energy

According to CoinDesk, as crude oil prices retreat, refined oil prices continue to rise, with the "crack spread" between U.S. diesel and crude oil reaching $102.2 per barrel, a record high.Due to disruptions in global energy supply from the Iran and Ukraine conflicts, diesel supply is tightening, and with the current agricultural harvest season, the demand for fuel for agricultural equipment such as tractors is strong, further pushing up diesel prices, which may transmit inflation through food, transportation, and heating costs.Meanwhile, WTI crude oil prices have broken through the downward trend line formed since the peak in April, indicating that the four-month downward trend may be coming to an end. If oil prices continue to rise, market inflation expectations may heat up again. The combination of energy prices and inflation risks, along with concerns about government debt, is driving up U.S. Treasury yields and the yields of other developed economy bonds, increasing the opportunity cost of holding risk assets like Bitcoin, which may limit further upside for BTC.However, the weakening dollar still provides some support for Bitcoin. The dollar index fell to 99.29 on Monday, a two-and-a-half-month low, and broke below the previous upward trend line. Currently, Bitcoin is being influenced by multiple factors including oil prices, bond yields, and dollar trends, with the macro environment showing clear divergence.

NVIDIA announced it will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, and ensure that the Ports-Pike Technology Park in Ohio is dedicated to supporting its artificial intelligence computing business.According to the agreement, SB Energy will operate the data center under a 20-year lease agreement signed with OpenAI, which will become a customer of the project's 8 IT gigawatt capacity; NVIDIA will also provide credit support for the project's first 4.25 IT gigawatt phase and retain the option to add an additional 3.75 IT gigawatt capacity.The Ports-Pike project is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and establish an $80 million community fund, with OpenAI also contributing an additional $40 million to the community welfare fund. Meanwhile, market news indicates that after reaching a deal with NVIDIA, Groq's valuation in the new round of financing has reached $3.5 billion.

According to The Information, Nvidia (NVDA.O) is in talks to invest $3 billion in SB Energy as part of the OpenAI data center deal.

According to Fortune, Bank of America announced a $250 billion infrastructure investment plan on Wednesday, committing to invest in key infrastructure areas in the United States over the next year. The investment scope covers multiple fields including data centers and computing power, renewable energy generation, energy storage, natural gas, transmission networks, and critical minerals and mining, with the goal of supporting energy security, job growth, and economic competitiveness.

Russia's oil production in July was nearly 1 million barrels per day below its OPEC+ quota, with an average daily output of 8.887 million barrels, significantly lower than the monthly target of 9.824 million barrels.Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil infrastructure almost daily, threatening crude oil processing and export volumes, while the global energy market is also under pressure due to the conflict in the Middle East.

According to Crowdfund Insider, Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings disclosed in its latest quarterly SEC filing that it has pledged 18,750 BTC as collateral for two Bitcoin-backed loans, with a total principal of $750 million.The financing provided by Coinbase Credit includes refinancing of an existing $150 million credit line and an additional $300 million; Two Prime Lending also provided a $300 million loan. Both loans have been fully drawn, with a combined financing cost of approximately 7.56%, primarily maturing in August 2028.The pledged 18,750 BTC was valued at approximately $1.2 billion at the time of the transaction. If the price of Bitcoin falls and the collateral ratio drops below the agreed level, MARA may face additional collateral requirements; otherwise, the related BTC is at risk of liquidation. The new funds will primarily be used for general corporate purposes and to support MARA's acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power.The transaction values the company at approximately $1.5 billion, with Long Ridge owning a natural gas power plant in Ohio, USA, with an expected installed capacity of 505 MW, as well as over 1,600 acres of industrial land. MARA plans to further develop the area into a base for Bitcoin mining, AI, and high-performance computing infrastructure.

SpaceX plans to build its own power facilities for the large semiconductor manufacturing plant Terafab being developed in Texas. Riley Trettel, who is responsible for energy and data center development, stated that a gas power plant and a large battery array will be constructed to store energy to meet the surging power demand. Elon Musk's companies have long favored vertical integration, and Tesla is also participating in the energy market in Texas.

According to Jinshi, U.S. President Trump stated that energy prices will decrease, and businesses should start lowering prices.

According to Jinshi reports, Fed's Schmid stated that the recent easing of energy prices may be temporary.

According to the latest data from Gate, gStocks related to clean energy have shown active performance. Among them, Fluence Energy (FLNCG/USDT) rose 5.78% in 24 hours, reaching a high of $15.333 in 24 hours, with a trading volume of 50,600 USDT. At the same time, Bloom Energy (BEG/USDT) rose 3.90% in 24 hours, with a highest price of $223.93 in 24 hours, and a trading volume of 854,600 USDT. As representatives of fuel cells and distributed energy, BEG and the energy storage solution FLNCG have jointly driven increased attention to the clean energy sector in Gate gStocks.

According to CoinDesk, American Bitcoin (ABTC), a Bitcoin mining company associated with the Trump family, announced that President and interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Matt Prusak will leave on August 4 to join AI and energy infrastructure company Giga Energy as Chief Business Officer and interim CFO.Prusak stated that after "years of building the Bitcoin business," he will shift to the upstream energy infrastructure sector, focusing on the current power supply issues that limit the development of Bitcoin mining and AI computing.American Bitcoin was co-founded by Eric Trump and supported by Hut 8, and it is a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company listed on NASDAQ. Prusak was previously responsible for driving the company's Bitcoin accumulation strategy, including expanding hash power and increasing the BTC holdings per share.Giga Energy, headquartered in Houston, primarily develops power equipment and AI data center infrastructure. The company stated that it has delivered over 6.5GW of power infrastructure and is developing over 500MW of AI data center capacity.Industry insiders believe that Prusak's transition reflects the accelerating migration of the Bitcoin mining industry towards the AI infrastructure sector. As competition in the mining business intensifies and profit margins are pressured, more mining companies are beginning to leverage their own power resources, land reserves, and data center capabilities to enter the AI computing infrastructure market.As large tech companies compete for power and data center capacity, energy supply has become a core bottleneck for the expansion of AI computing, and companies with the ability to integrate power resources are gaining more attention.

According to Jinshi reports, Xiehe New Energy (00182.HK) announced in Hong Kong that its wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States has signed three long-term power purchase agreements with Tesla for solar projects located in the United States, with a total capacity of approximately 469 megawatts (AC side).According to the agreements, after the full capacity of the three projects is put into operation, the company will provide Tesla with approximately 1,200 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, with the first project expected to start supplying power in the first half of 2027.

According to Jinshi reports, local authorities stated that energy facilities in the Volgograd region of Russia caught fire after a drone attack.

According to Jinshi reports, U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm stated that the U.S. military is escorting oil and natural gas through the strait.

According to BBX data, yesterday and in recent days, global companies listed on the US stock market have disclosed the latest real announcements regarding digital asset transformation and ecological strategic investments. The core dynamics are as follows:Canton sells traditional business to fully transition to blockchain clearing: Canton Strategic Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: $ CNTN) officially announced that it has sold its biotechnology R&D department Gravitas Life Sciences, LLC to Gravitas Collective Corp. The transaction was completed on July 17, 2026. The company clearly stated that this divestiture is an important milestone in its transformation into an operating company, and in the future, it will support the Canton Network through Canton Coin and promote the on-chain digital transformation of traditional financial markets as a strategic investor.Empery Digital invests $20 million in cross-industry computing power electricity park: The US-listed company Empery Digital Inc. (NASDAQ: $ EMPD), which adopts a Bitcoin fund management strategy, announced that it has completed a $20 million preferred stock investment (holding approximately 8%) in Cardinal Data Power, Inc. (CDP) on July 20, 2026. CDP focuses on building electricity-driven data center parks, and this round of financing will support its construction of the first gigawatt-level data center park covering over 3,000 acres in West Texas (Phase I is planned to be operational in 2027, with a long-term plan exceeding 5GW) to meet the next generation of AI and computing power energy demands.

According to Jinshi reports, Helaba analysts stated that the escalating situation in the Arabian Gulf region and rising energy prices have raised concerns among central bank officials. The European Central Bank will announce its monetary policy decision later today, and analysts pointed out that there are currently no clear signs indicating that the European Central Bank is about to raise interest rates. The money market expects the European Central Bank to raise interest rates by 21 basis points in September, and it is anticipated that the wording of the statement will not undergo significant changes.

According to Jinshi reports, as the US-Iran conflict drives up oil prices, the dollar weakens but remains close to the one-week high reached overnight. Deutsche Bank analysts stated in a report that the rise in oil, natural gas, and other commodity prices has increased recent inflation expectations. Against this backdrop, investors have repriced their expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, and the market has begun to speculate again on the possibility of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.