The Scenius Sync (Issue #31)
SEC Targets Gemini and Genesis, Binance to Allow Institutional Investors to Keep Collateral Off-Exchange, & AWS Selects Avalanche to Push Blockchain Adoption
Scenius: The intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. The communal form of the concept of genius.
Welcome to The Scenius Sync.
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Share the essential stories driving the crypto industry and markets.
Highlight innovative applications and mainstream adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.
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Essential News 🗞
SEC Alleges Gemini, Genesis Sold Unregistered Securities
The investment regulator took aim at Gemini Earn, the troubled yield-bearing product that hundreds of thousands of U.S. investors entrusted with their crypto. Gemini generated yield on billions of dollars in crypto by loaning deposits to Genesis, which loaned them out again. But Genesis’ November closing of lending withdrawals left some 340,000 Gemini Earn customers and about $900 million in crypto in limbo, the SEC said. The regulator accused the popular program of being an unregistered security.
Binance Will Allow Institutional Investors to Keep Collateral Off the Exchange
Binance will allow institutional investors to keep their collateralized crypto used for leveraged positions off the platform. The exchange will let investors post collateral with Binance Custody, which will hold the assets off the internet in cold storage wallets. Once trades are settled, the assets would then become accessible to the user again. The feature will be a major blessing for crypto investors trading in the leveraged markets as most crypto traders have to keep their collateral on the exchange for trading. However, using cold storage wallets means users can continue to trade crypto during volatile sessions without massive outflows on an exchange.
Ex-president of FTX US says Relationship with SBF Reached 'Total Deterioration'
Brett Harrison, former president of FTX US, shared his experience at the company and working with Sam Bankman-Fried — and ultimately why he left his so-called "dream job." In a 49-part Twitter thread surpassing 1,200 words, Harrison claims Bankman-Fried showed emotionally volatile behavior, avoided conflict, pushed back against criticism and even isolated Harrison from communication on key decision-making.
3AC founders Zhu and Davies Pitch to Raise $25 Million for New Crypto Exchange
The founders of defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and crypto exchange CoinFlex are pitching investors on a new crypto exchange focused on claims trading. Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the founders of collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), are hoping to raise $25 million to start a new crypto exchange called GTX, according to two separate pitch decks obtained by The Block.
Lazarus Group Moves 41,000 Ethereum Nabbed From Harmony Bridge Hack
North Korea-linked cybercrime syndicate Lazarus Group has reportedly transferred $63.4 million in Ethereum from 2022’s mammoth Harmony bridge hack, depositing it on Binance, Huobi, and OKX. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao claimed the Lazarus-laundered Ethereum transferred onto Huobi and Binance has now been frozen and seized.
Innovation & Adoption 💡📈
AWS Partners with Avalanche to Scale Blockchain Solutions for Enterprises, Governments
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has partnered with Ava Labs, the company building out layer-1 blockchain Avalanche, to help scale blockchain adoption across enterprises, institutions and governments The partnership intends to make it easier for individuals to launch and manage nodes on Avalanche while also aiming to give the network more strength and flexibility for developers.
DeFi Protocol Ondo Finance Sets Up Tokenized Corporate Bonds With Over 8% Yield on Stablecoins
The on-chain funds are directly invested in exchange-traded funds managed by BlackRock and PIMCO. Ondo estimated the regulated products could attract more than $100 billion in stablecoins, which currently may not be earning yields for their holders.
El Salvador One Step Closer to Bitcoin Bonds After Law Passage
El Salvador's Legislative Assembly approved a law on the issuance of digital assets, paving the way for bitcoin bonds that have been championed by President Nayib Bukele. The new law establishes the legal order granting legal certainty to transfer operations of any kind of digital asset used in public offerings in El Salvador. It also creates a new government agency to administer El Salvador's digital assets. The bitcoin bonds have been in the works since at least early 2022. Bitcoin already is legal currency in the country
MetaMask Staking Beta Now Live with Lido and Rocket Pool
With the new service, users can connect to Lido and Rocket Pool to stake their ETH and receive liquid staking tokens directly from the staking provider within the web3 app. Those who wish to swap back to ETH from liquid-staked ETH may do so via MetaMask Swaps from within the staking interface, subject to fees.
Shiba Inu Developers Reveal First Look of Layer 2 Blockchain Shibarium
Upcoming layer 2 network Shibarium will soon join the ever-growing fray of Ethereum-based blockchains, such as Arbitrum and Optimism, looking to solve the problems of scalability, speed and expense. A beta testnet is expected to launch in the coming weeks. Layer 2 refers to a set of off-chain solutions (separate blockchains) built on top of layer 1s that reduce bottlenecks with scaling and data. These bundle multiple off-chain transactions into a single layer 1 transaction, which helps reduce the data load and fees. In an introductory post on Sunday, Shiba Inu developers said Shibarium would have a focus on metaverse and gaming applications especially as the NFT sector is expected to heat up in the coming years, apart from Shibarium’s use as a cheap settlement for decentralized applications (dApps) built on the network.