Scenius Sync (Issue #73)

SBF GUILTY on All Charges, NFTs On The Simpsons, OpenSea Slashes Staff, & Hong Kong Now Considering Spot Crypto ETFs

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. Jury finds SBF guilty on all charges, sentencing set for March 2024

   • Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s public trial in a New York court ended with the jury finding him guilty on all seven charges on Nov. 3, including two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of commodities fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy. He will return to court for sentencing by Judge Lewis Kaplan on March 28, 2024. Government prosecutors will recommend a sentence, but Kaplan will have the final say.

   • Coverage from CoinDesk here.

2. Bank of England, FCA seek feedback on proposals for stablecoin regulation

   • The Bank of England and the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority have requested feedback on their proposed approach to regulating stablecoins. According to a statement from the BoE released on Monday, the proposals cover any future payment systems that use stablecoins in the UK at a systemic scale.

3. OpenSea Slashes NFT Marketplace Staff by 50%

   • OpenSea, the prominent NFT marketplace startup, has laid off about half of its staff, the company confirmed to Decrypt on Friday. A company representative told Decrypt that approximately 50% of employees were impacted across the company. The company would not clarify the number of people affected by the moves. Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, elaborated on the statement in a Twitter thread, highlighting how the company has streamlined its team in an effort to launch a next-generation version of the marketplace.

   • In related news, Blur's soaring token jumps even more after rival OpenSea cuts 50% of staff.

4. Crypto exchange OKX to delist 26 trading pairs

   • Crypto exchange OKX will delist 26 trading pairs by Nov. 10 in a move being taken to "maintain a robust spot trading environment."  The first batch of trading pairs to be removed on Nov. 9 include CELO-USDC, AXS-USDC, ENS-USDC, IOST-USDC, THETA-USDC, OMG-USDC, GMT-USDC, YFI-USDC, DASH-USDC, XTZ-USDC, NEAR-ETH, IMX-USDC, GMX-USDC, APE-BTC, AAVE-ETH, CORE-USDC, ALGO-BTC, DYDX-BTC and XLM-ETH. 

     On Nov. 10, OKX will further delist HNT-USDT, BTM-USDT, PICKLE-USDT, QOM-USDT, SAITAMA-USDT, COVER-USDT and DHT-USDT. 

5. FTX seeks sale of Grayscale and Bitwise assets worth $744M

   • Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has requested the bankruptcy court in Delaware allow it to sell certain key trust fund assets, including from crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments and custody service provider Bitwise, valued at around $744 million. In a court filing dated Nov. 3, FTX debtors requested the court to allow them to sell trust assets to enable the firm to prepare for “forthcoming dollarized distributions to creditors.”

   • Meanwhile, FTX Relaunch Effort Includes Celsius Winner Proof Group, Sources Say

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. The Simpsons Take a Dig at NFTs, Crypto in 'Treehouse of Horror' Episode

   • NFTs and the blockchain made a special appearance on The Simpsons, Sunday night U.S. time. In the episode, Marge battles through the blockchain to rescue Bart, now a living NFT, while the city’s mayor declares that Springfield’s art gallery will be digitized. There are also plenty of appearances by blue chip NFTs, like the Beeple, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, and second-tier PFPs being shown as nearly worthless.

2. Hong Kong Now Considering Spot Crypto ETFs for Retail Investors: Bloomberg

   • Hong Kong’s securities regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, is moving towards allowing retail investors to buy spot crypto Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Hong Kong regulators are continuing to take a progressive approach to crypto, and their opinion on retail exposure to digital assets has shifted throughout the year.

3. Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs and Magic Eden Launching Ethereum NFT Marketplace That Enforces Royalties

   • Multi-chain NFT marketplace Magic Eden announced Saturday that it will launch a new Ethereum platform by the end of the year in collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs—with a firm commitment to honor creator royalties on NFT sales.

4. Smart contract governance platform Llama raises $6 million in seed funding

   • Smart contract governance platform Llama raised $6 million in seed funding. Founders Fund and Electric Capital led the round, with additional participation from Stani Kulechov, Sandeep Nailwal, Elad Gil, and more.  Llama offers smart contracts full-stack governance and access control for better security and efficacy, encoding roles, permissions and execution strategies for on-chain actions, it wrote in a statement.

5. Arbitrum community approves initial vote on proposal to activate token staking

   • Arbitrum community members have greenlit an initial governance vote on a proposal that asks for ARB token holders to stake their holdings in exchange for yield. This is expected to be funded by the Arbitrum treasury and distributed over 12 months through a smart contract, per the PlutusDAO proposal.