News linked to both this project and an event.
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.
Odaily News: Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed an executive order to coordinate virtual asset regulation, enhance cooperation between the country's financial, tax, and capital market institutions, and address the fragmentation of digital asset regulation. The executive order establishes a Virtual Assets Committee composed of heads from Nigeria's major financial regulatory agencies to guide relevant policies. Nigeria's tax authority will update digital asset policies and provide more details on the impact on taxpayers. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, stated that the executive order does not create new regulatory agencies nor transfer powers between agencies; each institution retains its statutory duties and independence, and registration requirements will be determined based on the nature of the activity and the assets involved. A June report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that since 2019, Nigeria has accounted for approximately 60% of stablecoin inflows in Sub-Saharan Africa; between July 2023 and June 2024, the country's cryptocurrency inflows reached approximately $59 billion.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has responded to recent controversy surrounding his X account profile picture change and claims that the Base community is "unsupported." He thanked the community for their feedback and acknowledged that his previous communication regarding expectations was not clear enough. Users should not interpret the content of his personal X account as investment advice or signals for individual tokens. He stated that he simply shares internet content he finds interesting or amusing, and may not even be aware whether such content is associated with any particular token or project. He pointed out that his tweets and profile picture changes do not represent endorsements of or commitments to any project.Regarding support for the Base ecosystem, Brian Armstrong explained that Base aims to build financial services infrastructure, supporting various application scenarios including stock tokenization, lending protocols, stablecoin payments, and Meme coin trading. Coinbase supports users in freely trading assets but will not use its official influence to "pump" or promote specific tokens. Both Coinbase and the Base team are indeed subject to compliance and regulatory restrictions, preventing them from listing certain tokens on the centralized exchange and from marketing specific projects at the community's request.Base currently supports ecosystem development primarily through offline Base Batches events, developer grant programs, and investments from Coinbase Ventures and the Base Ecosystem Fund. Additionally, based on long-term user value assessment, Coinbase may integrate certain Base ecosystem DeFi protocols into its own products to help projects expand distribution.Brian Armstrong stated that Coinbase will continue to prioritize projects capable of creating long-term user value in the future, and expressed hope that this clarification will help the community set clearer expectations. He added that he may still continue to post Meme content he finds interesting, but such content will not constitute investment advice.
the cross-chain protocol Allbridge has issued an official statement confirming that an attacker has withdrawn approximately $1.65 million in assets from the Allbridge Core liquidity pool. A detailed analysis of the incident is currently being compiled, and the full investigation results will be published subsequently. The team emphasizes that there is no further risk to current user liquidity and that the Allbridge Next service is operating normally.In response to this incident, Allbridge plans to relaunch the Core version but will remove the liquidity pool design. Future cross-chain transfers will be facilitated via Circle CCTP and the LayerZero router to eliminate the risk of liquidity pool imbalance and the model vulnerabilities exploited in this attack. This incident has accelerated the previously initiated migration plan to fully transition to the more secure new infrastructure, Allbridge Next. According to the plan, Allbridge Core and Allbridge Classic will cease operations in their current form within the next three months, and users are advised to withdraw their relevant liquidity in advance.It is understood that this attack has exposed the risks inherent in the traditional cross-chain liquidity pool model and has further driven the protocol's transition towards a cross-chain architecture based on message passing and native asset transfer.
Elon Musk has completed the acquisition of APR Energy, a mobile power generation company, with the overall transaction valued at least $1 billion. Documents show that Duos Technologies sold its 5% non-voting stake in New APR Energy, realizing a net gain of $50.4 million, which implies an enterprise value exceeding $1 billion. Headquartered in Florida, USA, APR Energy specializes in modular gas and diesel mobile generator sets, with a total installed capacity exceeding 1 GW. Individual projects can be deployed in as fast as 15 to 30 days, providing temporary and backup power for data centers.Industry analysts suggest that this acquisition aims to support the expansion of xAI's computing cluster and reduce reliance on the public grid. However, the fossil fuel-based power generation model will also bring trade-offs in terms of carbon emissions, compliance, and long-term operational costs. (Techrepublic)
According to the latest report released by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on July 16, FATF conducted the seventh targeted review on the implementation of Recommendation 15 (R.15) across global jurisdictions. The report points out that since the last update in 2025, countries have continued to advance in the regulation of Virtual Assets (VA) and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP), including conducting risk assessments, improving licensing and registration frameworks, implementing the Travel Rule, and strengthening enforcement actions. However, the report also points out that significant gaps still exist, mainly reflected in: the difficulty in effectively translating risk assessment outcomes into mitigation measures, insufficient implementation of licensing and registration frameworks, difficulties in identifying entities engaged in VASP activities, and insufficient effectiveness of risk-based supervision and enforcement. Regarding emerging risks, the report focuses on the following areas: the intensified "industrialization" trend of organized crime groups using virtual assets to commit fraud, increased risk of stablecoin abuse, risks associated with non-custodial wallet peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, offshore VASPs operating outside regulatory oversight, and ongoing challenges in the DeFi sector. FATF calls on the public and private sectors to jointly strengthen the implementation of R.15, enhance risk mitigation capabilities, and deepen domestic, international, and public-private cooperation mechanisms.
David Sacks, Chairman of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, stated on the X platform that using regulatory uncertainty as a competitive tool is "completely unacceptable," and regulatory decisions should be based on facts, logic, and evidence, rather than deliberately creating fear and uncertainty (FUD). He is unsure whether venture capitalist and AI policy researcher Dean Ball is admitting to a "regulatory capture" strategy or merely predicting its occurrence, but in any case, leveraging regulatory agencies to issue "soft law" warnings, creating market panic, and thereby forcing regulated companies to stay away from Chinese open-source models should not be tolerated.David Sacks pointed out that Dean Ball believes there is no need to directly ban Chinese open-source models; simply guiding regulators to issue relevant warnings can influence corporate decisions by generating enough doubt and uncertainty, and these reasons "don't even need to be very solid."In response, Sacks argued that any regulatory decision must be well-founded, rather than implementing policies in disguise through "manufactured doubt." He warned that bypassing public deliberation processes in this way would not only erode the foundation of the rule of law but could also open the door to future regulatory abuses targeting any enterprise or individual.Sacks further stated that AI policy is currently at a critical turning point. Major closed-source labs, which have already formed a duopoly in AI model revenue, are now attempting to use government power to eliminate open-source competitors.He called on other companies and developers in Silicon Valley that still support open competition to take a clear stance and jointly safeguard an open ecosystem in the AI field.
According to Odaily, as of June 23, 2026, Foundry Digital, AntPool, ViaBTC, and F2Pool collectively control over 70% of the Bitcoin network's hashrate, with shares of approximately 31%, 18%, 13%, and 10% respectively. Foundry Digital is a US-based mining pool backed by Digital Currency Group, primarily serving large institutions and publicly listed mining companies. In the first half of 2026, D-Central reported a Nakamoto coefficient of 3, meaning that just three mining pools would be enough to produce more than half of the blocks. ViaBTC faced stricter regulatory scrutiny in 2026, prompting some miners to shift to alternative pools like EMCD.
According to South Korean media KBS, the South Korean Financial Services Commission announced today the results of virtual asset market regulation. Since the implementation of the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" two years ago, approximately 40 investigations into unfair virtual asset trading have been completed, and more than 30 cases have been reported or notified to judicial authorities, focusing on cracking down on behaviors that disrupt market order such as short-term manipulation and "pump and dump". In the future, market monitoring capabilities will be further strengthened to build an AI-based virtual asset regulatory system, including real-time market monitoring, second-level price manipulation analysis, and automatic identification of suspicious accounts and trading intervals.
Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings has acquired a majority stake in Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinhako, and has received regulatory approval. Following the completion of this transaction, SBI Holdings further expands its cryptocurrency business footprint in Asia. Coinhako is a local trading platform based in Singapore.
Claude announced that effective July 20, Fable 5 will be officially included in the Max and Team Premium subscription plans, and users will receive usage rights equivalent to 50% of the full quota. Pro and Team Standard users can still access Fable 5 by using credits and will receive a one-time $100 quota compensation. Claude stated that due to the difficulty in accurately predicting the scale of demand after Fable 5's launch, a phased rollout strategy was previously adopted, and the scope of subscriber access was expanded multiple times as compute resources increased. This process brought uncertainty to some users, so this adjustment aims to allow users to more clearly understand the model usage rights included in the subscription plans. In the future, continued investment will be made to expand compute capacity, and Fable 5's access policy will be continuously updated based on capacity conditions.
Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure Optimism has officially announced a tripartite strategic collaboration, joining forces with Upbit operator Dunamu, fintech platform Toss, and DB Securities to comprehensively expand into the Korean market. On the cooperation front with Dunamu, both parties will upgrade the GIWA public chain based on the OP Stack and promote its global development. A three-month technical verification will be conducted with Toss to build a compliant Korean won digital financial infrastructure. Optimism and DB Securities are focusing on the STO and RWA sectors, planning to transform Jeju Island's smart agriculture, livestock assets, and Korean intellectual property into tokenized securities and real-world asset products. This will facilitate the phased on-chain commercialization of local physical assets, with the entire cooperation framework tailored to align with Korea's financial regulatory framework.
Bilal bin Saqib, Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), has requested Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi to clarify the distinction between speculative cryptocurrencies and asset-backed digital tokens, following the religious institution’s ruling that cryptocurrency-based purchases are not compliant with Islamic law. The ruling pertains to a consultation on using cryptocurrencies to pay for books and online course fees. Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global Capital, stated that the ruling could hinder bank-led cryptocurrency adoption in Pakistan, but trading volumes have not yet been affected. Saqib stated that PVARA is working with scholars to evaluate digital assets by category, rather than treating them as a single class. He noted that blockchain-recorded Sukuk represent ownership of real income-generating assets, while gold-backed tokens and fully-reserved stablecoins correspond to redeemable value. He added that speculative tokens without underlying assets fall into a different category, and scholars' concerns must be taken seriously. PVARA will continue to collaborate with scholars as it develops a licensing framework in Pakistan and advances efforts in stablecoins and the tokenization of real-world assets.
U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer, along with eight co-sponsors, has introduced a bipartisan bill requiring online sports betting platforms and prediction markets to verify users' age before login, wagering, or trading. The bill, named the Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act, applies to online gambling and prediction markets. Gottheimer's office stated that the relevant technology would read facial structure and patterns to estimate a user's age, without storing any personally identifiable or biometric information. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) classifies age estimation as facial analysis, not identification. NIST previously evaluated six age estimation algorithms, finding an average error of 3.1 years on the same visa photo database, with performance varying based on factors such as image quality, age, gender, and region of birth. The full text and bill number have not yet been made public, and details regarding enforcement agencies, penalties, technical standards, and appeal mechanisms remain unclear.
: Privacy blockchain Zano has announced that Zenith has entered the implementation phase, with a network transition planned for 2027, subject to testing, analysis, and review results. Zano has not yet announced an activation date, and the proposed operational parameters still require verification at the network level. Zenith will transition Zano from a hybrid PoW and PoS mechanism to a privacy-preserving pure PoS protocol. The proposed block time will be reduced from approximately 1 minute to about 15 seconds, the recommended number of confirmations will be lowered from 10 blocks to 4 to 6 blocks, and the typical confirmation time will be around 60 to 90 seconds. Andrey Sabelnikov, co-founder and core developer of Zano, stated that Zenith is based on over 12 years of privacy research, aiming to provide the network with the advantages of modern PoS while retaining the privacy protections that Zano users expect. PoW miners currently receive approximately 720 newly issued ZANO per day, equivalent to around 21,600 per month and 262,800 per year. After Zenith is activated and PoW mining ends, this issuance will be discontinued. Zano has also launched the official Zano Forum for technical discussions and community support.
: The South Korean Financial Services Commission has published a revision draft of the "Enforcement Decree of the Special Act on Prevention of Telecommunications-Based Financial Fraud and Refund of Damages." The plan includes transferring funds from phone scams that have been moved into crypto assets under the scope of victim compensation, and clarifies the standards for returning and valuing crypto assets. The relevant regulations are expected to take effect on October 1st.According to the new regulations, if the frozen assets are cryptocurrencies, victims will, in principle, receive compensation in the same type and quantity of assets. If the defrauded assets differ in form from the frozen assets, compensation will be made in the form of the assets actually existing at the time the account was frozen. In cases involving a mixture of cash and crypto assets, regulators will value the crypto assets based on the market price at the time of freezing to determine the final compensation amount. The South Korean Financial Services Commission stated that clarifying the asset form for return and the valuation time point will facilitate faster and fairer compensation in complex cases where funds from multiple victims are mixed. It is reported that the public consultation period for the revision draft will last until August 24th. (Etoday)
Cryptocurrency exchange Luno has formally challenged South Africa’s proposed foreign exchange law reforms, arguing that the National Treasury’s plan to include digital assets under capital flow regulations bypasses parliament and involves the property and privacy rights of millions of South Africans. In its submission, Luno pointed out that the draft contains provisions for asset seizure without court orders, forced liquidation, and sanctions that could lead to business termination. Violators could face up to five years in prison, fines of up to $53,000, or both. Luno recommends that the final framework for crypto capital flows be established through an act of parliament, classifying crypto assets purchased and held on licensed exchanges in South Africa as domestic assets, and distinguishing between different digital asset categories based on their economic functions. Luno also suggests removing mechanisms for forced sales and warrantless asset seizures, and allowing non-resident international trading companies to continue accessing the South African market with appropriate registration, in order to maintain market liquidity.
According to Visa's official website, Visa and Artemis jointly released a report that deeply analyzes the current status and trends of AI agent payments based on real-time on-chain data. The report indicates that AI agent payments are divided into two categories: one is "macro commerce" where agents replace users to complete tasks like booking tickets and subscriptions, similar to traditional e-commerce payments; the other is "micro commerce" such as high-frequency, low-value API calls between software, where single transaction amounts are typically less than 1 cent. On-chain data shows that the open protocol x402, incubated by Coinbase and Cloudflare and now hosted by the Linux Foundation, has processed approximately 109 million transactions since launching in May 2025, with an adjusted transaction volume of about $15 million, mainly active on the Base, Solana, and Polygon chains; the Machine Payment Protocol (MPP), jointly built by Stripe and Tempo with Visa's contribution, launched in mid-March 2026 and completed approximately 115,000 transactions within weeks, with a settlement amount of about $25,000. The report notes that blockchain settlement costs have dropped to extremely low levels, making small payments in the 1-cent to 1-dollar range economically feasible for the first time, but agent payments still face significant challenges at the legal and regulatory level regarding trust, liability attribution, and dispute resolution. Visa stated that its goal is to build a unified foundation that simultaneously supports card-native trust authorization and machine-native settlement
According to data disclosed by the Korean financial industry on July 12, as of the end of June, the combined household loan balance (excluding policy loans) of the five major commercial banks—KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank, and NH Nonghyup Bank—stood at 647.58 trillion won, an increase of 3.70 trillion won compared to the end of last year. Earlier this year, South Korea's financial regulatory authorities set a total household loan growth cap for financial institutions at 1.5% for the year, lower than the actual growth rate of 1.7% last year, aiming to curb the overly rapid expansion of household debt.Calculated based on this target, the total annual new household loan ceiling for the five major banks is approximately 4.34 trillion won. Broken down by bank: KB Kookmin Bank 909.2 billion won, Shinhan Bank 850 billion won, Hana Bank 880.5 billion won, Woori Bank 826.6 billion won, and NH Nonghyup Bank 870 billion won. However, the actual increase of 3.70 trillion won in the first half alone already accounts for 85.3% of the annual ceiling. The remaining quota for the year is only about 639.5 billion won, spread over the six months of the second half, making the available room extremely limited. (Wall Street CN)
Securitize partners with Cantor Fitzgerald to develop a blockchain-based IPO framework, enabling tokenized securities issuance within the existing U.S. securities regulatory framework.