Scenius Sync (Issue #42)

Trio of Canadian Exchanges Merge, Arbitrum Proposal Backlash, Rumors of CZ Interpol Red Notice & Uniswap Tops Coinbase

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. Trio of Canadian Crypto Exchanges Confirms Plans to Merge

   • Canadian crypto exchanges WonderFi (WNDR), Coinsquare and CoinSmart have revealed plans to merge, creating what would be one of the world's largest crypto trading platforms. Between them, the three firms have 1.65 million users and more than $600 million in assets under custody, according to an announcement on Monday.

2. Arbitrum to break up $1 billion proposal after backlash

   • The proposal — a package of actions named "Arbitrum Improvement Proposal-1," or AIP-1 — controversially planned to send 750 million ARB tokens, worth around $1 billion, to the Arbitrum Foundation. The purpose of the transfer was to give the foundation capital to invest in initiatives built using Arbitrum's technology.  The backtracking comes after Arbitrum drew sharp criticism from its community this weekend due to an apparent lack of decentralization.

3. Bitcoin, BNB Drop on Unverified Rumor Binance's CEO Faces Interpol Red Notice

   • Binance’s BNB token quickly slumped by more than 3% late Monday afternoon on an unverified rumor that an Interpol Red Notice had been issued for the cryptocurrency exchange's founder and CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant.

   • In response, Binance denied CZ faces an Interpol Red Notice.

4. Sen. Warren’s ‘Anti-Crypto Army’ Is Just the Beginning of Crypto’s Politicization

   • Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted from her campaign account that she was building an “Anti-crypto Army.” So if you were under any suspicion that crypto wasn’t political, then I’m sure that suspicion is now shattered. Crypto is politicized.

   • Meanwhile, Fighting a digital dollar has become new conservative crypto cause to champion as conservatives in Washington, D.C. and U.S. state capitols have begun a hard charge against central bank digital currencies competing for the the title of most anti-cbdc politician.

5. Crypto Exchange Bittrex to Wind Down U.S. Operations Next Month

   • Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex will shut down its U.S. platform on April 30 after nine years of operation, the company announced on Friday. “It’s just not economically viable for us to continue to operate in the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment,” said Bittrex co-founder and CEO Ritchie Lai. “Regulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape,” he continued. “Operating in the U.S. is no longer feasible.” The closure does not affect Bittrex Global, which operates in Europe and South America, among other locales, and will remain open for trading.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Uniswap Volume Beats Coinbase and Registers its Best Month Since 2022

   • Trading volume on Coinbase came in below that of decentralized exchange Uniswap for the second month in a row. Uniswap was above $70 billion for the first time since January 2022. Coinbase volume was $49.4 billion last month — up from $40 billion in February.

2. Nomura-Backed Komainu to Offer Segregated Crypto Collateral Product for Institutions

   • Komainu, the cryptocurrency custody joint venture between Nomura, Ledger and CoinShares, is offering institutional clients a regulated and segregated collateral management product. The offering aims to capitalize on the need for more matured crypto infrastructure in the wake of things like FTX collapsing. Komainu Connect will let clients deploy their digital assets in collateralization scenarios, while they remain in segregated custody and verifiable on chain, the company said in a press release on Monday.

3. Alchemy Pay Raises $10M at $400M Valuation to Push South Korean Expansion Plans

   • Alchemy Pay, a payments provider based in Singapore, has received $10 million in investment from market maker DWF Labs at a $400 million valuation as it eyes expanding its business in South Korea. The company, which provides a way for crypto companies to access the fiat payment system, aims to capitalize on South Korea's "high level of crypto acceptance" and assist local firms in achieving greater internationalization, according to a statement shared with CoinDesk. Read the Press Release.

4. PancakeSwap DEX Launches Version 3 on BNB Chain and Ethereum

   • PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange, or DEX, with more than 1.5 million unique users, introduced Version 3 on the Ethereum and BNB Chain networks on Monday. The upgraded platform will offer the cheapest fees for on-chain trades among counterparts such as SushiSwap and Uniswap and increased returns for liquidity providers. V3 also introduces features that enhance the platform's capital efficiency. These include allowing liquidity providers to concentrate their capital on smaller price ranges, a feature that results in higher fee earnings from the same amount of deposits.

5. Argentinian Airline Issues Every Ticket as an NFT

   • Low-cost carrier Flybondi has expanded its partnership with NFT ticketing company TravelX to offer all tickets as NFTs on the Algorand blockchain.