Scenius Sync (Issue #92)

CZ Teases New Project, DOJ Pushing for SBF To Get 40-50 Years, SEC Sanctioned by Federal Judge in Crypto Case, Ether.Fi Token Drop, & Binance User Asset Holdings Top $100B Milestone

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. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao teases new forthcoming project

   • Changpeng Zhao, former CEO of the crypto exchange Binance, teased a new project on Monday. The project will be educational and have no new tokens, Zhao wrote on the social media platform X. Other than that, he said, more details soon." 

2. Utah judge denies SEC's motion to dismiss DEBT Box case, imposes sanctions

   • A federal judge ruled on Monday that the Securities and Exchange Commission acted in bad faith and must pay sanctions, including attorneys' fees and costs, stemming from a case it brought against crypto startup DEBT Box. 

3. OKX to pull USDT trading pairs in Europe

   • The world's fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume is ceasing support for USDT trading pairs, an OKX spokesperson told The Block. The delisting comes several months before the EU's scheduled implementation of MiCA, which becomes fully effective on Dec. 30, 2024. The regulation will restrict the use of certain stablecoins in the region. 

4. Sam Bankman-Fried Should Spend 40-50 Years in Prison, DOJ Says

   • U.S. prosecutors recommended that a federal judge sentence FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to 40-50 years in prison for his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges tied to the collapse of what was once one of the world's largest crypto exchanges.

5. Crypto-friendly Rep. French Hill seeks to lead the House Financial Services Committee

   • The Arkansas Republican, who has been friendly toward crypto, is looking to chair that committee, replacing current Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. McHenry, who announced his plans to retire at the beginning of 2025. 

---

Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Ether.Fi's Token Falls 20% After Debut

   • ETHFI, the governance token of the largest liquid restaking protocol Ether.Fi, debuted at $4.13 after the token was distributed via an airdrop and to participants of a Binance Launchpad round. The token has since slumped by more than 20%. At the time of writing, ETHFI is trading at $3.60 on Binance and recorded a trading volume of over $118 million in the first 45 minutes of trading. The token had a fully diluted value (FDV), the market value of a token if the entire supply ends up in circulation, of $3.6 billion.

2. Binance's User Asset Holdings Exceed $100 Billion

   • In the past few weeks, there has been no shortage of records, all-time-highs, and crypto industry firsts. Binance has recently added a special record to this collection, one that speaks to both the healthy run of the crypto market and rising transparency of user funds in the crypto space. In the first week of March, the aggregate value of user assets custodied on Binance has soared past the $100 billion mark for the first time since we began disclosing user asset holdings via our proof-of-reserves (POR) system in November 2022.

3. Dogwifhat memecoin's iconic photo sold as NFT for $4.3 million

   • The iconic photo of Achi, the dog behind Dogwifhat meme coin, was sold as NFT for $4.3 million. Crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures (GCR) made the winning bid of 1,210.8 ETH.

4. Spot Ethereum ETFs may bring up to $45 billion of inflows if approved, says Standard Chartered Bank

   • Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds could still be approved by their initial deadline of May 23, according to Standard Chartered Bank, despite skepticism expressed by other commentators. "My view is still that they will be approved on May 23. Although I note this is now a non-consensus view," Geoffrey Kendrick, head of forex and crypto research at Standard Chartered Bank, told The Block in a statement. "If the ETFs are approved, I estimate $15-45 billion of inflows will come in the first 12 months, using the same logic as I applied to the BTC ETF inflows."

   • In related news, Standard Chartered raises Bitcoin price target to $150,000 by year-end

5. Figure launches new blockchain-focused entity after raising $60 million in Series A

   • U.S.-based fintech firm Figure Technologies announced today that it is launching a separate company named Figure Markets, a “first step” in developing a single platform for investors to trade a wide array of blockchain-native assets including crypto, stocks and alternative investments. Figure said the new trading platform will leverage the Provenance blockchain, a network that has accumulated a total value locked of $13 billion, according to its website.