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Augustus is a startup that is building a federally chartered clearing bank. The company stated that it has raised $180 million, aiming to expand its dollar payment infrastructure, while stablecoins are reshaping the global financial system. This round of financing values Augustus at $1 billion. The round was led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from investors such as Hummingbird Ventures, QED Investors, as well as founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel.This financing comes at a time when banks, fintech companies, and crypto firms are competing to upgrade cross-border payment infrastructure. While the market's focus is mostly on stablecoin issuers, Augustus is targeting a less noticed but crucial part of the financial system—the correspondent banking system. Augustus CEO Ferdinand Dabitz stated in an interview, "We believe that the distribution of financial services is bottlenecked at the clearing bank level." He pointed out that traditional clearing systems are "slow, not available around the clock, take two days to settle, and are closed on weekends."

Deutsche Bank stated in its latest research report that the market's concerns about Microsoft's surge in capital expenditure, AI investment returns, and the concentration of Open AI orders have been significantly overstated. The current valuation is attractive, maintaining a "Buy" rating and a target price of $550. Deutsche Bank expects Microsoft's fourth fiscal quarter (corresponding to the second quarter of the calendar year) revenue to be $87.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%; non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to be $4.17. The growth rate of Azure, calculated at constant exchange rates, is expected to reach 40% to 41%, with enterprise cloud migration, AI computing demand, and new data center capacity continuing to support growth. Microsoft 365 commercial cloud revenue is expected to grow by 15% to 16%, and paid seats for Copilot may exceed 25 million by the end of the year.

According to The Block, the UK Parliament's All-Party Group on Digital Assets has launched an investigation into the access to banking services for the local cryptocurrency industry.This investigation will focus on examining the difficulties faced by cryptocurrency companies in opening and maintaining bank accounts, as well as the relevant circumstances regarding banks imposing restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions.

According to South Korean media Maeil Business, data from the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea shows that during the first phase of the CBDC pilot project led by the Bank of Korea, financial authorities did not conduct any independent security verification, and only the participating banks conducted their own pre-security reviews.Before the project launched, only an IT vulnerability self-assessment was conducted for the participating banks, executed by the Financial Security Institute, SK Shields, and self-inspection teams from Woori Bank and NongHyup Bank, forming an evaluation model of "self-check by the regulated entities." The central bank acknowledged external doubts about the security of the deposit tokens in the pilot result report and responded that the pre-review was sufficient, but critics pointed out that this explanation was a self-assessment and not an independent third-party verification.

On July 20, WEEX Exchange announced that it has launched zero-fee trading for Lorenzo Protocol (BANK) and is offering a 50,000 USDT airdrop reward. Event duration: 7/20 17:00 - 7/27 17:00 (UTC+8)

According to Bitcoin.com, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that the CLARITY Act will change the way customer crypto assets are handled when digital asset platforms enter bankruptcy proceedings; customer assets should continue to belong to the customers, rather than being included in the company's bankruptcy estate.The bill requires regulated digital asset intermediaries to treat customer cash and digital assets as customer property and to segregate them from company property. The bill also generally prohibits brokers, dealers, and exchanges from using customer assets for their own or others' benefit without authorization.The bankruptcies of Celsius and Voyager sparked disputes over the ownership of customer deposits. In January 2023, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn ruled that the cryptocurrency deposited in Celsius Earn accounts became company property under the terms of use, involving approximately 600,000 Earn accounts and about $4.2 billion in assets.Lummis stated that the CLARITY Act also aims to provide regulatory certainty for developers, enhance investor protection, and improve market integrity. The bill will clarify the responsibilities of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in different areas of the crypto market, and it has already passed the House of Representatives but has not yet passed the Senate.

According to the Korea Herald, the second phase of South Korea's central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project "Han River Plan" is about to officially launch. The Bank of Korea and commercial banks are making final preparations for the real transaction testing of deposit tokens in the second phase. If the system development and participant recruitment preparations are completed as planned, actual transactions are expected to begin as early as September.In the first phase transaction testing from April to June last year, 81,000 people participated through electronic wallets and conducted 114,880 transactions using deposit tokens. The first phase examined the deposit token payment system, while the second phase focuses on exploring commercialization. Additionally, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of South Korea announced in its economic growth strategy for the second half of the year released on the 15th that next year it will implement a pilot project for the tokenization of government bonds linked to the central bank's institutional-level central bank digital currency (CBDC).

According to Arkham monitoring, 84 million BANK tokens have been transferred from the suspected BANK Foundation Wallet (0xEde6...3B11a) to a new address (0x5721...22Bd8), and then the address transferred the related tokens to the Aster deposit address (0x1284...87974).Market data shows: The price of BANK tokens has surged significantly in the past few days, increasing more than 3 times, currently reported at approximately $0.16.

According to The Block, Bank of America has appointed Sonali Theisen as the head of its global digital asset platform and Kevin Milsom as the head of AI transformation to drive the development of digital asset and artificial intelligence strategies.Sonali Theisen will be responsible for the design, development, expansion, and governance of the bank's digital asset platform, while continuing to serve as the head of electronic trading and strategic investments for fixed income, foreign exchange, and commodities (FICC) business. Her focus will include promoting the integration of blockchain products into Bank of America's existing financial market infrastructure and collaborating with the digital asset transformation head Adam Dixon to advance tokenized deposits, stablecoins, digital collateral circulation, cryptocurrency trading settlement, and custody services.Kevin Milsom will be responsible for promoting the application of AI in Bank of America's global markets platform. Reports indicate that this move continues the trend of Wall Street financial institutions accelerating their layout in digital assets and AI. Previously, Vanguard had initiated the recruitment of its first head of digital assets, and Morgan Stanley appointed Amy Oldenburg earlier this year to lead digital asset strategy to promote the integration of crypto assets and asset tokenization with traditional financial infrastructure.

HSBC has received approval from the Bank of England to operate in the UK's Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), and its digital asset platform HSBC Orion will support the issuance, servicing, and settlement of digital securities. HSBC stated that HSBC Orion will operate as a digital securities custodian in the DSS and claimed to be the first company approved by the Bank of England to launch in this sandbox.The platform will support the issuance of native digital bonds, including the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) and corporate bonds planned for launch in the UK. HSBC stated that HSBC Orion has facilitated over $5 billion in digital bond issuances globally. The UK Treasury indicated that the first DIGIT transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2027, and HSBC has signed a memorandum of understanding with the London Stock Exchange Group to develop connectivity capabilities to support investor participation in pilot issuances.

According to Cointelegraph, Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated that the large-scale adoption of stablecoins could weaken the retail deposit base of commercial banks and alter the competitive landscape of the traditional banking system. Cipollone pointed out during a speech at the Italian Banking Association in Rome on Friday that digital payments are reshaping the banking industry while increasing Europe’s reliance on non-European payment infrastructures.Banks are currently facing declining payment fee revenues and loss of transaction data due to the development of mobile payment service providers. As payment tools like stablecoins and other digital assets become more widespread, commercial banks may face increased pressure from deposit outflows. Cipollone emphasized that the digital euro will help maintain the status of public money and ensure that banks continue to participate in the payment ecosystem while meeting the evolving financial needs of customers."The digital euro can both maintain the role of public funds and ensure that banks retain an important role in the payment system," Cipollone stated. This Tuesday, the European Central Bank selected 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month pilot project for the digital euro, including banks, fintech companies, and payment firms.The pilot program is set to launch in the second half of 2027, aiming to test the feasibility of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) operating in the eurozone. The European Central Bank has previously stated that if relevant legislation and testing progress smoothly, the digital euro could be officially issued as early as 2029.

According to TechFundingNews, Nvidia's venture capital division NVentures previously invested approximately $196 million in the UK fintech company Revolut.A confirmation statement disclosed by the UK Companies House shows that a shareholder entity suspected to belong to NVentures LLC holds about 141,834 shares of Revolut. Based on the issuance price disclosed in this round of financing by Revolut, this portion of shares is valued at approximately $195.9 million.Previously, neither Nvidia nor Revolut publicly disclosed the specific investment amount and shareholding scale of NVentures in the company. The exposure of this document indicates that Nvidia is further positioning itself in the fintech sector through strategic investments.Founded in 2015, Revolut is one of Europe's leading digital banking platforms, covering areas such as payments, foreign exchange, investment, and cryptocurrency services. In recent years, Nvidia has continuously invested in AI, fintech, and next-generation internet infrastructure companies through NVentures, and this investment in Revolut is also seen as part of its expansion into the AI and digital finance ecosystem.

The U.S. Treasury Department has added four Iranian central bank-related cryptocurrency wallets to the sanctions list, and Tether has frozen $131 million USDT accordingly.This brings the total amount frozen to approximately $475 million.

David Hoffman, co-founder of Bankless, stated that Bitcoin's current trend faces two possible paths: sideways consolidation or a final round of panic selling.He believes that Bitcoin is more likely to enter a sideways consolidation phase, with the bottom having basically appeared.

The Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, Emmanuel Tutuba, stated that the bank is completing the formulation of regulatory laws and regulations for digital assets, covering virtual assets, cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins, to enhance regulation and supervision.Emmanuel Tutuba mentioned that many young people are investing in related fields, and the central bank has received complaints from individuals who have incurred losses in cryptocurrency-related transactions. The relevant rules will be used to protect Tanzanian investors. He stated that the new regulations will also address the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illegal activities related to virtual assets, ensuring that entities involved in related activities operate according to the guidelines that will be released soon.

The Bank of Korea raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75%, marking the first rate hike since January 2023. Among 37 economists surveyed by Reuters, 36 expected the Bank of Korea to raise rates to this level, and the result met market expectations.

According to Bloomberg, Tether invested $20 million in the Argentine digital bank Ualá as part of Ualá's announced $197 million financing round in March. Ualá plans to use this funding to accelerate its expansion in Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia.Ualá founder and CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri stated that due to the regulatory environment in Argentina and Mexico, USDT stablecoin will not be integrated into the platform in the short term, and Tether is only participating as a financial investor. Ualá has 11 million customers, and after this financing round, it is valued at $3.2 billion, planning to accelerate expansion in Mexico.

India imposes a uniform 30% tax on the income from virtual digital assets and an additional 1% withholding tax on the transfer amount. Approximately 54 cryptocurrency service providers in the country have registered with the financial intelligence department, serving 39 million verified users, who collectively hold about $2.1 billion in assets.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has repeatedly expressed to Parliament its preference for a prohibitive policy towards private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, urging banks to avoid related exposures to protect financial stability. The long-promised cryptocurrency bill has yet to be completed.Indian government agencies are also using permissioned blockchain in non-trading scenarios. AIIMS Delhi uses blockchain to manage teacher recruitment records, the Cotton Corporation of India tracks cotton bales through a blockchain identification system, and the aviation regulator DGCA is building a digital service platform associated with blockchain.