Here comes Friday, November 17. As the week comes to an end we can focus on the highlights of the crypto industry over the past few days.
Crypto funds surpassed $1B in inflows over the past 7 weeks
Between Nov. 4 and Nov. 10, total inflows into digital asset investment products were $293 million, a figure that added to the rest $1 billion over the course of the seven-week period, according to a CoinShares report.
Since the early part of this year, the estimates stand at $1.14 billion, the 3rd largest annual inflow on record. Total assets under management have risen 9.6% over the last week and 99% since the beginning of the year, topping $44.3b by Nov. 10.
For bitcoin-related products, investors poured in $240m, beating the previous period’s total of $228.9m.
Management company customers withdrew $7m from ‘short-bitcoin’ entities, while the previous week was marked by $4.5m inflow.
Ethereum saw its largest inflows since August 2022 of US$49m (compared to $17.5 million in the previous reporting period). CoinShares experts attribute this to recent news of spot-based ETF listing for the 2nd most capitalized cryptocurrency.
Solana also saw further inflows totalling US$12m, a boost compared to the previous week’s US$11m.
Let us remind you that FalconX researchers have spotted the prerequisites for the development of “Uptober” in the crypto market, pointing out the upswing in interest from institutional investors and the downfall in the number of sellers. Prior to that, Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME Group, signaled record appetite for bitcoin and Ethereum derivatives in Q3 2023.
Uniswap launches Android wallet app
Uniswap Labs has released its native app for the Android OS on the Google Play store.
The new app allows users to make swaps through the decentralized exchange (DEX) right in the app, eliminating the need for a separate web browser extension.
It supports swaps between eight different blockchains, provides trader tracking functionality and incorporates built-in protection against MEV bots, according to an official statement.
The Android wallet was introduced by the exchange back in mid-October, with beta access available to users. Earlier in April this year, the app was released for iOS devices only. As Callil Capuozzo, the vice president of design at Uniswap Labs, noted in an interview with Cointelegraph, the dev team made changes to the app’s interface based on customers feedback, making it more user-friendly.
The Android app was one of the most sought-after products the community turned to, according to a Uniswap Labs spokesperson.
Total value of blocked funds in the Uniswap protocol amounts to $3.56 billion, according to DeFi Llama.
Let us also remind you that developers have timed the launch of the v4 of the protocol to coincide with the upcoming Dencun hardfork on the Ethereum network. In October, the DEX imposed a 0.15% fee for web and wallet swaps for a “limited set of tokens,” which raised community concerns about the potential centralization of the platform.
Crypto VC trend remains steady, Binance says
Despite a general downward trajectory this year, the crypto market showed resilience in Q3, maintaining a consistent pace of venture deals and investment volume, Binance Research reports.
During the previous bullish market, funding for crypto projects surged continuously, peaking in April 2022 at $6.8b. However, after that point, the figure began to slide rapidly, hitting $2b by early 2023.
Between July and September, total investment volume in the Web3 sector equaled roughly $2.5 billion. A total of 169 deals were completed during the reporting period, out of which 81 were seed rounds.
In terms of investments raised, the leaders included the areas of gaming ($645 million), payments ($485 million) and trading platforms ($394 million).
SEC reports ~$5b in financial recovery from penalties
Throughout the fiscal year 2023, the SEC filed 784 enforcement actions and received $4.9 billion in penalty payments, with $930 million of that distributed to affected investors.
“The stand-alone enforcement actions spanned the securities industry, from billion-dollar frauds to emerging investor threats involving crypto asset securities and cybersecurity,” the regulator emphasized.
The Commission received a record 18,000 whistleblower reports during the period, exceeding last year’s numbers by nearly 50 percent. The combined number of appeals and complaints to the regulator came to more than 40,000.
The SEC paid out over $600m to accusers who provided details of illegal conducts.
Among the major penalties noted:
- A combined $400 million payout from Wells Fargo, HSBC and Scotia Capital for violations of federal recordkeeping and customer protection requirements.
- $178.6 million from Danske Bank for misleading investors about its anti-money laundering program.
- $75 million from ABB Ltd. as part of a settling of claims in an alleged corruption scheme.
The SEC has twice exercised its authority to freeze corrupt assets in 2023. The first case involved a Florida resident indicted for creating a $100m Ponzi scheme, while the second one concerned a Miami-based investment advisor BKCoin Management regarding a $100m fraudulent crypto scheme.