The cryptocurrency sector saw a flurry of activity this week as Ether (ETH) traded near $4,400 while Ethereum ETFs recorded daily inflows north of $1 billion. At the same time, a raft of institutional moves and corporate projects signaled growing mainstream engagement across markets and infrastructure.
Notable capital flows included veteran analyst Tom Lee reportedly acquiring about 1.2 million ETH. Other institutional buyers included BMNR, which bought roughly $2 billion in ETH in a week, and firms such as Fundamental Global and Sharplink, the latter selling $400 million of equity to buy ETH. On the Bitcoin side, a strategy vehicle purchased about $18 million in BTC last week, while Metaplanet added $61 million.
On the corporate front, payments giant Stripe and stablecoin issuer Circle are both reported to be developing new Layer-1 blockchains aimed at payments and settlement—Circle also posted a 53% rise in profit. Meanwhile, Chainlink and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) are collaborating to put FX and metals prices on-chain, Paxos is pursuing a National Trust Charter in the U.S., and Thiel-backed exchange Bullish expanded its IPO size to a valuation near $4.8 billion. Even Blue Origin has signaled plans to accept crypto for space travel bookings.
There were also legal developments: FTX customers are suing law firm Fenwick, and Do Kwon is expected to plead guilty in a fraud case—reminders that the sector still faces significant regulatory and legal scrutiny.
Why it matters: these flows and product developments show both capital interest and product innovation converging on crypto infrastructure and markets. Risk awareness: large inflows and institutional purchases can influence prices but are not guarantees of sustained gains; investors should do their own research. Source: Decrypt. Read the original coverage for full details.