Scenius Sync (Issue # 178)
Uniswap turns the fee switch, Grayscale files for IPO in the U.S., Vitalik Buterin champions ‘Trustless Manifesto’, JPMorgan officially rolls out ‘JPM Coin’, UFC Parent TKO Signs Polymarket
Scenius: The intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. The communal form of the concept of genius.
Welcome to The Scenius Sync.
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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 🗞
Uniswap finally turns the fee switch
For years, Uniswap Labs has accrued all revenue generated by the protocol at the expense of UNI token holders. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams published a governance proposal on behalf of Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation to turn on Uniswap protocol fees and unify the ecosystem’s incentives, an unexpected win for token holders. The Uniswap protocol includes a fee switch that can only be turned on by a UNI governance vote. The proposal would flip the fee switch and introduce a programmatic mechanism that burns UNI, with a retroactive burn of 100 million UNI tokens from the treasury to compensate for all the years token holders missed out on value accrual. Simultaneously, the proposal directs all Unichain sequencer fees, after L1 data costs and the 15% to Optimism, into the burn mechanism.
See similar news about Uniswap here: Uniswap Token Soars Amid Fee Switch Proposal to ‘Align Incentives’
Coinbase and stablecoin startup BVNK call off $2 billion acquisition
One of the largest deals ever for a stablecoin startup has fallen through. Coinbase and the U.K.-based BVNK have called off acquisition talks, a spokesperson for the crypto exchange confirmed to Fortune. It wasn’t immediately clear why the two companies iced the deal, which had gotten as far as the due diligence process and seen the crypto giant and BVNK enter into exclusivity in October, meaning the startup couldn’t entertain offers from other bidders. The acquisition price for BVNK—which helps customers use stablecoins for payments, cross-border transactions, and other use cases—was around $2 billion. If the deal had gone through, it would have been nearly double the $1.1 billion the fintech giant Stripe paid to acquire the stablecoin startup Bridge in an acquisition that closed in February.
China Accuses U.S. of Stealing 127K BTC in High-Profile Crypto Hack
China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) accused the U.S. government of seizing 127,000 stolen bitcoin (worth $13 billion) that were originally hacked in 2020 from a Chinese mining pool. CVERC claimed the hack was conducted by a “state-level hacking organization” and suggested the U.S. seizure was part of a larger operation involving the same attackers. The U.S. government disputed CVERC’s claims, maintaining that the seizure was a legitimate law enforcement action targeting criminal proceeds, while China sees it as a provocative act escalating tensions between the two nations.
Crypto Asset Manager Grayscale Files for IPO in the U.S.
Grayscale Investments filed an S-1 form to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. Grayscale noted that the number of shares to be registered and the proposed price range for the offering have not yet been determined. Grayscale, a major cryptocurrency asset-manager known for its conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and other crypto investment vehicles into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), moves toward public markets at a time of heightened institutional attention.
Bitcoin billionaire Author Hayes warned investors on Wednesday to remove their Zcash holdings from exchanges amid increased volatility for the privacy coin. Writing on X Wednesday, the former BitMEX boss urged his nearly 766,000 followers to move their Zcash to self-custodial wallets. Hayes, whom U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned earlier this year, also tweeted about Zcash on Tuesday, speculating on the digital coin’s price action and whether he would buy more.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
Vitalik Buterin champions decentralization in ‘Trustless Manifesto’
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has authored and signed the new “Trustless Manifesto,” which seeks to uphold core values of decentralization and censorship resistance and push builders to refrain from adding intermediaries and checkpoints for the sake of adoption. The Trustless Manifesto, also authored by Ethereum Foundation researchers Yoav Weiss and Marissa Posner, said crypto platforms sacrifice trustlessness from the first moment that they integrate a hosted node or centralized relayer — explaining that while it feels harmless, it becomes a habit, and with each passing checkpoint, the protocol becomes less and less permissionless.
JPMorgan officially rolls out ‘JPM Coin’ deposit token on Base
JPMorgan has officially rolled out its USD-denominated deposit token JPM Coin (JPMD) to institutional clients on Base Layer 2, following months of testing. Major financial players including B2C2, Coinbase, and Mastercard have already tested transactions using the token, JPMorgan said.
The deposit token serves as a representation of JPMorgan’s existing bank deposits on a public blockchain, enabling the bank’s institutional clients to make onchain native payments with enhanced speed and efficiency, according to the statement. Unlike many stablecoins, JPMD is designed for institutional clients with regulatory compliance, know-your-customer and banking infrastructure.
Visa Tests Stablecoin Payments With Eyes on Global Gig Economy
Visa Inc. is testing the ability for businesses to send stablecoins directly to consumers’ cryptocurrency wallets for global payouts, targeting growing demand for the fiat-backed digital tokens among gig workers and digital creators in emerging markets. The payments giant is piloting the feature as part of Visa Direct, the company’s real-time payments service that enables clients to send money to 195 countries. The pilot will use USDC, the US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Group Inc.
Ethereum-based trading protocol Lighter has raised $68 million in a funding round as venture capitalists splurge big bucks on decentralized derivatives platforms. Investors from Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital led the fundraising, with participation from Haun Ventures and Robinhood, according to Fortune. The funding values the firm at around $1.5 billion. By combining onchain verification with a high-throughput matching engine, Lighter aims to deliver the performance of a centralized exchange while remaining fully decentralized.
UFC’s parent company inks multiyear prediction market deal with Polymarket
Polymarket, a prediction market platform, has signed a multi-year exclusive deal with UFC, the mixed martial arts organization, to expand crypto-integrated prediction markets. The partnership builds on Polymarket’s recent collaboration with daily fantasy sports operators to integrate event contracts directly into their platforms. Prediction markets have gained traction across major sports leagues through similar deals that enable betting on specific outcomes. Polymarket currently offers prop betting options for UFC fights, including round-specific outcomes for upcoming cards. The platform has been expanding its sports betting capabilities as prediction markets become more mainstream in professional athletics.
See similar news here: UFC Parent TKO Signs Polymarket to Exclusive Prediction Market Deal