Scenius Sync (Issue #119)

Kamala Courting Crypto, OpenSea Hit With Class Action Lawsuit, Celestia Foundation Raises $100M & Wen Polymarket Token?

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. Harris Says Her White House Will 'Invest in America's Future' Which Includes 'Digital Assets'

   • Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris made her first remarks on crypto before donors in New York City, according to a report from Bloomberg. "To build that opportunity economy, I will bring together labor, small business, founders and innovators, and major companies. We will partner together to invest in America's competitiveness, to invest in America's future," Bloomberg quoted Harris as saying. "We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting consumers and investors. We will create a safe business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road."

   • More coverage from Decrypt here: Kamala Harris Courts AI, Crypto Industries During Fundraising Event in New York

2. Will Caroline Ellison Go to Prison? What You Need to Know Ahead of Sentencing

   • Caroline Ellison is used to playing something of a supporting role in business and in life: About three years ago, the twenty-something math whiz became co-CEO of crypto quant trading firm Alameda Research alongside Sam Trabucco, though she later took over the role fully. Before that, she had carved out a place for herself in the inner circle of Alameda’s sister exchange, FTX—cementing her role as the dutiful lieutenant, lover, and confidant to its founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.  But on Tuesday, Ellison will be the one taking center stage at a federal court in Manhattan, where she’ll be sentenced for her role in FTX’s multi-billion-dollar collapse. Bankman-Fried got 25 years in prison for his crimes, though he recently appealed. Will Ellison face a similar fate?

3. OpenSea NFT Marketplace Hit With Class Action Suit Over Alleged Securities Sales

   • The Moskowitz Law Firm filed another class-action lawsuit against a crypto firm Thursday, this time alleging that OpenSea’s customers were sold NFTs as unregistered securities. The lawsuit brought in a Florida federal court claims that two residents of the Sunshine State sustained damages as a result purchasing NFTs on the platform, which served as a go-to place to purchase digital art and collectibles when the NFT market ran red-hot in 2021 and 2022.

4. CFTC Wins $36 Million Judgment Against New York-Based Crypto Scammer

   • A federal judge has ordered a fraudster to pay over $36 million in fines and restitution for his part in a fraudulent crypto and forex scheme. According to a September 20 announcement by the U.S. Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC), William Koo Ichioka was ordered to pay $31 million in restitution to defrauded victims of his scheme, and a further $5 million civil penalty. Ichioka was also barred from trading in CFTC-regulated markets and from registering with the CFTC under the terms of the court order.

5. Telegram Will Share User Data With Authorities in Crime Crackdown After CEO Arrest

   • Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said Monday that the popular messaging platform will now share user details with authorities of those who violate the rules of the app. The move comes following his own arrest by French authorities last month, due in part to a lack of cooperation over illicit activities allegedly taking place on the platform. Durov said in a post on Telegram that the company had updated its terms of service, and that it is now actively blocking the ability to search for illicit goods and activities via search. Users who still try to share illegal content to be accessible via Telegram search could now have their IP addresses and phone numbers passed to authorities.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Celestia Foundation raises $100 million in a round led by Bain Capital Crypto

   • The Celestia Foundation, the organization primarily behind the modular blockchain network, has raised $100 million in a round led by Bain Capital Crypto. Syncracy Capital, 1kx, Robot Ventures, Placeholder and others participated in the round, which brings the foundation’s total financing to $155 million.  Celestia, launched in October 2023, is a network designed to help other blockchain’s scale by offloading their data requirements. Its “data availability sampling” technology enables users to verify large blocks without downloading all the data. 

2. Bitcoin: A Unique Diversifier

   • In this piece, BlackRock delves into why bitcoin’s appeal to investors lies in its detachment from traditional risk and return drivers.

   • More involving BlackRock here: SEC Greenlights Nasdaq Listing of Options for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF

     • The U.S. SEC has approved a rule change that allows Nasdaq’s International Securities Exchange to list and trade options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), BlackRock’s widely-traded exchange-traded fund.  Its decision marks another step in expanding the range of derivative products linked to Bitcoin, providing investors with additional tools for managing exposure to the world’s largest crypto.

     • More on why this matters courtesy of our friend Jeff Park at BItwise: Bitcoin ETF Options: The Catalyst for Unprecedented Volatility, Market Transformation, and Opportunity

3. BNY Mellon Cleared For Bitcoin Custody And Institutional Crypto Services

   • In a significant development for Bitcoin, the broader crypto market and the traditional banking industry, BNY Mellon has been identified as the first bank to receive an exemption from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121. 

4. Polymarket considers token launch to raise over $50 million

   • Polymarket is considering a token launch of more than $50 million to potentially help operate its crypto betting platform, according to The Information, which cited anonymous sources.  "Investors in the round will receive token warrants, which grant them the right to purchase tokens if Polymarket launches them at a later date," the report said, attributing the sources. "The prediction site could use the tokens as a way for users to validate the outcome of real-world events, one of the people said. Polymarket has not made a decision regarding tokens and there’s no guarantee of a launch." In May, Polymarket raised $45 million in a Series B funding round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and existing investors 1confirmation and ParaFi, with participation from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Dragonfly and Eventbrite’s co-founder Kevin Hartz.

5. DEX aggregator Jupiter acquires SolanaFM, Coinhall

   • Jupiter co-founder Siong Ong announced Friday at the Solana Breakpoint event in Singapore that the decentralized exchange aggregator has acquired blockchain explorer SolanaFM. “By joining forces with Jupiter, we’ll focus on 10x-ing the data and infrastructure capabilities on Jupiter,” SolanaFM said in an X post. SolanaFM, which raised $4.5 million from SBI Group in 2022, allows users to access and interact with Solana data through its indexer and explorer tools.  “We are also buying Coinhall, the number one aggregator across Cosmos,” Jupiter’s Ong said during his keynote speech at Breakpoint. Coinhall, an onchain trading terminal, provides swaps across decentralized exchanges on Solana and Cosmos blockchains. According to Ong, Coinhall has over 225,000 users across 23 chains.  The team did not reveal the exact deal terms of the two acquisitions.