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According to TechFlow Research, JPMorgan's US stock strategy report on July 20 estimates that global AI-related capital expenditure will approach $870 billion in 2026, up 77% year-on-year, with hyperscalers contributing about $750 billion. In 2027, growth rates remain high: Google +54% (approx. $300 billion), Amazon +42% (approx. $300 billion), Meta +42% (approx. $200 billion). Bond financing by the five major tech giants rose from $40 to 50 billion in 2022 to about $190 billion in 2026, and Google completed $85 billion in equity financing in June.
South Korea's KOSPI index rose as much as 6.2% during trading on Wednesday, bringing its cumulative gain over the past two trading days to nearly 10%. SK Hynix rose over 9% at one point, while Samsung Electronics gained more than 6%, with chip stocks leading the market rally.A recent report from JPMorgan indicated that approximately 75% of the de-leveraging process for leveraged ETF positions in South Korea has been completed. According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, as of July 16, the balance of margin loans in South Korea fell to 33.4 trillion won (approximately $22.6 billion), down 13% from its peak at the end of June.Additionally, as of Wednesday morning, foreign investors had net purchased over $1 billion worth of South Korean stocks, marking the first significant capital inflow in about a month. (Bloomberg)
BIT US stock options trading will officially launch on July 24. Following its margin trading (securities lending and borrowing) service, BIT is further expanding its derivatives matrix to provide users with lower-cost, risk-controllable tools for US stock trading and hedging.In terms of fees, BIT US stock options charge $0 commission for both buying and selling, with platform usage fees as low as $0.30 per contract—only half the fee charged by similar platforms. The minimum fee per transaction is $0.99, consistent with US stock trading, and options trading incurs no additional markup, helping users enter the market with a lower threshold.The initial launch will cover approximately 2,000 highly liquid US stock underlying assets, and will prioritize opening options buyer trading (Long Call / Long Put), while not yet supporting seller (Short) opening positions. The maximum loss for buyers is locked in as the premium paid at the time of order placement, effectively avoiding liquidation risks in extreme market conditions. The product's coverage scope and trading methods will be gradually expanded based on risk control system validation and market demand.Early bird exclusive offers and experience benefits are now available. By completing your first option trade or inviting a friend to participate, you can receive multiple early bird rewards, including 30 days of free real-time options quotes and popular stocks. For event details, please refer to the BIT US Stock Channel.Risk Warning: Options trading involves risk, which may result in the total loss of the premium paid. Please use investment and financing tools reasonably based on your own investment objectives and risk tolerance.
crypto bank Augustus announced the completion of a $180 million funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $1 billion. The company aims to build a 24/7 financial infrastructure that connects traditional payment systems with stablecoin networks. The round was led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from investors including Hummingbird, QED, and the founding teams of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel.Augustus stated that as stablecoins gradually transform the global financial system, the traditional Correspondent Banking model is facing efficiency bottlenecks. The company aims to establish a federally chartered clearing bank for fintech companies and financial institutions, replacing traditional cross-border payment infrastructure.Unlike stablecoin issuers, Augustus does not plan to issue its own stablecoin. Instead, it aims to provide underlying banking infrastructure, enabling financial institutions to freely transfer funds between traditional payment networks and blockchain networks. Currently, Augustus offers euro clearing services through its regulated Finnish entity, processing tens of billions of euros in transactions annually. Its clients include international financial institutions, fintech companies, banks, and crypto firms, including crypto exchange Kraken. (CoinDesk)
the perpetual contract trading platform Ondo Perps has launched a tokenized stock collateral feature, enabling all users to now use Ondo Stocks tokenized shares as margin to support their perpetual contract positions.The feature initially supports the tokenized S&P 500 ETF (SPYon) and Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQon). Ondo stated that users no longer need to convert funds into stablecoins or sell their held assets, but can instead utilize tokenized stocks as productive capital to participate in derivatives trading. Ondo Perps noted that the platform's cumulative trading volume has exceeded $3.8 billion, with trader demand primarily concentrated in the following areas: hedging equity risk within a single platform; deep liquidity for stock perpetual contracts; lower spreads and reduced slippage; execution speed comparable to centralized exchanges (CEX); round-the-clock 24/7 trading; and leverage of up to 20x.Ondo stated that the tokenized stock collateral feature is a key component of its "productive capital" strategy, aimed at enhancing the capital efficiency of tokenized stocks and driving the liquidity and efficiency of the on-chain stock perpetual contract market progressively closer to that of traditional derivatives markets.Previously, Ondo Stocks had pioneered the tokenization of US equity assets. Now, Ondo Perps is further building trading and margin mechanisms on top of tokenized assets.Ondo indicated that current perpetual contract trading is only a part of its larger vision. In the future, it will continue to build on-chain prime brokerage infrastructure encompassing trading, financing, and margin management functions, providing a more comprehensive financial services layer for the tokenized asset ecosystem.
SemiAnalysis stated on X platform that traditional backup power equipment for data centers——Reciprocating Engines——are transitioning from an "emergency backup" role to a primary round-the-clock power source to meet the massive electricity demand driven by AI computing expansion.SemiAnalysis points out that in the past, data centers typically only activated on-site reciprocating engine backup power during grid failures, operating for just a few hours annually. However, with increasing grid capacity constraints, more data centers are repurposing these devices for Prime Power, enabling continuous electricity supply.According to SemiAnalysis' energy model estimates, manufacturers of reciprocating engines, including Caterpillar, INNIO, and Cummins, are expected to have signed approximately 1 GW in Behind-the-Meter (BTM) project orders this year; order volumes for 2027 and 2028 are each projected to exceed 4 GW.SemiAnalysis notes that current order volumes are still very limited compared to future potential demand. After modeling US grid constraints, they found that existing power supply margins are expected to be exhausted between 2027 and 2028, and planned utility-scale new generation capacity through 2030 is insufficient to meet the growing data center load demand.Based on its data center model, SemiAnalysis estimates that approximately 140 GW of identified data center projects still need to sign power supply contracts and may adopt behind-the-meter power supply models.Among the technologies available for behind-the-meter power supply, including reciprocating engines, aeroderivative gas turbines, and fuel cells, SemiAnalysis expects reciprocating engines to capture the largest share.The institution believes that reciprocating engines offer the best balance between cost and deployment speed, while also providing modular advantages that support phased data center expansion. Compared to fuel cells, they boast higher commercial maturity and financing feasibility. As manufacturers ramp up production capacity in the coming years, reciprocating engines are poised to become critical infrastructure for AI data centers to solve power bottlenecks.SemiAnalysis states that AI computing growth is driving data centers to shift from relying on traditional grid power to a hybrid model of "grid plus self-owned energy," with energy infrastructure emerging as a new core constraint for AI industry expansion.
According to Business Wire, financial infrastructure command platform Cordant announced the completion of an $8 million seed funding round, jointly led by Motive Partners and Oak HC/FT, with participation from institutions such as Bitso, Paxos, Bankless VC, FJ Labs, and SignalFire. Cordant was founded by a former executive team from Rapyd and is positioned as a real-time operations command center for payment companies, fintechs, and banks, capable of integrating data from payment rails, bank accounts, ledgers, compliance, and risk systems to provide teams with a unified operational view without the need to migrate data or replace existing core systems. The funding will be used for product development and private beta customer deployments.
Cordant, a stablecoin and digital asset financial infrastructure provider, has announced the completion of an $8 million seed funding round. Participating investors include Bankless VC, FJ Labs, SignalFire, Quona, Next Stage, Selah Ventures, Flatironx, Nascent Ventures, Silvercircle Ventures, and Generative Ventures. The new capital will support the company's introduction of new payment networks and AI automation tools. Cordant is collaborating with financial institutions on product development, covering banking, payments, embedded finance, cross-border transactions, stablecoins, and digital assets. Notably, Latin American digital asset and payment platform Bitso, as well as blockchain infrastructure company Paxos, have both invested and are serving as design partners. (Businesswire)
According to Odaily, blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps has disclosed that a mysterious whale address cluster within the Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem has held approximately 103 trillion SHIB since 2020. The entity initially spent just 38 ETH (roughly $10,000 at the time) to build the position, which once peaked at an unrealized valuation exceeding $50 billion, marking one of the most astonishing investment cases in crypto market history.Bubblemaps' tracking reveals that the whale initially purchased 103 trillion SHIB through the wallet address 0x1406, accounting for about 10% of the circulating supply at the time. As the SHIB price surged, the position's value once reached approximately $5 billion. Currently, the address cluster's holdings are still valued at over $2.5 billion, representing a cumulative return of more than 21,000 times.To reduce exposure risk, the whale split the assets across 14 addresses in November 2021. In January 2023, Bubblemaps first disclosed this SHIB whale cluster, which then controlled about 10% of the SHIB supply, valued at over $1 billion, sparking community discussions about high concentration of holdings by a single entity.Subsequently, the address cluster underwent continuous address migration and splitting. In September 2023, Bubblemaps found that its holdings had spread from a few prominent wallets to many new addresses, a typical tactic to reduce on-chain visibility. Using its Magic Nodes tool, Bubblemaps was still able to identify the connections between these wallets.During the SHIB price surge in early 2024, the whale's position value exceeded $2 billion again, with the number of wallets expanding to over 170 addresses. As of now, the cluster still controls approximately 8.51% of the SHIB circulating supply, a decrease from the initial 10% ratio. However, Bubblemaps notes that this is primarily due to normal on-chain transfers, with no signs of large-scale selling detected.Bubblemaps points out that this case highlights the significant value of on-chain transparency tools: an entity can conceal massive holdings by splitting wallets, but all fund transfers leave public on-chain records. This SHIB whale case has also become a typical example for observing "whale behavior, holding concentration, and on-chain tracking" within the crypto market.
According to Pakistani local media Dawn, the Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency has established a specialized department to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes, thereby strengthening law enforcement efforts against digital assets nationwide, targeting money laundering and terrorist financing activities conducted through virtual currencies.
: U.S. prediction market platform Kalshi experienced explosive growth during the 2026 World Cup, with platform trading volume soaring from $6.67 billion on June 22 to $24.2 billion on July 14. The single "World Cup Champion" prediction market saw trading volume exceed $1.2 billion. Kalshi stated that its growth reflects a new trend in the AI era: as the volume of AI-generated content increases substantially, authentic, real-time, and non-replicable human interaction scenarios are becoming scarcer, positioning prediction markets as a novel tool for observing public sentiment and collective judgment.Meanwhile, Kalshi is seeking to transform from a sports prediction platform into the next-generation financial trading infrastructure. The company currently holds Designated Contract Market (DCM) status recognized by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and plans to expand into more prediction areas including sports, geopolitics, culture, and economics. (Fortune)
Humanoid robotics startup Humanoid has announced the completion of a $152 million Series A funding round, achieving a post-money valuation of $1.35 billion and becoming Europe's first unicorn company focused specifically on humanoid robots. The round was led by Prime Movers Lab, with participation from German industrial giants Schaeffler and Bosch, Taiwan's Fubon Financial Holding Venture Capital, as well as Aglaé Ventures, the investment arm of the LVMH Arnault family. With this latest funding, Humanoid's total capital raised reaches $270 million. (Forbes)
the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has established a cryptocurrency investigation unit within its newly inaugurated National Command and Control Center (NC3) to probe money laundering and terrorist financing activities conducted through virtual currencies.Dr. Muhammad Athar Waheed, head of the FIA's Counter-Terrorism Department, stated that the new unit will investigate the criminal use of cryptocurrencies. The newly formed Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) will be responsible for overseeing digital assets. Dr. Waheed also urged the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force to establish similar departments to address the use of cryptocurrencies in cybercrime and drug trafficking.The NC3 integrates the FIA's financial crime tools onto a single platform, including anti-money laundering and virtual currency investigation units, an Interpol coordination point, open-source intelligence, cyber patrolling, and dark web investigation departments. Pakistan previously lifted its eight-year ban on cryptocurrency banking, created the PVARA, and is advancing the licensing of cryptocurrency exchanges. (Decrypt)
According to TechFlow Research, Bernstein released a semiconductor equipment industry research report on July 20, 2026, estimating that AI data center expansion will significantly drive equipment demand.
According to The Paper, Ant International announced that it has completed its Series A funding round. Ant Group, along with some existing shareholders including Alibaba and multiple well-known international investment institutions, participated in this round. It is reported that the funding amount is approximately $1.2 billion, which will be used to expand global business, accelerate investment in frontier technologies such as AI, broaden inclusive fintech services such as cross-border payments and global accounts, and help global merchants achieve growth.
According to Chaoxiang Research, UBS released a SemiBytes Flash Note on July 20, 2026, judging that the semiconductor sector is transitioning from a broad-based rally to a phase of severe divergence, while the AI-themed crowded trade continues. The report covers five core topics. The release of Kimi K3 drives another upgrade in open-source model scale; longer context windows boost demand for HBM and storage, with NVIDIA being the biggest beneficiary. Micron's cumulative free cash flow over the next few years is expected to exceed $400 billion; after the buyback ban is lifted, the theoretical buyback ratio could exceed 40%, which is not yet fully priced in by the market. Divergence within the analog chip sector is intensifying; stocks with higher AI exposure have gained a 42x P/E premium, while valuations for stocks with automotive and industrial exposure remain near historical averages. Position crowding data shows that Lam Research, Broadcom, Seagate, Micron, and AMD remain in a state of extreme long positioning crowding.
according to official sources, Gate has now launched KIMIUSDT (Moonshot AI) pre-market perpetual contract trading (USDT settlement), supporting 1-10x leverage.Moonshot AI is an AGI unicorn independently developing general-purpose large models, ranking among the top tier of AI startups in China in terms of financing scale and technical performance.
According to official sources, Fluidstack stated that the company completed an $830 million Series A financing round in January this year, with a valuation of $7.5 billion. The round was led by Situational Awareness, with participation from multiple well-known investment institutions. The company primarily provides infrastructure for leading artificial intelligence laboratories, aiming to accelerate hyperscale computing deployment speed and support the deployment of hundreds of gigawatts-level computing resources.
According to people familiar with the matter cited by The Wall Street Journal, BlackRock is leading a debt financing deal of at least $12 billion to fund a large-scale data center project in El Paso, Texas, jointly supported by BlackRock and Meta Platforms.
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Metaplanet subsidiary Bitcoin Japan announced that it has signed a convertible bond financing agreement with EVO Fund, planning to raise 9.66 billion yen to establish a Bitcoin reserve, with the first Bitcoin purchase amount exceeding 662 million yen.