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Bitcoin ended July up about 7.5% despite headwinds including concerns about Federal Reserve rate increases and a security breach. Market participants said scope for further declines has narrowed after most leveraged positions were flushed out during the sharp selloff in late June.
On July 31, Bitcoin briefly fell below $63,000 intraday on Binance's USDT market and was down about 3% on the day. Even so, it maintained a monthly gain of about 7.5%.
Bitfinex said the crypto market was carrying far less leverage than equities ahead of the Fed meeting. It attributed that to the wave of liquidations that hit derivatives traders during the late-June plunge, when Bitcoin dropped below $58,000.
"The fuel for forced liquidations had already been exhausted, so crypto fell less than leveraged equity themes," Bitfinex added. Since then, average daily liquidations have stayed well below this year's typical $400 million to $500 million range.
Meanwhile, fallout from a security incident involving hardware wallet company Coldcard remains a variable for the market to absorb. At least $38 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen in the breach. Paul Howard, a director at Wincent, said the stolen assets have not yet been sold, but the potential for future liquidation could weigh on Bitcoin prices in the short term. The incident also highlighted the operational risks associated with self-custody, he added.
Ahead of next week's US employment data, a rebound in institutional demand has emerged as a key focus for the market.
Lacy Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, said the market would struggle to hold up if a stronger dollar, rising real yields and weakening exchange-traded fund demand hit at the same time. Unless inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs recover steadily, a rangebound market is the base-case scenario for August.

The White House is reviewing a bipartisan ethics amendment ahead of a Senate vote on the Clarity Act.
Crypto in America reported on August 31 that Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego sent the White House an ethics package amendment that would allow state attorneys general to sue the Justice Department over the federal government's failure to enforce ethics laws.
Debate over the bill's Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, or BRCA, provision is also entering its final phase. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X a day earlier that the provision should explicitly state that non-custodial developers who do not directly hold assets are not subject to registration requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act. He also formally endorsed the BRCA language. Some law enforcement groups, including the National Sheriffs' Association, and some Democrats are pushing back, arguing that software developers should face stricter anti-money-laundering obligations.
A provision banning interest payments on stablecoins remains another sticking point. Despite an amendment agreed to by Tillis and Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks, some Republicans, including Mike Rounds, and banking lobby groups are demanding additional safeguards. They argue that stablecoin benefits could draw hundreds of billions of dollars in local bank deposits away from commercial lenders.
Crypto industry participants and lobbyists are pressing the White House and Congress to secure a cloture vote before the Senate goes into recess. In Washington, lawmakers see a package deal on three core issues — the ethics amendment, the BRCA provision and language under the Agriculture Committee's jurisdiction — as necessary to clear the 60-vote threshold.

President Donald Trump is considering large-scale strikes on Iran’s energy and infrastructure facilities to gain leverage in ongoing ceasefire talks, Axios reported.
Axios, citing multiple US officials, said on August 31 that Trump is seriously considering attacks on Iran’s energy facilities within days.
The strikes are aimed at pressuring Iran to accept US ceasefire terms. Axios said Israeli forces could join the operation for the first time in weeks if the attacks go ahead. Such a move would likely prompt Iranian missile strikes on Israel. CBS and The Wall Street Journal previously reported on the possibility of such strikes.
Opening a White House meeting that day, Trump strongly suggested military action against Iran. “We will hit them very hard,” he said. “At some point, they will say they can’t take it anymore.” He added that as US strikes intensify, Iran will weaken and eventually be destroyed.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed that message, saying the US would prevail. She also said Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon during Trump’s term.
Iran last Wednesday launched a surprise missile attack on a US military base in Jordan and later carried out additional attacks on other US forces in the region. On Thursday, it also attacked commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Trump had previously warned that any new attack on ships would trigger US airstrikes on major Iranian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges in Tehran.
Iran quickly threatened retaliation. Tasnim News Agency, citing a senior Iranian security official, said any US strike on infrastructure would be insane. The official said Iran had prepared a broad response plan targeting key infrastructure of the “Zionist regime” in the region, a reference to Israel, as well as US energy facilities, and was ready to carry it out immediately.

Amazon Jumps More Than 15%, Extending Big Tech Rally
U.S. stocks closed higher on Aug. 1 as Amazon's strong earnings revived investor appetite for technology shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 276.97 points, or 0.53%, to 52,485.03 at the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 gained 52.09 points, or 0.70%, to 7,489.72, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 251.68 points, or 1.0%, to 25,373.85.
Amazon surged 15.32% after posting a quarterly earnings surprise after the previous session's close. The company said quarterly revenue topped $200 billion for the first time, helped by growth in its cloud business.
Microsoft, which reported earnings a day earlier, said quarterly revenue from its cloud unit rose 43% from a year earlier, the fastest growth since early 2022. Its shares had jumped 15.51% the previous day and gained another 3.02% on Aug. 1.
Apple slid 7.35%, capping the market's gains. In its earnings report a day earlier, the company said revenue growth in the July-September period would be limited by supply constraints, triggering a selloff.
SK Hynix's American depositary receipts fell 3.54% after soaring 17.5% the previous day.
Oil prices rose. The move appeared tied to reports that Iran struck two oil tankers trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, claimed it attacked the two tankers as they passed through the waterway under U.S. military escort.
Brent crude for September delivery settled at $90.12 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, up 1.22% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery settled at $84.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 1.29%.
Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter, 2su@hankyung.com

Sen. Cynthia Lummis said Democrats are using negotiations over the CLARITY Act to increase political pressure on President Donald Trump.
In a post on X on July 31, the Wyoming Republican said the bill being discussed includes a provision requiring public officials, including Trump, to sell their digital assets or place them in a blind trust. She criticized some Democratic lawmakers for focusing on political attacks tied to the midterm elections rather than passing the CLARITY Act to protect investors.
Lummis was responding to a Bloomberg Government report.
Cristiano Lima-Strong, a Bloomberg Government reporter, wrote on X that some Democratic lawmakers are concerned CLARITY Act negotiations could weaken their political message centered on Trump's potential conflicts of interest involving digital assets.

Bitcoin spot trading volume has dropped to its lowest level since 2019, Glassnode said, as institutional investors favor cash and U.S. Treasuries over digital assets.
In a report published on July 31, Glassnode said exchange deposit and withdrawal activity remains subdued. Inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have also stayed weak.
Glassnode attributed the trend to institutional investors' preference for cash and U.S. government bonds.
Bitcoin's three-month futures yield has remained below the yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury since February, according to the report. Glassnode said that has led institutional investors to shift funds into relatively safer U.S. Treasuries, slowing Bitcoin spot trading volume and ETF inflows.

Performance gaps across the altcoin market are widening. Ethereum has remained relatively resilient, while buying has concentrated in tokens with coin-specific catalysts. Broader rotation across altcoins has yet to emerge. Until on-chain activity and market liquidity recover, the market is likely to remain highly selective.
Only 20% of Top 300 Tokens Rose as Buying Targeted Coin-Specific Catalysts
Among the top 300 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, only about 60 gained over the past week, or roughly 20% of the total. About 240 fell, showing that buying interest has not spread across the broader market.
CoinMarketCap data on July 31 showed HEX surged 103% over the past week, the biggest gain among the top 300 tokens by market value. Momentum (MMT) rose 67.2%, AKE gained 60.1%, PulseX (PLSX) climbed 43.5% and PulseChain (PLS) advanced 37.2%. Even so, the top performers were concentrated in PulseChain-related names and smaller-cap tokens, making it hard to describe the move as a broad altcoin rotation.
Among the tokens that rose, those with clear coin-specific catalysts stood out. Ubi (UB) jumped 41.3% after announcing a partnership with RoboPay. Uniswap (UNI) gained 13.9% as expectations built around the activation of v4 fees, potential UNI buybacks and burns, and the beta release of a new token launch platform called Launches. Bitway (BTW) added 17.6%, with the advance apparently amplified by liquidations of high-leverage short positions. SOON rose 22.4%, PROS gained 20.6%, SoSoValue (SOSO) climbed 19.7% and Trust Wallet Token (TWT) advanced 16.1%.
ALLO posted the steepest weekly drop, tumbling 46%. BILL fell 25.6%, while Worldcoin (WLD) lost 19.5%, Jito (JTO) slid 17.5%, GMX declined 16.8% and Backpack (BP) dropped 16.5%.
Tokens facing coin-specific headwinds, including token unlocks and selling by large wallets, also weakened. EigenLayer (EIGEN) fell 16.9% ahead of a scheduled unlock of 36.82 million tokens on Aug. 1, while a decline in total value locked also weighed on sentiment. DeXe (DEXE) dropped 16.2% amid selling by a large wallet and liquidations of leveraged positions. RIF lost 19% as investors appeared to lock in profits after a sharp earlier rally.
Ethereum Holds Relative Strength, but Broad Altcoin Rotation Has Yet to Arrive
Despite Ethereum's relative strength, capital rotation across the wider altcoin market remains limited. Medium-term market trends and on-chain activity have yet to show a clear recovery, while external uncertainties including U.S. monetary policy, Middle East tensions and negotiations over the CLARITY Act are also weighing on sentiment.
Only 29 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies are trading above their 50-day moving average. Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, said the total crypto market capitalization was holding at about $2.19 trillion and remained above its 50-day moving average. He also said the market had been relatively resilient even as Nasdaq technology stocks weakened recently. Still, the narrow list of gainers makes it difficult to treat the move as a broad recovery in market momentum.
Ethereum has continued to outperform Bitcoin and major altcoins on a relative basis. Bitfinex said Ethereum fell less than Bitcoin during the recent correction, while the ETH/BTC ratio has risen about 20% from last month's low to its highest level in six weeks. By contrast, the SOL/ETH ratio has fallen 23.2% this month, nearing its lowest level in about 900 days. The divergence suggests capital is concentrating in Ethereum rather than rotating across the wider altcoin market.
On-chain indicators also do not yet support a broad altcoin recovery. Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision, said the current move looks more like a short-term rally in a handful of tokens during a bear market. Bitcoin's uptrend needs to continue for altcoin strength to last. Key on-chain measures, including fees, active users and application activity, have yet to show a meaningful rebound.
Skepticism is also growing over the durability of the short-term rebound. Benjamin Cowen, founder of Into The Cryptoverse, said Bitcoin has gained about 10.5% this month, but the move resembles rebounds that followed the June lows in 2018 and 2022, both U.S. midterm election years. In past cycles, weakness often returned in August and September after a July rebound. Rising yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury could also weigh on the crypto market. If Bitcoin's rebound fades, rotation into altcoins may remain limited.
Macro and policy uncertainty is also limiting altcoin rotation. With caution persisting over U.S. monetary policy and the Middle East, smaller and mid-cap altcoins could come under pressure first if risk aversion intensifies. Negotiations over the CLARITY Act have also stalled over ethics provisions and stablecoin yield issues, while Polymarket's implied odds that the legislation will pass this year fell to 26% on July 31 from 62% in early June. Until on-chain activity and liquidity recover, the market is likely to remain selective, centered on Ethereum and tokens with coin-specific catalysts.
Kang Min-seung, Bloomingbit reporter minriver@bloomingbit.io

A report commissioned by South Korea’s National Tax Service recommended nearly tripling the basic deduction for virtual-asset taxation ahead of the levy’s full rollout in January. The proposal appears intended to reduce administrative costs and ease the tax burden on small investors.
Government officials said on July 31 that Changwon National University’s industry-academia cooperation foundation submitted the report, titled “A Study on the Scope of Virtual-Asset Taxation and Calculation Methods,” to the National Tax Service in the first half of this year. The foundation conducted the study from November 2025 through March 2026 at the tax agency’s request.
The report recommended raising the annual basic deduction to 7.5 million won ($5,400) from 2.5 million won ($1,800). It said the change merits review.
The recommendation was based on the finding that most crypto investors in South Korea are small retail holders. According to the Financial Services Commission’s survey of virtual-asset service providers for the second half of 2025, only about 10% of roughly 11 million investors using domestic exchanges had invested 10 million won ($7,200) or more, or about 1.12 million people.
That means nine out of 10 crypto holders in South Korea had invested less than 10 million won.
Raising the Deduction Could Improve Tax Efficiency
The report said keeping the deduction at 2.5 million won could yield limited tax revenue relative to the cost of enforcement. “In income brackets where taxable income is low, the practical benefit may be limited compared with the tax effort required,” it said.
Adjusting the deduction would allow authorities to focus on taxpayers more likely to generate meaningful taxable income, the report said. Narrowing the target group could improve the practical return from enforcement.
It also recommended reviewing an alternative measure: raising the ratio used to calculate deemed acquisition costs instead of changing the deduction. Under the revised income tax law set to take effect next year, if the actual purchase price of a virtual asset is difficult to verify, as much as 50% of the transfer price can be recognized as the acquisition cost.
The report concluded that tax efficiency could improve if that ratio were raised to 75% for virtual assets with a total transfer value of 10 million won or less. “The two measures have the same basic effect in that they reduce the number of taxpayers subject to the tax,” it said. “The difference lies only in the approach — directly changing the minimum taxable threshold or raising the ratio used to calculate deemed acquisition costs.”
Investor Backlash Persists
Any increase in the deduction or similar adjustment would require an amendment to the income tax law. That is why investors are closely watching the government’s 2027 tax revision plan, due next month. With virtual-asset taxation set to begin next year, the plan is expected to address the issue.
Opposition has also been growing over tax fairness. Critics argue that pushing ahead with crypto taxation after scrapping the financial investment income tax on stock-investment gains undermines tax equity. A recent public petition calling for the abolition of virtual-asset taxation has drawn support from more than 58,000 people and has been referred to the National Assembly.
Oh Moon-sung, a professor in the tax accounting department at Hanyang Women’s University and a former president of the Korean Association of Tax Policy, said the repeal of the financial investment income tax was the main reason resistance to crypto taxation had intensified. He added that even if the government moves ahead immediately, the revenue effect is unlikely to be large.
The government has maintained that it will not delay virtual-asset taxation. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told the National Assembly’s finance and economy committee on July 29 that the government would proceed as planned next year. “We will move ahead with virtual-asset taxation from next year as scheduled,” Koo said. “We will implement it first and supplement any necessary parts as we go.” The National Tax Service has also recently created a new Digital Asset General Division in preparation for next year’s launch.

Bitcoin has historically weakened in August, digital-asset analyst Ali Martinez said.
Martinez wrote on X on July 31 that Bitcoin’s average return in August is -10%, adding that the month has not been particularly favorable for the cryptocurrency.
Data he shared showed Bitcoin declined in August in each of the past four years. It fell 13.88% in August 2022, 11.29% in August 2023, 8.60% in August 2024 and 6.49% in August 2025.
As of 5:17 p.m., Bitcoin was trading at $63,839, down 0.17% from a day earlier, according to CoinMarketCap.

SK Hynix, SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics all surged to their daily upper trading limits, marking a rare session in which the Kospi’s second- through fourth-largest stocks by market capitalization rose to the maximum allowed gain on the same day.
The Korea Exchange said SK Hynix entered limit-up territory at 1.7175 million won at about 2:10 p.m. on July 31, up 29.95% from the previous session. SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics had been holding at their daily upper limits since early trading. Samsung Electronics, the market’s largest stock by market capitalization, was up about 27% at the same time.
It was effectively the first such occurrence in the Korean stock market for the Kospi’s No. 2 through No. 4 stocks by market value to all hit their daily upper limits on the same day. Buying concentrated in semiconductor shares pushed the Kospi above the 6,500 level intraday, driving a record gain.
Brokerages said improving memory-market conditions and expanding investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure would continue to support SK Hynix’s earnings and share price. Son In-jun, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities, maintained a “strong buy” rating on the company and set a target price of 3.7 million won.
Son cited record-high spot DRAM prices and solid demand for server memory as positives. “The current tone of semiconductor price negotiations is very firm,” he said. “As AI infrastructure investment expands into competition between countries, the likelihood of a slowdown in the memory market is limited.”
Samsung Electronics, the Kospi’s top stock by market value, was also approaching its daily limit. It was trading at 261,500 won, up 26.33% from the previous day.

Bitcoin is struggling to find direction around $64,000 as uncertainty over US monetary policy and geopolitical risks in the Middle East weigh on sentiment. Dip buying has emerged, but analysts are placing greater weight on the view that the token will remain range-bound until it reclaims $67,000.
As of 12:01 p.m. on July 31, Bitcoin was trading at $64,255 on Binance's USDT market, up about 0.14% from a day earlier. On Upbit, it was quoted at about $66,400. The kimchi premium was minus 0.97%.
Core PCE Matches Forecasts, but Hawkish FOMC Keeps Markets on Edge
Fears of a renewed inflation surge eased somewhat after the US core personal consumption expenditures price index for June matched estimates. Still, uncertainty over the interest-rate path remains after the July Federal Open Market Committee delivered what markets viewed as a hawkish hold.
Data released on July 30 showed the US core PCE price index rose 3.3% from a year earlier, in line with expectations. Core PCE excludes volatile food and energy prices and is one of the Federal Reserve's key inflation gauges for monetary policy decisions. Markets are still wary that Middle East tensions, tariffs and expanding AI investment could lift inflation pressure again.
The Fed kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75% at the July 29 FOMC meeting, extending this year's streak of holds to five. Still, three of the 12 voting members supported a rate increase, prompting markets to view the outcome as more hawkish than expected.
Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized the Fed's commitment to price stability at a press conference after the meeting. He gave no specific signal on the future rate path. Following the FOMC decision, the 30-year Treasury yield climbed above 5.2% intraday, the highest since 2007. Higher long-term yields are typically viewed as a drag on appetite for risk assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Middle East risks remain another variable. US Central Command said on July 29 that it had resumed airstrikes against Iran after a six-day pause. The move came in response to an attempted Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting a US military base in Jordan. Renewed tensions in the region are adding to concern that safe-haven demand could strengthen, weighing on risk assets more broadly.
Markets are also reflecting the possibility that the Fed could maintain its tightening stance longer than expected. CME FedWatch showed the probability of a September rate increase at 63.4%, versus 36.6% for no change.
Institutional Money Stays on the Sidelines as ETF Inflows Slow
Inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds are also losing momentum. Net inflows totaled just $33.9 million last week, and this week has seen alternating sessions of inflows and outflows. In the market's view, institutional inflows have also cooled as Middle East risks and monetary-policy uncertainty combine with fading expectations for progress on the Clarity Act.
Incentives for institutional participation have weakened as well. Glassnode, an on-chain analytics firm, said returns from spot-futures arbitrage that had supported institutional participation in digital-asset markets have remained below the yield on the two-year US Treasury since February. That has reduced the incentive for institutional investors to provide liquidity and trading volume to the crypto market.
Bitcoin remains in the $62,000 to $68,000 band where on-chain purchase prices are most densely concentrated, Glassnode said. The firm described the market as being in a defensive, risk-off phase.
Analysts also say a demand vacuum is persisting as both spot and derivatives trading weaken at the same time. Bitfinex, the global digital-asset exchange, said Bitcoin's average daily spot trading volume this month was $4.5 billion, the lowest since November 2023. Open interest in CME Bitcoin futures is also hovering near the lowest level in years.
Bitfinex added that Strategy has not bought Bitcoin for five straight weeks and has instead been building cash. Other corporate Bitcoin treasury holders have also not made notable purchases since mid-July.
Open interest refers to the number of futures and options contracts that have not yet been closed out. Rising open interest is generally interpreted as a sign that new money and fresh positions are entering the market. Because CME is a venue used mainly by institutional investors, a decline in CME open interest can be read as a sign of weaker institutional participation.
Long-term holders, however, are sitting on a record amount of Bitcoin. Fidelity Digital Assets said the amount of Bitcoin that has not moved for at least 155 days has recently reached about 15 million BTC, an all-time high. About 40% of that supply is currently at an unrealized loss, yet holders have continued to keep those positions, which Fidelity said signals that long-term conviction remains intact.
Fidelity added that several on-chain indicators are approaching levels seen near past market bottoms. It also said it is still too early to tell whether that will lead to an actual market turn.
Bitcoin Holds $64,000, but $67,000 Seen as Threshold for Trend Change
Bitcoin has held around $64,000, but analysts say the market still looks range-bound rather than in a clear trend reversal.
Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, said Bitcoin was trading near $64,000 and drawing dip buyers whenever it slipped into the $63,000 range. Even so, he said the token still lacks the momentum needed to resume its uptrend. If risk aversion deepens, Bitcoin could come under pressure alongside overheated global equity markets.
Markets are watching $66,700 as the next key dividing line for price action. Julian Pineda, a market analyst at StoneX, said Bitcoin is trading between resistance at $66,700 and support at $57,700. A break above $66,700 could strengthen a short-term rebound, while a drop below $57,700 could restart the downtrend.
Longer-term indicators, however, are also beginning to signal the possibility of a bottoming process. Katie Stockton, founder of Fairlead Strategies, said Bitcoin's cyclical downtrend is entering a mature phase. The long-term oversold condition suggests the market may be in the early stages of forming a bottom, she said. Stockton added that technical signals alone are not enough to confirm a reversal and that a recovery in actual demand still needs to be verified.
Kang Min-seung, Bloomingbit reporter minriver@bloomingbit.io

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $233.15 million in net inflows over one day, extending institutional buying.
Trader T data for July 30 showed total net inflows of $233.15 million into US spot Bitcoin ETFs.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the inflows with $183.41 million, accounting for most of the day's total. Bitwise's BITB took in $20.74 million, followed by Fidelity's FBTC with $15.5 million, Morgan Stanley's MSBT with $7.42 million, VanEck's HODL with $2.29 million, Grayscale Mini Bitcoin with $2.29 million and ARK Invest's ARKB with $1.5 million.
Grayscale's GBTC, Invesco's BTCO, Franklin Templeton's EZBC, Valkyrie's BRRR and WisdomTree's BTCW posted no inflows or outflows.

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. jumped about 20% in early trading on July 31, lifted by an overnight rally in U.S. semiconductor stocks and news that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won had made his first open-market purchase of SK Hynix shares.
As of 9:20 a.m., Samsung Electronics was trading in the upper 240,000-won range, up about 20% from the previous session, while SK Hynix was up more than 20% at around 1.6 million won. Samsung Electronics preferred shares and SK Square Co. also posted double-digit gains.
The advance followed a broad rebound in chip stocks on Wall Street overnight. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 8.19%, its biggest gain since April 2025. Micron Technology Inc. climbed 18.36%, Sandisk Corp. surged 25.99%, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. rose 13.00% and Intel Corp. gained 11.30%. Microsoft Corp., after reporting strong earnings, jumped 15.51%, while SK Hynix's American depositary receipts ended 17.52% higher at $149.
Improving U.S. inflation data also supported risk appetite. The U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index for June fell 0.1% from the previous month, while the MSCI Korea ETF jumped 11.79%, pointing to strength in South Korean equities.
Some market participants also said options positions built up during the recent selloff helped magnify the gains.
Seo Sang-young, an executive director at Mirae Asset Securities Co., said U.S. chip stocks rebounded after posting steep declines for five straight sessions, aided by earnings from Samsung Electronics and Microsoft. Options-related flows then amplified buying and drove the semiconductor sector sharply higher. In recent sessions, those same flows had deepened declines, but on July 31 they instead extended the rally, he added.
Chey's share purchase also boosted investor sentiment. According to filings on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, he bought 3,620 SK Hynix common shares on July 30. Based on the previous day's closing price of 1.322 million won, the purchase was worth about $3.46 million.
It was the first time Chey had directly purchased SK Hynix shares. He had previously controlled the company through SK Inc. and subsidiary SK Square without personally holding the stock. SK Square is currently SK Hynix's largest shareholder, with a 20% stake.
The purchase drew market attention because it came as SK Hynix shares were pulling back after the company reported record second-quarter earnings. Investors took the buy as a sign of confidence in the company's medium- to long-term competitiveness.
Meanwhile, buy-side sidecars were triggered on both the Kospi and Kosdaq on July 31 as chip shares rallied. Foreign investors led the gains with net purchases of more than 3 trillion won on the Kospi, while buying was concentrated in semiconductor stocks led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on July 30, lifted by strong Microsoft earnings and a rebound in semiconductor shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 613.92 points, or 1.19%, to 52,208.06 at the close on the New York Stock Exchange.
The S&P 500 gained 121.48 points, or 1.66%, to 7,437.63, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 679.24 points, or 2.78%, to 25,122.18.
Microsoft, which reported stronger-than-expected earnings after the previous session's close, surged 15.51% and buoyed the broader market. Its market capitalization increased by $450 billion in a single day. Reuters said that marked the largest one-day increase in market value ever recorded by a single New York-listed stock.
Suh Sang-young, a managing director at Mirae Asset Securities, said Microsoft's fiscal fourth-quarter results topped expectations as growth accelerated in Azure and its artificial intelligence business. Goldman Sachs and Bernstein then raised their price targets, helping fuel the rally. He added that a sharp increase in Microsoft 365 Copilot users also eased some concerns about profitability.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 8.19% as sentiment toward chip stocks recovered. Micron Technology surged 18.43%, AMD climbed 13.00% and Intel gained 11.30%. SK Hynix ADRs also rose 17.52%.
Oil prices fell. The decline was attributed to discussions, led by Saudi Arabia, on forming a multinational coalition to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
Brent crude for September delivery settled at $86.88 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, down 1.4% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery settled at $83.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 1.0%.
Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter 2su@hankyung.com

Perpetual futures contracts, a product that gained prominence in crypto markets, are rapidly spreading across traditional finance, including stocks, commodities and stakes in private companies, CoinDesk reported on July 30.
Matthew Fisher, chief executive officer of Katana Network, described the shift as “perpification,” according to the crypto-focused outlet. The term refers to perpetual futures moving beyond a crypto trading instrument and becoming a way to trade nearly any asset.
Fisher pointed to SpaceX’s initial public offering as a prime example. On June 12, when SpaceX listed on Nasdaq, trading volume in SpaceX perpetual futures on Hyperliquid reached a record for the platform. The volume was less than 2% of Nasdaq turnover, but it effectively became the only avenue for retail investors who did not receive IPO allocations to take leveraged positions in SpaceX.
The expansion of perpetual futures is also pronounced in commodities markets. Perpetual futures tied to gold, silver and crude oil ranked among the fastest-growing product groups in derivatives markets earlier this year. On the weekend of Feb. 28, when the US and Israel struck Iran, crude oil perpetual futures enabled price discovery while traditional financial markets were closed, highlighting the utility of round-the-clock trading.
Less-accessible overseas stocks are also being traded through perpetual futures. SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory-chip maker, was recently cited as a representative case. Demand to invest in specific companies in real time, while bypassing local trading hours and investment restrictions, is flowing into the perpetual futures market.
Established financial firms and exchanges are also accelerating product launches. Kalshi, the US prediction-market platform, introduced the first crypto perpetual futures product regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Coinbase has rolled out stock-index futures using a perpetual structure. Robinhood launched perpetual futures products in Europe, while CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, announced plans for 24-hour trading and the introduction of smaller West Texas Intermediate crude contracts.
Regulators are responding as well. On June 22, the CFTC opened a public comment process on the introduction of physically delivered crude oil perpetual futures. In a related move, the agency stopped CME from quickly launching a 24-hour crude contract through self-certification and required a formal review.
“The question of whether perpetual futures will spread has already been settled,” Fisher said. “What matters now is which asset class comes next, where leverage concentrates, and what breaks in the process.”
He said the exchanges that endure will not be those that maximize leverage to attract speculative demand. Instead, they will be the ones that make leverage caps, liquidation structures and user education core elements of the product.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced legislation to create an independent anti-corruption agency that would investigate and prosecute corruption across the federal government, including President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency business.
Cointelegraph reported on July 30 that Schumer introduced the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act. If enacted, the new agency would have the power to investigate, enforce against and prevent corruption within the executive branch.
The bill states that Congress found Trump reported more than $2 billion in investment income in 2025, including $1.4 billion related to cryptocurrency. It also includes claims that the Trump family holds more than $1 billion in crypto funds linked to foreign governments.
At a Public Citizen forum, Schumer said the agency would have real enforcement power. It would be made up of seven bipartisan commissioners confirmed by the Senate, and the bill would create legal tools allowing private citizens and state governments to recover money lost to corruption. He added that the measure would consolidate the current fragmented oversight system into a single anti-corruption body capable of responding to corruption wherever it occurs.
The new agency would combine under one organization the functions of the Federal Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special Counsel. Senators Andy Kim, Alex Padilla and Jeff Merkley joined as co-sponsors.
The bill was introduced as controversy over potential conflicts of interest surrounding Trump’s cryptocurrency business has emerged as a factor in deliberations over the CLARITY Act, a U.S. digital-asset market structure bill. Even so, the measure would need Republican support to pass. If Trump were to veto it after it cleared both chambers, it would require support from more than two-thirds of Congress to become law.
The Senate has yet to schedule a vote on the CLARITY Act ahead of lawmakers’ month-long district work period. Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said a day earlier that the bill was "at the 1-yard line," and Senator Cynthia Lummis has also urged a prompt vote.

Oil prices fell on July 30 as discussions advanced on a Saudi-led multinational coalition aimed at safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
Brent crude for September settlement closed at $86.88 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, down 1.4% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for September settlement closed at $83.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 1.0%.
Saudi Arabia announced plans that day to launch a 14-nation multinational maritime defense coalition to protect international shipping and energy transport routes in the Red Sea.
The coalition includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain from the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan.
Oil had climbed earlier in the session after the US and Iran struck each other's military facilities. It later erased those gains and turned lower on the coalition news.
US Central Command said a day earlier that it had resumed airstrikes on Iran after a six-day pause. The command said the strikes targeted Iranian military command facilities, missile and drone sites, and naval assets.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on July 30 that it had attacked US military bases in Jordan and Kuwait in retaliation for the American strikes.
Iran is also continuing talks with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz. Oman has proposed a stabilization plan under which Iran would oversee the northern shipping lane and Oman the southern lane, while guaranteeing freedom of navigation through the waterway.
Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter, jsk@hankyung.com

Strategy (MSTR), the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, posted a net loss of $8.2 billion in the second quarter as a drop in the cryptocurrency’s price sharply reduced the value of its holdings.
Crypto media outlet CoinDesk reported on July 30 that Strategy released its second-quarter results that day. Most of the net loss stemmed from an $8.32 billion fair-value loss on its Bitcoin holdings.
As of July 26, Strategy held 843,775 Bitcoin, up 25% from the start of the year. At current market prices, those holdings are worth about $54.8 billion, far below the company’s total purchase cost of $63.7 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Andrew Kang said the company’s dollar reserves stood at $3.75 billion, enough to cover existing preferred stock dividends and interest obligations for more than two years.
Strategy raised $17.06 billion this year through at-the-market stock sales. It also repurchased $1.5 billion of convertible notes at an 8% discount. In addition, the company sold about $218.4 million of Bitcoin under a newly introduced Bitcoin monetization program to raise cash and fund preferred stock dividends. The sale marked a break from its previous strategy of accumulating Bitcoin without selling it.
Chairman Michael Saylor said the company is continuing to develop its business model even as sentiment in the Bitcoin market weakens and skepticism spreads. He added that Strategy is working to establish “digital credit” as a new asset class.
Strategy also created a $1 billion share buyback program for its common stock, MSTR, but has not yet made any purchases. Separately, it repurchased about $25 million of STRC preferred stock below par and said it plans to continue buying as long as the securities trade below par.

Strategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has halted purchases of the cryptocurrency for a fifth straight week as it shifts its focus to preserving liquidity.
Bloomberg reported on July 30 that Strategy has not bought Bitcoin in each of the past five weeks.
The pause comes as Bitcoin prices have fallen. Strategy recorded $8.32 billion in unrealized losses on its Bitcoin investment in the second quarter alone.
Bitcoin fell about 14% in the second quarter. As of the end of June, it was down more than 45% from a year earlier.
Strategy has recently pivoted toward shoring up liquidity, including keeping open the option of selling Bitcoin if needed. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor is set to address the company’s stance on future Bitcoin purchases when it reports second-quarter results later on July 30.
“For a company like Strategy, the most important thing is to show the market that it has sufficient liquidity and can withstand a crypto bear market,” Brian Dobson, director of equity research at Clear Street, told Bloomberg.
STRC, the perpetual preferred stock Strategy introduced in the second half of last year as a fundraising tool, has traded below its $100 par value since May. Earlier this month, the company disclosed that it repurchased $25 million of STRC. It was the first time Strategy had bought back the preferred shares below par.
Strategy shares have fallen about 76% over the past year. Investors will be especially focused on how management explains its strategy for future Bitcoin accumulation, Dobson added.

Buys 3,620 SK Hynix Shares
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won bought about $3.5 million worth of SK Hynix shares on the open market. The purchase was viewed as a display of management responsibility after a plunge in semiconductor stocks that had been leading South Korea’s equity market fueled investor unease.
SK Group said July 30 that Chey bought 3,620 common shares of SK Hynix in open-market trading. Based on that day’s closing price, the purchase was worth 4.78564 billion won, or about $3.5 million. It was the first time Chey had bought SK Hynix shares in his own name.
Chey has maintained the group’s control over SK Hynix through SK Square, SK Group’s investment arm, which owns a 20.00% stake in the chipmaker. Even after the purchase, Chey’s direct holding amounts to 0.00%.
Chey decided to buy the shares as part of responsible management after concluding that SK Hynix stock had become excessively undervalued, according to the company. The 4.8 billion won purchase price was also interpreted as the maximum amount he could buy without prior disclosure. Under South Korea’s pre-disclosure rules for insider trades in listed companies, transactions exceeding 5 billion won, or about $3.6 million, must be disclosed at least 30 days in advance.
SK Hynix shares hit a record 2.987 million won on June 25. After fluctuating in the following weeks, the stock closed at 1.322 million won on July 30, just over a month later.
Chey recently said the drop in SK Hynix shares should be viewed over a longer time horizon. “Memory will continue to be needed, so over time the trend will move upward,” he said. Simply holding the stock, rather than buying and selling, is a good way to preserve wealth, he added.
Shin Jeong-eun, Hankyung.com reporter, newyearis@hankyung.com