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SK Hynix (SKHY.O) stated in a document that it has not yet decided whether to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Japan. The company responded to media reports regarding its potential factory construction in Japan.SK Hynix stated: "To enhance the competitiveness of the memory chip business, the company is evaluating various options, including the establishment of additional production bases, but no decisions have been made as of now." The company said it would further disclose relevant information when specific details are confirmed, or within one month after the release of this report.

Japan's financial regulatory agency has approved Laser Digital Japan to register as a cryptocurrency asset trading service provider, becoming the first new entrant to obtain this license in Japan in nearly four years, marking the acceleration of institutional-level digital asset services entering the Japanese market. Laser Digital stated that initially, it will provide liquidity services for local virtual asset service providers in Japan, with plans to further launch digital asset trading services aimed at institutional investors in the future, although the specific launch time and scope of services have not yet been announced.Laser Digital is supported by one of Japan's largest investment banks, Nomura Holdings. Co-founder and CEO Jez Mohideen stated that the Japanese digital asset market is entering a new stage of development, and as institutional investor interest increases, the market needs more reliable trading counterparts and infrastructure. Previously, a survey of institutional investors conducted by Nomura and Laser Digital showed that 79% of respondents plan to invest in cryptocurrency assets within the next three years. This regulatory approval comes at a time when Japan is advancing cryptocurrency asset regulatory reforms. Japan has previously reclassified cryptocurrencies as financial assets, establishing a legal basis for the future launch of cryptocurrency asset ETFs and the implementation of an independent tax system, with related new regulations expected to take effect in 2027. Laser Digital's Executive Chairman Steve Ashley stated that global institutional investors are increasingly focusing on the digital asset market and seeking professional infrastructure that meets institutional needs.

On August 21, the Japanese government will allocate an additional 150 billion yen (approximately 944 million USD) to support the chip startup Rapidus, increasing spending in hopes of competing with companies like TSMC. According to a knowledgeable source, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan will seek more funding for this domestic contract chip manufacturer in the fiscal year 2027 budget.This government-supported joint venture was established in 2022, aiming to manufacture cutting-edge 2-nanometer chips by 2027 and help Japan reduce its dependence on TSMC. Policymakers view the success of Rapidus and technological independence in AI, robotics, and quantum computing as crucial to national security.

Gate announces the official launch of its Japanese stock trading service, initially covering about 300 stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), including popular targets such as Toyota Motor, Sony Group, SoftBank Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nintendo, and Tokyo Electron. Users do not need to open a separate traditional Japanese brokerage account or exchange for yen; they can directly participate in Japanese stock trading on the Gate platform using USDT. Currently, Japanese stock trading has been launched on the Gate Web platform, with the App version set to go live soon.In terms of trading functionality, Japanese stocks share the same stock account and related trading capabilities with Gate's US, Hong Kong, and South Korean stocks, supporting features such as market viewing, buying, selling, position management, and transaction record inquiries. Japanese stocks support trading during Japanese time from 09:00 to 11:30 and 12:30 to 15:25, corresponding to UTC+8 time from 08:00 to 10:30 and 11:30 to 14:25.The launch of Japanese stocks further enriches Gate's global multi-asset trading scenario. Currently, the platform supports over 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, more than 1,500 Hong Kong stocks, over 1,000 South Korean stocks, and about 300 Japanese stocks, providing a total of over 12,800 stock and ETF trading options. In the future, Gate will continue to expand into global core markets and quality assets, promoting the integration of traditional finance and digital assets, and providing users with a more diverse one-stop asset allocation choice.

According to Cointelegraph, a recent report by BlocksBridge Consulting shows that the capital expenditure for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) businesses of 9 publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies will reach $5.11 billion in the first half of 2026, while the related revenue during the same period is only $340 million, resulting in an input-output ratio of about 15:1, highlighting the significant upfront investment required for transformation. Among a sample of 15 mining companies and AI data center companies, the total capital expenditure for the reporting period in 2026 reached $30.7 billion, an increase of 42.6% compared to the entire year of 2025.Despite the investment far exceeding revenue, AI and HPC revenue is still accelerating. The 9 mining companies saw a quarter-on-quarter growth of 52% to $206 million in the second quarter, led by Core Scientific, TeraWulf, and Bitdeer. BlocksBridge pointed out that although mining companies have advantages in electricity and land, converting to AI-ready capacity still requires substantial investments in substations, cooling systems, network equipment, and GPUs.

According to Forbes, Anthropic, Blackstone, and Goldman Sachs have jointly established an AI-native enterprise service company called "Ode," with an investment of $1.5 billion.Ode is positioned as an AI implementation consulting firm, with core services including identifying business processes suitable for AI transformation, deploying AI engineers, developing customized applications and agents, automating task processes, and assisting companies with regulatory compliance issues. The company will focus on helping client enterprises implement the Claude model under Anthropic.

According to The Information, citing two NVIDIA employees, NVIDIA plans to ship a small batch of a Groq technology-based LPU (Language Processing Unit) to Chinese customers before the end of the year, with several Chinese customers already placing orders. The report states that this chip does not require a downgrade in specifications and can be used with processors available in the Chinese market through software adjustments.NVIDIA subsequently denied the report, stating it is "incorrect," and that the company currently has no LPU sales in China, nor is there a "China-specific LPU" in the product roadmap. In March of this year, Reuters also cited informed sources reporting that NVIDIA was preparing to sell Groq chips in China, to which Jensen Huang later stated in an interview with Punchbowl that the report was "completely wrong," clearly indicating that Groq chips would not enter China. It is recommended to rely on official statements.

According to a report by Infomax under the Korea Herald, SK Hynix is advancing its plan to build a semiconductor factory in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, with an investment scale of hundreds of trillions of Korean won. SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won recently visited the area personally. Miyagi Prefecture is one of the three major semiconductor industry bases supported by the Japanese government.The report states that this factory will be an overseas production base added by SK Hynix outside of its clusters in Yongin, South Korea, and Hunan, China, aimed at meeting the ongoing tight global supply and demand situation for memory. If the plan materializes, SK Hynix will become the third foreign semiconductor company to establish a factory in Japan, following Micron and TSMC. The report points out that due to ongoing pressure from the United States for South Korean companies to increase investments in the U.S., this investment in Japan may further intensify U.S. pressure, while the Japanese government's subsidy policy is also an important consideration. SK Hynix has not officially responded to this news. Previously, on August 20, SK Hynix announced a 40 trillion won share buyback cancellation plan.

According to The Block, Kraken's parent company Payward's co-CEO Dave Ripley stated that the company is exploring becoming a "full-service bank" outside the United States to expand services such as payments, lending, yield, and custody.Payward is also building asset management capabilities and transforming its infrastructure into a series of services accessible to banks, brokerages, and fintech companies.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the event "LoL: G2 NORD vs Eintracht Spandau - Prime League 1st Division Playoffs" on the prediction market Polymarket, the "Yes" option win rate for the sub-market "Both sides kill a dragon" has experienced a sharp fluctuation, rising from 50% an hour ago to the current 90% (a fluctuation of 40%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to Bloomberg, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) stated that it will consider participating in the new round of financing for the prediction market platform Polymarket. ICE is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and has previously invested over $1.6 billion in Polymarket.ICE CEO Jeff Sprecher, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, stated that if the company’s participation could help complete Polymarket's current round of financing, it would remain open to that possibility, adding that its investment endorsement could provide support for the financing.Analysts believe that ICE's previous large-scale investment in Polymarket is seen as an important attempt by traditional exchanges to lay out new market infrastructure. If it continues to participate in the financing, it may further strengthen the connection between prediction markets and the mainstream financial system.

According to Cointelegraph, cybersecurity company Rapid7 has disclosed a phishing operation named Operation Asterix, targeting approximately 885,000 phone numbers across multiple countries and directing victims to fake wallet service websites. A total of 5,576 phone numbers have been matched with Binance user accounts and are included in the attack queue.The attackers steal mnemonic phrases by impersonating fake applications of Ledger, Trezor, and Exodus, while also using forged customer service emails and phone calls to contact victims. Rapid7 also found that out of over 316,000 phone numbers in Germany, 43,066 matched with cryptocurrency trading accounts, resulting in a hit rate of approximately 13.6%. Related attacks also include a bulk phone number verification tool targeting Kraken accounts, with investigations revealing that AI tools have been heavily used in the phishing operations.Data from blockchain security company Hacken shows that phishing attacks and social engineering scams caused losses of $306 million in the first quarter of this year, accounting for the majority of the total losses of $482 million in the cryptocurrency industry.

According to Pulse 2.0, Riot Platforms has signed AI data center leasing agreements with two major technology clients, involving 241MW of critical IT capacity, corresponding to approximately $9.8 billion in long-term contract revenue. This move will accelerate the company's transition from a Bitcoin mining-centric business model to a large-scale data center developer.One of the larger agreements is a 191MW custom build lease agreement signed by Riot Platforms with a leading frontier AI laboratory, located at Riot's Rockdale campus. The initial lease term is 20 years, expiring in June 2048, and is expected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in contract revenue.If the client continues to lease after the initial lease term, the revenue scale from the agreement could further expand. The agreement includes two options for a 5-year renewal; if both renewal options are fully exercised, the potential total contract value will increase to approximately $16.1 billion.Riot expects that the initial lease term alone will bring in a cumulative net operating income of approximately $7.3 billion to $8.2 billion, equivalent to an average annual contribution of about $365 million to $411 million. The first phase of 96MW is expected to be delivered in December 2027, with the full 191MW planned for deployment by June 2028.

According to Businesswire, Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury company Solmate Infrastructure announced an increase of 1,000 SOL, bringing its total holdings of SOL to approximately 1.25 million, with an estimated market value of its SOL assets around $102.2 million.In addition, Solmate clarified that although it has begun to enter the AI infrastructure field, this strategic transformation will not change its long-term layout for the Solana ecosystem.

AI space technology company Muon Space announced the completion of a $250 million Series C financing round, led by Eclipse Capital, with participation from Google, Salesforce Ventures, Galvanize, Wellington Management, I Squared Capital, Woven Capital, as well as Radical Ventures and Congruent Ventures.The new funds will be used to accelerate the production of large-scale satellite constellations, expand dual-use spacecraft platforms, and enhance on-orbit artificial intelligence computing power, in collaboration with SpaceX Starlink to provide real-time ultra-high bandwidth satellite connectivity.

According to monitoring by BitcoinTreasuries.NET, Gulf International Bank, which is controlled by the Saudi Arabian government, disclosed that it holds 19,842 shares (worth $2.27 million) of the Bitcoin treasury company Strategy (stock ticker: MSTR).

According to a report by Reuters, American companies have invested a record $517 million in the congressional elections for the House and Senate in 2026 over the 15 months ending in the first quarter of 2026, surpassing the previous high of $461 million during the two-year 2024 election cycle. The cryptocurrency, technology, and online betting industries contributed at least $294 million, becoming a major force in shaping the midterm elections.The Fairshake super PAC, primarily funded by Coinbase, Ripple, and a16z, had $193 million in funding at the beginning of the year and currently has about $130 million remaining; a16z has donated over $81 million to cryptocurrency and AI-related PACs. Elon Musk has invested over $90 million, and Meta has donated $65 million to four super PACs. The AI-related organization Leading the Future has raised $140 million, and Anthropic has donated at least $40 million through dark money non-profit organizations. Online betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel have donated over $72 million.AdImpact expects total political ad spending for this round of midterm elections to reach a record $11.6 billion. Related industries are making unlimited expenditures through super PACs, affiliated PACs, and dark money non-profit organizations for advertising, voter mobilization, and more, with critics arguing that this amplifies the influence of niche issues such as cryptocurrency regulation, data center energy, and betting regulation.

According to foreign media BusinessInsider, based on publicly available holding data, "stock god" Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, through a two-layer equity nested "penetrating holding" model, indirectly holds about 0.04% of the shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX), corresponding to a market value of over $700 million.This has led to a rare capital intersection between Buffett and "Iron Man" Elon Musk, two top business tycoons. Musk has long viewed Buffett's investment recognition as an important industry endorsement, and has publicly extended olive branches to Buffett on social media multiple times, hoping he would become a shareholder in his company. Musk joked in a 2023 post, "It's a pity he didn't invest when Tesla's market value was only 0.1% of what it is now." In 2024, he publicly stated again, "He should have built a position in Tesla; it's the obvious choice." Now, although Buffett has not invested in Tesla, he has become an "invisible shareholder" of SpaceX in another way. From the holding structure, this equity is not directly funded by Berkshire to SpaceX, but is an ancillary asset of its heavy investment in tech giant Google's parent company Alphabet.

According to reports from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, humanoid intelligence company Current Robotics has publicly disclosed its financing progress for the first time: the company has completed seed round, angel round, and Pre-A round financing, with a total financing amount of hundreds of millions of RMB. The company's investors include financial investment institutions such as BV Baidu Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, Oasis Capital, Monolith Capital, Qianhai Ark, Fosun Wealth, Junshan Capital, as well as industry players like Zhiyuan Robotics, Xinghai Map, and Jike Technology.The financing funds will mainly be used to promote the large-scale collection of human body data, with a focus on investing in the research and development of core technologies such as full-body dexterous operation models and interactive world models.