Scenius Sync (Issue # 159)
Scenius’ Fund Of Hedge Funds Winner of Annual Excellence Award, Bitcoin Tops $109K, NK Hackers Using Fake Zoom Updates, Dinari Nabs Broker-Dealer To Offer Tokenized Stocks & Robinhood Launches Layer 2
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:
Share the essential stories driving the crypto industry and markets.
Highlight innovative applications and mainstream adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.
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Essential News 🗞
Scenius Featured in Hedgeweek After Winning Award for Annual Excellence
Scenius Capital’s Digital Assets Opportunity Fund is the winner of the Fund of Funds of the Year for Annual Excellence Award at the Hedgeweek Global Digital Assets Awards 2025. Scenius DAOF provides investors with curated access to best-in-class crypto and blockchain technology opportunities via portfolio funds, co-investment, and direct investment. In this article, Ben Jacobs, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, outlines what gives the firm an edge in the market and how it’s positioned to benefit from the evolving regulatory environment.
Bitcoin Tops $109,000 After Senate Passes Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
The crypto market posted modest gains Wednesday, rebounding after two days of volatility. The uptick followed two major developments: the Senate’s passage of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBA) and the announcement of a new trade deal with Vietnam.
More from The Block here: Bitcoin regains $109,000 level on positive macro cues as market eyes next driver
Congress' Budget Bill Advances From Senate Without Crypto Tax Provision
The U.S. Senate narrowly advanced the major budget bill that underpins much of what President Donald Trump hopes to accomplish with the federal government, but it didn't include an amendment to address crypto taxation. The digital assets sector had hoped to see the addition of an initiative from Senator Cynthia Lummis, but it failed to make the cut of amendments that received votes overnight into Tuesday.
North Korean hackers use fake Zoom updates to deliver ‘NimDoor’ macOS malware targeting crypto firms
A North Korean threat group is infecting Apple devices with a new computer virus called NimDoor to infiltrate cryptocurrency companies and steal wallet credentials, security firm SentinelLabs warned in a research report. Attackers message targets on Telegram, a familiar social engineering tactic employed by cybercriminals. Hackers then organize a malicious meeting through Calendly and lure victims into downloading a bogus Zoom Update sideloaded with malware that runs without triggering Apple’s safety checks. The threat follows a string of DPRK exploits that have extracted over $1.6 billion from cryptocurrency firms in the first half of 2025, according to TRM Labs.
Along the same lines, Over 40 fake Firefox add-ons impersonating major crypto wallets linked to active credential theft campaign: report
New York-based law firm Pomerantz filed a class action lawsuit against Strategy, claiming the company made false and misleading statements about its bitcoin investment strategy. The lawsuit also alleges that Strategy failed to adequately disclose the impact of adopting new accounting standards.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
Dinari granted first broker-dealer registration to offer tokenized stocks
Dinari, a startup that offers blockchain-based U.S. stocks, has secured a broker-dealer registration for its subsidiary, a move the company says makes it the first tokenized equity platform to secure such approval in the United States. The move would allow San Francisco-based Dinari to offer stock trading via blockchain technology for the first time to investors in the U.S., an offering that crypto companies like Coinbase and Kraken are also actively exploring as firms look to capitalize on an evolving U.S. regulatory stance toward cryptocurrencies.
See X anouncement here.
BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF earns more revenue than its $624 billion S&P 500 fund: Bloomberg
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund is earning more than the firm’s $624-billion S&P 500 ETF, according to Bloomberg. The asset manager’s Bitcoin ETF (ticker IBIT) edges out its S&P 500 product in earned revenue thanks to a higher expense ratio of 0.25%, the report said. IBIT has over $70 billion in assets under management, making it by far the most popular ETF tracking Bitcoin.
Robinhood launches layer-2 blockchain for stock trading in Europe
Robinhood’s push into real-world assets (RWAs) is gaining momentum, with the digital brokerage launching a tokenization-focused layer-2 blockchain and introducing stock token trading for users in the European Union. Built on Arbitrum, the new layer-2 network will enable the issuance of over 200 US stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) tokens, giving European investors access to US assets, Robinhood announced on Monday. Robinhood’s stock tokens will have zero commissions and be available for trading 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Additional coverage here: Inside the Controversy Brewing Over Robinhood’s Tokenized Stocks
More on Robinhood’s push here: Robinhood Goes All In on Crypto With Major Product Push
Coinbase Acquires Liquifi to Help Early-Stage Web3 Firms Launch Tokens
Coinbase continues to build out its crypto empire, acquiring token management startup Liquifi just two months after its $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit.
Link to Coinbase blog announcement here.
REX-Osprey™ Launches First U.S. ETF with Solana Exposure plus Staking Rewards
REX-Osprey™, a strategic collaboration between REX Shares and Osprey Funds, today announced the launch of SSK, the REX-Osprey ™ Solana + Staking ETF, the first U.S.-listed ETF to give investors exposure to Solana (SOL) plus staking rewards in their securities brokerage accounts.
SSK provides investors with cost-effective and convenient exposure to Solana (SOL) by offering primarily spot SOL exposure—avoiding the negative effects of contango that can impact futures-based ETFs. In addition to this direct exposure, the fund also delivers the benefits of SOL staking, which currently offers a reward rate of 7.3%. The fund seeks to hold the majority of its assets in directly staked SOL, 40% of its assets in exchange-traded products that themselves stake SOL, and a small amount of its assets in liquid staking tokens like JitoSOL.) Importantly, all staking rewards received by the fund are passed directly to investors, with neither REX nor Osprey retaining any portion.
More here: Solana Staking ETF Bags $12M in Wall Street Debut