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According to the Nikkei, Japan's revised Financial Instruments and Exchange Act was passed by a vote in the full session of the House of Councillors on July 15, officially bringing crypto assets (virtual currencies) under the regulatory framework for financial products.While the new law strengthens user protection, it requires exchanges to pay a liability reserve, and the industry generally expects this move to become an important catalyst for industry elimination and consolidation. Saito Masahiko, head of the Financial Services Agency's Market Division, clearly stated that the agency does not endorse crypto asset trading and makes no recommendations.

Gate gStocks' tokenized securities service has undergone a comprehensive upgrade, officially launching five major financial functions: collateralized borrowing, idle asset management, unified accounts, leveraged trading, and stock dividends, further expanding the integrated application scenarios of stock assets from trading, yield management to liquidity management.Currently, gStocks supports over 58 global tokenized securities, covering various assets such as U.S. stocks, Korean stocks, unlisted equity, and ETFs, and employs a 1:1 native stock reserve mechanism to provide users with a transparent and trustworthy asset holding experience. At the same time, gStocks supports 24/7 trading with a minimum investment of 1 USDT, lowering the participation threshold. After this functional upgrade, users can release liquidity through collateralized borrowing without having to sell their held gStocks assets; idle stock assets can also participate in yield management through idle asset management. In addition, gStocks has deeply integrated into the Gate unified account system, supporting tokenized stock assets as trading collateral and providing features such as leveraged trading, long and short strategies, and stock dividends, further enhancing asset utilization efficiency.

Noetra, a company developing foundational models for physical AI and robotics supported by the Japanese government, CEO Hironobu Tamba stated in an interview that the company represents Japan's "last chance" to enhance domestic supply capabilities for critical technologies. In its first year, Noetra received over 380 billion yen (approximately 2.33 billion USD) in government funding and support from 44 companies, including SoftBank, Honda, and Sony. The company plans to procure 27,500 Nvidia Rubin chips, starting AI infrastructure construction in April 2027 and commencing operations in June 2028.Tamba stated that Noetra will provide Japanese companies with reliable and secure foundational models, enabling them to manage data independently. The Japanese government's goal is to deploy 10 million AI robots in manufacturing, shipbuilding, nursing, and other fields by 2040, while also advancing key technology projects like the chip foundry company Rapidus to enhance self-sufficiency and technological levels in the Sino-U.S. AI competition.

According to DigitalToday, the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Ministry of Science and ICT have launched the "Deposit Token Payment Infrastructure Expansion Project," which will extend the results of South Korea's CBDC pilot "Project Hangang" into the private payment sector.The project is overseen by the Financial Settlement Agency, with participation from 9 banks, 8 payment gateways, and 2 large demand-side entities, with a total budget of 9.6 billion KRW, aimed at reducing payment fees for small and micro merchants. The project utilizes existing payment systems rather than building new infrastructure, allowing users to complete payments through bank deposit token wallets without requiring merchants to change terminals.The government also plans to apply deposit tokens to a pilot for official travel expenses and explore a treasury fund management model linked with dBrain. Approximately 3 billion KRW of the total project budget will be invested in the development, operation, and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and IT companies, while participating banks will separately advance about 4.5 billion KRW in related businesses.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) latest forecast shows that by 2035, electricity consumption by data centers in the United States will account for about 20% of the nation's total electricity consumption, a significant increase from the current level of about 5.9%. The agency has raised its forecast for data center electricity demand in 2035 to 106 GW, which is 36% higher than the 78 GW predicted in April this year. Currently, the operating capacity of data centers in the U.S. is about 40 GW, accounting for approximately 3.5%-4% of the national electricity demand, while under BNEF's baseline scenario, this proportion is expected to reach 8.6% by 2035. The high-growth model from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) indicates that if the combined effects of cryptocurrency mining and AI computing power are taken into account, the upper limit of this proportion also points to 20%.In response to the explosive growth in AI computing power demand, Bitcoin mining companies are actively transforming. Companies like Core Scientific and Riot Platforms have partnered with tech giants such as AWS and Google to convert their existing mining sites into AI data centers. Currently, Bitcoin mining companies have secured about 6 GW of electricity capacity, which is expected to expand to 12 GW by 2027, with some analysts estimating that about 20% of mining companies' computing power capacity will shift towards AI workloads by then. Data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) shows that data centers now account for about 90% of local large load applications, with many sites originally used for cryptocurrency mining being repurposed as AI computing facilities. This trend is also directly reflected in the capital markets, as Core Scientific has seen a significant rebound in its stock price after emerging from bankruptcy and partnering with AI cloud service provider CoreWeave.

According to The Block, Movement's original core development company Movement Labs (MVMT) applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a bankruptcy court in Delaware, USA, earlier this month.According to documents submitted on July 15, the company reported assets between $100,000 and $500,000, with liabilities reaching up to $10 million, listing nearly 299 creditors, among which the largest unsecured claim is over $1.6 million from the ousted co-founder Rushikesh Manche. Manche retains a 34.25% equity stake and has previously filed a lawsuit regarding legal fees related to the Department of Justice grand jury investigation into the MOVE token issuance scandal, which was supported.The company was the core developer of the Ethereum Layer 2 network Movement Network and completed a $38 million Series A financing led by Polychain. In December 2024, the MOVE token issuance crisis was triggered by a market maker sell-off, leading to Manche's dismissal after an internal investigation, and core development work has since been transferred to Move Industries.

According to Gate market data, the US stock market has expanded its gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index currently up over 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index currently up 1.4%.

According to market news, Bitcoin Treasuries.NET posted on platform X that shareholders of the UK Bitcoin treasury company Satsuma Technology, supported by Mark Moss, have voted to sell all of their remaining 668 BTC, return capital to shareholders, and close the company.

According to Bloomberg, Venezuela's largest fintech company Cashea recently completed two rounds of financing totaling $100 million, including a $60 million Series B round led by FinSight Ventures in June this year, and a $40 million Series A round completed in March led by Spice Expeditions, which included $20 million in debt provided by Architect Capital. Several U.S. donor funds and Latin American investment institutions participated.Founded in 2022, Cashea provides "buy now, pay later" services for Venezuelan consumers who have long been credit-constrained. Users can make a down payment via the app or by scanning a code offline and then pay in interest-free installments. The company claims to have processed over 110 million transactions, serving more than 10 million accounts, with partnerships reaching 40,000 merchants. The new funds will be used to expand credit products and support post-disaster reconstruction.

According to Bloomberg, the merger plans of Tether's Twenty One Capital, Strike, and Elektron Energy have been terminated. Jack Mallers, the CEO of Twenty One Capital and Strike, has stepped down from the position of CEO of Twenty One Capital, and Elektron CEO Raphael Zagury has taken over.

Bitget launches a U.S. stock earnings report guessing event, which will run from July 21 to mid to late August. During the event, users can complete stock spot (rToken) or stock derivatives trading tasks to obtain guessing tickets and participate in the U.S. stock earnings report rise and fall guessing. The guessing results will be determined by comparing the "closing price on the first trading day after the earnings report is released" with the "closing price on the last trading day before the earnings report is released."The event will gradually open different guessing sessions based on the U.S. stock earnings report release times, with the first batch covering targets such as Tesla, Google, and Intel. The total prize pool for each session is 10,000 USDT, with the winning and losing prize pools split at a ratio of 70% to 30%, and an individual can win up to 1,000 USDT per session. For more details, please refer to the Bitget official platform.

According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin mining company and AI infrastructure developer Hut 8 (HUT) has signed a second phase 15-year lease agreement with the same investment-grade tenant, amounting to approximately $9.8 billion, for its Beacon Point AI data center campus located in Texas, USA.The new agreement will add 352 megawatts of AI computing power based on Nvidia architecture, bringing the total contracted computing power for the tenant in the campus to 704 megawatts and achieving full commercialization of the campus's 1 gigawatt power capacity, raising the total value of the campus's base contracts to approximately $19.6 billion.Boosted by this, the stock prices of IREN, Cipher Mining (CIFR), TeraWulf (WULF), and CoinShares Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) rose simultaneously in early trading.

According to SoSoValue data, as of 8 AM Eastern Time on July 20, 2026, the total net purchase of Bitcoin by global listed companies (excluding mining companies) for the week was $1.33 million, a decrease of 98.4% compared to last week.Official documents show that Strategy did not purchase Bitcoin last week. Strategy's dollar reserves increased by approximately $225 million to about $3.23 billion.The Japanese listed company Metaplanet did not purchase Bitcoin last week.In addition, another company purchased Bitcoin last week. Asset management company Strive announced on July 20 that it spent $1.15 million to buy 21 Bitcoins at a price of $63,221, bringing its total holdings to approximately 19,921 Bitcoins.Capital holding company ORANGE JUICE announced the completion of a $40 million financing, with the raised amount used to purchase Bitcoin.As of the time of writing, the total amount of Bitcoin held by the global listed companies (excluding mining companies) in the statistics is 1,139,656 Bitcoins, an increase of 0.002% compared to last week, with a current market value of approximately $7.376 billion, accounting for 5.7% of Bitcoin's circulating market value.

According to TechRepublic, Elon Musk recently acquired the mobile power generation company APR Energy, with the deal valued at least around $1 billion. According to regulatory documents, Duos Technologies sold its 5% non-voting shares in New APR Energy, gaining a net profit of $50.4 million, which implies the company's overall valuation exceeds $1 billion.APR Energy is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, and specializes in rapidly deployable gas and diesel generator sets, providing temporary or supplemental power for scenarios such as data centers. Its total power generation capacity exceeds 1 GW and can complete some project deployments within 15 to 30 days. Analysts suggest that this move may provide options for xAI to expand its computing power infrastructure and reduce reliance on local power grids, but it will also bring trade-offs in emissions, compliance, and costs.

Recently, the market has focused on the performance of the technology and semiconductor sectors, with trading activity in related assets continuing to rise. Gate gStocks quotes show that SOXLG (3x Long Semiconductor ETF) is currently priced at $139.46, up 3.40%; INTCG (Intel) is currently priced at $96.36, up 3.20%.Gate gStocks adopts a 1:1 fully-backed native stock reserve mechanism, where each tokenized security corresponds to an equal number of native stocks as underlying asset support, and supports 24/7 trading, unified account management, and a minimum investment of 1 USDT with fractional share trading. Users can participate more flexibly in global popular stock investments, achieving a one-stop allocation of digital assets and traditional securities. As the ecosystem of tokenized securities continues to enrich, Gate gStocks will continue to expand more quality stocks and ETF targets, providing users with a more diverse selection of global asset allocation options.

According to Cointelegraph, Japanese logistics company AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings plans to use the JPYC stablecoin to make payments to approximately 2,300 business partners, potentially becoming the first large-scale enterprise in Japan to use the yen stablecoin JPYC. This stablecoin will be used to pay transportation contractors (including truck drivers) fees and compensation.Since JPYC does not charge transfer fees, using the stablecoin allows for faster and more frequent payments. AZ-COM Maruwa is also considering establishing a partnership with JPYC and plans to invest over 1 billion yen (approximately 6.2 million USD). AZ-COM Maruwa is a medium-sized Japanese logistics company, with major clients including Amazon Japan.

According to the official announcement, Kraken Pro has launched European-style cash-settled options contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) for eligible professional and institutional clients. The new contracts feature a linear structure and are settled in USD, with the first batch supporting weekly, monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual expiration dates, traded through a request-for-quote (RFQ) mechanism.The platform defaults to combined margin, with spot, futures, and options sharing a unified wallet, supporting over 30 currencies as collateral. Kraken stated that it plans to introduce a public order book in the future, expand asset coverage, and expects to open to the European market in the second half of 2026.

According to Jinshi reports, the United States is preparing to expand its operations against Iran by deploying about 100 refueling aircraft to the Middle East.Israeli defense agencies are preparing for a potential significant escalation in the region.

According to Bits.media, Kaspersky security researchers have discovered new malware OkoBot, which steals cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases and credentials through about 20 modules. Attackers use ClickFix social engineering techniques to trick users into executing malicious commands and spread the malware through GitHub repositories disguised as legitimate tools like SQL Server Management Studio.OkoBot's modules include: SeedHunter, which injects into hardware wallets like Trezor and Ledger, displaying a fake interface when recovering recovery phrases; MC Keylogger, which records keyboard and clipboard activity; and OkoSpyware, which tracks wallet passwords and records window videos.Once attackers obtain the recovery phrases, they can gain complete control over the victim's cryptocurrency assets, making it nearly impossible to recover the funds. Kaspersky stated that OkoBot has been active for over a year, with most victims located in Brazil, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey. Attackers have also implemented geographical blocking on IP addresses from Russia and CIS countries.

Bitcoin Treasuries.NET posted on platform X that the listed company Farmhouse FMHS has purchased an additional 1 Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 12.209 Bitcoins.