On this SlateCast episode, Nemo.money CEO Nicholas Scott joined CryptoSlate’s Liam “Akiba” Wright and Nate Whitehill to discuss AI-guided investing grounded in verified data. Scott outlined Nemo’s portfolio-insight engine, privacy safeguards, and thematic discovery features, while contrasting progressive UAE regulations with slower UK oversight and highlighting stablecoins’ promise for frictionless settlements. The conversation underscored guidance over advice and the future of personalized, compliant fintech innovation.

From slideware to a live, award-winning product

Nemo.money began life in 2021 in a crowded field of investing apps. Scott explained that the team quickly had to choose which core user problem to solve. Rather than building primarily for education, Nemo focused on surfacing actionable opportunities aligned to a user’s goals and risk appetite—helping people decide what to buy and when, without recommending a single security to any individual.

“We don’t have permission to give … advice,” Scott noted, emphasizing that Nemo presents options and context while leaving decisions to the user.

Guidance, not advice: how Nemo frames AI

A centerpiece is Nemo’s daily, AI-driven “portfolio insight.” With a tap, users receive a concise brief on what moved in their holdings over the last 24 hours—stitched together from relevant headlines and price action—plus ideas to improve diversification. The experience is designed to save time and surface “interesting stories,” not just the biggest movers, so users learn why their portfolio behaved the way it did and explore adjacent assets or ETFs that might rebalance risk.

Wright underscored the point that any AI summary must be grounded:

“And it’s amazing writing that back, but it needs the fact to begin with. You cannot get trust.”

Scott agreed, explaining Nemo’s strict separation between facts and language models: the team licenses fundamentals, volumes, and sentiment from tier‑one financial data vendors, then feeds that truth set into the LLM to generate user‑specific insights.

“We learned that early doors: buy from good data providers.”

Truth first: model strategy and privacy

Not every feature demands the latest, priciest model. For factual, template‑like updates (e.g., refreshed company health summaries generated from fundamentals), Nemo can rely on established models. For problem‑solving tasks—like suggesting diversification paths from a user’s current holdings—the company opts for newer models. Scott also stressed privacy: user portfolios are anonymized before being processed, and personally identifiable information isn’t passed to external AI tools.

Where regulation really leads: UAE vs. UK (and stablecoins)

Asked where the most forward‑thinking regulation is emerging for AI and crypto, Scott pointed to the UAE. Dubai’s willingness to pilot and fund innovation allows companies like Nemo to iterate faster, he said, contrasting that pace with the UK’s slower regulatory cadence. Stablecoins also featured: clearer frameworks promise to simplify the cross‑border payments that brokers wrestle with daily—an area where crypto’s original “value transfer” design can meaningfully reduce friction.

Beyond mega‑caps: discovery at the edges

Nemo lists thousands of instruments across asset classes, with crypto currently available via CFDs as the company explores deeper integrations. A key KPI for the team is breadth of engagement: users aren’t just piling into the same handful of names. Features that cluster securities around investment ideas (“AI infrastructure,” “carbon capture,” etc.) encourage discovery aligned with each user’s interests and objectives rather than simply amplifying the biggest tech stocks.

Wright captured a common research pain point—finding the less obvious picks around a theme (e.g., suppliers to chip manufacturers). Nemo’s forthcoming capability auto‑assembles thematic baskets on the fly from a user’s natural‑language query and explains the relevant sub‑sectors in plain English.

Personalization: from briefings to AI‑generated podcasts

The next step in Nemo’s portfolio brief is format flexibility. Scott revealed the team is piloting an AI‑generated audio version—essentially a personalized “mini‑podcast” that can inject timely context (upcoming macro events like FOMC, non‑farm payrolls, or crypto‑specific catalysts) and adapt depth or tone to the listener’s sophistication. The long‑term vision is content that meets users where they are—channel, language, and complexity—without condescension or data leakage.

Wright also pressed on availability. Nemo launched under Abu Dhabi regulation and is seeing traction across the Middle East and Africa with organic interest from Europe. The U.S. market remains on the roadmap, with the team watching regulatory movement closely.

Wright, on CFDs: “It’s a trade, not an investment, isn’t it?” — a reminder that product design and disclosures must match user intent and jurisdictional rules.

Closing

The SlateCast episode with Nicholas Scott offered a clear view of where AI‑guided investing is headed: truthful data first, models second; guidance over advice; and personalization without compromising privacy. From discovery tools that go beyond mega‑caps to AI‑generated portfolio briefings, Nemo’s approach shows how careful product choices can turn noise into signal.

As regulatory frameworks around AI and stablecoins mature—and more jurisdictions pilot pragmatic rules—the fusion of digital assets and traditional markets will only accelerate. The intersection of compliant innovation, user‑centric design, and trustworthy data is set to be one of the most consequential areas to watch in the coming years.

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August 18th Bitfinex alpha | Bitcoin AS leads to integration

Bitcoin retracted 5.4% last week after a brief push to a new history-high $123,640, as US inflation data, which is hotter than expected, curtailed risk appetite. The move highlights the market’s sensitivity to macro headwinds, with BTC currently combining the low ATH and local range. Until more powerful catalysts emerge, such as Dovish Fed signals and updated ETF influx, price actions may remain bound to range, reflecting digestion rather than complete weakness.

Ethereum is outstanding, rising from $1,386 in April to $4,783 last week, within the 2021 peak of $4,864. Its strength is to promote a risk spin-off to higher beta assets, reflected in Bitcoin’s control, which has slipped from 65% to 59% over the past two months.

This shift underscores the growing speculative appetite, but it also increases vulnerability across altcoins where rallies remain short-lived without structural influx. Major continues to lock the flow of facilities, leaving a wider market at a key inflection point.

The latest US inflation report highlights the persistence of price pressures as both the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Producer Price Index (PPI) highlight the way tariffs and services costs continue to strain households and businesses. The July CPI showed headline moderation, primarily due to a decline in gasoline prices, but core inflation rose at its fastest pace in six months driven by an increase in the service sector and tariff-related products.

Meanwhile, the July PPI revealed even sharper pressure on producers, with input costs rising more than expected, outweighing consumer prices. This growing gap between producer and consumer prices indicates that profit margins are tightening as businesses struggle to ease demand while absorbing tariff-related costs. Together, the report illustrates the cycle of building inflationary pressures from both supply and demand aspects, complicating the Federal Reserve path ahead of the September policy meeting. Although the market initially focused on softer headline CPIs, deeper details in the report suggest that inflation is far from being curbed, and expectations for rapid rate cuts suggest that tax-driven costs and the stickiness of the services sector are optimistic as it places emphasis on growth and corporate revenue outlook.

Meanwhile, last week, it highlighted that digital assets are becoming more ingrained in global finance. In the US, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent has reviewed a strategic Bitcoin Reserve plan built on confiscated assets and explored a “budget-neutral” way to expand its holdings while halting government BTC sales.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s SFC has rolled out some of Asia’s strictest management rules for licensed exchanges, cold wallet protection, whitelist withdrawals and real-time surveillance. Overhaul aims to strengthen investors’ trust and position Hong Kong as a major regulatory gateway for the adoption of institutional crypto.

On the corporate side, Gemini, a central exchange, has revealed a restructuring that despite rapid losses, has filed for the NASDAQ IPO, shifting users to Florida and shifting their $75 million stubcoin credit line from Ripple. This list will mark the third publicly published US exchange, increasing transparency and competitive benchmarks across the sector. Finally, the Federal Reserve has ended special surveillance programs for banks engaged in crypto and fintech and have returned them to regular supervision. In addition to similar moves by the FDIC, SEC and OCC, this illustrates a shift towards mainstream digital asset activity within traditional banking frameworks, clearing the path to deeper institutional integration.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bitfinex-alpha-bitcoin-as-leads-to-integration/feed/ 0 53869 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blackrocks-ethereum-etf-leads-640-million-inflow-spree-hits-record-trading-volumes/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blackrocks-ethereum-etf-leads-640-million-inflow-spree-hits-record-trading-volumes/#respond Fri, 15 Aug 2025 09:05:00 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/blackrocks-ethereum-etf-leads-640-million-inflow-spree-hits-record-trading-volumes/

US spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) extended their winning streak on Aug. 14, recording $639.6 million in net inflows.

Data from SoSo Value shows that BlackRock’s ETHA led the surge with $519.7 million in inflows.

It was followed by Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust, which saw $60.7 million in inflows, Fidelity’s FETH attracted $56.9 million, and Invesco’s product added $2.2 million. Other issuers reported no inflow activity for the day.

Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth, highlighted the scale of the inflows. He pointed out that the Aug. 14 inflow ranked as the fourth-highest day for spot ETH ETFs since launch, with three of the top four days occurring this week.

He also noted that nearly $3 billion has entered these products over the past four trading sessions.

Considering this, Geraci said the Ethereum-focused funds are “quickly becoming a vacuum” for fresh investor capital.

Record trading volumes

Meanwhile, the inflows coincide with record trading activity, signaling increased institutional participation.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted that BlackRock’s ETF traded $3 billion on Aug. 13, marking the ETF’s largest single-day volume to date and ranking seventh overall in trading volume across all ETFs and stocks.

This activity level places ETHA in the top 0.1% of all ETFs and stocks, surpassing trading volumes in major institutions like JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway.

Geraci added that these figures point to a broader trend that institutional investors are not only increasing exposure to Ethereum but are also relying on regulated ETFs as a primary avenue for participation.

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) reached $1 trillion in monthly trading volume for the first time in July.

According to DefiLlama data, spot trading volume grew 29.4% and reached nearly $514 billion last month, bested only by January’s all-time high of $568 billion.

At the same time, perpetual futures’ monthly volume increased 33.6% to register a new all-time high of $487 billion, with Hyperliquid registering a new record in monthly perpetual trading.

BNB dominance on spot

For the third consecutive month, BNB Chain dominated spot trading volumes. The chain’s volumes grew 15.3% and totaled $196.3 billion in July, representing 38.2% the monthly total.

PancakeSwap was the main driver behind growth, which amounted to $188.2 billion in spot trading volume. The BNB-native exchange volume is larger than the other four top DEXs combined, which is approximately $168 billion.

Uniswap registered the second-largest spot volume among DEXs in July, with $96.4 billion. Meanwhile, Solana-based decentralized exchanges wrapped up the top five.

Raydium, Meteora, and Orca registered $31.8 billion, $20 billion, and $19.5 billion, respectively. The five largest blockchains by volume remained the same between June and July, with just one slight change.

Runner-ups

Ethereum registered the second-largest monthly volume at nearly $86 billion, growing 49.3% from June, while Solana slid from second to third place in monthly spot trading volume despite growing 36.6% to reach $85.1 billion. 

Base and Arbitrum maintained their posts from June as the fourth- and fifth-largest blockchains by spot trading volume, respectively. 

Base’s volume increased by 46.8% and reached $41.6 billion, the first time the layer-2 blockchain surpassed $40 billion since January. At the same time, Arbitrum was the only chain in the top five with one-digit growth, reaching $19.2 billion in volume after jumping 7.4%.

Hyperliquid’s perpetuals reign

Hyperliquid became the first blockchain to surpass the $300 billion threshold in perpetual volume, reaching $323.4 billion in July after a 48.3% growth.

The volume surpasses Ethereum’s $48.7 billion by a large margin, which held the spot of the second-largest chain in perpetual trading volume last month. Despite the difference, Ethereum has grown by almost 56% since June.

The difference is even larger when decentralized exchanges for perpetual’s volumes are considered. Hyperliquid reached $313.4 billion, dominating 64.3% of the market and posting 16 times Jupiter’s volume of $19.4 billion.

Solana, BNB Chain, and Arbitrum wrap up the top five in perpetuals with $37.2 billion, $21.6 billion, and $19 billion in volumes, respectively.

Mentioned in this article

Authorities in Beijing’s Haidian District have reportedly uncovered a Bitcoin laundering operation involving approximately 140 million yuan (around $20 million) allegedly stolen by employees of Kuaishou, a leading Chinese short-form video platform.

The investigation revealed that several Kuaishou employees conspired with external parties to embezzle company funds for business development incentives. Under the platform’s subsidy policies, these incentives were designed to reward operators and service providers.

However, one employee in a position of authority manipulated the process for personal gain.

How the Bitcoin scam unfolded

According to the report, the employee, identified by local media as Feng, was responsible for approving new participants and formulating incentive policies.

During the rollout of a new bonus program, Feng created policy gaps and leaked internal data to outside collaborators. These partners then submitted falsified applications that appeared to meet eligibility requirements, allowing them to fraudulently claim reward funds.

The conspirators set up shell companies to receive the stolen funds and conceal the theft. They then transferred the money through eight offshore crypto exchanges, converting it into Bitcoin in multiple batches.

The group also used crypto mixing services to obscure the origin and destination of the assets, making the flow harder to trace.

After converting the Bitcoin into Chinese yuan through underground channels, the funds ended up in accounts controlled by Feng and the accomplices.

Despite this significant laundering process, law enforcement agencies were eventually able to track and seize more than 90 BTC tied to the scheme.

The authorities also prosecuted the individuals involved, handing out prison sentences ranging from six months to 14 years for financial misconduct and embezzlement.

This case highlights China’s firm approach toward cryptocurrency-related crimes. Although the country banned crypto trading in 2017 and declared all digital asset transactions illegal in 2021, authorities remain active in policing the space.

Notably, China still holds a significant amount of Bitcoin, over 190,000 BTC, seized during past investigations into illicit crypto activities

The brokerage firm that operates the largest US electronic trading platform by daily average revenue is reportedly leading a funding round for the crypto and stablecoin infrastructure startup Zero Hash.

Zero Hash provides the backend infrastructure that enables banks, brokerages and fintech companies offer cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other digital assets to their customers. 

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Fortune reports that Zero Hash is poised to raise about $100 million at a nearly $1 billion valuation in a new funding round spearheaded by Interactive Brokers. 

In 2022, the startup raised $105 million in a Series D round that saw the participation of the private investment firm Bain Capital, American hedge fund Point72 Ventures and fintech venture capital firm Nyca. Citing data from PitchBook, Fortune reports that Zero Hash was valued at $340 million after the Series D capital raise. 

The latest push to raise additional capital comes amid the growing popularity of stablecoins – cryptocurrencies which are pegged to another asset such as the US dollar or commodities.

In 2022, the payment processing company Stripe tapped Zero Hash’s infrastructure to launch an embeddable and customizable fiat-to-crypto on-ramp solution. And in 2024, Zero Hash teamed up with Securitize, a real-world asset tokenization platform, to allow qualified institutions to convert the USDC stablecoin into US dollars. 

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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