rei

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.

According to Sandmark, documents and recordings obtained show that Pump.fun laid off employees two months before the unlocking of employee tokens, causing at least one former employee to miss out on a PUMP token allocation valued in the seven figures at current prices.The layoffs occurred in early April, while the affected employees were supposed to start receiving token unlocks two months later (in June). Employees had signed a token agreement in June 2025, with a quarter of the allocation set to unlock a year later. Co-founder Noah Tweedale stated in an internal meeting recording that the reason for the layoffs was the company's "rapid expansion."Former employees reported a second round of layoffs in mid-July, with the company having laid off over 40 people in the past two months. One employee claimed they were laid off the day before the token unlock, but Sandmark could not independently verify these claims.Pump.fun operates in the UK under the name Baton Corporation Ltd, although it has blocked UK users since December 2024 (following a warning from the UK FCA that it may be providing financial services without a license) and is still on the regulatory warning list. In 2024, the company experienced an employee embezzlement incident involving the misappropriation of approximately $2 million, with the involved party sentenced to six years in prison. According to Companies House data, the company's latest annual report is overdue.

According to Jinshi reports, the Philippines has designated a so-called "baseline of territorial sea" in Huangyan Island, which is Chinese territory, seriously infringing on China's territorial sovereignty and violating international law. China firmly opposes this and demands that the Philippines respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and refrain from taking any infringing provocative actions; otherwise, China will respond resolutely.

According to Jinshi reports, foreign investors net bought KOSPI stocks worth 7.2 trillion won on Friday, setting a historical record.

According to Bloomberg, the South Korean government plans to inject 20 trillion won (approximately 13.9 billion USD) into the sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), specifically for strategic investments in artificial intelligence, data centers, and infrastructure.

According to a report by Jinshi, data released by the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea on the 31st shows that in June, foreign investors net sold 49.336 trillion won of South Korean listed stocks, marking six consecutive months of net selling. Among them, the main board market saw a net sell of 50.979 trillion won, while the KOSDAQ market had a net buy of 1.643 trillion won. As of June this year, foreign investors have cumulatively net sold 116.3563 trillion won, exceeding last year's total net sell amount by ten times.Despite the large-scale sell-off, as of the end of last month, the total balance of listed stocks held by foreign investors amounted to 2908.639 trillion won, an increase of 56.3 trillion won from the previous month, accounting for 36.4% of the market value.

According to Jinshi reports, South Korea's foreign exchange authorities conducted a rare dollar-selling intervention on Thursday.

According to Jinshi reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company plans to reinvest the tariff refunds in the United States.

According to Jinshi reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that despite facing supply constraints and foreign exchange headwinds, Apple still achieved record sales in the third quarter.

According to Jinshi reports, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls for a de-escalation of the situation in the Red Sea and points out that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will have an impact on the global economy.

According to Jinshi reports, the United States is considering charging foreign students who wish to work after graduation a fee of $100,000.

According to Jinshi reports, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce stated that robots and power inverters are normal international commodities, and all parties, including the United States, benefit from trade.The U.S. side generalizes the concept of national security, interferes with normal business transactions between companies, and continues to promote "decoupling and breaking chains." This practice is a typical market distortion and unilateral bullying behavior.The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately revoke the relevant measures, stop the erroneous practices, and states that if the U.S. side insists on going its own way, the Chinese side will resolutely counteract.

According to Jinshi, foreign investment in Japanese stocks reached 912.1 billion yen for the week ending July 24, with the previous value revised from -79.6 billion yen to -81.9 billion yen.

According to Jinshi reports, the Federal Reserve reiterated in the FOMC statement that economic activity is expanding at a robust pace.

According to Jinshi reports, the Federal Reserve reiterated in the FOMC statement that employment growth is in sync with the labor force.

According to Jinshi reports, before the Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision, the US dollar index remains flat; the uncertainty surrounding this decision is exceptionally high. Goldman Sachs economists expect the Federal Reserve to hold steady, but at least one vote is against and supports a rate hike. In a report, they stated that the energy price fluctuations caused by the war have cast a shadow over the outlook. Current market pricing shows that the probability of a rate hike today is about 30%. Goldman Sachs indicated that if the Federal Reserve maintains the interest rate today, the focus of the foreign exchange market will be on how much of the rate hike expectations reflected in prices will shift to subsequent meetings. Data from the CME shows that investors have priced in expectations for a rate hike in September.

Circle's Senior Director of Strategy and Policy for the EU, Patrick Hansen, pointed out that since the implementation of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), approximately 35 electronic money tokens (EMT) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance certification, with banks and electronic money institutions entering the market, showing a good momentum for local issuance.However, among the top 50 stablecoins globally, currently only USDC, USDG, and EURC meet MiCA requirements, while the rest remain outside the regulatory framework, leaving EU users facing a dual dilemma of lack of protection or being forced to cut off access. Hansen believes that for MiCA to truly become a global regulatory blueprint, it must achieve two goals simultaneously: first, to promote local EMTs to go global with competitive systems; second, to establish a recognition mechanism for compliant stablecoins from abroad, attracting global issuers into the MiCA regulatory framework, rather than making local issuance the only entry path.

Binance UAE has adopted a policy to transfer most requests from foreign law enforcement agencies to the UAE and judicial assistance treaty process, resulting in slower access to user data.European investigators and U.S. prosecutors have stated that the relevant changes make it more difficult to track down fraudsters, combat money laundering, and quickly freeze or seize assets. Binance will still respond directly to cases involving child sexual abuse, terrorism, or imminent threats to life.Binance stated that it has not reduced cooperation with regulatory and law enforcement agencies and defined the new process as a stronger safeguard that meets regulatory standards. The company's compliance operations continue to face ongoing scrutiny.

According to reports from China News Service, multiple South Korean media outlets believe that the recent sharp decline in the stock market is interpreted as a shock from the listing of China's largest semiconductor company, Changxin Technology. The market is worried that Changxin Technology will use the funds raised from its stock market listing to catch up with semiconductor companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, and this concern has spread, leading to a setback in investor sentiment.According to a previous report by CNBC, Z-Ben Advisors analyst Peter Alexander believes that, referencing the development paths of the steel and new energy vehicle industries, Changxin Technology will quickly seize market share in the low-end memory chip market and ultimately shake the monopoly positions of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology in the global memory industry.