Scenius Sync (Issue #87)

President Biden Sports Laser Eyes, BTC Price Surges Past $50k, Genesis Settles NYC Fraud Case, EigenLayer Tops $6B In TVL, & Pudgies May Soon Flip Apes

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. Bitcoin rises above $50,000 amid slowdown in selling of Grayscale's GBTC fund

   • Bitcoin’s price broke through the $50,000 mark on Monday amid ongoing signs that the selloff in Grayscale Investments' spot fund could be nearing an end. "Bitcoin is now poised to achieve a new year-to-date high as its price rose to the highest level seen since December 2021 on Monday. It was trading for $50,260 at 12:38 p.m. ET, an increase of 4.1% over the previous 24 hours.This uptrend coincides with a period of reduced outflows from GBTC and a general increase in inflows into digital asset funds," Bitfinex analysts said in a report. "Newly launched bitcoin ETFs, not including Grayscale's GBTC, now hold over 192,000 BTC, surpassing MicroStrategy's 190,000 BTC, with inflows exceeding $1 billion in less than a month," they added.

   • As a result of the price pump, over 92% of Bitcoin supply is now profitable

2. Did President Biden Just Endorse Bitcoin?

   • To answer the question: No, President Joseph Biden is not suddenly a backer of Bitcoin. But the octogenarian politician’s social media team is appropriating the imagery of hardcore Bitcoiners, after posting an image of the U.S. president with laser eyes on Twitter/X. The picture of Dear Old Joe is apparently a reference to “Dark Brandon,” a meme that Democratic campaigners are trying to force. As Mashable reports: “In response to the Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, the president posted the eerie portrait that liberals have reinterpreted and used since 2022 to depict Biden as a superhero.

3. Bankrupt Crypto Lender Genesis Global Settles NY Fraud Lawsuit

   • The settlement with New York Attorney General Letitia James is structured so that assets that could have otherwise gone to state authorities will instead be returned to former Earn customers and other Genesis creditors. The deal must be approved by a bankruptcy judge and follows a settlement Genesis struck resolving a separate complaint over the Earn program brought by the SEC.

4. Criminal sentencing of Binance founder CZ postponed to late April

   • The sentencing of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on a money laundering rule charge has been postponed until April 30, a notice in Seattle federal court shows. Zhao, a resident of the United Arab Emirates who is known as “CZ,” is free on a $175 million release bond in the United States. Zhao pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to a charge of failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, which he founded.

5. New York Expands Fraud Case Against Digital Currency Group to $3 Billion

   • New York Attorney General Letitia James now says Digital Currency Group and Gemini are responsible for $3 billion in investor losses, boosting the size of her fraud lawsuit tied to the defunct Gemini Earn program. The companies are accused of misleading investors by assuring them their money was safe, when that, according to New York, was not the case.

   • Coincidentally, Digital Currency Group Reports Q4 Revenue of $210M, Up 59% Y/Y

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. EigenLayer hits nearly $6 billion TVL as its uncapped deposits window draws to a close

   • The TVL of Ethereum-based restaking protocol EigenLayer had surged to nearly $6 billion following its deposit cap lifting on Feb. 5. The temporary removal of EigenLayer’s TVL caps comes to a close at 3 p.m. ET on Feb . 9 though it plans to lift caps permanently in the future.

   • At the time of writing, EigenLayer’s TVL was north of $6B. Click here to check out DeFiLlama’s dashboard.

2. Spot bitcoin ETFs saw $1.1 billion of inflows last week, CoinShares says

   • Bitcoin ETFs saw $1.1 billion of inflows last week for a cumulative total of $2.8 billion since their launch on Jan. 11, CoinShares said. That’s the highest weekly inflow level since the inception of bitcoin spot ETFs, according to The Block’s data. 

3. Wall Street Titan Franklin Templeton Enters Spot Ethereum ETF Race

   • The spot Ethereum ETF race continues to heat up, with yesterday's entry from notable Wall Street institution Franklin Templeton, which filed a proposal with the SEC. The firm's S-1 registration form says that the proposed "Franklin Ethereum Trust" would hold ETH and "may, from time to time, stake a portion of the Fund's assets through one or more trusted staking providers."

4. Ethereum NFT volume approaching yearly high as Pudgy Penguins eye #2 spot

   • The volume of NFTs traded on Ethereum in the past week is at its highest level since late February last year, according to data from The Block. The increase in volume comes as Pudgy Penguins threatens to replace Bored Ape Yacht Club as the NFT collection with the second-highest market cap, after CryptoPunks. 

   • More coverage on the continued rise of the Pudgies from Blockworks, here.

5. Blockchain interoperability project Analog raises token round at $120 million valuation

   • Analog, a blockchain interoperability project building cross-chain communication infrastructure, has raised $16 million in a seed and strategic funding round. Tribe Capital led the round, with NGC Ventures, Wintermute, GSR, NEAR, Orange DAO, Mike Novogratz’s Samara Asset Group, Balaji Srinivasan and others participating, Analog said Monday. The firm started raising the round in October and closed it in December, Analog co-founder Victor Young told The Block. The funding was realized via a simple agreement for future tokens, or SAFT, Young said, adding that the round brought Analog’s fully diluted valuation to $120 million.