Scenius Sync (Issue # 187)
Polygon to become US-Regulated Payments Platform, Ripple secures another key EUR license, X bans access to InfoFi, a16z raises $15B to help US win “Tech Race”, & Galaxy launches $75M tokenized CLO
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Essential News 🗞
Polygon to Become US-Regulated Payments Platform
Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Polygon is set to become an officially recognized and regulated payments platform in the United States following its acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence. Coinme is a regulated crypto payments company that enables buying and selling cryptocurrency with cash, and Sequence is a modular crypto infrastructure company for data and onchain payments. According to an announcement on X, the move empowers Polygon with regulated money movement in 48 of the 50 U.S. states, fiat on- and off-ramps, and 50,000 fiat-to-crypto locations nationwide.
More about Polygon here: Polygon Labs pushes deeper into stablecoin payments with $250 million deal
Coinbase pulled support for Senate crypto legislation — here’s what happened
A combination of timing pressures and unresolved policy concerns led Coinbase to withdraw its support for sweeping cryptocurrency legislation under consideration in the Senate. On Wednesday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the massive crypto exchange could not support the bill.
His concerns stemmed from four main areas — the treatment of tokenized equities, DeFi issues, provisions that he said would “kill rewards on stablecoins,” and the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Elon Musk’s X Bans Access to ‘InfoFi’ Crypto Projects Amid ‘AI Slop’ Backlash
Elon Musk’s X is taking action against projects that seek to financialize users’ attention on the platform using digital assets, Head of Product Nikita Bier declared on Thursday. “We will no longer allow apps that reward users for posting on X,” he said. “This has led to a tremendous amount of AI slop [and] reply spam on the platform.” As part of the initiative, Bier said that X had revoked API access for so-called InfoFi projects, arguing that users’ experience on the platform “should start improving soon” as bots become aware that their activity is no longer generating income.
See the X post here.
Ripple Secures Another Key European License as XRP Rises
Crypto financial services company Ripple said Wednesday that it has received preliminary approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Luxembourg’s financial regulator, CSSF. The announcement comes just days after Ripple revealed that it had secured EMI license approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. The Luxembourg approval, delivered as a “Green Light Letter,” is a key step towards full EMI authorization and strengthens Ripple’s ability to expand cross-border payment infrastructure across Europe.
Bitpanda Said to Gear Up for Frankfurt IPO in First Half of 2026
Bitpanda GmbH, a cryptocurrency trading platform backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, is gearing up for a Frankfurt initial public offering as soon as the first half of this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The Vienna-based company could seek a valuation of between €4 billion ($4.7 billion) to €5 billion in the offering, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. Bitpanda has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG to arrange the offering, they said. A listing in the first quarter is a possibility, some of the people said.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
Pakistan to Explore Stablecoin Remittances via Affiliate of Trump-Linked World Liberty Financial
Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with an affiliate of World Liberty Financial, a DeFi project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, to explore innovation in digital finance.
The MOU, signed Wednesday, includes exploring the use of stablecoins for cross‑border transactions, according to a post by the country’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Pakistan VARA). The regulator said the agreement reflects “growing global interest in Pakistan as a key market for digital assets” as the country looks to modernize payments and reduce reliance on cash. Pakistan receives more than $36 billion a year from overseas workers and officials see blockchain as a way to make transfers cheaper and faster.
Crypto VC Giant Andreessen Horowitz Raises $15 Billion to Help America ‘Win’ Tech Race
Leading American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz—a major crypto industry investor that also goes by a16z—announced Friday that it has raised over $15 billion across five separate venture funds to propel American technology. The $15 billion represents more than 18% of all venture funds raised in the U.S. in 2025, according to firm co-founder Ben Horowitz. Although crypto is not specifically allocated for in the fundraise announcement, the firm’s crypto arm—a16z crypto—has led some of the largest fundraises in the crypto space over the last few years. It maintains investments in a long list of noteworthy projects and brands in the space, including Coinbase, Solana, Uniswap, OpenSea, Phantom, among others.
London Stock Exchange Group launched a new platform on Thursday designed to settle transactions using tokenized commercial bank deposits around the clock. The service, called LSEG Digital Settlement House, or DiSH, facilitates instantaneous payments-versus-payment and delivery-versus-payment settlement across multiple currencies, the firm said in a statement. The exchange said LSEG DiSH will function under the group’s Post Trade Solutions division, with the platform being able to settle on its own ledger or act as a notary for settlements on other connected networks. “LSEG DiSH expands the tokenized cash and cash like solutions available to the market, and for the first time, offers a real cash solution tokenized on the blockchain utilizing cash in multiple currencies held at commercial banks,” Daniel Maguire, Group Head, LSEG Markets and CEO, LCH Group, said in the statement.
Crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger launched a feature for users to access BTC Yield products
Lombard joins Ledger Wallet™ via Figment as another Earn provider, offering users more options for BTC yield services. This gives Ledger users a highly accessible and user-friendly way to enter the world of Bitcoin rewards with ease of use and security. Lombard provides this service using Babylon, a decentralized asset management service that allows users to earn yield by deploying Bitcoin on Babylon-secured blockchains. With Lombard’s BTC Yield experience facilitated by Figment, alongside Ledger’s user experience and security model, engaging with Bitcoin yield services has never been so simple and secure. Lombard is a protocol focusing on becoming the driving force of the Bitcoin Ecosystem. Inspired by the onchain revolution including DeFi, stablecoins and tokenization.
Galaxy debuts $75 million tokenized CLO on Avalanche to fund Arch Lending facility
Galaxy Digital Inc. (NASDAQ/TSX: GLXY) announced Thursday the initial closing of its first tokenized collateralized loan obligation, a $75 million issuance on the Avalanche blockchain. The transaction is anchored by a $50 million allocation from Grove, an institutional credit protocol within the Sky ecosystem, formerly MakerDAO, according to a statement shared with The Block. Galaxy said the CLO provides capital for an uncommitted credit facility extended to Galaxy Ventures-backed Arch Lending, which originates consumer loans over collateralized with crypto assets such as bitcoin and ether.