加密城市 Crypto City

Patrick Witt counters the banking industry, questioning whether the reasons for opposing are inconsistent
White House crypto policy adviser Patrick Witt recently publicly pushed back against the banking industry’s pressure campaign on the (CLARITY Act), aiming his remarks at 134 bank executives and industry representatives who jointly sent a letter to the Senate, calling for further tightening of stablecoin yield and reward rules.
Witt criticizes the banking industry: on the one hand, it demands a ban on paying interest in stablecoins to protect community banks’ lending capacity; on the other hand, it opposes the (CLARITY Act), which has already been included in related prohibitions, making it difficult for the public to understand its true position.

Record number of cryptocurrency hacking cases in the first half of 2026
According to Blockaid, a leading on-chain cybersecurity firm, in the first half of 2026, the cryptocurrency industry suffered 212 high-threshold vulnerability attacks, setting a record high—3.4 times the total for all of 2025.
However, since there was no massive disaster like last year's Bybit single theft of $1.5 billion, the total losses were about $1.1 billion, slightly down compared with the same period last year.
Four major hacker incidents resulted in losses of $700 million, with leaked private keys becoming the fatal weak point
In the first half of 2026, the four major hacker incidents were KelpDAO ($292 million), the Drift protocol ($285 million), and Resolv and the CoW protocol. The total losses reached $707 million, accounting for as much as 64% of total losses.

AI semiconductor stocks have been plunging for days. Share prices have failed to rebound, and earnings releases have become an opportunity for bears to step in, while investor briefings have turned into something like a “ceremony.” In a post about this, Citrini research analyst Jukan said the issue is not fundamentals, but that the market’s recognition logic has changed: “AI’s demand growth can no longer convince investors—the key question is whether it’s worth burning this much money on AI.”
In his view, only killer apps like ChatGPT—ones capable of redefining productivity—would give the AI bull market a chance to return.
Bright earnings reports turn out to be a negative, as investors’ thinking has shifted.

Taiwan stocks have recently become more volatile as global tech stocks undergo sharp corrections. Not only have retail investors been badly hurt, but several listed companies that are usually keen on “trading stocks as a side business” have also repeatedly reported stop-loss hits and being trapped. Among them are OptiTech (2323), the disc-drive maker that netizens have long nicknamed “giant leeks” for frequently issuing announcements about entering and exiting large-cap bellwether stocks, and in recent times, construction-sector stock developer TSI (2545), which has been dubbed “Huangxiang Investment Consulting.” The two have once again become hot topics on stock-market forums like PTT and the “Stock Market Rumor/Leak” community for their “masterful maneuvers.”
Central cuts losses: sells TSMC to buy Nanya Tech and WiSilicon—“Could we lose more?”

Financial Times: 24-year-old Wall Street “boy prodigy stock god” crashes in a blow-up
It was only this first half of the year that he wrote down a staggering 439% performance. The hedge fund “Situational Awareness,” founded and managed by 24-year-old Wall Street “boy prodigy stock god” Leopold Aschenbrenner, has recently been dealt a severe blow amid the global sell-off in AI tech stocks and damage from highly leveraged strategies.
The UK (Financial Times) reveals that the fund is urgently seeking lending institutions to inject fresh capital, and is offering investors the option to privately take over portfolio assets, in an attempt to get through a liquidity crisis.

A senior executive at a well-known cold wallet company was implicated in the case, and the court of first instance sentenced him to prison for money laundering under the charges.
While Chiayi County police were investigating a fraud case’s financial flow, they unexpectedly discovered that a well-known virtual-currency cold wallet brand’s senior technology executive was involved in a money-laundering case. The suspect surnamed Zhuang, who previously served as the CTO of CoolBitX, was accused by prosecutors and investigators of teaming up with his fellow classmate surnamed Huang from EMBA to package transactions under the guise of “virtual-currency lending,” thereby helping a fraud syndicate move illicit proceeds. The New Taipei District Court recently, under the general money-laundering offense, sentenced Zhuang and Huang to 5 months’ imprisonment each and imposed a fine of NT$100,000 each.
The reason this case has attracted attention is not only that the individuals involved have a background in blockchain and cold wallet technology, but also that CoolWallet has a high profile in the domestic virtual-asset evidence custody setting. In the past, multiple judicial and law-enforcement agencies used related cold wallet devices to store seized virtual-currency evidence. Now that the former CTO has been implicated in a money-laundering conviction, the case has quickly sparked discussion within law-enforcement circles and the blockchain industry.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia said today (29) that it has formally accused Telegram founder Pavel Durov of allegedly “aiding terrorist activities” and has issued an international arrest warrant. The Russian side believes that Telegram has long failed to remove channels, chats, and bots that have been used to plan terrorist attacks, sabotage activities, and cybercrime, and therefore should bear corresponding legal responsibility.
Russia: Telegram becomes a coordination tool for terrorist activities
Russia (Interfax) reports that the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia said that it has formally filed criminal charges against Telegram founder Pavel Durov under provisions of the (Russian Criminal Code) involving “aiding terrorist activities.”

“Fei Fei” Guo Zhe-rong says he took the chance of the Taiwan stock market’s plunge to invest NT$100 million to buy 0050
Taiwan stocks saw a fierce recent surge followed by a dramatic correction. On the 29th during intraday trading, the market plunged by more than 2,000 points, at one point breaking below the 40,000-point level. In the end, it fell by 1,564.18 points to close at 40,039.18 points.
Facing panic-driven sell-offs, well-known investment analyst Guo Zhe-rong ("Fei Fei") carried out his promise. When the market was in panic, he dropped NT$100 million to buy Yuanta Taiwan 50 (0050). He also said that before the end of the year, Taiwan stocks still have a chance to push through the 50,000-point level. The remarks sparked heated discussion on the stock forum section of PTT.
Guo Zhe-rong: AI absolutely is not subject to a bubble

Interest rates maintained at 3.50% to 3.75%, with three officials advocating for a rate hike
On July 29, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it would maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, continuing the pause in rate hikes. This decision was not entirely calm: the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted 9–3 to hold steady. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan instead argued for an immediate 1 percentage-point rate hike.
The resolution statement said that U.S. economic activity is still expanding at a steady pace. Productivity growth and capital investment remain strong, and employment growth and labor supply are broadly in sync, with little change in the unemployment rate. However, inflation is still above the 2% target, with some of the pressure stemming from energy and supply-side shocks triggered by conflicts in the Middle East. As a result, while markets breathed a sigh of relief, they did not interpret this decision to hold rates steady as a shift toward an accommodative policy.

Robinhood Q2 earnings released: revenue of $1.31 billion beats expectations
U.S. online brokerage giant Robinhood (stock code: HOOD) announced its 2026 second-quarter financial results in the early hours of today (7/30) Taiwan time. Total revenue reached $1.31 billion (up 32% year over year), exceeding Wall Street’s expectation of $1.26 billion; net income was $573 million (up 48% year over year). Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.48, delivering an impressive performance.
The biggest business highlight this quarter is the explosive growth of “prediction markets.” Event contract revenue first surpassed revenue from cryptocurrency and stock trading, becoming the core engine driving the company’s growth.

New variables are added to U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory legislation. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said that if Congress ultimately fails to pass the Digital Assets Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), the SEC is prepared to use existing statutory authority to independently set rules for the cryptocurrency market to fill the regulatory gap.
In a recent interview with (CNBC), Paul Atkins said the SEC absolutely has the authority and capability to address the current regulatory pain points through the administrative branch’s rulemaking power. However, he remains optimistic that the (CLARITY Act) will ultimately pass in Congress, repeatedly emphasizing that having Congress complete the legislation is the most “ideal route” to establish a regulatory framework.

The market is highly focused on the latest interest-rate decision the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) is set to announce. Although investors are divided on whether there should be a rate hike or a hold, analysts believe that Bitcoin has recently shown relatively strong resilience. Even in the face of policy uncertainty, it may be less affected than AI tech stocks that have been steadily falling in recent times.
More importantly, if the Fed releases any policy signals this time that lean dovish, Bitcoin is expected to continue its recent relatively strong performance.
Image source: CME FedWatch
Markets expect the Fed to hold steady—there's still a 30% chance of an unexpected rate hike

China memory leader ChangXin Memory (CXMT) recently listed on the Shanghai STAR Market. On its first day, the stock price surged more than 470%. Intraday implied market capitalization briefly exceeded $500 billion, temporarily surpassing Intel. Goldman Sachs warned about this, saying the memory industry is facing “big trouble,” predicting that China’s DRAM production capacity will double by 2030, domestic equipment penetration will rise sharply, and the three global giants—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—are facing unprecedented challenges.
ChangXin Memory IPO debut: market value surpasses Intel; Apple evaluating DRAM procurement

Morgan Stanley enters the ETH and SOL market
Morgan Stanley announced the launch of exchange-traded products (ETPs) tracking Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), respectively: the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (ticker: MSSE) and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (ticker: MSOL). They are expected to be traded on the NYSE Arca platform. The two products will track the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate and the CoinDesk Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate, enabling investors to gain price exposure to Ethereum ($ETH) and $SOL through traditional brokerage accounts.

Core Scientific signs a deal with AMD; the Bitcoin miner pivots to AI data centers
U.S.-listed cryptocurrency mining giant Core Scientific (CORZ) and chipmaker AMD (AMD) announced a partnership. AMD is expected to obtain up to 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of data center capacity from Core Scientific to support its end customers in deploying its AI solutions.
Both parties expect to launch the first phase of 500 million watts (MW) of capacity deliveries starting in 2027. This cooperation includes a 15-year master contract for 5 sites (totaling 530MW). Core Scientific is expected to generate more than US$14 billion in revenue.

After print books are purchased, they are scanned—AI training data becomes physical.
Technology companies are refocusing on the print-book market to obtain training data for artificial intelligence (AI). According to a report by the foreign media outlet (404 Media), ISBNdb has recently been pitching large-scale physical book procurement services to AI developers. A single order can be as high as 1 million copies, covering publications that have not yet been digitized, are out of print, or are harder to obtain. These books are considered high-value data sources, mainly because much of the content comes from human writing records from before AI-generated text became widespread.
The operations have sparked controversy, largely because some steps involve “destructive scanning.” The service provider may first remove the book binding and cut the pages, then scan page by page to create digital files; the original paper copies are ultimately discarded, destroyed, or recycled. For AI companies, this is easier to claim as a legitimate source than scraping online data. For the publishing and archiving community, the processing of printed books after they are converted into data highlights the conflict between copyright law and cultural preservation.

Taiwan stocks briefly fell below the 40,000-point mark, prompting panic among investors.
Dragged down by a sharp slump in global chip stocks and the broader decline across Asian markets, Taiwan stocks have faced intense selling pressure day after day. After yesterday’s plunge of 2,030 points, today (7/29) the market again dropped by more than 1,800 points during trading, officially falling below the 40,000-point integer threshold. At the close, however, it barely managed to reclaim the level. Panic sentiment has spread, and many are closely watching whether the National Stabilization Fund will step in to support the market.
In response, Finance Minister Tsuang Tsui-yun said Taiwan’s economic fundamentals are solid, and the National Stabilization Fund will closely monitor developments. Meanwhile, analysts noted that multiple technical and positioning indicators suggest that Taiwan stocks’ buying support at lower levels has already emerged, with signs of a short-term bottom appearing.

Despite the crypto market being hit by headwinds over the past year—Ethereum, Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX) prices have all been cut in half— the fundamentals of these three major public chains tell a very different story. Not only has on-chain activity continued to rise, with transaction fees dropping significantly, but institutional investors’ willingness to enter the market and their participation in staking remain consistently high. Behind the seemingly endless selloff in coin prices, why are “smart money” investors accelerating their inflow into the underlying networks?
Bitwise Chain Research Director Kam Benbrik said Monday: “We have observed a huge divergence between network fundamentals and market sentiment.”

More than 1,000 AI company employees and executives sign a petition, calling on the United States to build a global regulatory and control mechanism
Over 1,100 employees and executives from top global AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google launched an initiative earlier today (7/29) called “Pacing the Frontier.” They urge the U.S. government and the international community to work together to create technical and governance tools that can consciously manage the pace of cutting-edge AI development, preventing AI’s autonomous R&D capabilities from exceeding the bounds of human understanding and control.
GPT goes out of control and escapes, sparking panic; the Hugging Face incident becomes a catalyst for a petition drive
The initiators of this initiative are closely linked to recent AI hacker incidents that have stunned the industry.

Saylor compares consensus rules to a constitution, opposing changes to the underlying protocol
Strategy founder Michael Saylor once again issued a warning by drawing a contrast in Bitcoin ($BTC) governance, emphasizing that Bitcoin’s consensus rules should be treated as a “constitution,” and that any actions to modify the underlying protocol could erode holders’ trust in scarcity, settlement finality, and property rights. These remarks came as the Bitcoin community continued to debate issues such as Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 110, Covenants, and block size, bringing the question of whether the protocol should remain “extremely conservative” back into focus for the market.