First Mover Americas: Crypto Funds See Largest Inflows Since July

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Digital asset investment funds witnessed inflows for the second week totalling $78 million, the largest inflows since July, according to data from CoinShares. Bitcoin investment funds saw the largest proportion of inflows, totalling $43 million. Bitcoin trading volumes also rose by 16% last week, said the report. CoinShares noted that some investors poured some $1.2 million into short-bitcoin positions after recent price strength. Bitcoin ended September trading at lows of around $26,200 and rose to around $28,400 by the start of October. The Ethereum futures ETF launch in the U.S., attracted under $10 million in its first week, highlighting a muted investor appetite, said the report.

Deribit, the world’s leading crypto options exchange by trading volume and open interest, will soon offer options tied to prominent alternative cryptocurrencies XRP, SOL and MATIC. The exchange announced its expansion plan on X soon before press time, adding that it is seeking a brokerage license in the European Union (EU). Options are derivative contracts that give the purchaser the right but not the obligation to purchase or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A call gives the right to buy while a put offers the right to sell.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should be barred from bringing up artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s recent fundraising efforts in his defense against U.S. Department of Justice charges, prosecutors said on Sunday. The DOJ has been discussing issues that may be raised during witness testimony in Bankman-Fried’s trial, and the parties “have reached agreement on many of these issues,” said a filing. One area they remain apart on is whether the defense team can raise any issues around the Anthropic fundraise. The DOJ alleges that the $500 million investment in Anthropic in 2022 came from customer funds. “Evidence regarding the current value of the defendant’s investments could only be used to support the argument that FTX customers and/or other victims will ultimately be made whole, which the Court has recognized is an impermissible purpose,” the filing said.