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Federal Reserve Chairman Waller stated on Friday that if policymakers cannot be confident that inflation is "declining at a clear and sufficiently rapid pace" back to 2%, the Fed "has work to do." This suggests that if price pressures do not improve, the Fed may raise interest rates next.Waller made it clear that he still adheres to the Fed's long-standing policy path of managing inflation through interest rate adjustments. This significantly increases the likelihood of the Fed's next step being a rate hike, which could create a divergence between him and President Trump, who has long sought rate cuts. This statement essentially eliminated the ambiguity that had been left previously. At the press conference at the end of July, Waller declined to respond extensively to whether a rate hike was needed to address the inflation issue, which has significantly risen this year and has been above the Fed's target for more than five consecutive years.

The Irish National Police (An Garda Síochána) reported that during a special operation against organized crime in the Galway area, police searched two properties and froze two cryptocurrency accounts worth approximately $900,000 in total. In addition, the police also froze a bank account containing €25,000 (approximately $29,100), and seized €9,300 in cash and drugs valued at approximately €18,300 (including amphetamines and cannabis).A man in his 40s involved in the case has been arrested and charged, and the investigation is ongoing.

According to Decrypt, the financial investigation department of the police in Avon and Somerset, UK, has seized 20.21 bitcoins along with other crypto assets and bank account funds, totaling approximately $1.4 million (£1.03 million). Investigators traced the assets to dark web markets that operated between 2016 and 2019, all of which have now been shut down by law enforcement and were involved in criminal activities such as drug supply and human trafficking.This is the largest cryptocurrency seizure operation by the police since the introduction of the cryptocurrency wallet freezing order in the UK in April 2024. This power allows the police to freeze and seize cryptocurrencies without prior arrests, transferring them to wallets controlled by law enforcement, and seizing written passwords or storage devices. The individuals involved had previous money laundering convictions and are now deceased.The police pointed out that every transaction processed by these markets is permanently recorded on the blockchain, serving as a valuable source of evidence. The assets were seized earlier this year under the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the court determining that they represented proceeds from illegal activities, and the recovered funds will be used for community and policing projects.

The Public Security Bureau of Hongkou District, Shanghai, China, recently solved a case involving cross-border illegal settlement and illegal foreign exchange trading using virtual currency, arresting 9 criminal suspects and involving an amount of over 200 million yuan. The suspects, including a person named Li, established a technology company at the beginning of 2024 to seek illegal profits, building two platforms online: "Cross-Border Fund Exchange" and "Virtual Credit Card Issuance and Settlement." They solicited customers both online and offline, illegally conducting exchange and settlement services for virtual currency and cross-border funds, profiting through transaction fees, service fees, card issuance fees, withdrawal fees, and other means.Investigators stated, "The uniqueness of this case lies in the fact that the criminals developed two apps and publicly solicited customers on such a large scale, which has never been seen before. The platforms built in this case are themselves a closed-loop illegal financial service system, with all transactions settled internally on the platform. This mode of crime has a higher degree of scale, a longer chain, and is more deceptive." Reports indicate that on the "Cross-Border Fund Exchange" platform, the criminal gang collected customers' virtual currency overseas and exchanged it for foreign currency, forming a "fund pool," and then realized cross-border settlement through fabricated contracts, achieving the exchange and transfer of virtual currency to RMB. On the "Virtual Credit Card Issuance and Settlement" platform, the criminal gang "cooperated" with several overseas private banks to issue virtual credit cards to customers, who could use the card for consumption, but the repayment process had to be settled in virtual currency; the gang exchanged virtual currency for foreign currency overseas, relying on false cross-border settlements to complete clearing with overseas card merchants.

According to Crypto Briefing, the U.S. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has added 21Shares' Polkadot Staking ETF to its listing, with the code TDOT, marking the official entry of this product into the U.S. ETF ecosystem. Meanwhile, 21Shares has renamed the fund from its original name "21Shares Polkadot ETF" to "21Shares Polkadot Staking ETF," with this change taking effect on August 27, 2026.This name change is not just a superficial adjustment; the term "Staking" clearly communicates the product mechanism to institutional investors: the fund holds DOT tokens, stakes 40% to 95% of its holdings through network validators, and distributes earnings to shareholders on a quarterly basis. The current staking yield is 2.04%, with a management fee of 0.3%, and custody is jointly handled by Anchorage Digital, BitGo, and Coinbase. The ETF was listed on Nasdaq on March 6, 2026, with initial seed funding of approximately $11 million, and as of the end of August, the assets under management are approximately $7.5 to $7.9 million.

Polymarket US has withdrawn two NFL player participation contract documents from the prediction market platform. The platform has completed certification with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and plans to launch related products no earlier than August 27. Polymarket US certifies Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana price contracts, all three types of contracts are submitted in pairs and classified as swap contracts under the binary options subcategory.Both the NFL contracts and cryptocurrency contracts involve the relevant classifications. The NFL compliance analysis document has been submitted separately for confidentiality, with Polymarket US requesting permanent non-disclosure on the grounds that public disclosure would leak trade secrets and give competitors an unfair advantage. As of the record, another NFL American football eligibility contract remains in certified status.

Polish Olympic Committee President Radosław Piszczek was arrested on Thursday, suspected of receiving kickbacks from the cryptocurrency platform Zondacrypto during the signing of a sponsorship agreement. Polish Sports Minister Jakub Rudnicki confirmed the arrest on the X platform, stating, "Such a person should not hold the position of President of the Polish Olympic Committee; Piszczek has brought shame to Polish sports." Interior Minister Marcin Kwiatkowski referred to him as "a symbol of extreme corruption plaguing the Olympic movement."According to the investigation, Piszczek facilitated the sponsorship agreement between the Polish Olympic Committee and Zondacrypto in October 2025, which promised cryptocurrency rewards to medalists of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The Polish government accused Zondacrypto of having ties to nationalist opposition groups, organized crime, and Russian intelligence agencies, estimating that the platform's collapse caused losses of about 350 million zlotys (approximately 80 million euros), affecting around 30,000 people. The Interior Minister described Zondacrypto as "essentially a Ponzi scheme."Media investigations also revealed that Piszczek received a Patek Philippe watch worth approximately 40,000 euros from Zondacrypto CEO Przemysław Kral, who claimed the watch was purchased out of his own pocket. Kral is currently cooperating with prosecutors in hopes of a reduced sentence. Zondacrypto was founded by Sylwester Sucheck in 2014, who went missing in 2022, with Kral taking over his position. The Polish prosecutors launched an investigation in April of this year, and most Polish sports federations subsequently called for Piszczek's resignation.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center stated on platform X that perpetual contracts should be at the core of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) innovation agenda. The agency submitted a statement regarding the first meeting of the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee on August 20, pointing out that perpetual contracts are gradually expanding beyond the digital asset market to traditional asset classes such as stocks and commodities, and that demand for this product among U.S. market participants is rising.Perpetual contracts can meet the risk management needs of different market participants, making them particularly suitable for airlines hedging fuel costs, investment funds managing portfolio exposure, and AI developers addressing ongoing risks related to computing costs that do not have a clear expiration date. Compared to futures with fixed expiration dates, perpetual contracts do not require rolling over, and there are no expiration and delivery issues; they anchor contract prices to the underlying assets through periodic funding rates. Currently, on Hyperliquid, perpetual contracts deployed by third-party developers cover over 80 traditional commodity and stock markets, with a cumulative notional trading volume exceeding $500 billion.This year, the CFTC has taken several measures to promote the establishment of the perpetual contract market in the U.S. In May, the CFTC approved the first perpetual futures contract listed in the U.S. and issued a policy statement and continuous trading guidance regarding the listing of perpetual contracts; in June, the CFTC sought public opinion on extending perpetual contracts to energy commodities and further consulted on computing power derivatives.In addition, the Hyperliquid Policy Center believes that on-chain infrastructure can also promote the modernization of the U.S. derivatives market within the existing regulatory framework. Public blockchains can openly record markets, orders, and positions, continuously conduct margin assessments programmatically, and enable real-time collateral transfers, thereby reducing counterparty credit risk and settlement risk. The agency will continue to provide relevant research and technical documents to the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee and committee staff, and promote the establishment of a pathway for U.S. market participants to compliantly access on-chain markets. The agency believes that perpetual contracts are one of the most representative financial innovations of the past decade and should be further developed in the U.S. market.

Bitget CFD Chief Analyst Lewis Huang stated in a live broadcast that this week’s U.S. PCE data and the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Meeting will become the market focus. The market is not only concerned about whether the Federal Reserve will adjust interest rates but will also pay close attention to how it responds to inflation remaining above the 2% target, high long-term Treasury yields, and fiscal pressures.Lewis Huang pointed out that if the core PCE is higher than expected and the Federal Reserve signals a continuation of tightening or emphasizes anti-inflation measures, U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar may receive support, while interest rate-sensitive assets like gold and the Nasdaq 100 may come under pressure. Conversely, if inflation data cools and officials express a tendency to retain policy flexibility, the market may re-evaluate future easing space, benefiting gold, non-U.S. currencies, and growth-oriented stock indices. This PCE data is generally in line with expectations, and the market focus has shifted to the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Meeting.In addition, the situation in the Middle East and risks in the Strait of Hormuz may still push up oil prices and inflation expectations. Traders should closely observe the U.S. dollar index, U.S. 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields, and the correlation between gold and oil; after major data releases, it is advisable to wait for further market confirmation of direction to avoid using high leverage to chase the initial wave of trends.

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau reported the investigation and resolution of a major underground money laundering case involving cross-border currency exchange using virtual currency, arresting more than 70 criminal suspects, with the amount involved exceeding 20 billion yuan.

According to CoinDesk, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad wrote an article for CoinDesk rebutting the arguments made by the American Bankers Association (ABA) against the stablecoin reward provisions in the Clarity Act. ABA CEO Rob Nichols claimed that only minor wording changes were needed to strengthen the bill and warned that allowing stablecoin rewards would lead to a loss of deposits for community banks.Shirzad pointed out that Coinbase has been paying stablecoin rewards for USDC for over four years, while community bank deposits grew by 26% from June 2019 to March 2026, amounting to approximately $482 billion.Shirzad cited research from Charles River Associates and the Economic Advisory Council stating that there is no significant correlation between stablecoins and bank deposits. He emphasized that the credit card industry was built on reward mechanisms, and the banking industry itself relies on this model. The current text of the bill was reached after months of negotiations between Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks and bank representatives, clearly delineating the boundaries: prohibiting returns on idle funds but allowing compensation for real activities.Shirzad believes that the Clarity Act will grant banks the broadest statutory powers since the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, including custody, staking, lending, payments, clearing, and market-making, with community banks benefiting the most. He called on all parties to accept this compromise and work together to advance the bill.

UPBIT will list Polyswarm (NCT) on August 26 at 21:00 and support KRW trading. During the trading support period, the trading fee will be reduced from 0.05% to 0%, and the event will last until August 27 at 20:59.

According to Bloomberg, the fintech company Revolut has launched a euro-pegged stablecoin EURR, which will initially be available to eligible customers in Denmark, Poland, and Portugal.Revolut stated that EURR is the "first step" in its stablecoin strategy, with plans to launch tokens pegged to other fiat currencies in the future to expand the application of digital currencies in cross-border payments and corporate transaction scenarios.

The Barclays strategy team stated that the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure is triggering a backlash among bipartisan voters in the United States, which could pose political risks to the currently popular AI trades.The construction of data centers has made AI a cost of living issue, and voters are dissatisfied with rising electricity costs. Barclays warns investors that AI trades lack new upward catalysts, and related stocks may face policy pressure.

Morphic Financial Group founder and CEO Mateusz Kara wrote in CoinDesk that the MiCA transition period ended on July 1, and the Polish Ministry of Finance confirmed that existing virtual currency registrations no longer constitute a legal basis for VASP or CASP operations. Crypto services can only be provided by entities holding valid MiCA authorization. Poland previously had about 2,000 registered virtual asset service providers, but a domestic political deadlock prevented the establishment of a viable authorization pathway. Germany issued 57 licenses, France and the Netherlands each issued 26, while Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Romania collectively issued zero.Kara stated that Polish investors hold about 9.4 billion euros in digital assets, and the relocation of businesses will lead to the loss of compliance teams, capital, and investments, with rebuilding the ecosystem potentially taking years. The compliance costs for MiCA can reach up to 700,000 euros, and serious violations could face fines of several million euros, narrowing the space for small participants. However, he believes that MiCA will be beneficial for the European crypto industry in the long term, as accelerated consolidation will eliminate weak operators and create a safer market. The UK's FCA is also launching a similar system, but Poland may become a sales market for others rather than an active participant in European digital finance construction.

The market is closely watching Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Walsh's speech at the Jackson Hole annual meeting this Friday. As U.S. long-term Treasury yields continue to rise, the market generally expects Walsh to possibly release dovish signals to alleviate concerns about inflation and fiscal risks in the bond market.Mark Cabana, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at Bank of America, stated that the market has gradually lost sensitivity to Walsh's previous verbal statements about "fighting inflation," and investors currently hope to see a substantive policy path to address inflation. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Basant has recently increased the repurchase of long-term U.S. Treasuries and financed the government through the issuance of short-term bonds, indicating some divergence between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve in managing the bond market.The article points out that Basant's shift of financing pressure to the short end effectively bets U.S. fiscal costs on future interest rate declines. If Walsh can promote interest rate cuts by controlling inflation and boosting productivity, the short-term financing model is expected to reduce government interest expenses; however, if long-term rates remain high, U.S. fiscal pressure may further intensify.The market also anticipates that the Federal Reserve may make adjustments to liquidity management and balance sheet policies. Michael Cloherty, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at CIBC, believes that quantitative tightening could begin as early as the end of 2027, provided that regulatory rule changes can reduce banks' demand for reserves.Currently, the Federal Reserve still holds about $1.6 trillion in long-term U.S. Treasuries. Walsh's statements at Jackson Hole regarding long-term yields, inflation, and the path of balance sheet reduction may become an important signal for assessing the degree of future policy coordination between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.

PPP prediction market tool monitoring shows that the probability of "BTC reaching $85,000 during the remaining period of August" on Polymarket has risen to 44%, an increase of 26% in 24 hours. Additionally, the probability of it reaching $90,000 has risen to 12%, an increase of 6% in 24 hours.According to the settlement rules, this market is based on the Binance BTC/USDT trading pair. Within the specified month in the title (from 00:00 on the 1st of the month to 23:59 on the last day, Eastern Time), if the highest price of any 1-minute candlestick is equal to or higher than the specified price in the title, it will be settled as Yes immediately; otherwise, it will be No. This market only considers the 1-minute candlestick High price of Binance BTC/USDT, and prices from other exchanges, trading pairs, or spot markets are not included.

AI market prediction project Fortune Protocol officially announces the integration of liquidity from Polymarket and, together with the previously integrated Predict.fun, provides more prediction markets and liquidity for Fortune Markets.After this update, users can directly explore markets from different liquidity sources within Fortune Markets and discover and compare the liquidity, trading volume, and probabilities of different markets more quickly through a brand new market interface. Fortune Protocol has optimized the trading and asset management experience, adding a streamlined trading process that supports result selection and position browsing; the Portfolio feature is unified, allowing users to view their current positions, settled markets, and complete trading history in one place.Fortune Protocol states that by continuously integrating liquidity from various mainstream prediction markets, Fortune Markets will further build a unified market layer, providing users with a more open, efficient, and integrated prediction market trading experience.