Here’s a list of the top cryptocurrency and decentralised finance headlines you may have missed this week

Kraken will pay $1. 25 million fine for trading violations

Crypto Exchange Kraken will pay $1. 25 million fine for allegedly offering unregulated crypto products to consumers. A statement released on Thursday by the CFTC also said that Kraken had been ordered to cease and desist from any further violation of the Commodity Exchange Act.

The issue stems from the CTFC’s findings which showed that Kraken had offered marginal trading to its customers between June 2020 and July 2021. Kraken is charged with various irregularities such as forcing liquidation if repayments were not done within 28 days.

The CFTC’s Acting Director of Enforcement Vincent McGonagle stated that the move was part of broader consumer protection efforts. He said that margin digital asset trading in America had to adhere to the regulations and laws.

Despite the agreement reached with regulators, Kraken did not admit or deny being guilty. Kraken responded with a statement, stating that it will continue to work with regulators to equalize crypto trading across the globe.

FINMA approves the first crypto fund in Switzerland

Crypto Finance was the first entity to be approved by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The Swiss regulator confirmed on Wednesday via a statement that the firm would be offering the “Crypto Market Index Fund”, administered by PvB with custody held by SEBA Bank.

FINMA stated that it has established requirements to ensure that approved firms are able to navigate the waters of crypto markets’ risk. To be approved, a firm must only invest in crypto assets with a satisfactory trading volume. This firm would need to make sure that investments are made through counterparties or platforms located in a member nation of the Financial Action Task Force. All approved firms would also have to comply with anti-money laundering laws.

The regulator is also keen to apply the present laws around financial markets in a “consistently technology-neutral way” to improve innovation in the country while also ensuring that developing technologies are not used to skirt regulations.

Cardano invests $100 million into DeFi and NFT development

Speaking on Sunday during the Cardano 2021 Summit, Ken Kodama, the CEO of Emurgo, Cardano’s commercial arm, said that the project would be investing $100 million to hasten the development of Cardano’s ecosystem. Kodama also confirmed that from next year, the firm would establish “a dedicated operation” to fund the blockchain ecosystem.

The move could have significant impact considering Emurgo’s involvement with Cardano’s interactions with developers, government agencies, and other businesses. Users hope that the investment will allow for more use cases to be developed in the Cardano ecosystem.

Also, as the blockchain is smart contract compatible since Alonzo’s upgrade, Cardano may be able to inject cash to help it develop its own decentralised financial (DeFi) or non-fungible token(NFT) projects. Cardano plans to make the funds available to increase blockchain awareness. The Emurgo Ventures investment vehicle will be divided into Emurgo Africa and Emurgo Africa. Emurgo Africa will support over 300 start-ups in Africa, while Emurgo Ventures will focus on other developed markets.

Alibaba stops selling crypto miners

e-commerce giant Alibaba put forward an announcement on Monday confirming that it was stopping the sale of crypto mining equipment. Alibaba also stated that it would place restrictions on software, tutorials, and strategies related to virtual currencies. The ban takes effect on 8 October, but Alibaba said it would only start punishing any third parties who break the ban from 15 October.

The announcement was made in response to China’s decision on Friday that crypto activity in China had been banned. This anti-crypto decision was reached by the People’s Bank of China and other regulatory bodies. They warned that any entities offering offshore crypto exchange services for Chinese citizens would be breaking the law.

On Tuesday, Bitmain added to the list of firms whose operations have been affected as sources told CoinDesk that the manufacturer was planning to halt sales in China and move a significant portion of operations out of the Shenzhen region. Bitmain will now seek investment in crypto-friendly areas where it has made inroads such as Georgia, the US, and Istanbul, Turkey.

Europe is world’s biggest crypto market. Chainalysis

Countries within the European continent recorded more than $1 trillion worth of inbound crypto transfers for the period ranging from June 2020 and July 2021, according to a Chainalysis report released on Tuesday. This sum represented 25% of the total global activity and saw the Central, Northern and Western Europe (CNWE) region jump to the top spot, as a result of incredible growth and reduction in activity in Eastern Asia.

Chainalysis attributed the growth to an influx of institutional investors, given that the figures for institutional investment in the region scaled from $1.4 billion in July 2020 to an incredible $43.6 billion in June this year. The growth was led by the UK, which saw $170 billion worth of crypto assets traded into the country, with almost half of the amount, 49%, coming from DeFi protocols.

The report revealed that DeFi is gradually becoming an integral part of this market, given that it received a large portion of large-sized institutional transfers during the period. DeFi consistently topped the list with three to four out of five top services during the period. This also showed how crypto investors are shifting to DeFi protocols to’stake’ their crypto.