be made available for U.S. users first, according to the release. ENS Labs said the new feature will reduce the risk of errors in crypto transactions on Paypal and Venmo, as well as make it easier for users to manage their wallet addresses. Prior to the integration, crypto transactions on the two platforms would involve users having to type, paste or scan QR codes of external wallets to move funds.

3. Circle partners with Sony’s blockchain lab on USDC expansion 

   • Stablecoin issuer and fintech firm Circle has entered into a collaboration with Sony Block Solutions Labs to expand USDC adoption on the firm’s layer-2 blockchain, Soneium. On Sept. 15, Circle announced the partnership with Sony’s blockchain division to integrate its Bridged USDC Standard and establish the stablecoin as one of Soneium’s primary tokens for value exchange.

4. Polymarket approaches $1 billion in bets for 2024 presidential election winner

   • The decentralized prediction platform Polymarket accumulated a nearly $900 million bet for the winner of the United States 2024 presidential election.  U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris leads the way with an estimated 50% chance of winning and a bet surpassing $127 million, according to the platform. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump comes in a close second at 49% winning odds and a nearly $144 million bet. Trump had initially been leading Harris in the Polymarket bet, but Harris flipped Trump on Aug. 12 when the prediction market for the winner was $572 million, The Block previously reported. 

   • In related news, the CFTC claims this ‘Explosion’ in election gambling will harm public interest’ and Crypto-friendly Rep. Torres calls on CFTC to accept Kalshi ruling and focus on unregulated election betting

5. Multicoin Led $10M Raise for Crypto-Incentivized Internet Infrastructure Network Pipe

   • Crypto venture giant Multicoin led a $10 million fundraise for the builders of Pipe, a proposed "content delivery network" (CDN) that uses tokens to incentivize people hosting internet infrastructure. The project will rely on the Solana blockchain, according to a press release. It is planning to launch a testnet at the Breakpoint conference in Singapore.