The Scenius Sync (Issue #12)

Binance Pumps Its BUSD Bag, Arbitrum Is Merge Ready, & Saudi Central Bank Hires Crypto Expert

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. Arbitrum Upgrades to Nitro Ahead of Ethereum Merge

   • The largest Ethereum scaling solution just got a speed boost. Arbitrum, a layer-2 rollup built to settle transactions cheaply on top of Ethereum, successfully deployed its Nitro software upgrade after several hours of network downtime on Wednesday. The successful upgrade is a positive development for Ethereum investors ahead of the Merge, but Arbitrum’s centralization tradeoff in pursuit of lower gas fees remains contentious.

2. Binance, Issuer of 3rd Biggest Stablecoin, to Stop Supporting Larger Rival USDC

   • At 03:00 UTC on Sept. 29, users' balances in three stablecoins - USDC, USDP and TUSD - will be automatically converted into Binance’s own stablecoin, BUSD. The world's largest crypto exchange announced it is taking this action to enhance liquidity and capital-efficiency for users. The action effectively removes the world's second biggest stablecoin USDC as a tradeable asset on Binance's platform and is also a blow to Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of USDC. The largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT) will remain accessible on Binance.

3. SEC and CFTC want help building new crypto reporting regime for hedge funds

   • The SEC and CFTC put out a request for comment on proposed changes to Form PF, which is a confidential filing that hedge funds make to the SEC to report their exposure to certain assets. The request for comment lays out some core questions about how to define and classify different digital assets.

4. A16z Wants to Standardize NFTs by Giving You a License for Your Token

   • In an effort to establish some industry standards for how NFTs can be used, Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm is releasing a free licensing system, aiming to help the NFT sector fulfill its "economic potential."

5. Australian Federal Police Rolls Out Dedicated Crypto Unit

   • A team dedicated to tracing and seizing cryptoassets used by criminals will form part of the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Temasek to Lead $100M Funding Round in NFT and Metaverse Investor Animoca Brands

   • Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, whose net portfolio value stood at $403 billion in March, has been an active investor in the crypto industry.

2. Saudi Arabia Central Bank Hires Crypto & CBDC Expert

   • Saudi Arabia's interest in cryptocurrency might be rising. The Saudi Central Bank hired a former Accenture executive to lead crypto and CBDC efforts.

3. FIFA Launches NFT Platform on Algorand in Run-Up to World Cup

   • The platform will debut later this month and will feature memorable soccer moments, art, and imagery.

4. Orca is Uniswap V3 on Solana, Thanks to Open Source Code and Grants

   • Solana-powered Orca, an automated market maker, has a grants program and its ready to award $225,000 to 11 projects building DeFi protocols in a bid to rival Ethereum.

5. LG Electronics Launches New NFT Marketplace ‘LG Art Labs’

   • The electronics giant has launched its own NFT marketplace—the second South Korean television manufacturing titan to do so this year. The marketplace is accessible from the LG home screen and enables people to buy, sell, and trade NFTs from the comfort of their homes.