Scenius Sync (Issue # 215)
U.S. Senate delays CLARITY Act, Galaxy buys 500 acres in McGregor, Texas, Securitize adds SEC adviser license, MoonPay launches PayBox, & Tether debuts GENIUS-compliant USAT on Celo
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 publication is the following:
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 🗞
U.S. Senate puts off crypto Clarity Act for now as it focuses limited bandwidth elsewhere
The U.S. Senate has shelved the crypto Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for the moment as it proceeds with different bills on Russian sanctions and federal nominations, further setting aside the industry’s central policy effort and reducing its available runway in a crowded Senate agenda. Majority Leader John Thune started pursuing a package of nominees on Monday and expected to shift to a Russia sanctions bill Tuesday night, at which point he’s set to start its cloture process. The arcane Senate procedure to manage bill debates involves a number of steps and waiting periods before legislation typically get to a final vote, and the chamber’s procedures generally limit it to one disputed bill at a time. That means it’s unlikely the body can move on the Clarity Act before the other matters get sorted or expire, which could take days.
In a related news, SEC ready to issue crypto rules if Congress doesn’t pass CLARITY Act, Chair Atkins says
Galaxy Digital buys 500 acres in McGregor for second Texas AI data center campus
Galaxy Digital has acquired about 500 acres in McGregor, Texas, to build its second major AI and high-performance computing data center campus in the state, following its large Helios facility in West Texas. The project, developed with the City of McGregor and local partners, starts with an initial 74 MW phase expected to receive power in 2028 and could expand to multi-hundred megawatts by 2030, according to an announcement on Tuesday. Galaxy said the new plot will support a “privately funded campus,” including a private substation. “This is intended to insulate rate payers from costs associated with electrical infrastructure required to support the campus development,” the company wrote.
Securitize expands regulated platform with SEC adviser license
Tokenization firm Securitize has officially gained status as a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to an announcement on Monday. In particular, Securitize Capital LLC, a subsidiary of the publicly traded firm, gained the SEC registration, which will enable it to work more closely with asset managers and institutional investors on tokenized investment strategies. “Becoming an SEC-registered investment adviser is an important step in the continued expansion of Securitize’s platform,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said. “Asset managers and institutional investors want to work with partners that understand both the opportunity of tokenization and the obligations that come with operating in regulated markets.”
Coalition of 44 state attorneys general says CFTC lacks authority over sports prediction markets
A group of attorneys general from 44 states have sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, arguing that the agency lacks authority to regulate sports-related prediction markets. The letter, led by Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and submitted Monday as the public comment period closed, argues that the CFTC’s proposed rule exceeds its statutory authority under the Commodity Exchange Act and that the agency should draft new rules. “The CFTC in the Proposed Rule goes well beyond its statutory authority,” the letter said. “Given the infirmities with the Proposed Rule, the CFTC should reconsider and draft a new rule consistent with the Commodity Exchange Act and the Constitution.”
Russia’s central bank drafts first rules for ‘organized’ crypto trading
The Bank of Russia has published draft regulations outlining the country’s first framework for what it called “organized trading” of digital assets and digital rights, including new requirements for crypto exchanges and digital depositories. Under the proposals, exchanges would determine their trading procedures in their own rulebooks and calculate market and weighted average prices for digital assets and digital rights traded on their platforms.
The central bank also proposed creating digital depositories responsible for maintaining records of cryptocurrencies and digital rights.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
MoonPay launches PayBox, an AI payment vault for ChatGPT and Claude
MoonPay has launched PayBox, an AI payment vault that lets users connect OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude to make payments directly from a conversation. Users connect PayBox to ChatGPT or Claude through a custom connector, allowing the AI assistant to prepare transactions such as booking flights, making restaurant reservations, or shopping online. The AI prepares the transaction, while the user approves it with a passkey before funds move. Users can also choose an autonomous mode that allows the AI to complete transactions within limits they set. MoonPay Labs Chief Engineer Neeraj Prasad told The Block that PayBox combines crypto wallets and payment cards in a non-custodial vault that users connect directly to ChatGPT or Claude.
In a related news, MoonPay’s PayBox Puts a Crypto Wallet Inside Claude and ChatGPT—And Lets It Pay for Things
Morgan Stanley Expands Crypto Push With Ethereum and Solana ETPs
Morgan Stanley Investment Management is expanding beyond Bitcoin with the launch of Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products that will generate staking rewards for investors, the latest step in the Wall Street firm’s growing push into digital assets. Announced on Tuesday, the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (NYSE Arca: MSSE) and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (NYSE Arca: MSOL) will track the price of Ethereum and Solana, respectively. The company said each fund will charge a 0.14% expense ratio, stake a portion of its holdings, and pass any staking rewards through to investors. “Since introducing our first ETFs in 2023, we’ve built a diversified suite of ETFs and ETPs that now exceed $14 billion in assets under management,” Global Head of ETFs for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Ally Wallace, said in a statement.
Relatedly, Morgan Stanley debuts Ethereum and Solana ETFs with market’s lowest fee, staking rewards
Tether’s GENIUS Act-Compliant USAT Launches on Celo in First Expansion Beyond Ethereum
Tether has expanded its GENIUS Act-compliant USAT stablecoin to the Celo blockchain, marking the token’s first deployment beyond Ethereum and extending its reach into one of the industry’s fastest-growing mobile-focused payment networks. The launch represents the first multi-chain expansion for USAT since Tether introduced the regulated stablecoin earlier this year to serve the US market under the framework established by the GENIUS Act. By moving onto Celo, Tether aims to broaden access to compliant digital-dollar payments while leveraging a blockchain optimized for low-cost transactions and mobile adoption. Unlike USDT, which primarily serves international markets, USAT was specifically designed to comply with the United States’ new stablecoin regulatory framework. The GENIUS Act establishes federal requirements covering reserve management, disclosures, redemption rights and regulatory oversight for dollar-backed stablecoins operating in the US.
Zcash seals $1.7 billion shielded pool as Ironwood upgrade activates
Zcash activated its Ironwood upgrade at block 3,428,143 on Tuesday, sealing the so-called “shielded pool” that holds most of the network’s private funds and opening a migration into a pool that starts from zero tokens.
Ironwood, formally known as NU6.3, retired the previous pool known as Orchard, which holds about 3.66 million ZEC, worth roughly $1.7 billion at current prices. Ironwood held zero ZEC at activation, trackers showed. Every coin has to be moved across by its owner, and the only route out of Orchard is a turnstile — an accounting rule at the pool’s boundary that caps total withdrawals at the amount verifiably deposited. Shielded pools are the private side of Zcash, where the amounts of coins and participants are hidden. A zero-knowledge proof provides evidence that the amount deposited is reflected publicly.
There’s a New Way to Protect Bitcoin From Future Quantum Attacks, Researchers Say
Researchers at AmericanFortress, a Wyoming-based blockchain security and cryptography company focused on post-quantum security and digital asset infrastructure, have proposed a cryptographic system they say could allow Bitcoin and other blockchain wallets to withstand future quantum attacks without changing existing wallet addresses. In a paper titled “ZKPoSP: Post-Quantum Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets,” AmericanFortress researchers describe replacing traditional elliptic curve signatures with zero-knowledge proofs while maintaining compatibility with hierarchical deterministic wallets. “Recent advances in quantum hardware, including Google’s Willow processor, have substantially narrowed the timeline to cryptographically relevant quantum computers,” they wrote.