Nuri Files for Insolvency as Crypto Fundraising Reached $30.3 Billion in H1 2022

The German cryptocurrency exchange, Nuri affirmed it has filed for insolvency on 9 August 2022. Earlier this year, Nuri was already experiencing difficulties, which led to reducing its workforce in May 2022:

"To set up Nuri in the most successful way for the new reality we’re facing, we had to take the responsibility and act quickly rather than wait. During the past weeks, we had to make some significant, but also often quite uncomfortable decisions.

"The saddest decision is the reduction of our workforce and, therefore, parting with some of our team members."

source: Nuri

As opposed to other crypto exchanges that suspended withdrawals, Nuri's customers' funds are safe and can be withdrawn due to its partnership with Solarisbank AG.

Nuri assures that any EUR deposits, BTC and ETH in wallets, valuts and the Nuri Pot investments are unaffected by the temporary insolvency. Nuri's clients (over 500,000) can freely deposit and withdraw whenever they wish.

A report by Coincub places Germany as a top-ranking country for cryptocurrencies. The decision that allows savings institutions to invest in Bitcoin earned it the top spot, followed by the United States.

The report highlights that although Cyprus is a top destination for investors, the lack of crypto regulations as well as the development of the blockchain community has affected its score.

Crypto Fundraising H1 2022

Despite the sell-off in the top cryptocurrencies this year, $30.3 billion were raised in H1 2022. The raised funds are higher than all of the capital that was raised in 2021 in the crypto sector.

source: messari

$10.2 billion were raised in the CeFi sector, DeFi investments were significantly lower at $1.8 billion.

More than a third of the total funds raised went into the CeFi sector, which saw $10.2 billion in funding. The infrastructure and NFT sector also saw high amounts of investment. However, DeFi investments appear to have trailed with only $1.8 billion in funding in the period.

source: messari

In the NFT verticals, most of the investments were made in the NFT gaming sector. The majority of NFT games earn a significant amount from selling land. Illuvium for example, which is among the top NFT games, raised over $72 million from land plot sales.

The US sanctions on Tornado Cash dampened the market sentiment at the time of writing. In an event of another significant sell-off, more crypto companies may file for insolvency.