Scenius Sync (Issue #72)

Bitcoin Searches Surge, Celestia Mainnet Slated to Go Live Today, SBF Testifies He Thought Alameda Could Cover $8bn Hole, and Binance Declining Market Share Continues

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 💪

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Essential News 🗞

1. Sam Bankman-Fried testifies he thought hedge fund could cover $8 billion debt to FTX

   • FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried testified on Monday that he believed his Alameda Research hedge fund had enough assets to cover an $8 billion debt to the cryptocurrency exchange until days before both collapsed. Testifying in his own defense at his fraud trial, the 31-year-old former billionaire told jurors that he was concerned and surprised, but not alarmed, upon learning in October 2022 that Alameda had borrowed $8 billion from deposits that FTX customers sent to the exchange.

   • More coverage on SBF's Trial: Sam 'wasn't sure' nearly one hundred and fifty times

2. Gemini files complaint against Genesis over $1.6 billion in GBTC shares

   • Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has sued Genesis Global, its former business partner for its Gemini Earn product, over 60 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) that were pledged as collateral. In an action filed as part of Genesis' bankruptcy case, Gemini is seeking to gain control of the GBTC shares, which, Gemini said, "would completely secure and satisfy the claims of every single" Earn customer – whose money was locked up when Genesis froze withdrawals last year.

3. Bitcoin's page on Wikipedia sees highest views since June 2022 amid ongoing rally

   • Visits to Bitcoin’s Wikipedia page hit nearly 13,500 on Oct. 24 — the highest interest the page has received since June of 2022. The interest likely coincides with bitcoin’s price rally and promising ETF news last week. 

   • Similarly, Bitcoin leads largest crypto funds inflow since July 2022, CoinShares says

4. Binance's market share continues to decline amid rally

   • The recent cryptocurrency surge has reinvigorated the industry following challenges such as FTX’s collapse. However, Binance may not be celebrating, as the firm has experienced a gradual decline in market share, falling from 74% in December 2022 to 50% this month.

5. UK Treasury reveals final blueprint for crypto, stablecoin governance

   • The government plans a phased approach to regulations, starting with fiat-backed stablecoins for payment, followed by broader cryptoasset oversight

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Celestia's mainnet expected to go live today, including TIA airdrop and exchange listings

   • The Celestia mainnet, a modular blockchain network, is expected to launch Tuesday along with its native token, which will become available for trading on centralized exchanges. KuCoin and Bybit announced their respective plans to initiate trading for Celestia (TIA) tokens at an estimated time of 10 a.m. EST Tuesday. The trading platforms stated that they will initiate trading for TIA against the USDT stablecoin. Binance also confirmed it would list TIA and tentatively open trading at 12 p.m. EST.

   • In related news: Celestia's TIA Token Trades at $3.15 on Futures Market Ahead of Airdrop

2. Thailand’s KBank acquires crypto exchange business Satang

   • Thailand’s second-largest lender by assets, Kasikornbank, is moving into crypto by acquiring a majority stake in the local crypto exchange Satang. Kasikornbank, also known as KBank, acquired 97% of shares in the operator of Thailand’s Satang crypto exchange, according to an announcement published on Oct. 30 on the website of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

     According to Kasikornbank, the acquisition is valued at 3.7 billion Thai baht ($103 million). The transaction is being made through KBank’s new subsidiary, Unita Capital, which is focused on investment in the digital asset industry, the statement notes.

3. DYdX Chain to distribute all network fees to validators and stakers

   • The dYdX Chain will allocate all accrued fees to its network validators and stakers, in addition to expanding the DYDX token’s capabilities on the version 4 platform. As of 1 p.m. EST Thursday, the alpha mainnet of the dYdX Chain became operational, with validators creating the genesis block. This marked a notable phase transition for the decentralized derivatives platform.

     In a latest update, the dYdX Foundation confirmed the extended utility of the DYDX token in version 4, emphasizing its vital role in bolstering network security and governance. The token will be staked to network validators, and all protocol fees — including both USDC trading fees and DYDX-denominated gas fees — will be channeled to these validators and stakers.

4. Saudi Arabia's NEOM megaproject proposes investing $50 million in Animoca Brands

   • Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megaproject has proposed investing $50 million in Animoca Brands in a memorandum of understanding. Half of the investment will be in convertible notes while the remainder will be through the purchase of shares on the secondary market.

5. Starknet to hand out 50 million STRK tokens to early ecosystem contributors

   • The Starknet Foundation is allocating 50 million of its yet-to-be-released STRK tokens to early ecosystem contributors. Called the Early Community Member Program, it will reward individual contributors who encouraged technical discussion, organized Starknet-related events and regularly published Starknet-branded content, according to a blog post.