Important News from Last Night and This Morning (July 20 - July 21)

FATF Releases Seventh Update on Virtual Assets/VASP Standards Implementation: Global Regulation Advances but Enforcement and DeFi Oversight Still Have Significant Gaps

The international anti-money laundering standard-setting body recently released a report stating that by 2026, global regulation of virtual assets (VA) and virtual asset service providers (VASP) will continue to advance, with 86% of jurisdictions having completed risk assessments and 83% having legislated the implementation of the Travel Rule, with the compliance rate for R.15 rising to 34%. However, there are still significant shortcomings in enforcement, VASP identification, offshore VASP regulation, and DeFi oversight. The report also warns of emerging risks such as stablecoin abuse, non-custodial wallet P2P transactions, offshore VASPs, DeFi, and AI-assisted fraud, calling for enhanced international cooperation, risk regulation, and public-private collaboration.

Trump Agrees to Ethical Clause, Clearing Final Hurdle for the Clarity Act

President Trump has agreed to an ethical clause, clearing the final hurdle for the passage of the Clarity Act. Industry insiders say that after months of negotiations, both sides have reached an agreement on the ethical clause. This clause was discussed during a meeting on July 16 between Trump, Republican senators, and White House crypto advisors, but no consensus was reached at that time. However, the clause was signed by Trump on Monday. The text of the bill is expected to be released in the coming days, with the Senate needing to vote before the first week of August. If passed, the bill will return to the House of Representatives before being sent to Trump for signing. The ethical clause is the last obstacle to the passage of the Clarity Act, aimed at restricting the ability of the President, Vice President, and members of Congress to profit from digital assets while in office, with core controversies surrounding Trump's meme coin and his family company, World Liberty Financial. White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt has postponed military training to stay at the White House to push the bill, while his deputy Harry Jung will leave in two weeks.

Zilliqa: ZIL Stolen from Exchange Cold Wallet, All Exchanges Notified to Temporarily Suspend ZIL Deposits and Withdrawals

The project team has learned that a security incident occurred with one of its exchange partners, resulting in some ZIL being stolen from a cold wallet. The incident is currently under joint investigation by various parties, and the specific scale and cause of the theft have not yet been disclosed. As a precaution, Zilliqa has notified all exchanges to temporarily suspend ZIL deposits and withdrawals to prevent the stolen funds from being transferred or sold through centralized platforms. The team stated that further updates will be released once they have accurate information and reminded users to only follow official channels.

Strategy Did Not Increase Bitcoin Holdings Last Week, Injected $225 Million into USD Reserves

Michael Saylor's company did not purchase any Bitcoin in the past week. Meanwhile, the company added $225 million to its USD reserves, bringing the total USD reserves to approximately $3.2 billion.

CRCL, HOOD, and MSTR Perpetual Contracts to Launch on July 21

The announcement was made that CRCL, Robinhood (HOOD), and MicroStrategy (MSTR) related perpetual contract products will be launched. The platform plans to open trading for the CRCL-PERP, HOOD-PERP, and MSTR-PERP perpetual contract markets on July 21 at 9:00 UTC (5:00 PM Beijing time) or later.

BitMine Increased Holdings by 7,430 ETH Last Week, Repurchased 5.5 Million Shares of Common Stock

Last week, BitMine increased its holdings by 7,430 ETH, bringing its total ETH holdings to 5,777,468, accounting for approximately 4.8% of the total Ethereum supply. The company disclosed that the total value of its cryptocurrency, cash, and other investment assets is approximately $11.5 billion, including $385 million in cash and securities, 207 BTC, $180 million in Beast Industries equity, and a $58 million investment in Eightco Holdings (ORBS). They have staked 4,917,189 ETH (about 85% of their ETH holdings), valued at approximately $9.2 billion at $1,879 per ETH, with current annual staking income of about $247 million, and they are earning through their self-built MAVAN staking network. Last week, they repurchased 5.5 million shares of common stock as part of the previously announced $4 billion stock repurchase plan.

Foreign Media: Google’s "Frozen V2" Chip Expected to Be 6 to 10 Times More Efficient Than Its Current TPU

Two insiders revealed that Google is developing a new server chip that can directly integrate the design blueprint of its Gemini AI models, enabling the company to provide AI model services to users more efficiently. The insiders stated that Google hopes to alleviate the severe shortage of AI computing power with this internally codenamed "Frozen v2" chip. The lack of computing power has not only triggered internal resource competition but also forced Google Cloud to reject some collaborations with external clients. According to insiders, Google employees involved in the project expect that the chip will be able to process tokens per unit of power at an efficiency that is 6 to 10 times higher than Google's current latest generation self-developed AI chip. Engineers are still deciding on the main functions of the new chip and how its components will work together. Insiders said that Google plans to deploy the chip as early as 2028. U.S. stocks rose 1.2% in pre-market trading.

AI Security Control Platform Neo Completes $100 Million Financing, Led by Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners

Neo, founded by former SentinelOne executives, announced the completion of a $100 million financing led by Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Craft Ventures and Merlin Ventures. Neo positions itself as an "Agentic Software Control" platform, providing enterprise SecOps teams with real-time inventory, capability and risk intelligence, behavior attribution, and fine-grained policy control for AI agents, AI applications, browsers, identities, and traditional software, capable of natively intercepting high-risk operations and malicious models. Gartner predicts that by 2026, the proportion of enterprise applications with agentic capabilities will rise from 5% in 2025 to 40%. Neo plans to use this round of funding to accelerate product development and market expansion, helping enterprises enhance security governance capabilities while adopting AI agents at scale.

Hut 8 Signs $9.8 Billion Long-Term Contract to Advance AI Data Center Expansion, Related Computing Power Stocks Rise

The Bitcoin mining company and AI infrastructure developer signed a second-phase 15-year lease agreement worth approximately $9.8 billion with the same investment-grade tenant for its Beacon Point AI data center campus in Texas, USA. The new agreement will add 352 megawatts of AI computing power based on Nvidia architecture, bringing the total contracted computing power for the tenant in the campus to 704 megawatts and fully commercializing the campus's 1 gigawatt power capacity, raising the total value of the basic contracts for the campus to approximately $19.6 billion. As a result, stocks of IREN, Cipher Mining (CIFR), TeraWulf (WULF), and CoinShares Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) rose in early trading.

Exodus Cuts 25% of Workforce to Reduce Costs and Focus on Stablecoin Payments and Card Infrastructure

Exodus Movement will cut about 25% of its global workforce to reduce costs and shift its business focus to stablecoin payments and card payment infrastructure. The company stated in its latest filing that this restructuring is part of its strategy to build a complete payment stack platform following the acquisition of electronic money institution Monavate and crypto payment company Baanx. Exodus expects to incur approximately $2.5 million to $3.5 million in pre-tax restructuring costs, primarily for severance and employee-related expenses, and anticipates saving approximately $10 million to $13 million in cash operating expenses annually by 2027. The stock price rose about 2.2% in early trading but is still down nearly 85% compared to the same period last year.

ZachXBT: TeleSwap Suspected of Suffering $735,000 Attack, Not Disclosed After 5 Days

Cross-chain bridge TeleSwap is suspected to have suffered an attack of over $735,000 on July 15, 2026. As of July 20, 2026, Beijing time, the project team has not publicly disclosed the incident. Shortly after the attack occurred, TeleSwap's Bitcoin hot wallet stopped processing transactions; about two hours ago, the attacker transferred the stolen funds to Tornado Cash, suspected of mixing coins. ZachXBT also disclosed suspected addresses involved in the case and the Bitcoin hot wallet address of TeleSwap for community tracking.

Skyfall AI Plans to Use AI to Take Over Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Operations, Validating the Feasibility of "AI CEO"

Skyfall AI, founded by former Microsoft AI team members, plans to invest up to $1 million to acquire a small B2B SaaS or e-commerce company, with AI serving as the "CEO" responsible for key decisions in pricing, marketing, customer service, finance, and operations, aiming to double revenue while gradually reducing human intervention. Its founders, Sam Pasupalak and Kaheer Suleman, believe that existing enterprise AI paths centered on LLM and "digital employees" struggle to learn continuously in dynamic environments. Skyfall is instead developing "Enterprise World Models" to simulate the long-term impact of decisions on business by constructing enterprise evolution world models and latent world models, and will publicly validate whether this architecture can support highly autonomous enterprises in real business scenarios.

Superseed to Abandon Self-Built Layer 2 and Return to Ethereum Mainnet, Users Must Cross-Chain Transfer Assets by August 15

The project announced it will abandon its self-built Layer 2 and focus on launching self-repaying loan products on the Ethereum mainnet. The team will deploy a native lending protocol and stable asset suprUSD, and automatically repay user debts through "Super Strategies" yield strategies, enhancing collateral asset utilization. The native token SUPR will be used for strategy efficiency and potential fee sharing. The official request users to transfer all assets on the Superseed chain, including USDC, USDT, oUSDT, cbBTC, OP, ETH, etc., across chains by August 15, 2026. After the deadline, except for SUPR, which will be compensated through subsequent contracts, other assets may not be recoverable.

Korean Stocks and Nasdaq Correlation Approaches Two-Year High, Becoming Global AI Investment Sentiment Barometer

As the correlation between the Korean stock market and U.S. tech stocks continues to strengthen, global fund managers are viewing the Korean market as a leading indicator of AI investment sentiment. Monitoring the performance of Korean tech stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix before the market opens has become a new norm in the industry. The 60-day correlation coefficient between the KOSPI and the Nasdaq 100 index has risen to 0.46, nearing the highest level in the past two years, which is three times the average of 0.16 over the past five years. Especially during market downturns, the sensitivity of the Nasdaq to Korean stock performance has significantly increased, with related indicators reaching their highest level since 1990 on July 7.

Analysts: Decline in Stablecoin Reserves Signals Liquidity Contraction, Bitcoin Breakthrough Still Lacks Funding Support

Analysts have pointed out that Bitcoin has been fluctuating around the key support level of $60,000 for nearly 165 days without regaining upward momentum. One core reason for this is the lack of new liquidity in the market. In the past 30 days, Binance and Bybit have seen a net outflow of nearly $2.3 billion in stablecoin reserves, indicating weak new demand for both Bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency market. Since the beginning of this year, the stablecoin reserves on exchanges have continued to decline, and this pessimistic market sentiment is still limiting the capital support needed for Bitcoin to break through its current consolidation range. However, with regulatory measures like the "GENIUS Act" requiring stablecoins to enhance compliance levels, the decentralized nature of the stablecoin ecosystem may be weakened, which could further highlight Bitcoin's decentralized characteristics in the long run.

Analysis: Bitcoin's "Volatility Storm" May Be Approaching, Market Could Face New Round of Fluctuations

Market analysts remind traders to closely monitor Bitcoin's potential "volatility storm," which refers to a rapid surge in volatility often accompanied by price declines. This warning is primarily based on the trend of Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index (BVIV), which is often viewed as the cryptocurrency market's version of the "fear index" (VIX), influenced by options demand. Options are derivatives used by investors to hedge against market volatility risks; the higher the demand, the higher the implied volatility, and vice versa. Currently, BVIV hovers between 34% and 38%. Historical data shows that this range has often been a key position before volatility eruptions, typically followed by Bitcoin price corrections. Although historical trends do not guarantee future occurrences, the market generally believes that volatility tends to revert to the mean. Typically, after a low-volatility phase, a surge in volatility is likely, while a high-volatility phase may gradually return to stability.

Tom Lee Responds to Slowing ETH Purchase Speed: Due to Large-Scale Stock Buybacks

The chairman stated that the recent slowing of ETH purchase speed is due to large-scale stock buybacks occurring simultaneously. However, since the launch of the ETH Treasury Strategy on June 30, 2025, the company has maintained a weekly buying rhythm for ETH. In the past week, approximately 5.5 million shares of common stock were repurchased at an average price of $15.6156 per share, which will help enhance shareholder value. Additionally, the self-staking business has generated a yield of 2.67% (annualized) over the past seven days, and the company will continue to strengthen its digital asset treasury strategy by expanding its ETH reserves and staking returns.

Arthur Hayes Buys 1,332.5 ETH Again 3 Hours Ago, Worth About $2.53 Million

The co-founder purchased 1,332.5 ETH (worth $2.53 million) again just three hours ago.

Dormant Ethereum Pre-Mined Address Activated After 11 Years, Contains 2,000 ETH

At 03:30 Beijing time today, a dormant pre-mined address containing 2,000 ETH was activated after 11 years. The address was worth about $620 in 2015 and is currently valued at approximately $3.785 million.

Worldcoin ETF Registration Statement Submitted to the SEC

A registration statement for the Grayscale Worldcoin ETF has been submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund will hold the native token WLD of the World Network as a passive investment tool, aiming to reflect the value of the held WLD minus fees and liabilities per share. If approved, the ETF will be listed on NASDAQ, with BNY Mellon acting as the transfer agent and BitGo Bank Trust as the custodian.

Russian State Duma to Hold Second and Third Readings of Cryptocurrency Market Regulation Bill on July 21

The chairman of the Financial Market Committee of the Russian State Duma stated that the cryptocurrency market regulation bill will undergo second and third readings on July 21. He mentioned that the bill will "combat the illegal use of cryptocurrencies" while providing a legal framework for international settlements. According to the bill, non-professional investors must pass a special test to purchase cryptocurrencies, with an annual limit of 300,000 rubles, and can only trade through licensed institutions, limited to the most liquid crypto assets. The bill was originally set to take effect on July 1 but has been postponed to September 1. The Duma's Financial Market Committee has previously rejected several amendments aimed at easing restrictions, including raising the purchase limit for non-professional investors and allowing the use of non-custodial wallets. If passed on the 21st, the bill will still require approval from the Federation Council and the president's signature.

Executives: U.S. Democrats Have Added Consumer Protection Rules to the CLARITY Act

The vice chairman stated that U.S. Democratic lawmakers have added provisions regarding customer protection to the CLARITY Act, a digital asset market structure bill currently under Senate review. These new provisions aim to ensure that digital asset trading platforms better protect consumer rights during operations, including strengthening transparency requirements, preventing fraud, and ensuring the safety of customer funds. He added that these consumer protection measures are the result of bipartisan cooperation, reflecting lawmakers' growing concern about the digital asset market. The bill is still under Senate review and has not yet reached the final voting stage. The comments were made during a public discussion on digital asset regulation, emphasizing support for establishing a balanced regulatory framework that promotes innovation while protecting investors.

Estimated Total Amount of Suspicious Transactions Marked in the First Half of This Year is Approximately $200 Million

As prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket become increasingly popular and scaled, the phenomenon of trading on insider information is surging. An analysis of approximately 34,000 marked suspicious transactions shows that the total amount of marked suspicious transactions from January to June 2026 is about $200 million, with geopolitical and war-related bets being the main driving force, peaking in late February for Iran-related bets. Among the marked transactions, 71% were funded through U.S. regulated cryptocurrency exchanges. The profits from marked suspicious transactions are highly concentrated, with the top 1% of profitable wallets capturing over half of the profits, and 57% of those wallets were created within 24 hours before the trades. Several cases have prompted investigations: a U.S. soldier was accused of using military secrets to profit over $400,000; an Israeli reservist was charged with betting on events in Iran using classified intelligence. Although U.S. users are prohibited, they can bypass restrictions using VPNs. Goldman Sachs has banned employees from trading in prediction markets, and the U.S. Senate has prohibited lawmakers and staff from participating.

KOSPI Index Volatility Exceeds 60%, Higher Than Bitcoin, Driven by AI Chip Giants and Leveraged ETFs

The volatility of the KOSPI index in South Korea has exceeded 60% this year, nearly double that of the Nikkei 225 and even surpassing Bitcoin, which is known for its volatility. The Korean exchange has triggered the circuit breaker mechanism seven times this year (zero times in 2025 and only once in 2024). The volatility stems from the two AI chip giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for over 50% of KOSPI's market value. The AI boom has driven their stock prices to soar, but the valuation of this sector heavily relies on investor sentiment, and AI has yet to generate sufficient revenue to cover construction costs. The proliferation of leveraged ETFs has exacerbated market volatility. South Korean retail investors are actively using leveraged products, with over $4 billion flowing into leveraged ETFs tracking individual stocks this year, accounting for over 70% of the daily trading volume of related stocks, amplifying price fluctuations. Retail investors have net bought over 100 trillion won (approximately $67 billion) worth of KOSPI stocks this year, while foreign investors have net sold about $108 billion. Goldman Sachs strategists pointed out that "leveraged ETFs are a major risk to watch." Although margin debt has decreased from its peak in June, it remains significantly higher than the same period last year.

A New Wallet Withdraws 74,000 ETH and Stakes All, Worth Approximately $136 Million

A newly created wallet has withdrawn 74,033 ETH (worth $136.17 million) and staked all of it.

Japanese Media: The "Hidden Debt" of America's Five Tech Giants Soars to $1.65 Trillion

A study shows that as AI investments surge, the hidden debt of American tech giants has increased eightfold in just four years, estimated to reach $1.65 trillion. This figure exceeds their actual on-balance-sheet debt, making it more challenging for investors to assess related risks. The analysis covered recent financial statements and other information from parent companies, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle. Among them, Meta's off-balance-sheet debt is particularly high, approximately $420 billion, nearly three times its recorded on-balance-sheet debt.

London Stock Exchange Plans to Launch Around-the-Clock Trading in the First Half of 2027 to Win Back Retail Market

The London Stock Exchange Group plans to launch an independent night trading venue in the first half of 2027 to win back retail investors and compete with 24/7 operating cryptocurrency platforms. Initially, this after-hours market will provide trading services for exchange-traded products (ETPs), including funds tracking the UK and U.S. stock markets.

Solv: BTC+ Contract Attacked Due to Deployment Key Leak, Subscription and Redemption Expected to Resume in Two Weeks

The protocol stated in a post that on July 13, the BTC+ contract on the BNB Smart Chain suffered a security incident. After investigation, it was found that the attacker had compromised the deployer's private key and upgraded the BTC+ minting proxy contract on BSC, minting unauthorized BTC+ tokens. The team completed an emergency response within three hours, isolating the malicious contract and freezing, destroying, or isolating all unauthorized BTC+. All underlying BTC assets are secure. As a precaution, subscriptions and redemptions for BTC+ have been suspended and are expected to resume in two weeks. BTC+ has never established an official liquidity pool on any DEX, and users should only acquire and hold BTC+ through official channels. The team has upgraded the security measures for the deployer, rotating all affected access credentials and signing keys, and has initiated a comprehensive external re-audit, with a detailed post-incident analysis report to be released later.

A Whale Spends 20 Million USDC to Buy 10,500 ETH

A whale has just transferred 20 million USDC to buy 10,501 ETH at a price of $1,904 and transferred it back to an on-chain wallet.

AI Agents Opened on Platform, Users Can Authorize AI to Trade and Manage Portfolios

The platform announced that it has opened AI agents, allowing users to set up agent accounts and connect to AI agents, authorizing them to research, trade, and manage portfolios on their behalf. Users only need to add the MCP server to the agent platform, and the entire setup process takes less than a minute.

Leading Financial Technology Firm Plans to Launch HKDAP, a Hong Kong Dollar Stablecoin, by the End of This Month

A leading financial technology firm established by a bank in Hong Kong plans to announce the launch of a stablecoin, HKDAP, pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, by the end of this month. The group and various virtual asset trading platforms will act as distributors. A spokesperson stated that preparations for the phased issuance of the regulated stablecoin HKDAP pegged to the Hong Kong dollar are progressing as planned, and updates will be announced in due course.

AI Insights

Selected AI news worth paying attention to in the last 24 hours to help filter out the noise.

China's Open Source AI Strategy is Winning

The article points out that the U.S. closed and proprietary AI strategy is failing, while China's open-source weighted models are gaining a leading position, which could drag down the U.S. economy. The author believes that the moat of AI models themselves is shallow, and the moat lies in the enterprise service ecosystem.

Anthropic's $1.5 Billion Milestone Copyright Settlement Approved

The court has finally approved a record $1.5 billion settlement with copyright holders. However, this settlement only resolves a single case and does not fundamentally address the broader controversy over training AI models using copyrighted works.

Developing a New AI Chip for More Efficient Operation of Gemini

Reports indicate that the parent company Alphabet is developing an AI chip aimed at significantly improving the operational efficiency of the Gemini model. This new chip may be used across the entire chain from cloud to data centers to reduce operational costs.