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According to Jinshi reports, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book shows that respondents generally expect the U.S. economy to continue expanding in the coming months, but several districts pointed out that there remains a high level of uncertainty regarding fuel cost prospects.

Bitcoin Treasuries.NET posted on platform X that The Smarter Web Company has completed a $282 million capital reduction, which is an important step in advancing the issuance of the UK's first Bitcoin-backed perpetual preferred shares, which have a maximum dividend payment capacity of $178 million.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Chairman Waller stated that the balance sheet should be as small as possible so that it can be expanded during a crisis.

Miami-based payment infrastructure startup Cyclops announced the completion of a $20 million Series A funding round, led by Nava Ventures, with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Circle, Lasagna Ventures, and GPT Ventures.

Blockchain security agency PeckShield stated that the previously monitored fund movements of the LayerZero Executor wallet are not a security incident but rather part of normal operational adjustments. PeckShield confirmed that user funds are currently not at risk.

According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese Senate officially voted today to pass the revised "Financial Instruments and Exchange Act." This amendment marks the formal inclusion of crypto assets (virtual currencies) into the regulatory scope of financial products, no longer limited to the constraints of the "Funds Settlement Act" as a means of payment.In terms of regulation and investor protection, the new rules introduce an insider trading regulatory mechanism for the crypto market, while also accepting oversight from monitoring committees such as those for securities trading. Additionally, the law significantly increases the penalties for unlicensed operators, with the maximum sentence raised from 3 years to 10 years in prison, and the maximum fine increased to 10 million yen. This revised legislation is expected to be officially implemented by July 2027.In terms of taxation and investment channels, the new rules clarify several significant policy changes. Starting from January 2028, the tax rate on profits from crypto asset trading in Japan will be reduced from the current maximum of 55% comprehensive taxation to a unified tax rate of 20%, the same as for stocks (separate declaration taxation). Furthermore, the Japanese market is also expected to officially lift the ban on crypto asset ETFs during the same period, with various securities institutions already beginning preparations for related entry matters.

According to Jinshi News, ECB Governing Council member Panetta stated that the European Central Bank's goal in considering future interest rate decisions is to maintain the stability of inflation expectations and limit the indirect and secondary effects of shocks.

According to CoinPost, the Japanese Senate plenary session today passed and established the "Amendment to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Fund Settlement Act," redefining crypto assets from a means of payment to financial products. Key revisions include: the renaming of crypto asset exchange operators to crypto asset trading operators, increasing the maximum prison term for unregistered sales from under 3 years to under 10 years, and raising fines from under 3 million yen to under 10 million yen; the introduction of regulations against insider trading in crypto assets for the first time, prohibiting trading based on undisclosed important information; and requiring specific crypto asset issuers to disclose information regularly every year.In terms of taxation, it shifts from a maximum comprehensive tax rate of 55% to a separate declaration tax (approximately 20%), allowing losses to be carried forward for 3 years, expected to be implemented from January 1, 2028. The bill also provides a framework for the establishment of crypto asset ETFs, with the Japan Exchange Group expected to promote ETF listings around 2027. After the bill's passage, the next focus will shift to the formulation of specific rules such as government orders and supervisory guidelines, including reserve levels and derivative leverage limits. Compliance costs may pose pressure on small and medium-sized exchanges, but the entry opportunities for asset management companies and banking insurance institutions will expand.

According to PR Newswire, AI compliance infrastructure company Hadrius announced the completion of a $27 million seed and Series A financing round, led by CRV, with participation from Y Combinator, Pathlight Ventures, as well as founders from Altruist, Jump AI, and FINNY.The new funds will be used to build AI-native compliance infrastructure for the financial services industry, integrating decentralized compliance reviews, risk monitoring, and regulatory document management into a single intelligent workflow through Agentic AI technology.

According to Bloomberg, Brinc, an AI drone company supported by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, announced the completion of a $125 million financing round, led by existing investor Motorola Solutions, with participation from Index Ventures and previous investors such as Dylan Field.It is reported that the company focuses on applying AI-based drone technology in the field of public safety, including replacing some high-risk manual response tasks.

The Ethereum institutional privacy technology company EthSystems has officially launched and received strategic funding support from ecosystem backers such as Bitmine, Sharplink Gaming, Joe Lubin, and SNZ Holding.EthSystems focuses on developing privacy technologies for banks, asset management companies, and other regulated entities, enabling institutions to execute financial transactions on the Ethereum network at scale while protecting sensitive information such as transaction details and client identities.The company was founded by the core team of the Institutional Privacy Task Force (IPTF) of the Ethereum Foundation. The team has previously conducted a year-long open-source research and development publicly on the EthSystems website and has established partnerships with several central banks, regulatory agencies, large banks, and asset management institutions. EthSystems stated that while institutions have begun exploring stablecoins, tokenized assets, and Ethereum-based settlement solutions, large-scale adoption still faces privacy and compliance challenges.Financial institutions need more than just access to blockchain networks; they require a complete infrastructure that meets business confidentiality protection, regulatory requirements, and compatibility with existing financial systems. The goal is to create a "selective disclosure" privacy architecture that allows transaction participants to view only the information they are authorized to access, while retaining the core advantages of Ethereum's decentralization, security, and openness, and complementing two other organizations: Ethlabs, which focuses on the research and development of Ethereum's core protocol and infrastructure; Ethereum Institutional, responsible for institutional collaboration, education, market research, and ecosystem coordination; and EthSystems, which focuses on application layer technology, transforming institutional needs into practical privacy protocols and financial systems.

According to Techcrunch, Nous Research, the developer of the open-source agent Hermes, is finalizing a new round of financing, expected to be led by Robot Ventures, with participation from institutions like USV. The company's valuation is approximately $1.5 billion. Sources indicate that the scale of this round of financing is at least $75 million.Its core product, Hermes, as an open-source local AI agent, has accumulated 214,000 stars and nearly 40,000 forks on the GitHub platform. It supports users in deploying and running locally on personal computers and virtual servers, with autonomous execution capabilities such as web retrieval and code generation.

Z.AI Co., Ltd. announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its English name has been changed from Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Company Limited to Z.AI Co., Ltd.The company's Chinese name "北京智谱华章科技股份有限公司" will remain unchanged.

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin stated that Ethereum L1 transaction fees should remain low to promote ecosystem growth. It is expected that in the next 2 to 3 years, tens of thousands of companies will deploy on Ethereum L1, L2, and permissioned EVM networks, achieving cross-layer interoperability.Lubin believes that large-scale adoption will enhance the monetary premium of ETH and the total transaction fee revenue of L1. At the same time, staking and other locking mechanisms will reduce circulating supply. If ETH returns to a net destruction state, its value is expected to rise further.

According to CoinPost, JCB has reached a partnership with a Circle affiliate, planning to test USDC payments at a store in Tokyo that attracts many foreign tourists within the year and evaluate the promotion to more franchise merchants.The pilot aims to reduce the currency exchange process for tourists and lower payment transaction fees. JCB has previously tested USDC and JPYC offline payments with Digital Garage, Resona Holdings, and others; Japan has also accelerated stablecoin merchant payment trials recently, including Lawson's plan to test JPYC in-store settlements in August.

Bitcoin Treasuries.NET posted on platform X that the Brazilian listed company OranjeBTC (OBTC3) has additionally purchased 8 BTC, currently holding a total of 3912 BTC, ranking 24th in Bitcoin 100.

Uniswap announced that teams can now directly configure and initiate Uniswap Auctions in the Uniswap Web App. This feature is supported by Continuous Clearing Auctions (CCA), which are used for on-chain token distribution, price discovery, and liquidity guidance.According to reports, CCA is now live on the Robinhood Chain, allowing teams to run token auctions on-chain, discover more market-oriented issuance prices, and launch liquidity on Uniswap v4 after the auction ends. Previously, projects like Aztec and Cap have used Uniswap Auctions for permissionless and transparent on-chain token distribution.Uniswap stated that the new launch process supports importing existing tokens or creating new tokens, and allows for configuring auction parameters and liquidity pool settings after the auction. The current interface supports Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and Unichain, with plans to expand to more chains in the future.

Bitcoin remains above $62,000 amidst a general market weakness and rising tensions between the United States and Iran, indicating that recent "weak-handed" sellers may have been exhausted.The reflow of funds into spot crypto ETFs and the slowdown in spot market activity also show a reduction in selling pressure. Some analysts caution that the latest price stability is still primarily driven by speculative futures trading rather than strong spot demand.