Scenius Sync (Issue # 188)

White House fires back at Coinbase, Polymarket banned in Portugal & Hungary, BitGo prices US IPO above range, VerifiedX debuts “Venmo-for-crypto” app, & Steak ‘n Shake to Pay Hourly Workers in BTC

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.

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Essential News 🗞

1. White House Fires Back At Coinbase Over Market Structure Bill Theatre

   • President Trump’s White House and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong are locked in a public clash over who ultimately sets the agenda for U.S. crypto legislation, with a series of leaks, denials and on‑the‑record statements now making that power struggle impossible to ignore. Armstrong has spent the week, including in high‑profile Davos interviews, disputing that the White House was upset with Coinbase’s decision to pull support from the CLARITY Act the day before a key Senate markup. He has compared the coverage to “three blind men” describing an elephant, suggesting that every outlet offered only a partial, distorted account of his relationship with the administration.

2. Polymarket Banned in Portugal, Hungary as Prediction Market Pushback Grows

   • Polymarket has kicked off 2026 facing a new slew of regulatory actions from jurisdictions in Europe and the U.S., even as it edges its way back into the American market. On Friday, both the Hungarian Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities and the Portuguese Gaming Regulatory Authority issued bans against the prediction market, accusing it of illegal gambling activity.

     “The website is not authorized to offer betting in Portugal, and under national law, betting on political events or happenings, whether national or international, is not permitted,” Portuguese regulators told local outlet Rádio Renascença.

3. Grayscale files with SEC to convert NEAR Trust into spot ETF

   • Grayscale Investments has moved to convert its existing Near-linked closed-end trust into an exchange-traded fund, filing a Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. The Grayscale Near Trust, a Delaware statutory trust formed in November 2021, was established to hold NEAR, the native cryptocurrency of the Near Network, and to offer investors exposure to the asset through publicly quoted shares rather than direct ownership. Upon effectiveness of the registration statement, the firm intends to rename the vehicle the Grayscale Near Trust ETF and uplist it from over-the-counter trading to NYSE Arca.

4. BitGo prices US IPO above marketed range, eyeing $212.8 million raise

   • Crypto custodian BitGo Holdings Inc priced its U.S. initial public offering at $18 per share, above its previously marketed range of $15 to $17, the company announced Wednesday. The pricing sets its offering at roughly $212.8 million, suggesting a valuation of over $2 billion. The offering comprises 11,821,595 Class A common shares, with 11,026,365 being offered by BitGo directly and 795,230 sold by certain existing stockholders, according to its statement. BitGo also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.77 million additional shares.

5. Chainlink Brings The $80 Trillion U.S. Stock Market Onchain With 24/5 Equities Data

   • Chainlink 24/5 U.S. Equities Streams provide fast and secure market data across all major U.S. equities and ETFs—24 hours per day, 5 days per week.

     For the first time, DeFi has secure access to U.S. equity market data that also includes after-hours and overnight sessions, unlocking the ~$80T U.S. stock market onchain. For traders: Chainlink enables your favorite stocks and ETFs to now be used onchain 24/5, unlocking a wide range of onchain use cases, including trading, lending, and more. For builders: 24/5 U.S. Equities Streams go beyond just delivering a mid-price by also delivering bid-ask data, last trade prices, volumes, market-status flags, and staleness indicators, giving builders the market context needed for advanced logic, robust risk controls, and safer execution.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Delaware Life Insurance Company Launches Industry’s First Fixed Indexed Annuity with Bitcoin Exposure

   • Delaware Life Insurance Company, a Group 1001 company, today announced the addition of the BlackRock U.S. Equity Bitcoin Balanced Risk 12% Index to its fixed index annuity (FIA) portfolio, making Delaware Life the first insurance carrier to offer an index that contains cryptocurrency. This strategic addition enables investors to diversify their portfolios and gain exposure to Bitcoin, while providing full protection of the principal contributed to the FIA. The launch coincides with Bitcoin’s 17th anniversary and the second anniversary of IBIT, marking a milestone in bringing digital assets into traditional retirement products.

2. Bitcoin utility blockchain VerifiedX debuts ‘Venmo-for crypto’ payment app Butterfly

   • The team behind VerifiedX, a layer-1 blockchain and Bitcoin sidechain, released Butterfly, a payment app that aims to be as easy to use as utilities like Venmo or Cash App, the firm said on Wednesday. The crypto payment system says it removes the complexity of many popular crypto wallets and payments offerings without the relatively high fees found with some exchanges. It goes live in partnership with Crypto.com, Moonpay and Blockdaemon. Butterfly offers users transactions that only cost a penny, the power of an institutional bank account and an “undo” button for mistyped payments.

3. Tether and Bitqik Collaborate to Promote Stablecoin Education in Laos

   • Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, and Bitqik, a licensed digital asset exchange, are announcing a strategic initiative to promote financial literacy on Bitcoin and Stablecoins in Laos. Bitqik is a local, licensed exchange that offers brokerage and trading services for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, enabling users to easily send and receive cryptocurrency. The company believes that decentralized digital currencies have the potential to fundamentally reshape the global economy, bringing financial freedom and driving further economic innovation worldwide.

4. Steak ‘n Shake to Pay Hourly Workers in Bitcoin Starting March

   • Steak ‘n Shake will begin paying all hourly employees at company-operated restaurants a Bitcoin bonus of $0.21 for every hour worked starting March 1, with funds accessible after a two-year vesting period. The 91-year-old burger chain announced the program through a partnership with Bitcoin rewards app Fold, marking another step in its year-long transformation into what CEO Will Reeves called “a real bitcoin company, putting sound money into the hands of working Americans.“ A full-time minimum wage employee working 40 hours weekly for 30 years could retire with over $3 million if Bitcoin maintains just a 20% annual growth rate, according to Adam Simecka, founder of self-custody wallet Manna.

5. Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy to Launch $100M Crypto Hedge Fund as Bitcoin Tumbles

   • Crypto entrepreneur and billionaire Mike Novogratz’s firm Galaxy is launching a $100 million hedge fund in the first quarter of this year that will take both long and short positions, as Bitcoin tumbles from its October peak and trade tensions rattle crypto markets. The fund will invest up to 30% of its assets in crypto tokens, and the remainder in financial services stocks that Galaxy believes will be affected by changes in digital asset technologies and laws, according to a Financial Times report.