Scenius Sync (Issue #68)

Ether Futures ETFs Go Live, Pudgies Surge Following Walmart Deal, Su Zhu Apprehended in Singapore, & SBF Reportedly Considered Paying Trump $5 Billion Not To Run

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. Ether futures ETFs from ProShares, VanEck and others go live

   • Multiple exchange-traded funds that target the performance of ether futures have gone live. These are the first ETFs ever to launch that are based on ether futures, almost two years after the launch of the first bitcoin futures ETF.

     ProShares, which debuted the first U.S. bitcoin futures ETF, has launched the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF. VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF “designed to seek capital appreciation” through investing in ether futures contracts went live, and Bitwise also went live with two ether futures ETFs on Monday — Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF and the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF.

   • Compared to ProShare’s bitcoin futures ETF which generated “$200 million in its first 15 minutes,” Ether Futures ETFs See Low Volume in First-Day Trading.

2. Grayscale Moves to Convert Its Ethereum Trust to a Spot ETH ETF

   • Grayscale Investments in conjunction with NYSE Arca has filed for approval from the SEC to convert the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) to a spot ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). Grayscale’s Ethereum trust is the largest ether investment product in the world, with almost $5 billion in assets under management.

3. Crypto Lender BlockFi Cleared to Repay Customers Through Liquidation Plan

   • Failed crypto lender BlockFi Inc. won bankruptcy court approval on its plan for shutting down its business, a milestone that could result in customers getting back a portion of what they’re owed by the end of the year.

4. Three Arrows Capital Co-Founder Su Zhu apprehended in Singapore

   • The co-founder of Three Arrows Capital Su Zhu was apprehended at an airport in Singapore while trying to travel out of the country on Friday afternoon, according to Bloomberg News. The failed crypto hedge fund’s liquidator Teneo told Bloomberg that it received a committal order against Su after he did not comply with a court order telling him to cooperate with an investigation involving liquidation. According to Bloomberg, that order also sentenced Su to four months in prison. 

5. FTX hacker moves over $38 million in past few days

   • The individual or entity behind suspicious withdrawals from the collapsed crypto exchange FTX — commonly called the "FTX hacker" — moved 7,500 ether ($12.6 million) yesterday. The entity transferred 22,500 ETH ($38 million) over the past two days, according to the analyst firm Lookonchain. This included 2,500 ether ($4 million) in fund movement on Saturday, which involved swapping ether for bitcoin through Thorchain and Railgun, as reported by The Block.

   • In other FTX news, Sam Bankman-Fried considered paying Trump $5 billion not to run for office, Michael Lewis claims and, now it looks as though Sam Bankman-Fried’s Closest Friends Will Testify Against Him. Here’s Who Else We’ll Hear From

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Pudgy Penguins trading volume surges 241% following Walmart deal

   • Last week, Walmart announced that it would sell Pudgy Penguin-branded toys across 2,000 locations.  Pudgy Penguin volume rose 241% between Sept. 24 and Oct. 1. following the news. For more coverage, see here.

2. UBS taps Ethereum to pilot tokenized money market fund

   • UBS Asset Management, one of the world's largest fund houses, has launched its first "live pilot" of a tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain. The pilot allows UBS Asset Management to test various fund activities on-chain, including subscriptions and redemptions, the firm said Monday. UBS has utilized its in-house tokenization service, UBS Tokenize, to launch the pilot of the fund.

3. Coinbase granted full license in Singapore

   • Coinbase was granted a key regulatory license in Singapore that paves the way for it to offer a wider range of Digital Payment Token services in the region. The Monetary Authority of Singapore handed the company a Major Payment Institution license, after granting in-principal approval late last year, according to an announcement yesterday. 

4. Crypto exchange WOO X partners with OpenTrade to offer tokenized Treasury Bills in Asia

   • Crypto exchange WOO X has partnered with OpenTrade, a platform for tokenized real-world assets, to offer tokenized U.S. treasury bill products in Asia, the company said today. In a statement shared with The Block, WOO X (also known as WOO Network) said the partnership allows its users to earn yield via access to tokenized T-Bills and borrow USDC-secured loans against liquid assets.

5. Nomura's crypto arm expands to Japan with new office

   • Laser Digital, the crypto unit of Japanese banking giant Nomura, has expanded to Japan with a new office in Tokyo. "To optimize support of our trading business we wanted to have 24/7 operational management, so for coverage in the far east Japan was obviously our top choice," Steven Ashley, co-founder of Laser Digital, said in a statement. Laser Digital is headquartered in Switzerland and also has offices in London and Dubai.