Scenius Sync (Issue # 150)
Trump To Host Gala for Top $TRUMP Holders, Atkins Slams Gensler Regime, Fed Lifts Crypto Restrictions, AT&T Partners With Helium, & Cantor Strikes $3.6B Crypto Venture Deal with Softbank & Tether
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Essential News 🗞
Trump to host gala for top 220 $TRUMP memecoin holders at D.C. golf club
President Donald Trump will host the top 220 owners of his memecoin at his private golf club in the nation's capital. Trump, who launched his own memecoin called $TRUMP, days before his inauguration in January, will host a gala on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., for the “top 220 average $TRUMP holders” over a designated period, according to the project’s website. Holders are encouraged to "hold as much $TRUMP as you can" from April 23 to May 12, which will determine the ranking.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins Slams Gensler Regime for 'Stifling' Crypto Innovation
Newly sworn-in SEC Chair Paul Atkins gave his first full address Friday, praising the Commission’s recent pro-crypto work in his absence, and condemning the agency’s previous moves against the industry under previous Chair Gary Gensler and the Joe Biden administration. “Market participants engaging with this technology deserve clear regulatory rules of the road,” Atkins said of crypto, from the agency’s Washington headquarters. “Innovation has unfortunately been stifled for the last several years due to market and regulatory uncertainty that, unfortunately, the SEC has fostered.”
The comments came ahead of the SEC’s third dedicated crypto roundtable, which today focused on crypto custody—that is, the business of securing and storing crypto assets on behalf of clients. During his brief address, Atkins also praised the work of fellow Republican commissioner, Hester Peirce, who has led the agency’s new crypto task force since January.
Fed Lifts Crypto Restrictions for Banks in Landmark Shift
The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced the withdrawal of guidance for banks related to their crypto asset and stablecoin activities, with changes to its expectations for these engagements. According to a statement, the move aims to ensure its supervisory approach remains aligned with evolving risks and to support innovation within the banking system further.
See press release here.
Arizona Legislature passes bitcoin reserve bill, sends it to governor’s desk: Bloomberg Government
The bill, called the Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, was passed on Monday by Arizona’s state legislature, Bloomberg Government reported. If signed by Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, the state would be the first to require public funds to invest in bitcoin.
Veteran crypto lawyer Marco Santori joined Pantera Capital as a general partner after serving five years as Kraken’s top legal officer. Santori is known for building Kraken’s legal division and influencing crypto policies in Washington D.C., including as an architect of the Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) framework.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
Cantor strikes $3.6bn crypto venture deal with SoftBank and Tether
Brandon Lutnick, son of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, is partnering with SoftBank, Tether and Bitfinex on a bitcoin acquisition vehicle to capitalise on a cryptocurrency revival under US President Donald Trump. The consortium announced on Wednesday that it was creating a multibillion-dollar bitcoin acquisition vehicle called Twenty One Capital that will absorb billions in cryptocurrency from the other partners with the aim of buying up more bitcoin. Earlier on Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that a deal was near. The vehicle will launch with 42,000 bitcoin, making it the third biggest reserve of the cryptocurrency globally. It will be formed from a reverse merger with the younger Lutnick’s special purpose acquisition vehicle — Cantor Equity Partners, which raised $100mn last year — with the aim of finding a target company.
AT&T Partners with DePIN WiFi Provider Helium Network
Decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) protocol Helium has partnered with AT&T Wireless to provide the telecoms giant’s customers access to Helium’s network of more than 90,000 decentralized hotspots.
Helium’s Mobile Network provides WiFi services to cellular devices, including Helium’s own cellular network and now AT&T customers. When a device comes within range of the WiFi hotspots, which can be owned by anyone, it automatically connects to the Helium network. The hotspots are often deployed in high-traffic areas like restaurants, coffee shops, malls, convention centers, downtown areas — wherever people congregate.
CME Group plans to launch XRP futures, its fourth-ever crypto add
CME Group, the company behind the largest U.S. derivatives exchange, plans to launch futures within a month, pending regulatory review by the CFTC, according to an announcement on Thursday. If approved, CME XRP futures would be the fourth straight-up cryptocurrency available on the marketplace, which also lists BTC, ETH and SOL products. The move, coming shortly after listing Solana futures, is representative of the CME Group’s increasing interest in crypto amid shifting regulatory circumstances in the U.S.
PayPal, Coinbase partner to eliminate trading fees on PYUSD in bid to boost adoption
PayPal and Coinbase have partnered to remove trading fees from the stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD) to boost its adoption, the companies announced Thursday. Users can now buy, sell and trade PYUSD on Coinbase without any platform fees and redeem PYUSD 1:1 for USD directly on the exchange, according to a Thursday release. The two firms also said they are exploring novel PYUSD use cases on decentralized finance platforms. "For years, we've worked with Coinbase to enable a best-in-class integration to provide a simple, familiar way for PayPal users to fund crypto purchases on Coinbase. Our objectives aligned further as we deployed PYUSD in combination with our payments expertise enabling greater commerce applications," said PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss in a statement.
Crypto VC RockawayX raises $125 million for second fund to primarily invest in Solana projects
RockawayX, a crypto venture capital firm with over $2 billion in assets under management, has closed its second fund, raising $125 million. The new fund will back early-stage crypto startups, with a strong focus on the Solana ecosystem, the firm said Thursday. Other target areas include decentralized finance (DeFi), infrastructure protocols and decentralized networks.