Scenius Sync (Issue #50)

Celsius to Fahrenheit, Beijing Releases Web3 Whitepaper, & Worldcoin Developer Raises $115m

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. Fahrenheit Wins Bid to Acquire Assets of Insolvent Crypto Lender Celsius

   • Crypto consortium Fahrenheit has won a bid to acquire insolvent lender Celsius Network, whose assets were previously valued at around $2 billion, according to court filings made early in the hours of Thursday morning. The Arrington Capital-backed grouping beat fellow bidder NovaWulf for Celsius’ assets, with the Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium selected as back-up.

2. Beijing Releases White Paper for web3 Innovation and Development

   • China's capital city, released a white paper the morning of May 27th aimed at promoting innovation and development of the web3 industry.

     Dubbed the "Web3 Innovation and Development White Paper (2023)," the document states that web3 technology is an "inevitable trend for future Internet industry development.”

3. Hong Kong Lets Retail Investors Trade Crypto in New Rules

   • Hong Kong said retail investors can trade crypto under its new rulebook for the sector, stepping up a drive to develop a digital-asset hub even as the industry and regulators clash elsewhere in Asia.

4. Winklevoss Twins' Exchange Seek Dismissal of SEC Lawsuit Over Gemini Earn

   • On Friday Gemini asked a U.S. judge to dismiss an SEC lawsuit claiming it illegally sold unregistered securities in a program that promised high interest rates to hundreds of thousands of investors. In its filing, Gemini said the loan agreements among itself, Genesis and customers were neither sold nor traded on secondary markets, and did not transfer title to assets, and therefore did not qualify as securities.

5. WEF Publishes Crypto Asset Regulation Recommendations for Government, Industry

   • The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a white paper on crypto asset regulation, assisted by its Digital Currency Governance Consortium. The WEF analyzed regulatory approaches to urge cooperation between international organizations, regulators and the crypto industry.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Worldcoin Developer Nets $115 Million Fundraise Led by Blockchain Capital

   • Tools for Humanity, lead developer of the Worldcoin project, announced the completion of a $115 million fundraise led by Blockchain Capital. The San Francisco-based company was co-founded by Alex Blania, Max Novendstern and Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Its purpose is to drive forwards the Worldcoin project — an audacious attempt to create a cryptocurrency that is global in scope and available to anyone who has verified they are a real person. The main method of doing that is to get scanned by one of Worldcoin’s orbs.

2. China Is Betting Big on the Metaverse as Zhengzhou Joins with $8.5B Fund

   • Zhengzhou City has announced a strategic plan for the metaverse industry. The Henan Province Capital plans to launch a 10 billion yuan (~$1.4 billion) fund, with an additional 50 billion yuan (~$7.08 billion) planned down the line. The plan also indicates that the municipal government of Zhengzhou will provide other incentives for metaverse companies to set up shop in the city.

3. 0x Releases Latest Version of DEX Aggregator Matcha

   • Exchange infrastructure provider 0x has released its newest iteration of Matcha, a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator, which incorporates several features focused on enhancing the trading experience for users.

     Matcha rolled out a new transaction mode for users called “Matcha Auto” that makes transactions twice as likely to be included in the next immediate block whilst reducing the chances of a failed transaction trade.

   • As a reminder, DEXes have varying prices for crypto assets. A DEX aggregator compiles the prices of a crypto asset from multiple exchanges and lets users

4. Bitpanda Strikes Licensing Deal with Coinbase

   • Vienna-based Bitpanda’s technology arm has added Coinbase as liquidity and custody provider. The move is another step in Coinbase’s continued efforts to expand its footprint overseas.

5. Nike OF1 NFT Sale Surpasses $1M Despite Delays, Tech Issues

   • Nike's .SWOOSH Web3 platform has released its first NFT sneaker collection, surpassing $1 million in sales despite persistent delays and technical issues that hindered the user experience.