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According to The Block, the prediction market platform Kalshi has permanently banned former U.S. Congressman George Santos, marking the first time the platform has imposed a permanent ban on an individual. According to a disciplinary action and settlement notice submitted on Monday, Santos violated platform rules by trading on a prediction contract regarding whether he would attend the State of the Union (SOTU) address and was fined over $71,000.Previously, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused Santos of using his public statements made two weeks before the SOTU to influence the prices of related event contracts and reached a $35,000 settlement with him. Santos's lawyer stated that he had booked a hotel and flight to Washington, believing he would attend the event. Santos served as a congressman representing New York from January 2023 until the end of the year, when he was expelled for ethical violations.As the prediction market grows to billions of dollars, concerns about insider trading are increasingly being raised. The CFTC recently fined former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez $172,000 for profiting in Kalshi's "mention market" by using advance access to Trump's speech content. Legislators have proposed several bipartisan bills to restrict trading on non-public information, but they have not yet passed; platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are taking preventive measures, such as requiring employment verification for sensitive market traders.

The cryptocurrency payment platform Rain stated that its monitoring system detected a vulnerability affecting a small number of programs using outdated versions of Solana contracts, while other programs were not affected. Rain immediately launched an investigation to determine the scope of the incident.The Rain team has successfully upgraded all programs using outdated versions of Solana contracts, and the related issues have been resolved. Rain will continue to monitor the situation and has hired a third-party forensic expert to conduct an investigation, while also cooperating with law enforcement and relevant regulatory agencies. All affected users will receive full compensation, and Rain has begun the remediation process and is committed to completing the handling swiftly and responsibly.

According to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily," Alibaba Qianwen is currently testing a multi-Agent collaboration feature on the Qianwen creation platform in a small scope, mainly aimed at professional creative scenarios such as AI short dramas, comic dramas, marketing advertisements, and image design. Currently, only a small number of professional creators have been granted testing qualifications.This feature enables multiple Agents to collaborate, linking together the stages of creative planning, script writing, visual design, storyboard generation, and final production. Different Agents can cooperate based on task division to complete the entire production process from concept to final product. Users can participate in discussions throughout the process, adjust the creative direction at any time, or delegate some tasks to AI for independent completion.Recently, Qianwen has launched Qianwen creation for the professional content production field, and it has already integrated Alibaba's latest models such as Wan 3.0, Wan 3.0 Prime full version, and Qwen-Image 3.0 Pro.

According to the latest data from Counterpoint Research, the Apple iPhone 17 is the best-selling smartphone globally in the second quarter of 2026, accounting for 6% of the total global smartphone shipments; the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro rank second and third on the list. Apple and Samsung each occupy five positions in the global best-selling smartphone TOP10 list; the top ten models together account for 26% of the total global smartphone sales, an increase of 2% year-on-year. The base model iPhone 17 remains the best-selling smartphone this quarter, with significant upgrades narrowing the gap with the Pro models, supporting sales.Apple's stock price closed down 0.14% on Tuesday and fell 0.23% after hours, with a market capitalization currently reported at $4.52 trillion. For Samsung Electronics, two models from the Galaxy S series entered the top ten; the Galaxy S26 Ultra became Samsung's best-selling model this quarter, improving its ranking by 5 places compared to the previous generation, and it is also the best-selling Android model this quarter; this is the first time a super high-end Android device has led Android sales in the second quarter.

According to GMGN data, the top 5 tokens with net inflow of smart money in the past 24 hours are as follows:nosis (FPfi....ump): Net inflow of $10,000, with a 24-hour increase of 456.2%, currently priced at $0.0023.DOG (DckY....ump): Net inflow of $1,000, with a 24-hour increase of 42.9%, currently priced at $0.0001.LaPeace (CvjS....ump): Net inflow of $1,000, with a 24-hour increase of 61.2%, currently priced at $0.0005.Coin (BfHX....ump): Net inflow of $1,000, with a 24-hour increase of 1622.1%, currently priced at $0.0001.CringeCoin (7mso....ump): Net inflow of $757, with a 24-hour increase of 503.9%, currently priced at $0.0001.

According to The Block, Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar was convicted by a jury for his involvement in a $24 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme and faces a maximum of 280 years in prison.The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Kovar used investor funds to operate Profit Connect and repaid old investors with new funds under the guise of mining profits.

Insiders reveal that smart ring manufacturer Oura plans to raise up to $3 billion through an initial public offering (IPO).

According to the Associated Press, drug enforcement agencies from Cambodia and the United States announced on Friday that they have dismantled a cryptocurrency money laundering network utilized by the Sinaloa drug cartel from Mexico.The operation was conducted in collaboration between Cambodian drug enforcement police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, seizing approximately $7 million in cryptocurrency related to the Sinaloa drug cartel, arresting multiple individuals, and confiscating assets, drug production laboratories, and storage facilities.

Counterpoint Research predicts that Samsung Electronics will regain its leading position in the smartphone market this year, indicating its stronger resilience against rising memory chip prices. Since the beginning of this year, the shortage of memory supply has become increasingly severe, and Counterpoint expects global smartphone shipments to decline by 14.3% by 2026. Samsung, with its highly integrated supply chain and mature distribution network, is an exception, with expected shipment growth of 0.8%, outperforming other manufacturers.Counterpoint states that the overall smartphone market is expected to decline again in 2027, followed by a recovery the next year. Similar to Samsung, Apple is expected to withstand the pressure from rising component prices, but the agency is more cautious about Apple's outlook. Apart from Samsung, only China's Huawei has established its own hardware supply system, which is expected to maintain significant growth.Counterpoint's chief analyst points out that the key to Samsung's return to the top lies in its internal component manufacturing capabilities, diverse product line, and solid relationships with carriers and retailers. It is expected that leading smartphone manufacturers in China will face greater shipment pressure, and the acceleration of industry consolidation during the economic downturn remains its fundamental forecast.

In a research report released by the Bank of Italy in July 2026, a "mystery shopper" empirical investigation was conducted for the first time, tracking 200 USDC transfers across ten corridors between Italy and Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the UAE, and Japan. The results showed that the total cost of stablecoin remittances fluctuated greatly, with a minimum of only 0.3% and a maximum close to 9%. On-chain transfers accounted for an average of only 0.4%, with the bulk of costs concentrated in fiat withdrawal and deposit stages—traditional intermediary fees such as exchange buy-sell spreads, credit card fees, and withdrawal fees were the decisive factors. Compared to traditional channels like Wise, stablecoins have a cost advantage in some corridors like Brazil to Italy, but the costs are higher in corridors like UAE to Italy, showing a high degree of "corridor specificity."In terms of speed, blockchain transfers themselves take only a few minutes, but end-to-end efficiency entirely depends on the quality of the traditional payment infrastructure in the destination country. Countries with instant payment systems, such as Brazil (PIX), Italy (TIPS), and Argentina (Transferencias 3.0), can keep the entire process under 20 minutes; whereas countries like South Africa, which rely on traditional bank transfers, see the arrival time extended to 1 to 2 business days. The report pointed out that the efficiency of stablecoin remittances is jointly determined by their own infrastructure and the surrounding traditional payment infrastructure, with both being complementary rather than substitutive. The report also analyzed the impact of global regulatory fragmentation: the EU's MiCA and the US's GENIUS Act represent mature compliance frameworks; Japan's strict "safety first" access, while lowering nominal costs, complicates processes leading users to offshore platforms; countries like India and Turkey are in a transitional regulatory phase; while countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with prohibitive measures, have failed to suppress demand, instead pushing transactions into gray channels.

Crypto analyst Ali Charts posted on the X platform that Bitcoin has established strong support in the range of $61,849 to $63,111, where over 2 million BTC have changed hands previously. UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) data indicates that there is almost no resistance ahead; if it breaks through $75,733, the next major supply zone will appear in the range of $83,307 to $84,569, where approximately 1 million BTC have changed hands previously.

Meta Platforms announced the launch of a new Meta AI feature aimed at small businesses.

According to the latest ranking of stock derivatives exchanges released by RootData, as of the time of publication, Gate has the smallest spread among the 30 listed exchanges, currently at 0.004%. Among other top-ranked exchanges, Binance has a spread of 0.012%, Hyperliquid at 0.011%, and OKX at 0.009%.It is reported that this spread is the 24h trading volume weighted spread, and a lower value usually indicates lower trading costs.

According to data from the official website, the Smart Allocator mechanism of the decentralized stablecoin USDD has generated a cumulative investment return of 25.353 million USD for users, demonstrating its strong self-sustaining ability and capacity to provide stable shared returns for holders, further strengthening its long-term competitiveness in the stablecoin sector. The Smart Allocator is the profit-sharing mechanism of USDD, which reasonably invests in high-quality projects to obtain returns such as interest and platform rewards, and returns the profits to users. All operations are transparent and publicly visible on the blockchain.

According to GMGN data, the top 5 tokens with net inflow of smart money in the past 24 hours are as follows:EYE (RmtM....DYk): Net inflow of $3,000, 24-hour increase of -43.5%, currently priced at $0.0026.CLUG (7g2x....SpV): Net inflow of $2,000, 24-hour increase of 13258.4%, currently priced at $0.0004.Sad (6tCW....ump): Net inflow of $2,000, 24-hour increase of 1859.1%, currently priced at $0.0001.GhostBob (FNgR....ump): Net inflow of $1,000, 24-hour increase of 690.7%, currently priced at $0.0001.HorseMeat (2Fpr....dbq): Net inflow of $1,000, 24-hour increase of 15%, currently priced at $9.2798.

According to KOL Kuai Dong (@_FORAB), several cryptocurrency practitioners reported this morning that their addresses on other exchanges inexplicably received small deposits from HTX exchange, and shortly after receiving them, their accounts were frozen. Previously, several exchanges, including Binance and OKX, announced that in response to sanctions from the EU and the UK, they would no longer process deposits and withdrawals from HTX, otherwise accounts could be forcibly frozen. Some users in the community claimed that this action is similar to "address poisoning," which could trigger KYT/AML risk control on other platforms.However, HTX market manager MollyFu stated that the official side absolutely did not engage in such behavior; it is either a misunderstanding or someone is deliberately causing trouble. The platform has been processing tens of thousands of deposits and withdrawals daily in the past two days, and accounts are normal. They will not randomly airdrop to users on other platforms; if testing is conducted, it will only be done on a small scale through their own accounts. HTX stated that they have held an internal meeting to discuss the matter and are quickly investigating the cause, promising to provide an explanation to the community.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated on X that the company has recently released a short-term roadmap for agentic capabilities and related standards. This roadmap covers multiple capabilities being built, with a focus on expanding support for agents as work sellers, and involves mechanisms such as agent identity, reputation, verification, and trusted discovery.Allaire pointed out that the above planning aims to promote the implementation of agent-related standards and functionalities, enabling agents to participate in work transactions and service provision. As the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, Circle continues to pay attention to the integration of infrastructure such as payments and on-chain identity with emerging agent scenarios.

According to PR Newswire, digital asset infrastructure company Fireblocks announced the appointment of former Acting Chairman and Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Elad Roisman as Chief Regulatory and Policy Officer and General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, effective immediately.Roisman will be responsible for Fireblocks' regulatory strategy, policy communications, and related legal matters, and will serve as the company's primary liaison with regulators and standard-setting organizations.

Zach Pandl, the head of research at Grayscale, posted on the X platform comparing Ethereum to a "small country" and discussed the ETH issuance mechanism. He believes that Ethereum has only one core "government function": to protect property rights and value exchange within the system. Unlike traditional countries that provide public services through taxation, Ethereum primarily funds network security through "seigniorage," which is the issuance of new ETH.In this framework, the stakers responsible for maintaining network security are akin to a group providing public services, as they receive rewards through newly issued ETH. Therefore, Ethereum's staking mechanism and ETH issuance policy essentially constitute the network's fiscal and monetary policy. Zach Pandl pointed out that the Ethereum community needs to decide how much "new currency" should be used to cover network security costs. More security typically means stronger protection of property rights, but at the cost of a higher ETH issuance rate and potential other risks.For example, if network security increasingly relies on a few large staking service providers, there remains room for discussion about whether these providers can maintain the asset rights of all users completely neutrally. Pandl believes that, just as in traditional economies, no one knows the "optimal level" of government spending and currency issuance; the same applies to Ethereum. However, Ethereum has several key security thresholds, including: 1/3: an attacker reaching this ratio may affect finality; 1/2: affects blockchain fork choice; 2/3: can control the finality process. Some community members believe that the design of Ethereum's monetary and fiscal policy should consider the security trade-offs brought by these key ratios, while the current mechanism has not adequately incorporated these factors. However, the above analogy is not entirely accurate, as it does not yet involve other important factors such as the ETH burn mechanism, MEV, governance, etc.

The White House announced that U.S. President Trump will impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on certain small drones that lack specific capabilities, citing national security concerns related to the products.