Scenius Sync (Issue # 144)

Uyeda Directs SEC To Reexamine Custody Rule, Stablecoin Bill Advanced In Senate, Abu Dhabi's MGX Makes $2B Investment in Binance, Goldman Shareholder Letter Mentions Crypto & Solana Turns 5

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 💪

---

---

Essential News 🗞

1. Acting SEC chair Uyeda directs staff to reexamine proposed crypto custody rule

   • The custody rule, proposed under the former Biden administration and when Gary Gensler led the agency, would expand the current custody rule to include any client assets that an adviser has custody over. Acting Chair Uyeda’s move to revisit the rule marks the second time this month that the acting chair has asked the SEC staff to reconsider its rules.

2. Senate Banking Committee votes to advance stablecoin bill, collecting support from both Democrats and Republicans

   • The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance a monumental stablecoin bill, advancing it to the full Senate and gaining support from Democrats along the way. Introduced in February by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., the "GENIUS Act" (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) aims to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, defining when issuers fall under state or federal oversight. It has bipartisan support from Democratic Sens. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. The Senate Banking Committee voted Thursday 18-6 to advance that bill. Democrats Sens. Mark Warner and Andy Kim were among others to support the bill

3. CZ denies asking the president for a pardon amid reports Trump family held talks about taking a stake in Binance

   • Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao denied reports from The Wall Street Journal that he had pushed the Trump administration for a pardon. Earlier, the outlet also reported that representatives of the Trump family held exploratory talks with Binance to take a stake in the crypto exchange giant’s U.S. arm.

   • Relatedly, Trump-backed World Liberty seems to refute claims of Binance talks

4. House Bill to Build Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Has One Major Difference

   1. On Friday, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) introduced legislation in the House of Representatives that would enshrine into law President Donald Trump’s proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve—but the bill is crucially different from the legislation introduced in the Senate earlier this week. Unlike the Bitcoin Act put forth by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) on Tuesday, which would commit the U.S. government to buying up some $80 billion worth of Bitcoin, Donalds’ Reserve and Stockpile Act does not call for the purchase of a predetermined sum of BTC. Instead, Donalds’ proposed legislation, which is barely more than a page in length, would only codify into federal law Trump’s recent executive order that called for the creation of a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and separate Digital Asset Stockpile.

5. South Korea's central bank rules out bitcoin reserve possibility: report

   • The Bank of Korea (BOK) stated Sunday that it has not considered the possibility of incorporating bitcoin into its foreign exchange reserve, in an answer to a written query from a member of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee. The BOK cited bitcoin's high volatility as a primary reason for its negative stance on accruing the cryptocurrency, the Korea Economic Daily reported. The central bank expressed concern that volatility in the cryptocurrency market could lead to a significant surge in transaction costs when cashing out bitcoin, according to the news report.

---

Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Binance secures $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi’s MGX in landmark crypto deal

   • The crypto exchange Binance netted a $2 billion investment from MGX, a technology-focused investment firm in Abu Dhabi. This marks MGX's first investment into a crypto and blockchain firm, with MGX also acquiring a minority stake in Binance, according to a release from Binance. MGX's $2 billion investment in Binance also denotes the crypto exchange's first financing from an institutional investor. Through the investment and partnership, MGX and Binance aim to bolster AI, blockchain and financial innovation. The firms also conducted the investment via stablecoin, the release continues. "MGX’s investment in Binance reflects our commitment to advancing blockchain’s transformative potential for digital finance," said MGX Managing Director and CEO Ahmed Yahia in a statement. "As institutional adoption accelerates, the need for secure, compliant, and scalable blockchain infrastructure and solutions has never been greater."

2. Goldman Sachs Mentions Crypto in Shareholder Letter, Says Tech Raising Competition in Banking Industry

   • The financial services giant Goldman Sachs is telling shareholders that its competitors are now offering crypto products and services that the bank doesn’t. In its 2024 Annual Report, Goldman Sachs says in some circumstances, rival firms are offering products that clients may prefer, such as specific digital assets, which Goldman cannot or choose not to provide.

     According to the bank, the competition could help create better experiences for clients. Goldman Sachs goes on to say that blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies have enhanced rivalries within the banking industry.

3. Ethena and Securitize launch Converge, a new institutional-grade EVM chain for tokenized assets

   • Ethena Labs, the tokenization firm behind the synthetic dollar USDe and USDtb stablecoin backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, plans to move its $6 billion DeFi ecosystem to Converge, a new Ethereum-compatible blockchain it built in partnership with Securitize. Converge, built using the Ethereum Virtual Machine, aims to make DeFi more accessible to institutions by providing compliant settlement and custodial services, according to an announcement on Monday. The public network will integrate a native know-your-customer (KYC) wrapper and provide access to Ethena and Securitize’s whitelisted investment products.

4. Solana marks 5 year anniversary as network activity dips, Firedancer launch inches closer

   • Solana, the crypto industry’s sixth-most valuable blockchain by market capitalization, marked its 5 year annniversary on Sunday. User activity has dipped somewhat on the network as Pump.fun activity wanes; Saturday marked the lowest proportion of tokens graduating to Raydium since the platform’s launch last year. Jump Crypto’s Firedancer Solana client, currently in its testnet phase, is expected to launch this year.

   • In other Solana news, Solana futures debut today on CME: Here's what you need to know

5. MoonPay acquires stablecoin infrastructure firm Iron in a deal worth at least $100 million

   • The crypto payments firm MoonPay acquired the API-focused stablecoin infrastructure company Iron in a "9-figure" deal, meaning worth at least $100 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told The Block. MoonPay's acquisition of Iron is comparable to Stripe's acquisition of the stablecoin platform Bridge, and MoonPay's financial services will now include enterprise-grade stablecoin offerings. In October 2024, the payments firm Stripe acquired Bridge in a $1.1 billion deal — the largest crypto acquisition deal at the time — to expand Stripe's cryptocurrency payment services.