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BlockBeats report: On July 12, according to (Caijing), Bitcoin is still in a bear market stage. Several industry analysts believe the three main reasons for Bitcoin’s continued slump are the four-year cycle, inflation pressure, and market leverage liquidations. However, some analysts expect that as the interest-rate environment improves, Bitcoin could rebound to $100,000 by the end of the year.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said the Bitcoin four-year cycle still influences investors’ psychology. Over the past decade or more, Bitcoin has typically seen three consecutive years of gains followed by one year of declines. The market adjustments after the 2014 Mt. Gox collapse, the 2018 ICO bubble burst, and the 2022 FTX crash all fit this pattern. Hougan said that by late 2025, some long-term Bitcoin holders have begun trimming their positions.

BlockBeats message: On July 12, the BIP-110 proposal for Bitcoin is set to reach its early-August deadline, but miners’ current support rate is still below 1%, indicating the proposal faces significant resistance. BIP-110 stands for “Reduce Data Temporary Soft Forks.” Its core controversy is that it would restrict non-financial data in the Bitcoin blockchain. The proposal plans, within one year, to limit the data capacity of OP_RETURN, prohibit most arbitrary data writes exceeding 256 bytes, and restrict certain script formats that are mainly used for data storage.
Supporters argue that the proposal would make the Bitcoin network more focused on payment functionality and reduce the burden on node operation; opponents contend that this would escalate policy disputes over block space usage into changes to consensus rules, and determine which transactions are “acceptable.”

BlockBeats message. On July 12, crypto analyst Ali Charts posted that traders should watch the $64,700 level, which is the key inflection point for Bitcoin’s next major move.
If Bitcoin cannot break through the top of the channel at $64,700, it may trigger a deeper pullback. If sellers hold this level, Bitcoin could fall back to the channel’s mid-support at $63,000, and may further test the channel bottom at around $61,500.
However, Ali Charts said that if Bitcoin can achieve an hourly close above $64,700, the bearish outlook would be invalidated. After breaking through this resistance level, Bitcoin may continue to rise to $66,400, with the second target at $68,000.

BlockBeats report, on July 12, The Kobeissi Letter posted that the U.S. economy is increasingly depending on AI investment. The proportion of AI investment in the share of U.S. GDP growth contribution is currently over 25%, the highest level ever. Related investments include software, IT equipment, R&D, and the construction of data centers, among others.
In other words, for every $4 increase in the U.S. economy, more than $1 comes from AI investment. Meanwhile, AI-related spending has risen to about 8% of the U.S. GDP, setting a historic record.
By contrast, during the 2000 dot-com bubble period, the peak share of IT equipment, software, and R&D spending in GDP was about 6.5%. Today, U.S. economic growth is increasingly centered around AI.

BlockBeats message: On July 12, Ian Ralby, Senior Research Fellow at the Maritime Strategy Center and President of Auxilium Worldwide, warned that a war between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz cannot be resolved through military means. He added that continued fighting would only drive up global fuel and food costs. One side has the willingness to keep fighting, while the other has the willingness to continue trying to undermine and weaken the other side’s capabilities. This is, in itself, the formula for prolonged conflict. Unfortunately, this may mean that the Strait of Hormuz could face a long-term problem as a navigable waterway.

BlockBeats report: On July 12, Samsung Electronics plans to advance the mass production timeline for the first wafer fab at its Yongin, South Korea semiconductor cluster by two years, aiming to begin operations in October 2029. At the same time, SK hynix is considering building new production facilities in the United States, as AI demand is pushing Korean semiconductor companies to accelerate their capacity expansion plans.
Samsung Electronics plans to build a total of six wafer fabs in the Yongin National Industrial Park. The original plan was for the first wafer fab to begin operations in 2031, but the government and Samsung have reached an agreement to move the timeline up to October 2029. The South Korean government will accelerate the construction of key infrastructure such as land development, electricity, and water supply to support the project advancing earlier.

Original title: (Exclusive later | Tang Jie’s internal letter says it will launch the Touch High (reach-up) plan, “If you don’t reach the summit, it’s a failure”)
Original source: Later team
Exclusive: Later has learned that today, Zhipu AI co-founder Tang Jie released an internal letter, outlining Zhipu AI’s understanding of the next stage of competition in AGI. In the letter, Tang Jie said that Zhipu AI will continue to follow the so-called “counterintuitive” approach, launching the “Touch High (reach-up) plan,” meaning it will keep focusing on AGI research rather than short-term monetization.
On the road to the AGI destination, there are several mountain peaks that must be crossed—and they are also where the most intense wave of today’s technological boom is coming from. The four peaks Tang Jie listed are:

BlockBeats message, July 12: On-chain investigator ZachXBT posted that within the past 48 hours, a set of related entities initially funded by the LAB team deposited 18.4 million LAB (about $18.3 million) into Aster and continued to sell them off on a DEX, causing the LAB price to drop from $1.2 to $0.55, for a cumulative decline of 54%.
ZachXBT said the entity received more than 196 million LAB from the LAB team in April 2026 and gradually transferred them into multiple Bitget充值 addresses. In May, it also withdrew about 100 million LAB from Bitget to 10 addresses. Because the market data at the time did not show that independent buyers had built a position of that scale, he believes these addresses are still controlled by the same entity. The relevant tokens remained dormant until July 10–11, when they started transferring to Aster and selling. As of now, the entity still holds about 81.5 million LAB.

BlockBeats message, on July 12, as all four semi-finalists of the 2026 World Cup for the USA, Canada, and Mexico are finalized, the latest title prediction market on the Predict.fun platform is updated accordingly. As of press time, the market assigns Argentina a chance of winning the title at about 20%, France 39%, Spain 19%, and England 20%. Traders overall are more optimistic about France ultimately lifting the trophy, the Jules Rimet Cup.
The four teams in this World Cup are Argentina, France, Spain, and England. All four are traditional powerhouses in world football. Among them, Argentina and France are expected to carry forward their strong performances from the last two World Cups, Spain advanced all the way thanks to a young squad, and England returned to the semi-finals led by key players such as Kane and Bellingham. As the tournament enters the semi-final stage, trading activity in the prediction market for the championship continues to rise, and each team’s title-winning probability is adjusted in real time as the matches progress.

BlockBeats message: On July 12, encrypted KOL Nikita revealed that in Europe, they conducted the same €9.69 purchase test on six crypto payment cards—Ether.fi, Plasma, Backpack, Lava, Jup Mobile, and KAST. After factoring in the exchange rate, fees, and cashback, Ether.fi ranked first with an actual cost of $10.72, Plasma ranked second at $10.93, and Backpack ranked third at $11.07.
The tests show that the actual spending cost among different crypto payment cards varies by about 5%, mainly determined by foreign-exchange spreads, fees, and the cashback mechanism. Ether.fi achieved the best results consecutively thanks to its more favorable exchange rate and on-chain cashback. Plasma, despite having a weaker exchange rate than some newer products, maintained second place with a 3% cashback. KAST, due to poorer exchange-rate performance and additional fees, became the highest-cost product in the test for the second consecutive time.

BlockBeats report: On July 12, the U.S. military said it has completed the third round of military strikes against Iran this week. The U.S. military deployed land-based and carrier-based fighter jets, drones, and naval vessels, using precision munitions to strike about 140 Iranian military targets
Strike targets include Iranian missile and drone bases, naval capability facilities, ammunition storage facilities, communications networks, and coastal surveillance sites. The Central Command stated that since this week, it has cumulatively struck more than 300 targets in accordance with instructions.
The Central Command specifically emphasized that commercial vessels continue to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, an international maritime corridor, suggesting that despite the ongoing escalation of the military conflict, this critical energy transportation route has not been fully disrupted.