Scenius Sync (Issue #98)
EigenLayer Airdrop Plans, Morgan Stanley’s 15,000 Brokers May Soon Pitch BTC ETFs, Consensys Sues SEC Over Ether Categorization, & Stripe Bringing Back Crypto Payments
Scenius: The intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. The communal form of the concept of genius.
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Essential News 🗞
Morgan Stanley May Soon Allow It’s 15,000 Brokers to Pitch Bitcoin ETFs to Customers
Morgan Stanley is looking to allow its 15,000 brokers to recommend bitcoin exchange-traded funds to their customers, according to a report from AdvisorHub. The Wall Street giant opened up bitcoin ETF purchases after they had been approved earlier this year. However, this was done only on an unsolicited basis. The bank is now looking to let its brokers pitch bitcoin ETFs directly to its customers, the report added.
Consensys sues SEC, challenging its approach to Ethereum and seeking court intervention
Consensys Software Inc. is firing back against the SEC's categorization of ether. The blockchain and web3 development company behind the well-known MetaMask Wallet filed a lawsuit against the agency on Thursday in a Texas court. "The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission … seeks to regulate ETH as a security, even though ETH bears none of the attributes of a security — and even though the SEC has previously told the world that ETH is not a security, and not within the SEC’s statutory jurisdiction," Consensys said in the complaint.
SEC suggests $5.3 billion fine for Do Kwon, Terraform Labs
The SEC is calling for a New York court to impose $5.3 billion worth of fines on Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon, citing their roles in the 2022 Terra-Luna collapse. The two parties are contesting the amount of the civil penalties, with Terraform Labs arguing a maximum fine of $3.5 million and Kwon offering to pay $800,000.
More coverage here: Lawyers for Terraform and Do Kwon say fines should be closer to $1 million, not the SEC's proposed $5.3 billion
Binance sued in Canada for securities law violations
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been slapped with a new class-action lawsuit in Canada, with plaintiffs alleging that the firm has violated local securities laws. Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice published a certification motion on April 19 for a class-action lawsuit against Binance alleging that it sold crypto derivative products to retail investors without registration.
Yuga Labs restructures company, cuts roles to focus on smaller crypto-native team
Yuga Labs cut some team members Friday as a part of company restructuring. The firm’s CEO Greg Solano said Yuga Labs “lost its way” and is focusing on building a smaller crypto-native team.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
EigenLayer reveals plan for token airdrop with 15% allocation to ecosystem participants
Restaking protocol EigenLayer is launching a native token in May and its distribution will include an airdrop for those staking on the platform. The Eigen token will have a total supply of 1.67 billion tokens at launch. The foundation has allocated 45% of the tokens to its community. This is further subdivided into stakedrops (15%), community initiatives (15%) and ecosystem development (15%). Additionally, 29.5% of the tokens have been allocated to investors, while early contributors will receive 25.5%. Investors and early contributors are subject to a total lockup period of three years for their allocations. The first year involves a complete lock, followed by a gradual release of their total holdings at a rate of 4% per month over the subsequent two years.
Stripe bringing back crypto payments, this time with a stablecoin
Payment service Stripe is bringing back crypto in the form of stablecoin payments, co-founder and president John Collison has announced. The new service will be available this summer, he said. “Crypto is finally making sense as a means of exchange,” Collison told the audience at the company’s developers conference in San Francisco on April 25. Since Stripe discontinued its Bitcoin payment option in 2018, transaction times have increased, fees have decreased and stablecoins are performing stably. Stripe will offer payment services using USD Coin (USDC) on the Solana, Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
Franklin Templeton today announces that shares of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund are available for transfer from one shareholder to another shareholder (“peer-to-peer”) on the public blockchain. The Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund was launched in 2021 and is the first U.S.-registered fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership. One share of the Fund is represented by one BENJI token and the Fund’s transfer agent maintains the official record of share ownership via a proprietary blockchain-integrated system that utilizes blockchain technology for transaction activity. As of March 31, 2024, the Fund held over $360 million in assets under management.
Australian Securities Exchange Could Approve Spot-Bitcoin ETFs Before 2024-End
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), which accounts for 90% of Australia’s equity market, is expected to approve the first spot-Bitcoin {BTC} exchange-traded funds (ETFs) before the end of 2024, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Coverage from Bloomberg here: Bitcoin ETF Bandwagon Heads to Australia After $53 Billion Haul in US
Interactive Brokers Introduces Hong Kong Spot Bitcoin and Ether ETPs
Interactive Brokers, an automated global electronic broker, announced the launch of Hong Kong Spot Bitcoin and Ether Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) available to trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.