Scenius Sync (Issue # 195)

Ripple launches $750M buyback, Nasdaq partners with Kraken on 24/7 plan, ETH researchers demo 'native rollups', Anchorage Digital buys IMU tokens, & Trust Wallet launches Address Poisoning Protection

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.

If you find this newsletter valuable, please subscribe and share The Scenius Sync with your network 💪

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Essential News 🗞

1. Ripple launches $750 million share buyback at $50 billion valuation

   • Ripple has launched a share buyback worth up to $750 million that values the company at $50 billion, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told The Block. The blockchain payments firm plans to repurchase shares from investors and employees through a tender offer expected to run through April, the source added. Bloomberg first reported the news. The new tender offer follows an earlier reported attempt to buy back $1 billion of shares at a $40 billion valuation last October, which saw limited participation as private holders were reluctant to sell their stakes.

2. Nasdaq Moves Closer to ‘Always On’ With Tokenization Plan

   • Under a plan announced Monday, Nasdaq said it is working on a token design that gives publicly traded companies more control over their shares in tokenized form. Nasdaq is working with the parent of the crypto exchange Kraken on a gateway for tokenized equities to move between regulated and on-chain markets. The program is expected to be operational in the first half of next year. Tokenization - the process of creating digital representations of real-world assets on a blockchain - has been a favorite buzzword of both crypto and Wall Street participants for years.

3. IRS proposes letting crypto exchanges like Coinbase require electronic delivery of tax forms

   • On Thursday, the IRS issued a proposal that would permit crypto brokers like Coinbase and Kraken to require the electronic delivery of tax forms reporting, for example, the gross proceeds from a digital asset trade, according to a filing. In the past, brokers had to offer their clients the option of receiving a paper copy. The proposed rule change comes as a new system of reporting crypto transactions to the IRS takes hold. As of this year, crypto brokers must report both gross proceeds and cost basis of digital asset sales on Form 1099‑DA. This means the IRS automatically receives detailed gain/loss data for users, which should reduce underreporting and significantly increase compliance oversight for crypto holders.

4. Wells Fargo Applies for WFUSD Trademark, Signaling Use in Crypto and Stablecoins

   • Global banking firm Wells Fargo applied for a trademark for “WFUSD” for potential use in service categories that mention cryptocurrency and stablecoins, a new filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office shows.

     The firm’s filing, dated March 10, has been accepted by the USPTO but awaits assignment to an examining attorney, and enters a trademark queue that extends to more than 10 months according to average processing times.

     The San Francisco-based company intends to utilize the WFUSD wordmark across multiple service categories, the filing shows, indicated as classes IC 009, IC 036, and IC042.

5. Binance sues Wall Street Journal as newspaper says U.S. Dept. of Justice is investigating Iran transactions

   • Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, accusing it of falsely claiming the exchange fired staff who raised compliance concerns and mishandled Iran-linked transactions. The WSJ on Wednesday said the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Iranian networks used the exchange to move funds in violation of American sanctions, though it is unclear if Binance itself is a target. The dispute comes as Binance, already operating under a U.S.-appointed compliance monitor after a 2023 guilty plea on sanctions and anti-money-laundering violations, insists it reported suspicious activity and found no direct transactions with Iranian entities on its platform.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Ethereum researchers demo ‘native rollups’ prototype that could simplify Layer 2 verification

   • Researchers working on the Ethereum ecosystem have presented an early proof-of-concept for “native rollups,” a proposed scaling design that would allow Layer 2 networks to inherit Ethereum’s security model directly by re-executing their transactions on the base chain. The demonstration implements EIP-8079 using the Ethrex execution client and introduces a new mechanism known as the EXECUTE precompile. Instead of verifying Layer 2 activity through zero-knowledge circuits or fraud proofs, the approach simply replays Layer 2 blocks on Ethereum itself, allowing the base layer to confirm their validity. The proof-of-concept includes contracts that track rollup state, bridge messages between layers, and verify withdrawal claims using Merkle Patricia proofs.

2. Anchorage Digital makes strategic investment in security firm Immunefi, buys IMU tokens

   • Anchorage Digital, the crypto financial services provider and first federally chartered crypto bank, is making a strategic investment in Immunefi and buying the security infrastructure firm’s native IMU tokens. Immunefi will also provide security services for Porto by Anchorage Digital, the digital asset custodian’s self-custody wallet. The institutionally geared Porto wallet enables firms to engage directly with DeFi protocols and deploy onchain investment strategies. “As institutions increasingly participate in DeFi through self-custody solutions like Porto, the need for robust security infrastructure becomes paramount,” Anchorage’s Matt Round said. “Immunefi’s proven track record in identifying and preventing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited makes them the ideal partner to help safeguard our users’ onchain activities.”

3. Trust Wallet launches automatic Address Poisoning Protection to help prevent increasingly common attack

   • Trust Wallet has launched a new security feature to protect users from a common type of crypto scam called address poisoning. The feature will be available on Trust Wallet for mobile across 32 EVM chains, with additional chains planned. According to an announcement, Trust’s new Address Poisoning Protection will automatically scan user transactions to detect incorrect addresses and alert users before they mistakenly send funds, a scam that involves sending small transactions from lookalike wallet addresses to trick users into copying the wrong destination. The tool will use aggregated intelligence from HashDit and Binance Security to cross-check known scam and lookalike addresses. It will also create a side-by-side comparison to show where the addresses differ.

4. Stablecoin fintech KAST raises $80 million in Series A to fund global expansion

   • Stablecoin payments firm KAST said Monday it has secured $80 million in a Series A funding round to expand its stablecoin-powered cross-border payments platform. QED Investors and Left Lane Capital co-led the round, with participation from Peak XV Partners, HSG, and DST Global Partners, according to a statement. Per its website, KAST operates as a financial technology firm rather than a bank, utilizing partnerships with regulated institutions to facilitate payments, custody, and on-ramp services. Founded in July 2024 by former Circle Vice President Raagulan Pathy, the company enables users to “store, earn, and spend” digital dollars via Visa-supported cards.

5. Mastercard Recruits Binance, Ripple and PayPal for Crypto Partner Program

   • The program reflects a growing recognition that digital assets are moving beyond speculation and into practical applications, it said—such as cross-border remittances, business-to-business transfers, and settlement—often integrated quietly into existing financial infrastructure. The payments giant has tapped many of the largest companies in the crypto world, with an announcement video showcasing industry giants like crypto exchanges Binance, Crypto.com, Bybit, and Gemini, as well as XRP-linked payments firm Ripple, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, and payments companies MoonPay and PayPal.