Scenius Sync (Issue #65)

FTX Looks To Offload Billions, Vitalik's X Account Hacked in Phishing Scam, JPMorgan Exploring Blockchain-Based Payment & Settlement, & Sushi to Aptos

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 💪

---

---

Essential News 🗞

1. FTX Looks to Offload Billions in Crypto: Here’s What it Means

   • It’s set to be a busy week for FTX’s legal team. The exchange is seeking regulatory approval to liquidate $3.4 billion in crypto assets, and FTX lawyers are also suing LayerZero, an onchain interoperability protocol to recover lost assets to the tune of $21 million. On September 13, Delaware Bankruptcy Court officials are set to rule on approving a $3.4 billion asset sale submitted by the defunct exchange’s legal team. Fears over a mass liquidation are a bit overblown, however; here’s an X (formerly known as Twitter) thread explaining why.

2. CFTC Goes After Opyn, Other DeFi Operations in Enforcement Sweep

   • The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged three decentralized finance (DeFi) operations – Opyn, Inc., ZeroEx (0x), Inc. and Deridex, Inc. – with offering illegal derivatives trading, according to a Thursday statement from the agency. The three firms face a number of accusations based on their use of blockchain-based protocols and smart contracts to function as trading platforms, according to the CFTC. The U.S. derivatives regulator is ordering Opyn, ZeroEx, and Deridex to cease those violations and pay penalties of $250,000, $200,000, and $100,000, respectively. The companies agreed to these terms to settle the charges. 

3. Vitalik Buterin’s X account hacked to carry out phishing attack that stole $700,000 in crypto, NFTs

   • Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s X (formerly Twitter) account was taken over and used to steal $700,000 in crypto and NFTs. When the account was taken over, it was used to advertise a fake commemorative NFT mint that supposedly had a time limit, encouraging users to mint them quickly. Yet the link was to a phishing website that would drain cryptocurrencies and NFTs from wallets that interacted with it. 

4. Long-Awaited Bitcoin Accounting Rules to Capture Rises, Dips

   • The Financial Accounting Standards Board, a U.S. regulating body that sets general accounting practices, has approved new rules to allow companies to report their crypto holdings at fair market value. 

5. Shaq Got Nearly $750,000 From FTX Amid Millions In Celebrity Deals

   • Failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-profile marketing and sponsorship deals to celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, Naomi Osaka, and David Ortiz, among others, according to court documents in its ongoing bankruptcy procedures.  More coverage from Bloomberg here: FTX Probing If Millions in Payments to Shaq, Naomi Osaka Can Be Reversed.

---

Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. JPMorgan exploring blockchain-based payment and settlement system: Bloomberg

   • Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. is exploring a blockchain-based digital payment and settlement system, according to Bloomberg News. The proposed digital token payment and settlement system could hasten transaction speed while lowering costs, with the deposit token representing a digital version of a customer's deposits. It could be used to send funds to users of a different bank or settle tokenized securities. 

2. Sushi Expands to Aptos in 'Milestone' Move

   • Decentralized exchange Sushi today announced expansion to Aptos. 

     In a Monday announcement, the popular DEX said the integration was a “milestone” because it’s the first time Sushi has been accessible on a blockchain that is not compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

3. PayPal rolls out crypto-for-USD conversion service

   • Building on PayPal’s “on ramp” service that allowed customers to buy crypto, the payment giant is now rolling out an “off ramp” service so users can seamlessly convert digital currency into dollars.

4. Crypto Safekeeping Specialist Fireblocks Introduces Non-Custodial Wallet Service

   • Cryptocurrency custody firm Fireblocks is offering its long list of fintech and corporate clients a non-custodial wallet service, so that the end consumers using firms like Revolut and Nubank can entirely control their own assets – something of a market requirement following the blow-ups of various crypto firms last year. The move frees up fintechs from inherently acting as custodians, and makes it easier for their end users to access exotic crypto offerings such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and other Web3 applications, according to Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov.

5. Ripple Acquires Crypto-Focused Chartered Trust Company Fortress Trust

   • Blockchain firm Ripple has acquired Fortress Trust, a Nevada-based chartered trust company with a crypto and Web3 focus, the company said in an email on Friday. The acquisition adds Nevada to Ripple's list of regulatory licenses, which includes a New York BitLicense and money transmitter licenses in 30 U.S. states. Monica Long, Ripple's president, described the acquisition as bolstering the firm's aim of "becoming the one-stop shop for enterprises looking to convert, store and move value on blockchain."