區塊客

Author: Fenrir, encrypting the city
Cuban predicts chips will become the next "cryptocurrency"
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban once again made bold predictions about the artificial intelligence industry. On August 16, Cuban posted on the social media platform X, saying, "Chips as an asset class will become the new cryptocurrency," and believes that as the AI industry rapidly expands, high-end AI chips and the underlying computing power may gradually form a new asset market.
Chips as an asset class will be the new crypto
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) August 15, 2026

Author: Ariel, Crypto City
On a Friday afternoon in the U.S. East Coast time zone, a seemingly ordinary encrypted company remote interview quietly got underway.
The HR specialist “Sophie Wang” on one end of the screen—her real identity is Laura Shin, the CEO of (Unchained) media. She is a Korean-American media professional who has for years tracked cybersecurity threats from North Korea, and whose ancestors were a group of “defectors” who fled Pyongyang.
On the other end of the video, a young engineer “Justin Lim” logged on precisely for the interview at local time 4 a.m., fighting sleepiness—but he is highly likely to be in Russia’s Vladivostok, and has been implicated in stealing $2.7 million as a North Korea–level hacker.

Under the leadership of Elon Musk, social media platform X is taking another key step into the cryptocurrency space. To address global content creators’ pain points with cross-border payments, X is actively exploring the adoption of stablecoins as a new channel for revenue sharing.
(CoinDesk) Citing sources familiar with the matter, it said that X is evaluating how to use stablecoins such as USDC to pay creators and users who publish content on the platform with revenue-sharing compensation.
The source is also currently helping other community platforms test stablecoin payment features. They pointed out that discussions regarding X’s stablecoin payment feature are still ongoing.

After months of sluggish consolidation, the cryptocurrency market has finally seen a strong rebound! On Wednesday, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs showcased a “money-pooling” play, with a net inflow of $517 million in a single day—injecting fresh confidence into the market and setting the highest net inflow record in over three months.
According to data analytics platform SoSoValue, among the 12 Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S., 8 have recorded net capital inflows. Among them, IBIT under asset management giant BlackRock performed the best, pulling in $284 million on the day. ARKB, launched jointly by ARK Invest and 21Shares, and FBTC from Fidelity followed closely, attracting $77.7 million and $62.4 million respectively. This is the largest single-day net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs since May 4 of this year.

Bitcoin today (20th) has rebounded strongly, breaking through the $70,000 mark, but it has also cost investors who previously placed large short positions dearly. CoinGlass data shows that in just the past 24 hours, approximately $3 billion worth of short positions were forcibly liquidated, setting the largest single-day short liquidation volume since records began in 2021.
According to CoinGlass data, over the past 24 hours, more than 183,000 traders were liquidated, with the total amount liquidated across the market reaching $3.264 billion. Of this, short positions accounted for about $3 billion, while long liquidations were only about $263 million.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and the digital economy, global supply chain competition is no longer determined solely by production and logistics efficiency. The ability for cross-border payments, financing, data exchange, and financial infrastructure to operate in sync is also gradually becoming an important part of enterprise resilience.
FinTechOn 2026 and the Asia FinTech Alliance Summit (AFA Summit) will be held in Taipei at the Far Eastern Shangri-La Hotel on September 2–3. Building on last year’s discussions, this year will continue to focus on “Fintech × Global Supply Chain,” exploring in depth how fintech helps improve the efficiency of cross-border capital flows across the global supply chain, strengthens risk management, and promotes regulatory and industry collaboration among Asian markets. For details, please visit: https://www.tftafintechon.com/

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Michael Selig, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is helping the sustainable contracts trading platform Hyperliquid enter the U.S. market in a "fully compliant, lawful" way. After the news broke, Hyperliquid's native token HYPE surged, with a daily gain of more than 22%.
At a press conference held on Wednesday with technology industry leaders and several heads of federal agencies, Trump said that the U.S. CFTC is working to bring sustainable contract platforms to the U.S. market. He said:
As far as I know, Mike (Selig) is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and lawful manner.

After a long period of sideways consolidation, the cryptocurrency market has finally seen a breakout. Earlier today (the 20th), Bitcoin briefly surged above the $70,000 mark, setting a new high in more than two months. Behind this sharp rally are a convergence of positive factors: strong encouragement from policy, fresh liquidity injected by the U.S. Treasury, and technical breakouts, among others. Although the latest Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting minutes still delivered hawkish signals, data from multiple indicators suggests that the market’s prolonged 11-month correction period may be nearing its end. So what exactly ignited this bullish counteroffensive?
Benefiting from U.S. President Donald Trump’s strong urging for Congress to pass a bill on the structural regulation of the cryptocurrency market, along with signs that liquidity in the U.S. Treasury market has improved, Bitcoin earlier briefly touched $70,000 on Coinbase. It then dipped slightly, but in the past 24 hours, its gain has still exceeded 7%.

Author: Nancy, PANews
On August 18, a new project called “Flop” quickly drew attention from the crypto community on social media, with the “fur-hunting” crowd rushing to apply.
The person behind the scenes is none other than crypto veteran Arthur Hayes. That evening, Hayes suddenly posted on X announcing that he would “end his retirement” and take on the role of CEO of the new project Flop Labs. Having previously led the crypto derivatives giant BitMEX, after stepping away from frontline operational roles, he has been more active in the market as an investor and crypto commentator, continually providing his judgments on the overall economy and industry trends. Now back in action, Hayes has not returned to the trading arena he knows best; instead, he has set his sights on the AI Agent economy.

Author: Kurumi, encrypted city
Fake 1080p and Blu-ray movie files, with malicious code hidden inside
With the release of Christopher Nolan’s new film (Odyssey) (The Odyssey), hackers have also begun using the movie’s popularity to spread malware. Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender found that multiple download files disguised as pirated versions of (Odyssey) have appeared online; their actual contents are Lumma Stealer trojans designed to steal passwords, browser data, and cryptocurrency wallet information.
Researchers found that malicious files intentionally use common pirated movie labels such as “1080p,” “2160p,” “WEBRip,” “Blu-ray,” and “H264” to mislead users into thinking they are downloading high-definition movies. Some file names even add popular torrent keywords like EZTV to increase their credibility.

Crypto market liquidity continues to contract. According to CryptoQuant data, the stablecoin reserves parked on centralized exchanges (CEXs) have now fallen to about $64 billion, down roughly $16 billion from the peak of nearly $80 billion at the end of 2025—a decline of 20%.
This means that the idle funds available in the market at any time to be deployed for trading and to absorb buy-side demand are decreasing, while the remaining liquidity is accelerating toward a concentration in a small number of exchanges. In particular, Binance alone accounts for as much as 68.5% of stablecoin liquidity across all exchanges.
CryptoQuant’s research team pointed out that compared with peers facing a significant capital outflow trend, Binance’s liquidity performance appears clearly “more resilient.” Stablecoin balances on major platforms such as Coinbase, Bybit, and OKX have all shrunk dramatically.

Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, today announced that it will host Binance Blockchain Week 2026 from November 28 to 29, 2026, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in downtown Bangkok, Thailand.
After the spectacular events in Singapore, Istanbul, Paris, and Dubai, Binance Group’s flagship gala is making its return to Asia once again. At a time when traditional finance and the crypto industry are increasingly converging, Bangkok is emerging as the core infrastructure hub connecting the two. Over the course of two days, the event will bring together thousands of developers, institutional investors, fintech leaders, and policymakers to collectively explore the next direction for digital assets.

South Korea’s two largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, have released their first-half performance results. Compared with the same period last year, both firms saw their revenues plunge by nearly half, while their operating profits crashed by more than 80%. Among them, Bithumb even swung from profit to loss. As retail investors’ funds withdraw in large volumes, these two giants are accelerating equity restructuring and strategic transformation, seeking a way to break the deadlock.
According to public data from South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Upbit’s parent company, Dunamu, saw its consolidated operating revenue in the first half fall 49.1% year-on-year, dropping sharply from KRW 801.9 billion to KRW 408.1 billion. Operating profit also plunged 79.7% from KRW 549.1 billion to KRW 111.5 billion. Net profit declined as well, down 74.1% to KRW 108.4 billion.

Citi Group announced on Tuesday that it expects to roll out a digital asset custody service later this year. It will initially support Bitcoin and allow clients to manage both traditional financial assets and cryptocurrencies in an all-in-one manner under the same framework.
Citi had already previewed last October that it planned to launch a cryptocurrency custody service in 2026. Now it has officially confirmed that the product will go live by the end of this year, kicking off with Bitcoin.
The service will be integrated into a new platform called Custody+, under Citi Investor Services, reflecting the banking industry’s shift toward financial infrastructure for around-the-clock trading, real-time asset transfers, and shorter settlement cycles.

A recent report from asset management giant VanEck says that after nearly 11 months of a prolonged pullback, Bitcoin’s correction phase may be nearing its end. With multiple “capitulation signals” turning on, the market is moving into an accumulation phase where main players are steadily building positions. However, VanEck cautions that this is not a buy signal to blindly chase in the short term, as Bitcoin still needs time to form its base.
In a report, VanEck Digital Asset Research head Matthew Sigel and senior investment analyst Patrick Bush revealed that among the 12 “Bitcoin capitulation check” indicators their team tracks, 8 indicators are currently lit.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled on Tuesday a (Crypto Asset Regulatory Framework) proposal. For the first time, it proposes a dedicated regulatory exemption framework specifically for crypto asset fundraising and “investment contracts.” This would allow some operators, in the future, to raise funds under certain conditions without having to worry about violating (Securities Act).
(Crypto Asset Regulatory Framework) is the SEC’s first attempt to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. It also comes as a stopgap measure while Congress has long been unable to complete legislation (the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act)). It is worth noting that the SEC had previously canceled the meeting originally scheduled for August 14 to discuss this proposal on the grounds of a “scheduling conflict.” Now, without warning, it is bringing it forward, which has made the market pay even closer attention.

Author: Max, Crypto City
Trump meets crypto titans on August 19; SEC and CFTC chairmen to attend in sync
The U.S. crypto market structure legislation is once again at a critical moment. According to a report by Bloomberg, U.S. President Trump is expected to meet with senior executives from multiple cryptocurrency, prediction market, and fintech companies on August 19 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House. Attendees include representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, Chainlink, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Paradigm, Kalshi, and others. Some reports also indicate that Kraken, Gemini, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Nasdaq have been invited to attend.

Machi Big Brother has once again made a significant add-on, increasing his ETH long position to 4,860 ETH
Taiwanese artist and cryptocurrency investor “Machi Big Brother” Huang Licheng (Jeffrey Huang) has again seen major changes in his high-leverage Ether trading position. According to the latest Hyperliquid account data, as of the evening of August 18, Huang Licheng holds approximately 4,860 ETH long contracts, using 25x leverage. The position’s notional value is about USD 9.225 million, with an average entry price of roughly USD 1,896.7.
Source: HyperDash | Huang Licheng holds approximately 4,860 ETH long contracts, using 25x leverage, with a position notional value of about USD 9.225 million and an average entry price of around USD 1,896.7

Ethereum rival Monad has recently unveiled a "early cash-out plan," intending to spend up to $60 million to buy back MON tokens from some early investors at a discount—tokens that have not yet been unlocked—so they can cash out earlier. However, nearly all contacted investors chose "not to sell."
Monad Foundation said on Tuesday that it had completed its token repurchase plan. The foundation had originally prepared $60 million, intending to repurchase MON tokens held by early investors at a discount while they were still subject to lock-up. However, the Monad Foundation did not disclose the actual acquisition price, how much funding was ultimately used, or how many investors participated.

For traders holding large amounts of Bitcoin futures long positions, $57,000 is the most critical line between life and death right now. It’s not only because this price was an important support level when the broader market bottomed and rebounded in early June, but also because if it breaks, the long positions could face the risk of being wiped out entirely.
In futures trading, traders only need to post a small amount of margin as collateral to operate massive positions. When the market moves in line with expectations, profits are magnified several times; but if you bet on the wrong direction, losses are magnified just as much. Once an account’s paper loss consumes the margin, the exchange will forcibly intervene and automatically liquidate the investor’s positions.