Scenius Sync (Issue #95)

Solana Grapples With Congestion Issues, Uniswap Hits Historic 2T In Trade Volume, Chainalysis Hires Former IRS Criminal Investigations Chief, & Tensor Token Launch

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. Solana developers rally to combat network congestion

   • In recent days, the Solana network has grappled with congestion issues, leading to noticeable delays in transaction processing and a large number of transactions being dropped. Users of the popular Phantom wallet app on Solana and other apps have notified users of congestion, advising them to expect longer wait times for their transactions to complete.

2. Chainalysis hires former chief of IRS Criminal Investigations

   • The blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis hired a former chief of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. James Lee will serve as the Global Head of Capacity Building at Chainalysis. In this role, Lee will help law enforcement, regulators and other entities build the capacity to fight illicit financial crime.

3. Terraform co-founder Do Kwon found liable for civil fraud

   • Terraform and its co-founder, Do Kwon, were found liable on civil fraud charges on Friday in a case brought by the SEC last year.  The SEC charged Terraform Labs and Kwon in February 2023 over the algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD, which collapsed in a dramatic fashion a year earlier.  

   • Meanwhile, Montenegro Supreme Court overturns decision on Do Kwon's extradition as NY civil case continues

4. Three crypto advocacy groups file amicus briefs in Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's case

   • Coin Center, the Blockchain Association, and the DeFi Education Fund have each filed an amicus brief supporting imprisoned Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s motion to drop the charges against him.  In the briefs, the groups argue that the government’s indictment against Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, who were charged with several crimes related to their work in writing code for the Tornado Cash mixing protocol on Ethereum, contains numerous factual and legal errors. 

5. Genesis purchases $2.1B of Bitcoin following GBTC sell-off

   • Bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis reportedly offloaded about 36 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to acquire additional Bitcoin

     as part of its preparations to settle its debts with creditors. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Genesis liquidated approximately 36 million GBTC shares on April 2, valued at approximately $58.50 per share at that time.

     The share price has climbed by approximately 50% since Genesis initially sought permission from a United States bankruptcy court to sell the 36 million GBTC shares on Feb. 2, when the shares were at $38.50.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Uniswap hits a historic $2 trillion in trading volume

   • The world's most popular decentralized exchange by trading volume announced it has passed a whopping $2 trillion in total trading volume.

     In a post to the social media platform X, Uniswap Labs announced that the cumulative trading volume transacted using its protocol had hit the historic mark. Since its founding in 2018, Uniswap has been one of the most used DeFi applications on the Ethereum blockchain and the leading decentralized exchange, or DEX, by trading volume.

2. BlackRock names Citi, Citadel, Goldman Sachs as APs for its spot bitcoin ETF

   • BlackRock has revealed the names of four more Wall Street firms it's enlisting to buy bitcoin for its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. Citi, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Citadel have joined JP Morgan and Jane Street as authorized participants for the world's largest asset manager's spot bitcoin ETF, according to an amendment filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to the ETF's Form S-1. 

3. HashKey launches global crypto exchange after Bermuda license

   • HashKey Group launched a new exchange called HashKey Global, the company announced today on X. The new exchange will offer trading pairs for 21 cryptocurrencies for qualified retail users, according to the company.

4. Tensor NFT Marketplace Reveals Solana Token Launch, Coinbase to List

   • Solana NFT marketplace Tensor plans to launch its long-awaited TNSR token next week, and leading American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said Friday that it plans on listing the incoming Solana-based token.

5. Aave Chan founder Marc Zeller teases upcoming 'fee switch' vote for Aave stakers

   • Decentralized lending platform Aave might soon vote on whether or not to turn on a 'fee switch' and distribute fees to holders, according to a post on X from Aave Chan Initiative founder Marc Zeller.  "Temp check to activate 'fee switch' next week," said Zeller, after noting that Aave DAO's current net profits sum to about $60 million per year, reflecting five years of operational costs.