Bitcoin ETFs Surge Past $17 Billion, Ethereum ETFs Imminent, and WazirX Suffers $234 Million Hack

Bitcoin ETFs Hit New Highs, Ethereum ETFs Nearing Launch

Last week saw a significant surge in Bitcoin ETF investments, with total net inflows exceeding $17 billion. This trend, which began the previous week, reached a peak on July 17th with $422.5 million in net inflows. The anticipation surrounding the upcoming Ethereum ETF launch, scheduled for July 23rd, has also driven increased interest in Ethereum, with a two-week price increase of 15% as of July 20th.

WazirX Suffers $234 Million Hack

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX suffered a major security breach on July 18th, resulting in losses of $234 million across various crypto assets. The perpetrators quickly swapped the stolen tokens for Ethereum (ETH). Security experts have attributed the hack to North Korea's Lazarus Group.

Decentralization in the Spotlight

The recent global outage affecting various sectors, including travel, banking, and media, sparked discussions about the benefits of decentralized systems. Some prominent figures in the crypto industry highlighted the resilience of Bitcoin, which remained unaffected by the outage.

Crypto Funding Remains Steady

Despite a relatively slow week for crypto venture capital funding, several notable rounds occurred, totaling $33.75 million. Allium, a blockchain data resource, secured $16.5 million in Series A funding, while Haruko raised $6 million, and PEXX and Nirvana Labs each raised $4.5 million. Bima Labs received $2.5 million in pre-seed funding.