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Odaily News, the "Fed Whisperer" Nick Timiraos stated in an article that U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent's policy reaction function has shifted to being less dovish. His remarks this year suggest that the Federal Reserve should continue to hold interest rates steady. Earlier this year, Bessent cited models indicating that the Fed's interest rate level could be anywhere from over 25 basis points to more than 100 basis points above the neutral rate. Today (August 4), he made two points. First, he defended Warsh's decision last week not to elaborate on any policy reaction function: "I think every meeting should be open, and market participants should judge for themselves... I believe Warsh wants to keep options open to achieve the best outcome."Second, he did put forward a policy reaction function that could be viewed as dovish, arguing that recent shocks should be ignored: "What impact will a rise in short-term interest rates really have? We will wait and see." He raised the question but then responded by pointing out that underlying inflation is "very mild... very steady." "In core inflation, excluding the more energy-affected volatile items, the rest has been very steady. I think this will continue."
Odaily News The U.S. crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, enters a critical week. According to Senate procedure, if lawmakers still hope to proceed into the August recess as planned, Senate Majority Leader and Republican Senator John Thune needs to file a motion to proceed on Tuesday to schedule a procedural vote for Thursday. John Thune said on Monday that the Senate may stay in session until it completes a series of pending matters, including a stopgap government funding measure, the Russia sanctions bill, nominations, the college athletics bill, and a procedural vote on the crypto market structure bill. Republicans are currently uncertain whether they can secure the 60 votes needed to begin debate and allow for amendment discussions.
Odaily News – New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff has denied the emergency temporary restraining order request filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which sought to block New York State from continuing its enforcement case against prediction market operator Kalshi. The ruling dismissed the request without prejudice, and the CFTC may resubmit its motion to Judge Victor Marrero on August 7. Rakoff held that the CFTC failed to demonstrate a substantial likelihood of success on the merits, nor did it establish irreparable harm. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Kalshi last Friday, alleging that the company operates an illegal and unlicensed gambling business by offering contracts tied to sports, elections, and other events. The New York State Gaming Commission had already issued a cease-and-desist order to Kalshi in October 2025. The case centers on whether federal commodities law preempts state-level gambling enforcement over event contracts, with state regulators arguing that the relevant contracts constitute wagering, while the CFTC and Kalshi maintain that they are derivatives subject to the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction.
Odaily News The market expects SK Hynix to announce a more detailed shareholder return plan as early as the evening of August 4, Korea Standard Time, including measures such as dividends, share buybacks, and cancellations. Analysts believe the company's previous failure to disclose related plans may be linked to U.S. SEC information disclosure restrictions following its ADR listing on July 10, and the plan is expected to be officially announced after the approximately 25-day quiet period ends. Market participants stated that a clear shareholder return policy would help boost investor confidence and drive further valuation re-rating of the company. (The Korea Economic Daily)
Odaily News: The Enforcement Decree of South Korea's "Special Act on Strengthening the Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness and Support" was reviewed and approved by the State Council on August 4, and will officially take effect on August 11. The Act is being advanced under a presidential-level mechanism, detailing the composition of a special committee, procedures for designating semiconductor clusters, support for talent development, and the operation of a dedicated accounting system.According to the Enforcement Decree, applicants seeking designation as a semiconductor cluster must submit a construction plan that includes basic objectives, development direction, name, location, area, current local industry and infrastructure status, as well as talent cultivation and research infrastructure plans. Non-capital regions will receive priority consideration in cluster designation.Construction and operation costs for industrial infrastructure required by semiconductor clusters may be covered by the national and local governments for 50% to 100% of the total project cost. Among these, facilities for redundancy (dualization), supply chain stabilization, and industrial security-related infrastructure are eligible for full support.The Enforcement Decree also stipulates that priority support may be provided for employment linkage and retraining of local professionals in non-capital region semiconductor companies, and specifies the criteria and procedures for designating institutions dedicated to cultivating semiconductor industry professionals. South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Kim Jung-kwan, stated that the ministry will cooperate with relevant departments to advance the key policy tasks stipulated by the law.
Odaily News: FBI agent Patrick Yaroch was arrested last Friday for allegedly stealing approximately $1 million in crypto assets from a "hostile crypto account." According to an affidavit filed on August 1, Yaroch is suspected of transferring the assets starting around late 2024 or early 2025.Yaroch told investigators that he discovered certain keys that allowed him to transfer funds from digital wallets to himself. He claimed he was frustrated by his inability to further prevent individuals associated with "hostile nations" from using cryptocurrency, and conducted approximately a dozen transfers.Department of Justice documents show that Yaroch admitted to a DOJ employee that he had "made some very bad decisions" regarding crypto wallet issues. In another interview with federal agents, he also admitted that he had "screwed up."Yaroch previously served as a supervisory special agent in the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division at headquarters, and earlier worked at the FBI's Boston field office. The FBI terminated his employment on July 31.The investigation also alleges that Yaroch mixed personal funds with crypto assets and used ChatGPT to ask how to handle the funds, including how to spend or invest $1 million, and whether to leave the U.S. for a European country.
: Tyler Williams, a senior official at the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for digital asset policy, has departed. He had served as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's primary crypto advisor and was involved in shaping the Trump administration's digital asset agenda. Bessent confirmed that Williams' last working day at the Treasury was last Friday. Williams joined the Treasury in early 2025, having previously served as Head of Policy at Galaxy Digital, and is expected to return to the private sector. Williams' departure comes amid a continued stalemate in Congress over the CLARITY Act, a digital asset market structure bill. The legislation has faced obstacles to advancement before lawmakers' August recess due to disagreements over federal ethics provisions for officials.
According to an official media announcement, the South African National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) jointly released the "Draft Manual on Cross-Border Crypto Asset Activities" on August 3, 2026, which is now open for public consultation with a deadline of September 30, 2026. The manual is implemented in conjunction with the previously released "Draft Regulations on Capital Flow Management 2026," aiming to strengthen supervision over cross-border financial activities and prevent risks related to illicit financial flows associated with crypto assets. The manual clarifies the trigger points for cross-border crypto asset transactions—when crypto assets are transferred between a domestic authorized CASP and a foreign CASP, or from a domestic authorized CASP to a non-custodial wallet, it constitutes cross-border capital inflow or outflow and must be reported to the Financial Supervision Department (FinSurv). It is worth noting that at this stage, only individuals are allowed to conduct crypto asset outflow operations through authorized CASPs within the single discretionary allowance or foreign capital allowance; South African entities are temporarily not allowed to conduct related cross-border operations. In addition, the manual currently does not distinguish between different types of crypto assets, nor does it list crypto assets as official South African currency.
According to The Block, Bernstein analysts indicated that the likelihood of the U.S. Clarity Act passing within 2026 is declining, with the Senate left with only this week's window (before recess on August 7). Analysts noted that if the bill fails, the digital asset market may experience a negative reaction in the short term, but the SEC and CFTC will accelerate rule-making under the "Project Crypto" framework, covering token classification, DeFi, and self-custody regulatory details, while continuing to promote innovative areas such as tokenized real-world assets (RWA), perpetual contracts, and prediction markets. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig previously also warned that if Congress fails to act, regulators will be forced to "take over all rule-making". Currently, bipartisan senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego have submitted a revised ethics compromise proposal, and negotiations are still ongoing.
According to QCP Group, the US Treasury, via the New York Fed, jointly purchased yen with the Japanese Ministry of Finance last Friday, marking the first US-Japan joint foreign exchange intervention action specifically to support the yen since 1998. Meanwhile, the US 30-year Treasury yield briefly rose to about 5.27%, hitting a new high since 2007, before falling back to 5.24%. QCP pointed out that the transmission path of this intervention to the crypto market mainly unfolds through yen carry trades—rapid yen appreciation may force investors holding yen funding positions to deleverage and buy back yen, subsequently affecting risk assets including BTC and ETH, reenacting the market volatility triggered by carry trade unwinding in August 2024. QCP reminded that current macro monitoring indicators should take the USD/JPY exchange rate, Japan funding costs, and US long-end Treasury yields into consideration; fiscal policy operations are increasingly becoming an important variable affecting the direction of global liquidity.
According to Odaily, the U.S. Senate's publicly released Monday agenda shows that the CLARITY Act is not included in Monday's scheduling. The Senate currently only plans to hold a procedural vote on H.R. 6500, the continuing resolution.Under Senate rules, the standard cloture process requires at least 16 senators to sign a petition. If the Senate files a cloture petition on Wednesday, August 5, a related vote could occur as early as Friday, August 7. However, that vote would only concern whether to end debate on the "motion to proceed," not final passage of the CLARITY Act. If cloture is invoked, the Senate would still need to: allow up to 30 hours of debate on the motion to proceed; formally consider the bill; and potentially face another cloture process. Therefore, the normal process is unlikely to be completed before recess. (Cryptoslate)
Odaily News: Digital asset management firm Grayscale has called on U.S. Senate leaders to hold a vote on the CLARITY Act before the August recess, warning that further delay could undermine U.S. competitiveness in the digital asset market. The company sent letters to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, stating that ongoing regulatory uncertainty continues to subject digital asset businesses to enforcement pressure in the absence of a unified federal framework. The CLARITY Act aims to allocate regulatory oversight of digital asset markets between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while establishing a unified set of national market rules. The legislation also addresses market structure, custody, enforcement, stablecoins, government ethics, developer protections, and safeguards for direct asset holders.
Odaily News – Russia has expanded its cryptocurrency mining restrictions to cover Moscow, the Moscow region, and parts of the Kursk region. The relevant bans will take effect on August 15, 2026, and remain in place until December 31, 2032. According to Russian Government Resolution No. 936, the newly added restricted areas are primarily due to pressure on electricity supply. Russia had previously implemented similar mining restrictions in parts of the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory.Russia's Moscow Regional Energy Department stated that, amid the growth of data centers and rising electricity demand, curbing high-consumption cryptocurrency mining activities will help alleviate pressure on the power supply. Data shows that Moscow and the Moscow region currently host 65 data centers connected to the power grid, with a total capacity of approximately 734 MW. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has frozen the approval of Nasdaq's QBTC bitcoin options in order to re-examine the decision after a legal challenge from CME Group. CME Group argues that, since bitcoin is a commodity, options linked to its value should fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not the SEC. The approval remains suspended while the SEC reviews the dispute, with interested parties able to submit comments until August 24.
Odaily News: U.S. President Trump is weighing a bipartisan ethics counterproposal to the CLARITY Act, as Senate negotiators need to finalize crypto conflict-of-interest rules before the August 7 recess. The bill aims to establish a federal regulatory framework for crypto companies through a division of labor between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego submitted a state attorneys general enforcement plan to the White House on July 29. The plan allows state-level agencies to enforce the ban on federal officials issuing or sponsoring digital tokens, rather than leaving related violations solely to the Department of Justice. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the bill on July 17 with 294 votes in favor and 134 against, with over 70 Democrats voting in favor. The Senate has not yet held a full floor vote, and the bill needs 60 votes to pass. If all Republicans support it, at least 7 Democrats would still need to vote in favor.
TechFlow News, August 1, according to South Korean media NexBlock, South Korea's virtual asset market trading volume continues to shrink, and the competitive landscape among the five major KRW exchanges is changing. During the market downturn, funds are further concentrating on platforms with leading liquidity, while small and medium-sized exchanges are seeking breakthroughs through cooperation with securities companies, institutional market positioning, and business restructuring. The focus of future competition will no longer be just trading volume, but stablecoin liquidity, traditional financial cooperation, institutional market expansion, and regulatory compliance capabilities. Data shows that in the first half of this year, South Korea's five major KRW exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) accumulated trading volume of about $366.58 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 54.6%. From July 1 to 27, the five major exchanges accumulated trading volume of about 17.34 trillion KRW, a decrease of 16.9% compared to the same period last month. Among them, Upbit's trading volume was about 11.69 trillion KRW; although down 10%, its market share rose from 62.3% to 67.4%. Bithumb's trading volume dropped to 4.71 trillion KRW, with its share decreasing from 30.7% to 27.1%, expanding the gap between the two to 40.3 percentage points.
trade.xyz stated that compensation for the July 27 Hynix contract pricing anomaly incident has been partially distributed, and users can receive USDC without additional action. Compensation exceeding 10,000 USDC will be distributed after due diligence is completed before August 15.
Odaily News, August 1: trade.xyz has announced the completion of compensation distribution for the Hynix contract pricing anomaly event that occurred on July 27. Users will receive their corresponding USDC compensation without any additional action required.According to the announcement, compensation amounts are calculated based on a reference price of $1,115.5. Users with compensation under 10,000 USDC will receive the full amount directly; for amounts exceeding that threshold, an initial distribution of 9,999 USDC will be issued, and users must contact support to complete due diligence before August 15 to claim the remaining balance.At 23:01 UTC on July 27, the marked price of the SK Hynix token on trade.xyz briefly dropped from $1,127.9 to $917.25, triggering forced liquidations across numerous long positions.
Odaily News, BIT Official released a weekly report stating that trading volume in the crypto market has fallen 80% from its peak, contracting approximately 60% from the Q4 2025 high, while the total crypto market cap has also dropped 50%. The report noted that without a meaningful recovery in volume, the market will struggle to form a sustained rebound.Despite the market still digesting the double headwinds of the Fed's hawkish policy stance and stalled progress on the CLARITY Act, Bitcoin has held within the $62,000 to $66,000 range. BIT Official expects Bitcoin to eventually break upward.The report stated that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has recently adopted a "say less, do less" communication strategy, and the uncertainty surrounding his policy stance is unsettling the market. Warsh has been known for his hawkish position over the past two decades, but the market had previously anticipated that, with Trump's support, he might push monetary policy in a more dovish direction. If that shift materializes, it could be a positive catalyst for Bitcoin.Additionally, prediction market data shows that the probability of the CLARITY Act being signed into law by the end of 2026 currently stands at just 32%. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated that the Senate will prioritize other issues, and with the August recess approaching, the remaining legislative window for the bill is further narrowing.
According to The Block, bipartisan Senators Thom Tillis (Republican) and Ruben Gallego (Democrat) submitted a new ethics compromise proposal to the White House on Thursday morning local time, attempting to break the deadlock in advancing the Clarity Act cryptocurrency legislation. Currently, there is less than a week left until the Senate recesses on August 7, but the bill still has not obtained the 60 votes required for passage. Democrats insist on adding stricter ethics provisions to constrain the Trump family's crypto interests, including the Meme coins they issued and the World Liberty Financial project in which the family participates, while some Republican senators have objections to the stablecoin interest provisions, worrying that it will divert deposits from traditional banks to the crypto sector. Although the draft leaked last week prohibited public officials and their spouses from issuing digital assets, it did not cover other family members, and included a "sunset clause" expiring in January 2029, which critics believe essentially nullifies the entire ethics provision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent subsequently blamed the Democrats on X, stating that they "chose political gaming on the verge of a major victory". The Crypto Innovation Committee (CCI) warned that if the bill fails to pass, the US will hand over its global leadership position in the field of crypto regulation.