ChainCatcher

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng posted on social media, "As of August 2026, over 20.07 million bitcoins have been mined, with only about 4.4% of the supply left to be mined. I estimate that 10-20% of the existing bitcoins are lost, stuck, or unrecoverable. It is a deflationary asset."

A person may have 10 different AI agents in the future to assist them, and these agents will require more storage, which expands our market.

TripleA CEO Eric Barbier stated that the future of remittances is remittances without remittances. He does not truly believe in stablecoin sandwich remittances (fiat to stablecoin and then back to fiat). In most cases, remittances mean transferring strong currencies into weak currencies. However, stablecoins provide new value: they allow people in emerging countries to hold strong currencies. As related platforms encourage merchants to accept cryptocurrencies, stablecoins can now be consumed directly. Therefore, the future for people in emerging countries is not to hold local currencies, but to hold stablecoins, earn returns, and spend them.

"White-haired stock god" Serenity responded to the "zeroing" rumors, stating that after the collapse of the AI sector in July, the year-to-date (YTD) return still reached +2,411.84%.It indicated that approximately 69.2% is unrealized gains, of which about 2% comes from options and 98% is pure stocks; the peak drawdown was about 77.8%, with almost no risk of liquidation at the low point, but the recovery speed is relatively slow. Previously, $EWY bulls rose about 450% at the peak, constituting the main part of the early realized gains, and they still hold a certain scale of positions.

Wall Street quantitative trading giant Jane Street recorded its worst monthly performance ever in July, with losses reaching $15 billion. The losses were primarily due to its bets related to the AI hedge fund Situational Awareness, which ultimately failed, leading to a significant drawdown.Jane Street is a leading global quantitative trading and market-making firm, actively engaged in stocks, bonds, derivatives, and crypto assets. Situational Awareness is a hedge fund focused on artificial intelligence themes, and Jane Street had allocated a large scale to its related strategies or targets. This massive monthly loss has raised market concerns about its risk exposure and position management.Currently, public information has not further disclosed specific trading varieties, hedging arrangements, and subsequent adjustment plans, and the related impacts still await verification from more financial or regulatory documents.

According to a report by the Korean News Agency, South Korean virtual asset exchange Bithumb disclosed a net loss of 21.8 billion won in the second quarter of 2026, turning from a net profit of 22 billion won in the same period last year to a loss, but narrowing from a net loss of 86.9 billion won in the previous quarter. Revenue for the quarter was 86.3 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 35.8%; operating profit was 12.1 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 44%.In the first half of the year, the total net loss was 108.7 billion won, turning from a net profit of 55 billion won in the same period last year to a loss; revenue for the first half was 168.8 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 48.7%; operating profit was 14.9 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 83.4%. Bithumb stated that the performance reflects factors such as virtual asset valuation losses and will respond to market changes, strengthen internal capabilities, and enhance service competitiveness to build a foundation for sustainable growth.

Binance Research data shows that Generation Z investors are gradually shifting towards long-term asset allocation tools such as ETFs. Compared to Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers, their trading frequency is lower, and their preference for leverage is also weaker.Data indicates that at the beginning of August, ETFs accounted for 25% of the stock trading volume among Generation Z users. In July, the proportion of net inflows into stocks from ETFs for Generation Z reached 21.9%, up from 18.5% in June; during the same period, the proportion of individual stock investments decreased from 77% to 74.2%.Binance Research analyzed trading behaviors in direct stocks, tokenized stocks, and traditional financial perpetual contracts. The data shows that Generation Z's trading activity in all three asset classes is lower than that of other working-age groups.Among them, Generation Z's traditional financial perpetual contract accounts traded an average of 13 times per month, lower than the 17 times of Millennials and 16.5 times of Generation X. In direct stock accounts, 22% of Generation Z users have never sold stocks, higher than the 19% of Generation X and 9% of Baby Boomers.Among Generation Z accounts that bought but did not sell, the assets with the highest cumulative purchase amounts include Broadcom, Tesla, and Charles Schwab U.S. High Dividend Stock ETF.In terms of leveraged products, Generation Z shows a lower risk appetite. Data indicates that 88.2% of Generation Z's traditional financial perpetual contract accounts have never traded leveraged or inverse ETFs, higher than the 84.5% of Millennials and 85.9% of Generation X.Additionally, the tokenized stock market continues to expand. Data shows that Binance's bStocks recently briefly surpassed Kraken's xStocks, becoming the second-largest tokenized stock issuance platform globally. As of the latest data, Ondo Finance ranks first with approximately $972 million in tokenized stock value, while xStocks and bStocks are approximately $611 million and $580 million, respectively.

According to CNBC, sources reveal that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is conducting an internal review of the "mention markets" on prediction platforms. These markets allow traders to predict whether specific words will appear in scenarios such as speeches, company earnings call meetings, or television programs.Sources indicate that the CFTC notified Kalshi about the review a few weeks ago, after which Kalshi removed the mention markets related to sports from the platform. It is still unclear whether this review is only targeting sports-related contracts or if it covers all types of mention markets.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, investment advisory firm Edelman Financial Engines disclosed a position of approximately $34 million in a spot Bitcoin ETF, primarily allocated to the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Grayscale-related products. Although this position still represents a small percentage of its overall portfolio, it has surpassed its holdings of about $25 million in Amazon. This move aligns with the public stance of the company's founder, Ric Edelman, who has advocated for a Bitcoin ETF since 2019 and established the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals to provide cryptocurrency and blockchain education for financial advisors.On the same day, related disclosures showed that Tudor Investment Corporation, led by legendary macro trader Paul Tudor Jones, held 688,529 shares of IBIT as of June 30, valued at approximately $22.9 million, an increase from 579,083 shares in the previous quarter. The report noted that Jones is known for his long-term analysis of inflation cycles, and the scale of this increase has garnered some market attention.

Berkshire Hathaway submitted its 13F holdings report for the second quarter of 2026 to the U.S. SEC. The data shows that in the second quarter after Warren Buffett stepped down, the company's investment portfolio underwent significant adjustments, with a large purchase of Google’s parent company Alphabet, while reducing positions in the financial and consumer sectors.As of June 30, 2026, the total market value of Berkshire's stock holdings rose to $29.9 billion, up from $26.3 billion in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, the company added one new position, increased holdings in seven stocks, reduced holdings in six stocks, and completely sold out of one target, with the top ten holdings accounting for as much as 88.74%.Among them, Alphabet became the biggest highlight. In the second quarter, Berkshire cumulatively increased its holdings of Alphabet Class A and Class C shares by approximately 48.1 million shares, with the new holdings valued at over $17 billion, pushing Google to replace Bank of America as Berkshire's fourth-largest holding. Currently, its top five holdings are Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Alphabet, and Bank of America. In addition to Google, Berkshire also slightly increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Lennar, and Macy's. The increase in Delta Air Lines has attracted attention, as the market believes this move may reflect the company's optimism about the recovery of air travel demand and improvement in corporate operations.On the reduction side, Berkshire focused on cutting positions in the financial and consumer sectors in the second quarter. Among them, Bank of America saw a reduction of about 30.2 million shares, with the holding ratio decreasing by 5.89%, corresponding to a market value of about $1.72 billion, making it the largest reduction target; First Capital Financial reduced about 4.2 million shares, with the holding ratio decreasing by about 58%; at the same time, it reduced about 11 million shares of Kroger, with the holding size decreasing by about 22%.The market believes that Berkshire ended a streak of 14 consecutive quarters of net stock selling in the second quarter and net bought nearly $20 billion in stocks, indicating that the new leader Greg Abel is pushing the portfolio towards a technology growth direction, marking a shift in asset allocation in the "post-Buffett era."

The prediction market is moving from event betting towards pricing for interest rates, insurance, inventory, and computing power, increasingly resembling a new financial infrastructure. However, before it becomes a "better market," the issue of ordinary users bearing excessive risks needs to be addressed.

HTX global advisor Sun Yuchen tweeted, "I have communicated with Binance, which only involves Binance users in the UK and EU. HTX itself does not operate in the UK and EU. We are also in ongoing settlement negotiations with UK and EU regulatory authorities. If any users are affected by this settlement negotiation, they can always reach out to HTX customer service, and we will coordinate a solution."

Galaxy Research analyst Alex Thorn pointed out that as the likelihood of the CLARITY Act passing in 2026 significantly decreases, the U.S. SEC and CFTC are intensifying independent cryptocurrency regulatory actions. The bill previously gained bipartisan support in the Senate Banking Committee but has stalled due to unresolved ethical rules for officials regarding cryptocurrency, pressure from community banks leading to some Republican positions softening, and disputes over developer protection clauses. The Senate Majority Leader failed to push for a vote before the August recess, and the September session is only about two to three weeks long, leading Galaxy to lower the probability to 10%.On the SEC side, the originally planned "Reg Crypto" exemption (which provides a new path for primary issuance of crypto assets) and "Innovation Exemption" (which allows tokenized securities to trade in DeFi secondary markets) have been postponed multiple times. It is reported that the agency had retreated due to opposition from the traditional securities industry, but may restart due to the bleak outlook of the bill, with text expected to be released in the coming weeks to months. These measures are likely to be time-limited sandboxes that will face litigation and require years to refine. The CFTC is actively advocating for jurisdiction over prediction market contracts, responding to the New York Attorney General's attempt to issue an emergency order to ban Kalshi event contracts nationwide, continuing the tug-of-war over federal and state jurisdiction regarding prediction markets.Thorn believes that while the bill covers a comprehensive framework including registration licensing, compliance monitoring, and consumer protection, it is currently more dominated by political factors. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's planned departure in November also adds urgency to the advancement of the rules. The related actions aim to fill the legislative vacuum but may ultimately undergo a lengthy judicial and rule-making process.

Solana Company (Nasdaq: HSDT) announced its financial data for the second quarter of 2026. The revenue for the quarter was $2.5 million, primarily from the 31,200 SOL rewards obtained through staking during the quarter; the net loss was $30.3 million.As of June 30, the company's total assets were $176.1 million, which included approximately $147.3 million in related assets. Solana Company is a publicly traded company associated with the Solana ecosystem in the open market, and its performance is significantly affected by SOL staking yields and fluctuations in the value of its holdings.

When Bitcoin becomes just a button in a banking app, the crypto industry gains users but loses its soul.

According to monitoring by Lookonchain, wallets related to the fund Monetalis are suspected of asset rotation operations. The Monetalis associated wallet sold approximately 3.72 million UNI through Cumberland, worth about 13 million USD, and then purchased 171,543 HYPE, worth about 9.56 million USD.It is currently unclear whether this transaction represents a formal adjustment of the fund's position, but on-chain data shows that its capital flow has shifted from UNI to HYPE.

In August, the US stock market rebounded strongly, with the S&P 500 index reaching a new high. Driven by better-than-expected corporate earnings and cooling inflation, both institutions and retail investors significantly increased their positions in tech stocks, call options, and leveraged ETFs, marking the return of both "bull markets" and "speculation." However, soaring oil prices and high long-term bond yields reveal macroeconomic contradictions, leaving little room for error in the "everything is great" pricing model.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. President Trump is expected to attend a White House meeting next Wednesday, which will bring together senior executives from cryptocurrency companies and prediction market platforms. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins have also confirmed their attendance at this meeting.

According to CoinDesk, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted a preliminary conditional federal banking charter to World Liberty Trust Company, allowing it to operate as a national trust bank and to succeed BitGo as the exclusive issuer and custodian of the USD1 stablecoin under World Liberty Financial, primarily serving institutional clients. Final approval still requires meeting additional pre-opening conditions.Due to World Liberty's partial ownership being linked to the Trump family, this move has faced strong opposition from Democratic lawmakers. Senator Elizabeth Warren and others have announced plans to introduce the "Terminate President's Bank Corruption Act," which, if passed, would prohibit senior government officials from owning or controlling banks. Notably, World Liberty Trust does not intend to become a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is not seeking access to a Federal Reserve master account.

According to Techcrunch, acquisition negotiations between payment giant PayPal and Stripe, along with private equity firm Advent Global Opportunities, are heating up, and a deal may be reached in the coming weeks.In July, Stripe and Advent proposed to acquire PayPal for $60.50 per share, with a total transaction valuation of approximately $53 billion, but PayPal did not accept the offer at that time. However, insiders revealed that the negotiations have not been interrupted and are still ongoing.Neither PayPal nor Stripe has confirmed the related news. PayPal declined to comment, while Stripe stated that it would not respond to market rumors or speculation.This potential sale comes as PayPal seeks to reverse its growth challenges. After taking office in March this year, PayPal CEO Enrique Lores launched a restructuring plan that splits the business into three main areas: payment checkout and PayPal business, consumer financial services (including Venmo), and payment services and cryptocurrency business.Lores previously stated that PayPal would return to its identity as a technology company and strengthen its core payment capabilities. At the same time, the company plans to improve efficiency by cutting costs, with layoffs expected to reach 20% over the next two to three years.Founded in 1998, PayPal's founding team includes well-known Silicon Valley figures such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin. The company experienced rapid growth during the e-commerce boom during the pandemic but has faced challenges such as slowing growth and pressure on its stock price in recent years. If the deal is finalized, it will become one of the largest acquisitions in the fintech industry in recent years.