rei

As of the week ending July 31, foreign central banks held $25.534 billion less in U.S. Treasury securities, compared to a previous value of $33.902 billion.

According to The Block, research firm Bernstein reaffirmed its "Outperform" rating and maintained a target price of $140 after Circle announced its Q2 2026 financial results, believing that the company's latest performance constitutes a "reverse validation" of the market's bearish views. Bernstein analysts stated that the market currently underestimates USDC's long-term growth potential and Circle's advantages in distribution channels, liquidity, and regulatory compliance, due to two major core concerns regarding Circle—intensifying competition in stablecoins and changes in the interest rate environment that may affect reserve income.Investors may not have fully accounted for the future revenue opportunities from transaction fees, partner ecosystems, and the Arc blockchain that Circle could generate. The firm specifically pointed out that several infrastructure initiatives recently advanced by Circle, including obtaining a national trust bank license in the U.S., expanding the Circle Payments Network, and the planned launch of the Arc public chain mainnet on September 16, could all become future growth drivers. Additionally, Bernstein noted that Circle has raised its guidance for other revenues and profit margins after deducting distribution costs for 2026, expecting to confirm approximately $180 million in Arc token presale revenue.Analysts believe that future staking yields, gas fees, and ecosystem partnership revenues from Arc have not been fully reflected in current valuation expectations. As of the end of Q2, the circulating supply of USDC was $73.3 billion, a decrease of 5% from the previous quarter but an increase of 19% year-over-year. Bernstein believes that Circle is shifting from a purely crypto trading infrastructure to payments, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and broader financial infrastructure, which will drive USDC into the next phase of growth. Circle's stock closed at $63.28 on Wednesday, and Bernstein's target price of $140 implies a potential upside of about 121%.

According to Bloomberg, the UAE is considering investing up to 1 trillion yen (approximately 6.3 billion USD) in the construction of an artificial intelligence data center, led by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. The project is planned to be located in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan, with a planned installed capacity of 500 megawatts, and may involve other domestic and foreign investors participating together.Currently, this information has not been publicly disclosed, and relevant details are still in the evaluation stage.

According to Jinshi reports, the Italian Foreign Minister stated that he had a conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister, who introduced the negotiations between Iran and Oman regarding the reopening of commercial navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The Italian Foreign Minister reiterated the importance of continuing dialogue in order to quickly find a political solution and avoid further escalation with the United States.

According to Jinshi reports, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister stated that Iran demands a change in the current navigation routes in the Strait of Hormuz, as these routes are no longer suitable under the current security situation.

According to Forbes, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially announced on July 27, 2026, a ban on the import of foreign-made AI humanoid robots, citing national security threats. The FCC classified these devices as "Trojan horses"—their high-precision sensors can continuously collect sensitive data from users' homes and businesses and transmit it to foreign entities, posing a risk of being used for mass surveillance or intelligence activities, and the related devices may also be remotely controlled.Although the ban targets all foreign manufacturers, it actually has the most significant impact on China, as China currently holds a large share of the global AI humanoid robot market. Promoting the development of domestic manufacturing is also an important secondary objective of this ban.

According to ChianCatcher, Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol, proposed the establishment of a protocol sovereign fund at the governance forum to enhance the long-term sustainability of the network's token economics. This fund will consist of existing and future protocol treasuries and protocol revenues, holding NEAR tokens and generating returns, with part of the returns used to cover the costs of public goods in the ecosystem, such as security, validator support programs, and MPC service providers.Polosukhin stated that using ecological revenue to purchase NEAR and fund public goods with the returns is more aligned for the long term than simply burning tokens. The initial size of the protocol treasury is approximately 30 million NEAR (about 53 million USD), and more revenue and emissions can be injected into the fund through governance, gradually reducing effective inflation and potentially transitioning to a fixed supply. This proposal is currently open for discussion for two weeks and is not mandatory.

According to The Block, NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin proposed the establishment of a NEAR sovereign fund, intending to hold the protocol treasury and revenue in the form of NEAR tokens, generate returns, and partially use it to fund security and public goods, with a long-term goal of reducing inflation.

As the Coldcard hardware wallet exposes firmware vulnerabilities, over 80 million USD in BTC is stolen, and the market re-discusses whether to turn to institutional custody or directly buy Bitcoin ETFs, well-known analyst Willy Woo responded in a post stating that he does not oppose ETFs or custody solutions. They have many benefits in gaining recognition and accessing the traditional financial system, but the uniqueness of Bitcoin lies in the fact that it is the only truly sovereign mature digital asset, without nationality, cannot be blocked, diluted, or confiscated by any country, and only by mastering self-custody can one obtain this attribute.Willy Woo stated that since World War II, the West has mostly lived in a bubble of security, but as Ray Dalio pointed out based on 1500 years of historical research, stability itself is a cycle. When the cycle ends, people will need reserves that can protect them when the world briefly collapses, while custodial assets may fail, and governments may confiscate assets both in the past and in the future. He indicated that we are currently in the later stage of this cycle and recommended allocating 15% of assets to sovereign assets such as Bitcoin and gold.

According to Jinshi reports, former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif warned that if Iran fails to reach a final agreement with the United States within the proposed 60-day negotiation period, it may face further economic difficulties, domestic turmoil, or a new round of military strikes.

According to Jinshi reports, Russia stated on Monday that it is strengthening the protection of vessels in the Sea of Azov - Black Sea region while developing alternative shipping routes.Due to hostile drone attacks on maritime vessels leading to heightened tensions in the Sea of Azov, Russia has established a special working group to study new transportation routes and will shift some cargo to other transportation methods.The Russian Ministry of Transport stated that it will implement additional measures in conjunction with the Ministry of Defense to ensure navigation safety and protect commercial vessels in the Sea of Azov - Black Sea area.

According to Jinshi reports, multiple important economic data and events will be released this week. On Monday, China's July Manufacturing PMI and the U.S. June Construction Spending Month-on-Month will be announced; on Tuesday, attention will be on the U.S. June Trade Balance and JOLTs Job Openings; on Wednesday, the U.S. ADP Employment Change and ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI will be released; on Thursday, Switzerland's unemployment rate and the U.S. Initial Jobless Claims will attract attention; on Friday, key data including the U.S. July Unemployment Rate and Non-Farm Payrolls will be announced. In addition, SpaceX's financial report will be released after the U.S. stock market closes on Tuesday.

According to Jinshi reports, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that any country cooperating with or conspiring to attack Iran will face Iran's legitimate defense.Countries providing bases or military and logistical facilities to the aggressor will be regarded as aggressors.

According to Jinshi reports, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that the United States is cooperating with certain regional forces to forcibly open a southern route in the Strait of Hormuz, which is not safe.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange held a video conference for the exchange of foreign exchange management work in the second half of 2026, deploying key tasks for foreign exchange management in the second half of 2026.It pointed out the need to strengthen and improve regulation in the foreign exchange sector. Promote the revision of the "Foreign Exchange Management Regulations." Enhance the capacity and level of foreign exchange regulation, utilizing new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to empower foreign exchange regulation, strengthen the supervision of foreign exchange market trading behaviors, and crack down on illegal cross-border financial activities. Strengthen the capacity building for the management of foreign exchange reserves and improve the professional level of foreign exchange reserve management. Overall, enhance the level of foreign exchange management work. Promote the construction of the international balance of payments statistical system, deepen the construction of "digital foreign exchange management" and "secure foreign exchange management," and accelerate the exploration and practice of "smart foreign exchange management" application scenarios.

According to Jinshi, the People's Bank of China held a work meeting for the second half of 2026, emphasizing the steady deepening of financial reform and opening up to the outside world. The meeting pointed out the active development of inter-central bank currency swaps and local currency settlement cooperation, supporting more foreign institutions to participate in the issuance of panda bonds, and promoting the construction of the cross-border payment system for the renminbi, as well as improving the cross-border infrastructure for digital renminbi.

According to Jinshi reports, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that in the context of the United States continuing to violate the ceasefire agreement of June 28, it is maintaining a maritime blockade against Iran's ports and commercial shipping, launching attacks across the country, increasing economic pressure and illegal threats. The defensive strikes of the Iranian armed forces will continue with full force.

According to NexBlock, the trading volume in South Korea's virtual asset market continues to shrink, and the competitive landscape among the five major won exchanges is changing. During this market downturn, funds are further concentrating on platforms with leading liquidity, while small and medium-sized exchanges are seeking breakthroughs through partnerships with securities companies, institutional market layouts, and operational restructuring. In the future, the focus of competition will no longer be solely on trading volume, but also on stablecoin liquidity, traditional financial cooperation, institutional market expansion, and regulatory compliance capabilities.Data shows that in the first half of this year, the five major won exchanges in South Korea (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) had a total trading volume of approximately $366.58 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 54.6%.From July 1 to 27, the five major exchanges had a cumulative trading volume of about 17.34 trillion won, a decrease of 16.9% compared to the same period last month. Among them, Upbit's trading volume was approximately 11.69 trillion won, which, although down 10%, increased its market share from 62.3% to 67.4%; Bithumb's trading volume fell to 4.71 trillion won, with its share dropping from 30.7% to 27.1%, widening the gap between the two to 40.3 percentage points.