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Market news indicates that SoftBank Group is in discussions with investment banks regarding a potential bond issuance of $10 billion to $20 billion to help refinance its investment in OpenAI.

According to the Nikkei, Japan's Financial Services Agency, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Japan, and financial institutions plan to establish a research group in the summer of 2026 to promote the construction of next-generation payment and settlement infrastructure based on blockchain (distributed ledger), with a specific preparation plan expected to be formed in early 2027.The plan initially focuses on government bonds and stock trading, aiming to achieve 24-hour instant settlement of funds and securities. The report notes that although there have been several blockchain financial application trials in the past, this is the first time the Japanese government and central bank have set a clear timeline for the actual implementation of related infrastructure.

A Reuters survey shows that most economists believe the Bank of Japan will take action faster than previously expected, and will raise interest rates again in September, with the terminal rate potentially being higher. 57% of economists expect an interest rate hike next month, a significant increase from 5% in July. Ayako Fujita, Chief Economist for Japan at JPMorgan, stated that delaying the rate hike could lead to market turmoil. In addition, more than two-thirds of respondents believe that the recent US-Japan joint foreign exchange intervention has had limited effects.

The American Bankers Association announced plans to create a nationwide financial infrastructure based on blockchain to optimize industry collaboration and settlement efficiency.

Cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Zerohash has resubmitted its national trust bank charter application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), marking its second attempt following the rejection of its application in July. Previously, on July 17, the OCC returned Zerohash's application, citing "insufficient materials."Zerohash stated that the return was part of an administrative process, allowing it to reapply this month, a practice coordinated with the OCC and not a judgment on the substantive content of the application, nor does it affect the company's existing operations. The company noted that the initial application covered "a wide range of digital assets and fiduciary services," and thus decided to adopt a "phased" approach, focusing on "national trust business that aligns more closely with the established launch timeline."Zerohash is a Chicago-based cryptocurrency infrastructure platform that provides backend operational support for cryptocurrency businesses to institutions such as E*Trade under Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Stripe, Interactive Brokers, and DraftKings, and it already holds a state trust bank charter.

The Federal Reserve discount rate meeting minutes show that 4 out of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks voted in July to support an increase in the discount rate.

On August 25, Bank of America data showed that actively managed long-term funds significantly reduced their holdings in global semiconductor stocks last month, selling approximately $44.4 billion, indicating that institutional funds are withdrawing from the most crowded AI trades. The flow of funds has shifted towards telecommunications, energy, materials, and grid modernization, reflecting a more noticeable redistribution within the AI theme.This set of data explains part of the recent market pressure. Ahead of NVIDIA's earnings report, the market still holds high expectations for AI demand, but semiconductor stocks have previously risen too much, and positions have become more concentrated. Once long-term interest rates rise, AI revenue expectations cool, or the return on capital expenditures for cloud vendors is questioned, the semiconductor sector will be the first to bear the pressure of position reduction. Bank of America also pointed out that the themes that funds sold the most in the past year include AI computing and quantum computing, indicating that funds have not completely left AI but are reducing exposure to highly crowded sectors.Bank of America expects that semiconductor stocks will continue to be influenced in the short term by NVIDIA's performance, cloud vendor guidance, and interest rate trends; in the medium term, funds may be more willing to allocate to sub-sectors such as electricity, equipment, networks, and storage that can share in AI infrastructure spending.

Jeonbuk Bank has partnered with blockchain payment company Ripple to deploy its cross-border payment system, providing faster and cheaper remittance services for business clients such as import and export companies, tech startups, and online content creators, replacing the traditional transfer method that takes several days via the SWIFT network.Meanwhile, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has opened the application portal for crypto licenses. Companies providing virtual asset services on or before March 5 must submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC) application by September 5, or they will cease operations. PVARA stated that the licensing window is officially open, providing a clear path for businesses to enter Pakistan's regulated virtual asset market.In addition, Laser Digital, a digital asset subsidiary of Nomura Group in Japan, has received approval from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to become the first platform to obtain a crypto exchange license in four years, the last being Binance Japan in October 2022.

According to the New York Times, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued subpoenas to major Wall Street banks, requesting information regarding the artificial intelligence hedge fund Situational Awareness trading.

According to CoinDesk, Standard Chartered Bank, headquartered in London with assets of $850 billion, announced that it will become the first bank to distribute Hong Kong-regulated stablecoins. The institution stated in an email announcement released on Monday that it will first assist its eligible institutional clients and partners in integrating the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HKDAP issued by Anchorpoint Financial, of which Standard Chartered is the majority shareholder.Standard Chartered also indicated plans to launch several new HKDAP commercial applications within the next month, with use cases including market fund subscriptions, settlements with asset management managers, inter-departmental settlements within the bank's global network, and cross-border payments. Anchorpoint Financial began a limited rollout of HKDAP on August 12, having just obtained one of the first two issuance licenses in Hong Kong four months prior. The initial rollout will focus on institutional payments and settlements, with more access channels and cross-border applications to be added later.Another licensed institution, HSBC, is preparing to launch its stablecoin in the second half of 2026 and may distribute it through PayMe, which has 3.3 million users. Additionally, Kraken's parent company Payward has expanded its stablecoin business in Hong Kong through a $600 million acquisition of Reap Technologies.

According to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial, supported by the Trump family, has received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter, intending to establish World Liberty Trust Company. After final approval, the institution will be able to issue and redeem the stablecoin USD1 directly, manage its reserve assets, and provide digital asset custody services.This application comes at a time when the approval process for new bank charters in the United States has significantly accelerated. OCC data shows that 22 bank charter applications have been approved in the 19 months prior to Trump's second term, exceeding the total from the previous five years, with several being fintech and digital asset companies. World Liberty Trust Company is not a traditional commercial bank and cannot accept deposits insured by the FDIC or issue traditional loans.

On August 24, recent news reported that some banks in Hong Kong have initiated a source of funds declaration procedure for certain existing mainland investment clients, setting deadlines of August 20 (services may be suspended if not submitted) and September 12 (services may be terminated if not submitted).Previously, in response to requirements from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, some banks have begun to require new mainland account investors to confirm that their source of funds comes from legitimate overseas channels. This source of funds confirmation procedure targets existing mainland investor accounts, primarily focusing on long-term "inactive accounts." It is understood that some licensed institutions in Hong Kong, including HSBC Hong Kong and branches of Chinese banks in Hong Kong, have indeed implemented such measures recently.

The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) and the cryptocurrency asset custody infrastructure provider Safeheron announced the launch of a pilot program for quantum-resistant digital asset wallets and on-chain transfers, with participants from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The pilot operates on the quantum-resistant NEAR testnet and uses a multiparty computation protocol that supports the ML-DSA-65 standard.Participating regulatory bodies include the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Bhutan's Gelephu Financial Services Office, and Malta's Financial Services Authority, with Bison Bank and DK Bank participating as financial institutions. The banks will test wallet generation and transfers in a shared application environment, while regulatory bodies will observe in the initial phase and later participate in governance workflows. The organizers plan to release a white paper covering research, protocol design, and testing results, and gradually open-source the underlying technology. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority plans to prepare the Hong Kong banking sector to fully address quantum security risks by 2030, while a report from the Bank for International Settlements published in 2025 suggests that financial institutions should migrate to quantum-resistant systems in phases.

According to CoinDesk, the new stablecoin bank Fasset has raised $68 million in funding led by the SBI Group, with a valuation of $1 billion. The company's annual trading volume exceeds $40 billion, covering 125 countries, with revenue growing approximately six times year-on-year, and it has been profitable for 12 consecutive months.Fasset has built a proprietary Layer 2 network called OWN based on Arbitrum, providing cross-border payment services for stablecoin settlements to institutions and individuals, and has partnered with SBI Remit to access its remittance network covering 200 countries.

Japan's SoftBank Group plans to issue 1 trillion yen (approximately 6.29 billion USD) in seven-year corporate bonds aimed at individual investors. The bonds are tentatively set with a coupon rate range of 4.3% to 4.9%.This issuance will be the largest bond issuance in SoftBank's history, nearly double the previous record. SoftBank is expected to announce the final terms on September 4.

According to Bitcoin.com News, the Central Bank of Russia has launched a special financial literacy test to lower the threshold for residents to qualify as accredited investors, in order to expand their cryptocurrency trading limits.

The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is an organization representing large banks such as JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi. BPI proposed that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury should expand customer identification program requirements to the secondary market for stablecoins, covering exchanges and other platforms that establish direct account relationships with retail investors.BPI stated that the relevant exchanges and platforms engage in a significant amount of buying and selling activities within the payment stablecoin ecosystem, where most illegal activities related to stablecoins occur. If the proposal is incorporated into the rules, the relevant platforms will be required to collect customer information in accordance with the Bank Secrecy Act, and decentralized exchanges may also fall under regulatory oversight. The proposed rules by FinCEN indicate that transactions in the secondary market for stablecoins on the blockchain typically use anonymous or pseudonymous identities, and there are no centralized nodes for collecting identity information, limiting the ability of issuers to gather customer data from the secondary market. BPI has also opposed the current version of the Digital Asset Market Structure Bill along with other banking organizations.

Kendrick stated that this round of increase is mainly driven by short covering, while the current open interest remains at a low level. As prices rise, it may leave room for more investors to re-enter the market.