Scenius Sync (Issue # 211)
Clarity Act passing odds fall to 39%, EU’s MiCA deadline hits, 140+ Companies join to launch OUSD, NYLIM partners with Centrifuge on tokenized HY bond strategy, & Robinhood rolls out public blockchain
Scenius: The intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. The communal form of the concept of genius.
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Distribute thought leadership that made an impression on us this week
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 🗞
Clarity Act Passing Odds Fall to 39% as President Trump Discloses $1.4B Crypto Income
The odds of the Clarity Act signing into law this year dropped to new lows on prediction markets. The odds fell after US President Donald Trump disclosed $1.4 billion in crypto income, raising ethics and conflicts of interest concerns. Polymarket data revealed the chances of Clarity Act getting signed into law in 2026 fell to 39% on July 1. This marks a new low as the crypto market structure bill already faces a delay amid a tight legislative timeline. Participants have sharply downgraded the prospects for the Clarity Act passing by the Senate and reaching President Donald Trump’s desk this year. Polymarket said the Clarity Act is no longer projected to be signed into law this year.
Relatedly, President Trump’s financial disclosures show hundreds of millions in crypto-related income
Europe’s unlicensed crypto firms face ‘wipeout’ as MiCA deadline hits
European cryptocurrency firms that have failed to obtain a Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license face a deadline this week that could wipe out a large proportion of the market. Companies licensed by national regulators before the arrival of MiCA, a unifying regulatory framework for Europe’s crypto firms that allows them to offer services across the 27-country trading bloc, may operate only until a transitional period ends on July 1. After that, their permission expires. Europe was thought to have had more than 3,000 registered virtual asset service providers (VASPs), the pre-MiCA categorization, as of 2024. Poland alone accounted for well over 1,400 registrations. As of this month, there are just 244 MiCA-authorized crypto-asset service providers (CASPs).
In a related news, MiCA’s looming deadline could leave 10 million crypto users without a platform in the EU
SEC opens ETF rule review following crypto fund surge, prediction markets push
The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a fresh look at how cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds and a proposed new class of funds tied to prediction markets should be regulated following a wave of crypto ETF launches. On Tuesday, the SEC said it is seeking public comment on the regulation of “novel ETFs” and how its current process for registering those funds may need to be changed. “The Commission’s request for comment seeks input from the public on how the U.S. ETF market can continue to grow and innovate while serving investors effectively, and I look forward to reviewing feedback from market participants as we evaluate how to best respond to recent market changes,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a statement.
Securitize to debut on NYSE this Thursday after gaining final nod for merger
Tokenization infrastructure firm Securitize announced Monday that it is set to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on July 2 after getting approval for its proposed merger with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT). In a Monday post on X, the company said that shareholders of Cantor have greenlit the business combination with Securitize, which is expected to close on Wednesday. “Following consummation, the combined company will operate as Securitize Corp., and its common stock is expected to begin trading on the NYSE on July 2, 2026 under the ticker symbol ‘SECZ,’” Securitize wrote.
Additionally, Ahead of NYSE Listing, Securitize Exec Says DeFi Can Break Wall Street’s Grip on Stock Lending
Binance, Changpeng Zhao Sued for $200M by British Investors: Reuters
Global crypto exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao have both been named in a U.K. lawsuit seeking nearly $200 million (£150 million), according to a report from Reuters. The lawsuit alleges that the firm offered complex and risky financial instruments, like leveraged trading products, without regulatory approval. The suit includes nearly 1,700 claimants, according to the report, some which lost tens of thousands of dollars when the offerings were available in late 2019. “We do not comment on ongoing litigation,” a Binance spokesperson told Decrypt. “We will defend against these claims through the appropriate legal process in due course. Binance remains committed to its obligations to users and to operating in accordance with applicable law.”
In a related Binance news, Binance Co-CEO Yi He: Binance Officially Enters the Philippines
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
Visa, Stripe, Coinbase and more join Open USD stablecoin that shares reserve revenue
More than 140 companies, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock and Coinbase have joined Open Standard to launch Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin that shares most of the earnings from its reserves. Open Standard said businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD without fees or volume limits, while most of the income made by OUSD’s reserves will be distributed to participating businesses after a small management fee. According to Open USD’s website, the stablecoin is expected to launch later this year. The FAQ section on the site says that companies that join Open Standard will use Open USD as a core payment asset within their products and services, receive technical and integration support and earn revenue based on the stablecoin’s adoption.
New York Life Investment Management is jumping into the tokenization space through a partnership with Centrifuge. On Tuesday, the firms announced the launch of the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio (ticker: HYB), marking NYLIM’s first tokenized offering and one of the first high-yield corporate bond strategies available onchain. The tokenized fund will enable eligible investors to access NYLIM’s established institutional high-yield strategy through Centrifuge’s platform, with subscriptions and redemptions settled in Circle’s USDC stablecoin. High-yield corporate bonds are also often called junk bonds, which carry higher credit risk but offer higher yields.
Robinhood rolls out public blockchain as it expands deeper into crypto
Robinhood (HOOD) officially launched the public mainnet for Robinhood Chain, marking the company’s biggest step yet into onchain financial infrastructure as it looks to expand beyond brokerage services and into decentralized finance. Announced during a Wednesday event in London, Robinhood Chain is a layer-2 blockchain built on Arbitrum (ARB) and designed for tokenized real-world assets and decentralized finance applications. The launch comes about four months after Robinhood began testing the network on testnet. With the launch of the public mainnet, Robinhood’s tokenized stock products are now also fully live. Stock Tokens are available through Robinhood Wallet in more than 120 countries, although availability varies by jurisdiction. The company said the goal is to allow users to trade tokenized equities around the clock and use them across decentralized finance applications, including lending protocols and as trading collateral.
Nasdaq expands distribution of its market data into blockchain infrastructure
Nasdaq is expanding the distribution of its market data into blockchain infrastructure, making one of its flagship equity data products available through the Pyth Network as financial firms increasingly build trading and settlement applications on blockchain rails. The exchange operator said Tuesday it will publish its TotalView market data through the Pyth Data Marketplace, a platform that distributes institutional datasets to blockchain networks, financial applications and software developers. The move gives a wider range of users access to one of Nasdaq’s core market data offerings through a programmable interface rather than traditional market data delivery channels. TotalView provides full depth-of-book data, showing buy and sell orders at every price level for securities trading on Nasdaq, including Nasdaq-, NYSE- and regional-listed stocks.
Solana-based prediction market app on Phantom wallet launches
A Solana-based prediction market platform is launching, aiming to compete with market leaders Polymarket and Kalshi. The new platform has been christened World — not to be confused with the Sam Altman-backed, human verification project which shares the same name. According to a social media post, World will be available through the popular Phantom crypto wallet, and Chainlink will provide oracle infrastructure to enable “immediate resolutions and instant payouts.” “Prediction markets are one of the most powerful applications you can build on a high-performance blockchain,” Solana Foundation’s Head of Consumer Pedro Miranda said in an article shared on World’s X account. “World is designed to show what Solana makes possible: real-time markets, onchain settlement, and a user experience that meets people where they are.”