The Scenius Sync (Issue #16)

Unicorn Status for Uniswap, World's Biggest Asset Manager Pushes Further Into Crypto & SEC Fines Kim Kardashian

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. Uniswap Labs Eyes Unicorn Status with Potential $200M in Fresh Funding

   • The development team behind DeFi's largest exchange Uniswap is reportedly on track to become the next crypto unicorn. The round could fall between $100 million and $200 million, with a Singapore-based sovereign investment fund and Polychain tied to the deal. The deal would give Uniswap a $1 billion valuation.

2. U.S. Treasury bills now make up more than half of Tether's reserves

   • U.S. Treasury bills now account for 58.1% of Tether’s reserves per its CTO said on Monday, up from 43.5% in June. The stablecoin issuer continues to reduce its commercial paper holdings and improve disclosures.  

3. BlackRock launches ETF in Europe with blockchain and crypto company exposure and likewise prepares ETF targeting metaverse companies

   • The world’s largest asset manager continues to push further into crypto. This time launching an ETF with exposure to blockchain and crypto companies for its European customers (The iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF) and announcing a separate ETF aimed at capitalizing on metaverse-facing companies (iShares Future Metaverse Tech and Communications ETF).

4. Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius Network's CEO, Alex Mashinsky, Resigns & news breaks he withdrew $10M before Freeze to Pay Taxes

   • On September 27th, Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky submitted his letter of resignation, effective immediately, to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Celsius Network Limited. Shortly thereafter, news broke that Mashinsky reportedly withdrew $10 million from the crypto lender shortly before customer funds were frozen on its platform. Mashinsky’s withdrawals are expected to escalate scrutiny of the former CEO and call into question whether he knew Celsius would reach a stage where customers wouldn’t be able to recover their funds.

5. Kim Kardashian Pays $1.26M Fine to SEC for Promoting EthereumMax Without Disclosing Reimbursement

   • The reality TV star also agreed not to tout any cryptocurrencies for three years.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Spain’s Largest Telecom Company Telefonica now accepts bitcoin, crypto payments

   • Spain's largest telecommunications company is now accepting bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as payment on its ecommerce store. Telefónica partnered with Bit2Me, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country, to facilitate real time payment conversion into euros.

2. JPMorgan Backs $20M Round for Blockchain Infrastructure Startup Ownera

   • Ownera aims to connect the tokenized securities of institutional investors. JPMorgan was among the first wave of big banks to move into the crypto space last year. The firm offered institutional clients access to bitcoin through two different funds custodied by NYDIG that have raised a combined total of nearly $45 million. The Ownera funding signals that traditional financial institutions have not abandoned blockchain technology during the bear market.

3. Celebrate the Merge with 99.95% off Chipotle’s new Garlic Guajillo Steak

   • Proof of stake? More like proof of steak. For a limited time when you use Flexa to spend ETH at any Chipotle restaurant in the US, you’ll save 99.95% off your purchase — an amount equal to the projected overall energy savings from Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake consensus.

4. Warner Music Group Launches Partnership with OpenSea

   • The first joint project will be an IP-generative ‘NFT Label Pass’ from Web3 startup Probably Nothing and is intended to to accelerate the mega-record label conglomerate artists’ expansion into Web3.

5. Crypto investment Pantera seeking $1.25 billion for a second blockchain fund

   • The first first blockchain fund launched last year with commitments of $1bn exceeding its $600m target. The second fund aims to support provide liquidity for people that are kind of giving up because we’re still very bullish for the next 10 or 20 years,” founder Dan Morehead said in in an interview.