The Scenius Sync (Issue #34)

Bankrupt Genesis and Parent DCG Reach Initial Agreement with Main Creditors, Bank of England Launches Digital Pound Project, & Hamilton Lane Tokenizes $2.1 Billion Fund On Polygon

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. Bankrupt Lender Genesis and Parent DCG Reach Initial Agreement With Main Creditors

   • Crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its bankrupt Genesis subsidiaries reached an in-principle agreement on terms of a restructuring plan with a group of the firm’s main creditors. The agreement, which begins to resolve some of the major issues that sent Genesis into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, entails winding down the Genesis loan book as well as the sale of the bankrupt Genesis entities. it was also reported that DCG intends to sell its subsidiary Genesis' crypto trading business as well as its lending arm, which is restructuring through bankruptcy.

2. UK's Bank of England launches digital pound project as 'new form' of money

   • The Bank of England, the UK's central bank, launched its long-awaited digital pound project, pitching the potential to create a new payment system and form of money. The potential digital currency would be issued solely by the central bank, with households and businesses able to hold the currency in a digital wallet accessible via smartphones or cards, a consultation document published on Tuesday said. According to the proposal, wallets would be anonymized on the central bank's ledger to address privacy concerns and the digital currency would be non-programmable, meaning authorities can't control how people spend their money. The BoE also proposes an initial limit on the amount any individual could hold of up to £20,000, in order to manage the risks of deposits flowing out of the banking system.

3. Pantera Loses Co-CIO Joey Krug

   • Crypto-focused venture capital and investment giant Pantera Capital has reorganized its leadership with the departure of co-Chief Investment Officer Joey Krug and the formation of an executive management committee, according to a letter sent out to limited partners on Friday. Krug joined Pantera in 2017 to help manage the Liquid Token Fund. On a recent investor call, he revealed that the fund had lost 80% during 2022, taking a 23% hit in November alone in the aftermath of collapsed crypto exchange FTX. The letter didn’t specify why Krug was leaving but noted “His responsibilities will be absorbed by the Executive Committee and our deep bench of 65 experienced investment and operations professionals.”

4. FTX Debtors Want Political Donations Returned by End of the Month

   • FTX is sending confidential notices to political figures, political action groups and other recipients of contributions and payments, the exchange said. The crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy protection in November and the FTX debtors are reviewing $93 million in political donations made between March 2020 and November 2022. 

5. Silvergate Faces DOJ Fraud Probe Over FTX and Alameda Dealings

   • US prosecutors in the Justice Department’s fraud unit are looking into Silvergate Capital Corp.’s dealings with fallen crypto giants FTX and Alameda Research. The crypto-friendly bank hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing and the inquiry, which is in its early phases, could end without charges being brought. Silvergate was among the lenders hit hardest by FTX’s sudden implosion last November. The bank reported a $1 billion loss last quarter and fired 40% of its staff. It also disclosed taking out billions of dollars in loans to stave off a run on deposits after Bankman-Fried’s exchange collapsed.

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Innovation & Adoption 💡📈

1. Hamilton Lane’s $2.1 Billion Flagship Direct Equity Fund Now Available for Investment on Securitize Feeder Tokenized on Polygon

   • Individual investors can now access Hamilton Lane’s flagship direct equity fund, Equity Opportunities Fund V through a new Securitize feeder fund tokenized on Polygon. A portion of the vehicle will be accessible via a feeder fund on a secondary basis to individual investors. The new tokenized fund will significantly increase access to this historically high-performing asset class, with minimum investments reduced from an average of $5 million traditionally to $20,000.

2. US Air Force Pumps $30M Into Blockchain for Supply Chains

   • The US Air Force was already collaborating with blockchain-as-a-service provider SIMBA Chain to develop a blockchain-based system for certain functions including supply chain quality and management. This week, the Air Force selected SIMBA for a $30 million strategic technology initiative, representing a significant bump to its budget for blockchain initiatives.

     The investment will go to development of blockchain-powered applications in support of supply chain management by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, the USAF, US Navy, US Army and the Defense Logistics Agency.

3. Riot Just Mined The Most Bitcoin It Ever Has in a Month

   • Despite a reduction in its fleet of mining machines and hash rate capacity, the industry’s leading Bitcoin mining firm has just reported 740 Bitcoin produced in January, its monthly largest. This is an increase of approximately 62% as compared to 458 btc in January 2022, and about 12% as compared to the 659 BTC generated in December 2022. The record number of mined Bitcoin, worth $16.8 million in current prices, came despite the operational disruption the North America-based miners faced at the end of December due to extreme weather conditions.

4. Options Automated Market Maker Lyra Deploys to Arbitrum Network

   • Lyra, a non-custodial derivatives exchange for crypto traders to buy and sell options, is now a multichain protocol after successfully launching its Newport upgrade earlier this week. Initially only running on Ethereum layer 2 chain Optimism, Lyra has expanded to Arbitrum, another layer 2 platform, and integrated with decentralized swap and perpetual exchange GMX.

5. Visa Eyes High-Value USDC Settlement Payments on Ethereum

   • Payments giant Visa reportedly seeks to meet customer requests to convert digital assets into fiat payments, similar to how it converts foreign currencies.  “We’ve been testing how to actually accept settlement payments from issuers in USDC starting on Ethereum and paying out in USDC on Ethereum,” Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, said. He noted that the effort would clone foreign currency exchange executed on the card network’s payment platform.