News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: The UK House of Lords passed an amendment by a vote of 194 to 138, requiring the Treasury to formulate, publish, and consult on a national digital asset strategy within 12 months after the Financial Services and Markets Act takes effect.The strategy must cover crypto assets, qualifying stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, tokenized securities, and other digital financial assets, and review the availability of banking, payment, and settlement services, as well as the risks to competition and innovation posed by the withdrawal of related services.The bill still needs to undergo a third reading in the House of Lords on September 15, and will then be submitted to the House of Commons for consideration. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) completed the formulation of rules and guidance for the new crypto asset regulatory regime on June 30. The authorization application channel is planned to open on September 30, 2026, and the regime will take effect on October 25, 2027. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News — Crypto market data provider Kaiko has secured a new round of investment led by S&P Global, bringing the latest funding round's total size to $110 million. DRW Holdings, Susquehanna, Royal Bank of Canada, Nasdaq, BNP Paribas, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Canton Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Stellar also participated. Previously, crypto market data provider Kaiko completed a $53 million Series B funding round in June 2022, led by Eight Roads (a venture capital firm backed by Fidelity), with participation from French venture capital firm Revaia and existing investors Alven, Point Nine, Anthemis, and Underscore. (Bloomberg)
According to Cointelegraph, Australia’s financial intelligence regulator AUSTRAC announced that it has cancelled, suspended, or refused to renew the registrations of 45 cryptocurrency and money remittance service providers over the past year. The action targets inactive, insolvent, or operationally unviable businesses, as well as entities posing money laundering or terrorism financing risks. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that organizations whose registrations have been revoked are prohibited from continuing operations, and certain individuals involved have been referred to Australian and overseas law enforcement agencies. Among them, GetCoins (BA Digital Ventures) had its registration cancelled in June this year after being suspected of being exploited by organized crypto investment fraud schemes.
Odaily News: The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has stated that over the past year, it has cancelled, suspended, or refused to renew 45 registrations for cryptocurrency and remittance businesses, targeting service providers that are inactive, insolvent, or not operationally capable.AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that businesses whose registrations have been cancelled are not permitted to continue operating, and that some individuals involved have been referred to Australian and overseas law enforcement or regulatory cooperation agencies. Additional issues cited include failure to report material changes, incorrect registration information, and significant money laundering or terrorist financing risks.AUSTRAC noted that the virtual asset service provider registration of GetCoins, a brand under BA Digital Ventures, was cancelled in June following customer complaints. The agency stated that GetCoins is suspected of being exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scam activities, and that this action, taken in collaboration with the National Anti-Scam Centre, helped disrupt related activity.AUSTRAC did not disclose the full list of 45 businesses, nor did it provide a breakdown of crypto versus remittance service providers. The public VASP register shows that recent actions have also involved Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange, and Coinsec Australia; AUSTRAC has also launched an investigation into Western Union and suspended Cryptolink's cryptocurrency ATM network. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News: Robinhood Markets has officially served as an IPO underwriter for the first time, participating in the listing of smart ring maker Oura. Oura filed for its IPO last Thursday, with an expected listing valuation exceeding $11 billion. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan are serving as the lead book-runners for the deal, with Robinhood ranking 18th among the 18 underwriters.In June of this year, Robinhood received regulatory approval to conduct underwriting business, and CEO Vlad Tenev previously stated his desire to "disrupt" the IPO market. As an underwriter, Robinhood is expected to gain more influence in the allocation of IPO shares to its retail clients. (The Wall Street Journal)
Odaily报道 The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized over $560,000 in cryptocurrency through court-authorized actions and gained control of domains and servers allegedly used by Hamas to raise funds and recruit supporters. The operations involved three seizures conducted on March 25, June 25, and October 10, 2025.Investigators identified an encrypted chat group that directed supporters to fundraising websites and tracked cryptocurrency addresses that were rotated periodically. The operation also obtained information on thousands of individuals who had contacted Hamas online, attempting to make donations using cryptocurrency or traditional methods.This action expands on the $200,000 cryptocurrency seizure announced in March 2025. At least 17 related addresses have transferred over $1.5 million since October 2024, with funds passing through exchanges, over-the-counter brokers, and accounts linked to locations including Turkey. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to CoinDesk, the IMF confirmed that all new Bitcoin accumulated by El Salvador since its first review in June 2025 came exclusively from private donations, without utilizing any public funds. El Salvador's official Bitcoin holdings have now reached 7,764.37 BTC. The balance had previously surged by more than 1,000 BTC in November alone, and has since been increasing at a pace of one BTC per day. The IMF did not disclose the identities of the donors or the specific donation amounts. Meanwhile, both parties reached a staff-level agreement on the second and third joint reviews of the $1.4 billion financing program. El Salvador is expected to receive approximately $140 million, pending IMF Executive Board approval for it to take effect.
Bitcoin News posted on X platform stating that the IMF said El Salvador's Bitcoin accumulation since the first project review in June 2025 has been fully funded by private donations, without utilizing public resources. The Salvadoran government is not expected to continue accumulating Bitcoin in the future, except for recorded donations. This disclosure comes as IMF staff have reached an agreement with El Salvador on the latest project review, which could unlock an additional $140 million in financing.
Peng Jinlong, Chairman of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), stated that the Virtual Asset Service Provider Act was passed following its third reading on June 30 this year. The FSC is currently drafting nine subsidiary regulations covering stablecoin-related provisions, which are expected to be published and implemented as early as the first quarter of next year. With the advancement of technologies such as AI and blockchain, the financial markets in Taiwan and globally are evolving toward a landscape where traditional finance, digital finance, and blockchain finance operate on three parallel tracks. Rising demand for cross-border payments, trade financing, and fund allocation within semiconductor supply chains has highlighted the role of stablecoins, blockchain, and fintech as new infrastructure supporting cross-border capital flows.
Odaily News: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized approximately $560,000 in cryptocurrency and taken control of the domain and servers of a fundraising website linked to Hamas. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that these funds were allegedly intended for use by Hamas's military wing, Al Qassam Brigades.Investigators tracked and confiscated the relevant crypto assets based on three seizure warrants issued on March 25, June 25, and October 10, 2025. Court documents show that the assets involved include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Wrapped Ethereum, Tether (USDT), and TRON (TRX), distributed across 18 addresses controlled by Tether and 3 Binance accounts.According to court documents, encrypted chat groups had directed supporters to visit AlQassam.ps and solicited donations via rotating wallet addresses. After the FBI took over the relevant domain and servers, it obtained information on thousands of individuals who had contacted Hamas to inquire about making donations. (Decrypt)
According to Odaily, the Iranian rial hit a record low this week, with the open market exchange rate falling to approximately 2.02 million rials per US dollar on August 24, compared to around 1.53 million rials in the first quarter. During the same period, the US government launched "Operation Economic Exodus," adding more than 60 entities to the Treasury Department's blacklist and, for the first time, designating digital assets as a sanctionable category.State-controlled farms linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) control approximately 65% of Iran's Bitcoin mining capacity. Iranian miners have accounted for roughly 3% to 7% of global Bitcoin hashrate since 2019, with the mined Bitcoin valued at an estimated $1.35 billion to $3.15 billion at various stages.Iran legalized Bitcoin mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use industrial electricity at approximately $0.004 per kilowatt-hour and sell the mined tokens to the Central Bank of Iran. Chainalysis estimates that IRGC-affiliated wallets received over $3 billion in Q4 2025; Elliptic states that the Central Bank of Iran holds at least $507 million in USDT.The US Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex in June. Nobitex had processed more than half of Iran's digital asset inflows; in April, the US Treasury seized nearly $500 million in Iran-linked crypto assets. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to TechCrunch, robotics startup Generalist has secured nearly $200 million in follow-on funding led by 8VC, establishing a post-money valuation of approximately $3 billion. This capital extends its $400 million Series B round led by Radical Ventures in June, bringing the total for that round to $600 million. Founded in 2024, Generalist's founding team comprises former Google DeepMind researchers Pete Florence and Andy Zeng, alongside former Boston Dynamics engineer Andrew Barry. The company is developing AI foundation models compatible with a wide range of robots; its latest Gen 1.5 model claims to enable robots to learn and execute new tasks through video demonstrations as brief as three to twelve seconds.
According to Trend Research, Goldman Sachs' August 21, 2026 research report notes that the MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan Index (MXAPJ) posted Q2 net profit growth of 135% year-over-year and 52% quarter-over-quarter, with 46% of companies beating expectations and a median surprise of 4.3%. The information technology sector led the gains, with earnings up 390% YoY. The current MXAPJ forward P/E ratio stands at 11x, two standard deviations below its 10-year average, placing it in a deeply discounted range. Goldman Sachs has set a 12-month target price of 1,080 points, implying a 21% upside from the current level of 891 points, with an expected total return including dividends of approximately 24%. Goldman Sachs believes earnings resilience will drive valuation repair, recommending overweight positions in capital goods, healthcare, energy, tech hardware and semiconductors, and insurance, while suggesting underweights in autos, software & services, internet, utilities, and metals & mining. Key trading recommendations include going long on portfolios that outperform earnings revisions (launched in July 2021, with a cumulative return of 334%) and going long on AI infrastructure hardware and semiconductors (launched in June 2023, with a cumulative return of 63%). MSCI will adjust its index benchmarks on August 31, triggering approximately $42 billion in two-way capital flows across Asian markets, which could amplify volatility toward the end of the month. Downside risks to monitor include rising long-end US Treasury yields, escalating geopolitical tensions, and the pace of China’s economic recovery.
Odaily News: Digital asset treasury company Strategy reported a net loss of $8.2 billion in Q2, mainly driven by an $8.3 billion unrealized loss on digital assets. Its software business generated $122 million in revenue for the quarter. The company's financial report adopts the fair value measurement model.Between August 3 and 9, Strategy sold 1,690 bitcoins, cashing out approximately $109 million and repurchasing STRC preferred shares. In the following week, the company did not sell any bitcoin but instead raised $334 million through common stock issuance, of which $52 million was used for preferred stock dividends, $132 million for buybacks, and $149 million went into its dollar reserves.Digital asset treasury company Twenty One Capital disclosed that as of June 30, each Class A share corresponded to 12,547 satoshis, down from 12,557 at the end of 2025. The company holds 43,514 bitcoins, valued at approximately $2.8 billion, with an equity market capitalization of about $1.6 billion, corresponding to roughly 0.57 times its bitcoin holdings valuation.Of the bitcoins held by Twenty One Capital, 16,116 are staked as collateral for $485 million in convertible bonds, corresponding to approximately $106 million in cash. Strategy's dollar reserves reached $4.8 billion as of August 16, which management says can cover approximately 2.7 years of debt and dividend expenses. (Forbes Digital Assets)
Odaily News UBS has raised its S&P 500 index target, projecting a target of 8,100 points by December 2026 and further increasing to 8,400 points by June 2027, citing strong corporate earnings growth and sustained economic resilience.UBS expects S&P 500 companies' earnings per share (EPS) to reach $350 in 2026 and $400 in 2027, driven primarily by performance in the technology, semiconductor, and energy sectors.The bank continues to hold a positive outlook on U.S. economic resilience, the Federal Reserve's patient policy stance, and the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence, believing there is still room for the current bull market to extend.However, UBS also flagged potential risks, including rising oil prices, resurgent inflation, and AI investment returns falling short of expectations, which could weigh on market valuations and upward momentum.
Odaily Odaily News: AI company OpenAI is advancing its IPO preparations with the goal of completing an initial public offering (IPO) next year. OpenAI Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sarah Friar stated at an all-hands meeting that OpenAI will become a publicly listed company next year.Sarah Friar noted that competitor Anthropic may go public in September, ahead of OpenAI, but this does not affect OpenAI's focus on its own development. She pointed out that an IPO is just a milestone and another form of financing. OpenAI completed a $122 billion funding round in March this year and currently has considerable room for choice.If business growth outpaces expectations, OpenAI does not rule out launching its IPO earlier than originally planned. In the second quarter of this year, OpenAI's revenue was surpassed for the first time by latecomer competitor Anthropic. During the same period, Anthropic achieved its first quarterly adjusted operating profit, while OpenAI's operating losses further widened.OpenAI and Anthropic each confidentially filed IPO applications with securities regulators in June. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had previously considered delaying the IPO to seek a corporate valuation exceeding $1 trillion; after its March funding round, OpenAI was valued at $852 billion. (ETNews SW)
: Base announced the launch of the Batches 004 accelerator program, which will select 10 startups over an 8-week program, with each receiving $100,000 in investment funded by the Base Ecosystem Fund. Applications close on September 9, and the program will hold Demo Day in New York in November. This round is aimed at pre-seed startups focused on trading, payments, funding, and AI agents, covering products that use stablecoins to support agent shopping, trading, and payments, as well as lending, e-commerce, and decentralized AI infrastructure. Teams may support multiple blockchains but must have Base as their primary network. Selected teams will receive dedicated advisors, weekly support, and exposure assistance within the Base ecosystem, and will present their projects to investors at Demo Day. Coinbase launched Agentic Wallets on Base in February and Coinbase for Agents in June, which respectively enable AI agents to hold USDC and pay via the x402 protocol, and to directly connect to user accounts. (Decrypt)
According to The Business Times, Vietnam is advancing a pilot for a regulated cryptocurrency market, with the first batch of local digital asset trading platforms potentially launching as early as the third quarter of 2026. Previously, due to strategic deficiencies in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing, Vietnam was placed on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force in June 2023 and has missed the rectification deadline.
According to Cointelegraph, Edward Zimbardi, the alleged mastermind behind a $165 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, was deported back to the United States by Fijian authorities recently after hiding in Fiji for over a year, following coordination between the FBI and the U.S. Department of State, and will appear for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Prosecutors allege that between June 2022 and August 2023, he illegally raised over $165 million in crypto assets by promising investors a fixed monthly return of 25% under the name "The Crypto Program". The raised funds were not used for the promised ad package business, but were misappropriated for over $34 million in high-risk forex trading, repaying early investors with new funds, and at least $10 million in personal expenses, including purchasing real estate, luxury vehicles, and paying alimony. Zimbardi currently faces 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, totaling 25 federal charges.
Odaily News According to reports from the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East, family offices of ultra-high-net-worth investors are significantly increasing their investments in SpaceX, with total exposure reaching approximately $3.8 billion. This shows that private wealth institutions are competing for investment opportunities in the rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk.According to data compiled by Bloomberg based on regulatory filings (13F), as of the end of June, the family office of Nick Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, held a SpaceX investment position valued at approximately $1.8 billion.The report states that as SpaceX gains market attention following its initial public offering (IPO), more and more family offices are positioning themselves in the company through private market investment channels. Since SpaceX remains a high-valuation, scarce private technology asset, its equity opportunities have long been sought after by institutional investors and ultra-wealthy individuals.Investors value not only SpaceX's leading position in the commercial aerospace sector, but also its Starlink satellite internet business and its future potential in artificial intelligence infrastructure. As the AI wave prompts global capital to reassess the value of computing power, communications, and space infrastructure, SpaceX is gradually becoming an important investment target connecting the aerospace, satellite communications, and AI industries.However, due to the limited liquidity of SpaceX's private equity transactions and their high valuations, the large-scale bets by family offices also mean that investors are taking on higher long-term valuation and exit risks. (Bloomberg)