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On August 25, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated that his over-the-counter brokerage has begun inquiring about the demand for dollar lending. Although current interest rates remain low, he believes this may indicate that basis trading is returning, and mentioned that Ethena-related token ENA may benefit from this.

Asset management company Franklin Templeton plans to incorporate the tokenized money market fund Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI) as holdings or collateral into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds, involving an asset scale of approximately $2.6 billion, with the earliest launch possible in the fourth quarter.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a no-action letter for this structure, allowing funds under Franklin Templeton to use BENJI for cash management and collateral purposes, but it still requires approval from the boards of the respective funds. The company currently manages over 130 ETFs and approximately $82 billion in ETF assets, with mutual fund assets around $790 billion.Franklin Templeton has distributed tokenized funds through digital wallets and plans to launch more tokenized products for cash or collateral management across its broader fund product line. The market size for tokenized assets has now exceeded $38 billion.

According to Cointelegraph, CME Group has added Ethena's ENA token to its cryptocurrency benchmark index.Ethena is the protocol that issues the synthetic dollar stablecoin USDe, and ENA is its governance token. As a leading derivatives exchange globally, this move further expands CME Group's cryptocurrency benchmark coverage to this asset.

Famous gold bull and economist Peter Schiff posted on social media, refuting the strategy of Bitcoin supporters who bundle artificial intelligence (AI) with Bitcoin for hype, stating that AI poses a threat to Bitcoin rather than a benefit.Schiff pointed out that there is direct competition between AI and Bitcoin in terms of speculative capital, electricity, and data center resources. More critically, AI may discover vulnerabilities in Bitcoin's code, cryptographic algorithms, wallets, or networks that humans have not yet detected, undermining its security and scarcity foundations.

According to the Economic Daily, semiconductor silicon wafers have seen a significant price increase for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, covering the full range of specifications including 6-inch, 8-inch, and 12-inch, with an increase starting at 10%. Industry insiders believe this is the first price adjustment in over three years, and major Taiwanese silicon wafer suppliers such as GlobalWafers, TSMC, and Hejian are expected to see improvements in revenue and profitability.GlobalWafers stated that recent demand in some end markets has gradually improved, inventory adjustments in the supply chain are healthier than in the past, and market signals are more positive than last year, but prices still depend on the product, specifications, and customer situations. TSMC mentioned that under cost pressures and demand support, they have begun communicating price adjustments with customers, and operations in the second half of the year are expected to outperform the first half. Hejian indicated that they are actively negotiating price adjustments with customers and continuing to promote advanced packaging and related products.Industry analysis suggests that this round of price increases mainly reflects the rebound in chip demand driven by AI, with increased usage in advanced and mature processes, allowing the upstream silicon wafer industry to gradually feel the recovery. Currently, the negotiation progress varies among factories and customers, with some 12-inch polished wafers already subject to new quotes with double-digit percentage increases, and discussions for 8-inch and 6-inch products are also moving in a similar upward direction.

Strive CEO Matt Cole stated that the BTC/gold ratio is sending a strong signal, indicating that the next Bitcoin cycle could be the strongest in history.Currently, there are two major structural factors: the long-term structural depreciation of the dollar, and Bitcoin has never experienced a true secular dollar collapse; and in an AI-driven prosperous world, capital will increasingly chase "scarce assets" that cannot be replicated. If Bitcoin can perform stronger relative to gold, it will attract a disproportionate inflow of funds, creating a positive feedback loop.

DecodeMarkets cites the views of Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee in Thursday's Macro Minute, stating that the first phase of AI trading is focused on upstream areas, including semiconductors, memory, and infrastructure, with related assets experiencing significant increases and entering a correction. The current market focus is shifting downstream, with software, application layers, and ETH beginning to receive more attention.Tom Lee indicated that Ethereum has undergone the anticipated significant cooling, but its fundamental narrative continues to strengthen, covering stablecoins, asset tokenization, institutional adoption, and future AI agents completing transactions on-chain. Capital may be shifting from building infrastructure to holding the underlying tracks where the next wave of activity will occur, thus still in the early stages.He pointed out that ETH prices have begun to show some performance, but market positions have not yet caught up, with most portfolios still not allocated to ETH.

According to Bitcoin.com, Grayscale's research director Zach Pandl pointed out in an analysis report that if the SEC's proposed new regulations on crypto asset financing (Regulation Crypto Assets) are ultimately implemented, Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain may become the main beneficiaries.The proposal establishes two exemption paths: projects raising less than $5 million can be exempt from registration for four years, and projects raising less than $75 million can be exempt from registration for one year, with a conditional safe harbor designed to provide a clear domestic compliance path for crypto asset issuance and reduce the motivation for issuers to operate overseas. Pandl noted that tokenized financing has previously been hindered by regulatory ambiguity, and if the new regulations stimulate issuance activities, it will bring more U.S. issuers and investors on-chain, driving value back to underlying networks and native tokens such as ETH, SOL, and BNB. The proposal is still in the public comment phase, and the final rules may be adjusted based on public feedback and SEC review; increased network activity does not guarantee a rise in token prices.

For the week ending August 8, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits in the United States was 1.799 million, higher than the expected 1.79 million, and the previous value was revised from 1.777 million to 1.781 million.

Serenity published an evaluation of the Yushu IPO event, pointing out that Yushu Technology's market value on its first day of listing was approximately $53.3 billion, making it the first significant public market benchmark in the field of humanoid robots.The next humanoid robot company worth paying attention to is Agility Robotics, which has the support of Nvidia and Amazon, and is expected to go public in Q4 with a valuation of $2.5 billion. Serenity believes that pure humanoid robot companies are experiencing public market demand far exceeding expectations.

According to The Block, Benchmark analysts reiterated their buy rating on the tokenized company Securitize ($SECZ), while lowering its target price from $16 to $10, believing that the company's approximately 29% two-day decline after its first public earnings report was an overreaction.Securitize disclosed a 5% decline in revenue in its first earnings report as a public company and recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss, while also lowering its full-year outlook. Analysts pointed out that despite the short-term performance pressure, they still maintain a positive outlook on its long-term tokenization business prospects, thus maintaining the buy rating.

Recently, DeepSeek-V4 announced a price increase and the introduction of peak and off-peak pricing. On August 15, the B.AI platform announced the launch of a major benefits program to help developers use Deepseek without fear of costs.New users can log in through Binance Wallet, Bitget Wallet, or imToken wallet to receive 1 million free Credits. By entering an invitation code, they can receive an additional 300,000, for a total of up to 1.3 million; both new and existing users can also enjoy an extra bonus of up to $100 in Bonus Credits when recharging. Users can prepare their B.AI accounts in advance to unlock benefits early.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the prediction market Polymarket for the event "National Bank Open: Ben Shelton vs. Brandon Nakashima," the "over" option for the sub-market "National Bank Open: Ben Shelton vs. Brandon Nakashima Total Games in the Second Set Greater than 10.5" has experienced significant fluctuations in winning probability, soaring from 27% an hour ago to the current 42.5% (a fluctuation of 15.5%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the Polymarket prediction market for the event "National Bank Open: Learner Tien vs. Ben Shelton," the "Over" option in the sub-market "National Bank Open: Learner Tien vs. Ben Shelton First Set O/U 8.5" experienced a sharp fluctuation in winning probability, dropping from 84% an hour ago to the current 50% (a fluctuation of 34%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to ChainCatcher news, analysis from 10x Research suggests that Bitcoin may be decoupling from its correlation with the S&P 500. If the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates in September due to weak summer employment, Bitcoin is expected to become a major beneficiary alongside gold. The analysis states that after the FOMC meeting at the end of July 2026, bond traders were once convinced that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in September, with the market pricing in two rate hikes before the end of the year. However, the institution believes that four voters who leaned towards maintaining interest rates in July suddenly shifted to a higher threshold for rate hikes within six weeks.More importantly, seasonal factors play a role; historically, the labor market has performed poorly in the summer, which has previously driven rate cuts in September 2024 and September 2025. With the World Cup ending, similar employment weakness may force bond market traders to reassess their rate hike expectations, at which point gold and Bitcoin are expected to benefit.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the prediction market Polymarket for the event "National Bank Open: Alexandra Eala vs. Belinda Bencic," the probability of the "Alexandra Eala" option in the sub-market "National Bank Open: Alexandra Eala vs. Belinda Bencic" has experienced significant fluctuations, plummeting from 48.5% an hour ago to the current 23.5% (a fluctuation of 25%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

ARK Invest stated that despite the latest U.S. employment data appearing weak, the overall economic situation is not as pessimistic as it seems. Cathie Wood mentioned that the U.S. federal deficit as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is currently 5.6%, and if productivity and technology adoption continue to improve, it may approach 5% by the end of the year.

B.AI welcomes several major updates this week. In terms of benefits, new users can log in with Bitget Wallet, Binance Wallet, or imToken Wallet to instantly receive 1 million free Credits; logging in with an invitation code grants an additional 300,000, with a maximum cumulative total of 1.3 million when combined with the exclusive wallet login gift. Referrers also enjoy permanent rebates on friend deposits and subscriptions. Recharge discounts are released simultaneously, with a 1:1 equivalent quota gift exclusive to the BNB Chain channel, while various other payment methods enjoy a 1:0.5 rebate, with a maximum of $100 worth of points available per user.On the model side, there is another breakthrough, as the "Self-selected Service Provider" lineup is significantly expanded this week, adding the Nebula channel and launching historic calling discounts as low as 10%; at the same time, Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen flagship model Qwen3.8-Max officially lands on the platform, now open for a limited-time free experience. Currently, the self-selected mode has fully covered global mainstream large model series such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini, combined with recharge gifts and multiple discount tiers, continuously releasing extreme computing power cost-effectiveness for global developers and enterprise users.

According to Caixin, as the CRS information exchange becomes normalized, tax authorities can fully obtain data on dividends and cash value from overseas insurance policies, gradually filling the gaps in tax administration. The taxation of insurance benefits from overseas income has now been initiated.In addition, the CRS, as the "eye in the sky" of the global tax system, is also being upgraded according to schedule, with CRS 2.0 approaching. Key changes include incorporating crypto assets, central bank digital currencies (CBDC), and specific electronic currency products into the definition of financial assets, aligning with the trend of digital assets gradually merging with the mainstream financial world. Overall, from multiple dimensions such as overseas stock trading, overseas insurance, and offshore trusts, the iteration of CRS 2.0 and the tightening of overseas income tax collection mechanisms resonate with each other, mutually supporting and enhancing the effectiveness of cross-border tax source regulatory constraints.

According to Bloomberg, Italian app developer Bending Spoons SpA has agreed to acquire American software company Airtable for a total equity value of $2.25 billion, which will be completed as an all-cash transaction. After deducting Airtable's net cash of approximately $965 million, the enterprise value is about $1.29 billion. This price represents a significant reduction of about 80% from Airtable's valuation of $11.7 billion in 2021, serving as another example of the valuation correction in the software industry.Airtable was founded in 2013 and provides tools that allow non-technical employees to build customized applications. At the end of 2021, it raised $735 million at a valuation of $11.7 billion but failed to go public as planned "within a few years." Like many software companies, it has struggled to maintain stable growth amid the impact of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude Code. As of June 2026, Airtable's annual recurring revenue is approximately $480 million. This is Bending Spoons' first acquisition since its Nasdaq listing on July 1, and after the transaction is completed, Airtable will gain resources to advance the construction of its AI-native platform, but its operational model is similar to private equity, which typically involves layoffs and restructuring of acquired companies.