Scenius Sync (Issue #93)

BlockFi and FTX Creditors Scammed, BlackRock to Launch Tokenized PE Fund, Coinbase International Sees Record Volume, Base TVL Doubles, & LSE Picks May 28 for Crypto ETN Trading To Go Live

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. Email phishing scam targeting BlockFi, FTX creditors reels in millions and counting

   • A sophisticated email phishing scam which appears to be targeting creditors of bankrupt crypto companies such as BlockFi and FTX has continuously reeled in at least $5 million worth of cryptocurrency and NFTs over the past week, showing no signs of stopping.  A security expert has linked the scam to the Pink Drainer kit, a popular tool for operating such scams, and an email database breach. 

2. Polygon zkEVM blockchain resumes operation following 10-hour outage

   • The Polygon zkEVM Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain experienced downtime on March 23, failing to sequence new blocks for over 10 hours. The Polygon zkEVM team has officially acknowledged the event and plans on releasing a post-mortem. 

3. Genesis agrees to pay $21M to settle SEC case

   • Genesis Global Capital has agreed to pay a $21 million civil penalty as part of a final court judgment to settle charges related to the Gemini Earn lending program. Genesis and Gemini were charged with an unregistered securities offering after launching the Gemini Earn crypto lending program for retail investors.

4. U.S. SEC Asking for More Millions, Dozens of Lawyers to Beef Up Crypto Oversight

   • The U.S. SEC, CFTC and Treasury Department are all asking for additional resources for the 2025 fiscal year, saying they will go toward crypto and other areas. The budget requests will go to Congress. Gary Gensler wants 33 more people in the enforcement division of the SEC to deal with "new and emerging issues," according to the regulator's annual budget pitch. Much of that office's recent, emerging workload has come from the agency's pursuit of cryptocurrency businesses, such as Coinbase Inc., Kraken and Binance.

5. Crypto Airdrops Are Not Securities, Lawsuit Against SEC Argues

   • The crypto industry is clapping back at U.S. regulators with a pre-emptive lawsuit against the SEC, spotlighting its aggressive enforcement of securities law.  On Monday, the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court against the SEC, arguing that Beba, a Texas-based apparel company, did not violate U.S. securities laws by airdropping its BEBA crypto token to customers for free. The suit seeks a court order officially declaring Beba’s airdrop legal, potentially protecting other airdrops like it from SEC litigation.  

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. BlackRock to launch tokenized investment fund with Securitize

   • BlackRock is launching a tokenized private equity fund in tandem with financial services firm Securitize as the company deepens its foray into digital assets.  Last Thursday, the world's largest asset manager filed a Form D, or a notice of exempt securities offerings, to the SEC regarding its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund. According to the filing, the pooled investment fund will require outside investors to put down a minimum of $100,000.

2. Coinbase International sees record daily trading volume in March

   • Daily trading volume on Coinbase International has surged this month, and only five days in March have seen daily trading volume fall below the $1 billion mark on the platform. The average daily trading volume for March has been significantly higher than previous months, with trading volume hitting an all-time high of $6.23 billion last Wednesday. The news comes as Coinbase's share price increased by over 10% in the past 24 hours, now trading above $280 per share, according to TradingView data. Coinbase still has some way to go before hitting its new all-time high of $342.98, which was reached in November 2021.

   • In other bullish Coinbase-related news, Base TVL doubles in a month as pundits tip memecoins to drive adoption

3. Orb Eye-Scanning Code Made Open Source by Worldcoin Foundation

   • Worldcoin Foundation, the organization behind the digital asset protocol developed by OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, said on Friday that it is open-sourcing “core components” of its Orb technology. In a move meant to foster trust and collaborative development, Worldcoin says anyone can examine the code for its Orb eye scanners.

4. London Stock Exchange picks May 28 as start date for crypto ETN trading

   • Crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) will begin trading on the London Stock Exchange on May 28.  Only professional investors will be permitted to trade in them.  ETN issuers have until April 15 to submit plans to be eligible to start trading in May. 

5. Lens now has CC0 and other creator licenses via social media app Hey

   • Hey added commercial use, personal use and CC0, or ‘no rights reserved,’ creator license codes for use on Lens.  Each let users dictate their content ownership, control its usage and augment how their content’s attribution and revenue sharing works. "This marks a first step towards a future of programmable, composable and ownership-friendly social media," said Christina Beltramini, Head of Growth and Partnerships at Aave on the social media platform X. This is "vital for the future of remix-able co-creation of content and creativity," Beltramini added.