Strategy Inc., led by Michael Saylor, has adjusted its financing policy, no longer requiring the stock price to be above 2.5 times the value of its Bitcoin holdings in order to issue additional common stock. Instead, it will allow issuance below that level, allowing for flexible financing when needed. Analysts believe this provides the company with more room for maneuver, including capitalizing on Bitcoin buying opportunities. CMB International Virtual Asset Trading Officially Launches CMB International Securities' mobile app has launched a virtual asset trading function, providing 24/7 virtual asset trading services to qualified investors. Qualified investors can directly trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT) through their virtual asset accounts. On July 11, CMB International Securities received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to upgrade its existing securities trading license to one that allows it to provide virtual asset trading services. The official launch of this virtual asset trading feature marks a significant step forward for CMB International Securities in responding to regulatory policies, implementing innovative businesses, integrating and optimizing systems, and supporting compliance operations.
Market
As of press time, according to CoinGecko data:
BTC price is $116,267, up or down -1.2% in the past 24 hours;
ETH price is $4,322.87, up or down -3.8% in the past 24 hours;
BNB price is $850.61, up or down -0.7% in the past 24 hours;
-4.3%; the price of DOGE is $0.2234, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -5.3%; the price of XRP is $3.06, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -1.2%. The price of TRX is $0.3509, with a 24-hour increase or decrease of -0.9%.
Policy
▌U.S. Treasury Seeks Public Comment on New Approaches to Combat Illegal Digital Asset Activities
After President Trump signed the GENIUS Stablecoin Act, the U.S. Treasury issued a notice on August 18th, seeking public feedback on how financial institutions can prevent illegal activities (such as money laundering) involving digital assets. The GENIUS Act requires stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or equivalent liquid assets, conducts annual audits for issuers with a market capitalization of over $50 billion, and regulates overseas issuance. Treasury Secretary Bessant stated that stablecoins will expand global use of the U.S. dollar and increase demand for U.S. Treasury bonds, benefiting users, issuers, and the Treasury. The public comment period ends on October 17th. Some banking associations have expressed concerns about the weakening of interest restrictions on issuers in the bill, believing that stablecoins could become stores of value and credit instruments rather than simply means of payment.
▌Trump: Start arranging Putin-Zelensky meeting, followed by trilateral talks
US President Trump said that during the White House meeting, he discussed security guarantees to Ukraine with European leaders, which will be provided by European countries in coordination with the United States. Trump said that after the meeting, he spoke with Putin on the phone and began to arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, the location of which is to be determined. After the meeting, a trilateral meeting will be held, which will include the presidents of Russia and Ukraine plus himself. Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio and Special Envoy Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Sources said that the United States hopes to facilitate a meeting between Putin and Zelensky before the end of August.
Blockchain Applications
▌Chamath's newly established SPAC will invest in four areas including DeFi
Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya established a new SPAC called "American Exceptionalism" with a valuation of US$250 million and an offering of 25 million shares at US$10 per share. The SPAC will invest in four areas including DeFi.
▌Japanese stablecoin issuer JPYC obtains license and may launch yen stablecoin in October
According to Ledger Insights, Japanese stablecoin issuer JPYC has obtained Japan's "funds transfer service provider" license, and said this is the first time Japan has issued such a license to a digital currency issuer. Previous news indicated that JPYC is expected to be approved this month, and a compliant yen stablecoin may be launched in October. Google's pro forma stake in TeraWulf increases to 14%. With Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf planning a $400 million funding round, Google's pro forma stake in the company has increased to 14%, making it one of TeraWulf's major shareholders. TeraWulf is the fifth-largest Bitcoin mining company. Cryptocurrency. US SEC Delays Decision on Multiple Crypto ETF Applications. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision on the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF applications filed by Truth Social, the social platform under the Trump Media and Technology Group. According to a filing Monday, the SEC extended the Truth Social ETF's approval deadline to October 8, a standard procedure for the agency's review of dozens of cryptocurrency ETF proposals. Also delayed on the same day were the CoinShares Litecoin ETF, the CoinShares Ripple ETF, and the 21Shares Ripple ETF, all of which had their decision deadlines extended to late October. The SEC stated in the filing: "The Commission determined that an extension of time is necessary to fully evaluate the proposal and related issues." MicroStrategy increased its holdings by 430 bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to over 629,000. Between August 11 and August 17, MicroStrategy purchased 430 bitcoins at an average price of $119,666 per bitcoin (total: $51.4 million).
▌BitMine's cryptocurrency holdings exceed US$6.61 billion, including 1.52 million Ethereum
According to market news released by @cryptounfolded: BitMine's cryptocurrency holdings exceed US$6.61 billion, including 1.52 million Ethereum (ETH).
▌69 Ethereum treasury companies’ ETH holdings exceed 4 million, and the top three companies’ ETH holdings are worth more than $10 billion
According to data from StrategyEthreserve, 69 Ethereum treasury companies’ ETH holdings have exceeded 4 million, reaching 4.07 million at the time of writing, worth approximately $17.38 billion. Among them, the top three Ethereum treasury companies’ ETH holdings have exceeded $10 billion in market value, currently reaching $11.08 billion, accounting for 63.75% of the total market value of Ethereum treasury companies’ holdings. They are: Bitmine Immersion (1.5 million ETH, worth $6.5 billion), Sharplink Gaming (728,800 ETH, worth $3.11 billion), and The Ether Machine (345,400 ETH, worth $1.47 billion).
▌AEHL, a US-listed company, signed a strategic agreement with BitGo to advance Bitcoin acquisition and custody
Nasdaq-listed company AEHL announced that its Bitcoin strategy has officially entered the second phase and has signed a strategic agreement with BitGo to advance Bitcoin acquisition and custody. The company stated that the purchased Bitcoin will be stored on the blockchain, and it will also continue to fulfill its information disclosure obligations and regularly update the market on its purchase plans, holdings, average acquisition price, and on-chain storage arrangements.
▌KindlyMD completes $200 million convertible bond financing to increase Bitcoin holdings
Nasdaq-listed company KindlyMD (NAKA, merged with Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto) completed a $200 million convertible bond financing last Friday, and the funds will be used to increase Bitcoin holdings. The financing was arranged by Yorkville Advisors. The terms require KindlyMD to post twice the principal amount in Bitcoin as collateral and allow creditors to convert the creditors into shares at an initial price of $2.80 per share. Nasdaq-listed Empery Digital announced that it has secured $25 million in credit financing for share repurchases. In addition, the company announced that it has acquired an additional 25.20 bitcoins for a total purchase price of $3 million, bringing its current bitcoin holdings to 4,051.90 at a total purchase price of approximately $476 million, with an average purchase price of $117,554 per bitcoin.
▌DDC Enterprise Increases Holdings by 100 BTC, Bringing Total Bitcoin Holdings to 588
Nasdaq-listed DDC Enterprise Limited announced the acquisition of 100 bitcoins to further expand its ongoing corporate crypto strategic reserve. The average purchase cost was $102,144. As of now, the total bitcoin holdings have reached 588. DDC founder, chairman and CEO Norma Chu said that its short-term goal remains to hold 10,000 bitcoins by the end of 2025.
▌Dutch listed company AMDAX announced plans to purchase 1% of the total supply of Bitcoin
According to market news released by @pete_rizzo_, Dutch listed company AMDAX announced plans to purchase 1% of the total supply of Bitcoin, which is equivalent to 210,000 bitcoins. BNC, the "BNB Version of MicroStrategy," Expands BNB Holdings to 325,000 BNB BNB Network Company (NASDAQ: BNC), a subsidiary of CEA Industries Inc., announced today that its total BNB holdings have reached 325,000, an increase of 125,000 from the previous 200,000. As the world's largest BNB treasury, BNC stated that it will continue to expand its holdings and plans to launch innovative products to serve institutional investors. The company, currently listed on Nasdaq, focuses on BNB treasury management.
▌Tembo, a subsidiary of XRP Treasury Company VivoPower, receives strategic investment from Energi Holdings at a valuation of US$200 million
Nasdaq-listed XRP Treasury Company VivoPower International announced that it has reached an agreement with Energi Holdings Limited. The latter will make a PIPE investment in its subsidiary Tembo at a valuation of US$200 million. Upon completion of the transaction, Energi Holdings will acquire a 51% stake in the company. The relevant transaction is still subject to review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
▌Over US$370 Million in Long-Idle Bitcoin Recently Transferred on-chain
According to CryptoQuant monitoring, approximately 31,968 long-idle bitcoins (stored for 3 to 5 years) were recently transferred on-chain, with a total value of approximately US$378 million.
▌220 million DOGE transferred from an unknown wallet to Robinhood
Golden Finance reported that according to Whale Alert monitoring, 220,000,000 DOGE (worth approximately US$49,253,529) was transferred from an unknown wallet to Robinhood.
Important Economic Developments
▌Federal Reserve Mouthpiece: Overall PCE Inflation is Expected to Be Moderate in July, with the Year-on-Year Increase Maintained at 2.6%
Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiraos, known as a mouthpiece for the Federal Reserve, posted on social media that economists, after converting CPI and PPI data to PCE indicators, estimate that the core PCE inflation rate in July was 0.28% (equivalent to an annualized rate of 3.4%), which would increase the year-on-year increase to 2.9%. The overall PCE inflation rate is expected to be relatively moderate, with a month-on-month increase of 0.21% and a year-on-year increase of 2.6%.
▌Goldman Sachs expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates three times this year
Goldman Sachs expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates three times this year, with rate cuts expected in September, October and December, due to weak job growth in the United States. Analysts pointed out that the number of new jobs has slowed to about 30,000 per month, far below the approximately 80,000 needed to achieve full employment, and future revisions to the data may be negative. They believe that the risks come not only from trade and immigration, but also from compensatory hiring, which is fading and growth in most industries is close to zero. Goldman Sachs warned that although the unemployment rate remains stable, even a slight slowdown in the labor market is worrying. A more significant rise in the unemployment rate could trigger a larger 50 basis point rate cut. What are tokenized commodities? Tokenized commodities represent fractional ownership of real-world assets using digital tokens on a blockchain, while retaining their tangible value. Tokenized commodities are digital versions of real-world items (such as gold, oil, or agricultural products) recorded on a blockchain. Each token represents a portion or the entire commodity, making them easier to divide and trade. This simplifies the buying and selling of small portions of commodities, provides greater liquidity, and offers access to markets that are typically difficult to trade. Instead of purchasing the entire commodity (which can be very expensive and impractical), you divide it into small pieces called tokens. Each token represents a small portion of the commodity. Blockchain technology can help tokenize a variety of commodities, including energy resources, real estate, precious metals, and agricultural products. Commodity-backed cryptocurrencies are digital assets designed to be more stable than volatile cryptocurrencies. This stability is achieved by pegging their value to a tangible commodity such as real estate, gold, or oil. Commodity tokenization clarifies ownership, enables fractional ownership, simplifies transactions, and facilitates market activity. While promising, tokenized commodities also face challenges. Regulations are not always clear, and existing rules may not fully cover them. The technology behind tokenized commodities must be properly tested to handle the complexities of creating and trading these tokens.
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