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The People's Bank of China announced the overall operation of the payment system for the second quarter of 2026. By the end of the second quarter, a total of 10.267 billion bank cards had been issued nationwide. Among them, there were 677 million credit cards and credit card loans, a decrease of about 10 million cards compared to the end of the first quarter, and a decrease of nearly 20 million cards since the beginning of the year, averaging over 100,000 credit cards exiting the market each day. Compared to the historical peak of 807 million cards in the second quarter of 2022, the number of credit cards has been reduced by about 130 million.The mid-year report of listed banks in 2026 shows that the overdraft balances of credit cards from the six major state-owned banks decreased at the end of the first half compared to the end of the previous year. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China had a credit card loan balance of 597.157 billion yuan, a decrease of 14.39% from the end of the previous year. By the end of June, the cumulative number of credit cards issued by Bank of China was about 152 million, with an increase of 1.76 million cards compared to the end of the previous year; China Merchants Bank saw a net increase of 256,300 cards to 97.7073 million cards.In terms of asset quality, the non-performing loan ratios for Agricultural Bank of China and Postal Savings Bank of China remained at 2.05% and 1.45%, respectively; the non-performing loan ratio for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose to 5.37%; and the non-performing loan ratio for Bank of Communications increased from 2.68% to 3.8%. The non-performing loan ratio for China Minsheng Bank rose to 4.22%, and for Industrial Bank, it rose to 3.79%. In the first half of the year, China Merchants Bank generated new non-performing loans of 23.698 billion yuan, with a non-performing loan ratio of 1.90%. In August 2026, the principal and interest of non-performing credit card transfers amounted to 12.2 billion yuan.

According to The Block, APX Lending has launched a five-year revolving credit product backed by Bitcoin and Ethereum, with interest rates starting at 10.49%.The company stated that borrowers can withdraw and repay credit on demand, with no origination fees, early repayment fees, or liquidation fees.

According to informed sources, the artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC is about to finalize the expansion of its revolving credit facility to $15 billion, clearing obstacles for the company's IPO public filing.Morgan Stanley is leading this process, while Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup are also playing important roles in this credit arrangement. These four banks are also the lead underwriters for the company's IPO.

Echo Base is an institution focused on stabilizing digital asset companies, assisting in the formation of the BitMart Creditors' Committee, representing users holding frozen assets, and hiring legal advisors to evaluate recovery plans, including applying for bankruptcy proceedings without financial support. Echo Base had proposed a funding plan of up to $10 million to support BitMart in submitting a pre-negotiated bankruptcy application, but received no response from BitMart.Echo Base stated that the relevant actions stem from BitMart's failure to respond to the restructuring proposal and user withdrawal requests. Sonn Law Group has initiated an investigation for users with frozen assets of $500,000 or more at BitMart, assessing potential claims and asset recovery plans. Echo Base CEO Roshan Dharia stated that BitMart's employee plan can only sustain operations until January 2027, and the longer the delay, the fewer viable options there will be.

According to CoinDesk, the "credit pulse" indicator, which measures the speed of new credit in China relative to GDP changes, is flashing red. The Bloomberg China Credit Pulse Index recently reported 20.84 points, the lowest level since 2008. This indicator was proposed by economist Michael Biggs in 2008 and is considered related to the global manufacturing cycle, leading S&P 500 returns by about 12 months.Albert Edwards, a strategist at Société Générale, warned that ignoring China's recent monetary tightening could become "the biggest investment mistake of the decade." Despite the weakening indicators, Bitcoin surged 25% in August and briefly broke through $80,000, mainly driven by inflows from U.S. spot ETFs, short covering, and a catch-up rally of previously lagging assets compared to the stock market.Looking ahead, there are two scenarios: one is that Bitcoin continues to rise, as current crypto trading is primarily driven by U.S. institutional funds, reducing sensitivity to signals from China's credit conditions; the other is that if U.S. stocks decline as Edwards predicts, risk aversion may spill over into Bitcoin. Which scenario will materialize remains to be seen.

The Block's investigation shows that on the social trading app Fomo and Robinhood's self-custody wallet Robinhood Wallet, users can directly purchase Memecoin using credit cards via Apple Pay or Google Pay without completing a separate KYC identity verification. Transactions can also accumulate points or cash back rewards as normal credit card rewards. The media tested the purchase of WIF, and transactions on the Visa and Mastercard networks were classified under merchant category code MCC 5815 (digital goods media), rather than the cryptocurrency asset categories MCC 6012 or 6051 as stipulated by card organization rules, which typically come with crypto tags and do not earn rewards.These transactions are supported by the Token Checkout product from the crypto infrastructure company Crossmint. Crossmint insists that this classification is appropriate, citing the joint guidance released by the SEC and CFTC in March of this year, which views certain Memecoins like WIF as "digital collectibles." However, Chase stated that the Visa transaction was not marked as a cryptocurrency purchase and that the classification was incorrect, and they have initiated a case review with Visa; the New York Attorney General's office also stated that it is reviewing the matter. Vanderbilt University law professor Yesha Yadav and other payment experts believe that the SEC's position and card organization rules represent "two completely different systems."

According to Be In Crypto, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that on-chain reputation will become a new generation of credit scoring systems, potentially replacing the FICO score that currently dominates 90% of top loan decisions in the United States. Armstrong pointed out in response to Base founder Jesse Pollak that public ledgers can now record repayment history, wallet age, and counterparty behavior, and any lender can access the same on-chain record.Currently, Ethos Network has scored wallets through user endorsements, and based on this score, the lending application Credifi can offer unsecured loans of up to $3,000 to wallets with scores reaching 1,800. However, on-chain addresses are not tied to real identities, and borrowers can create new wallets at any time, so whether on-chain reputation can effectively price real risks remains to be validated by subsequent default rate data.

Numa Lunah, co-founder of the crypto project Refi Hub, stated that he was hacked after installing a transcription application using a download link provided in the Claude chat window. The link pointed to a counterfeit website and bundled malware that attempted to steal all information from his device upon execution. Numa Lunah mentioned that he cleared and reinstalled the affected laptop and found no sensitive information leaked.Subsequently, he discovered a contaminated Claude Code skill file SKILL.md in his backup, which disguised itself as a style guide written by him and contained instructions to re-download the malware and steal credentials every time it was loaded. Microsoft Defender Experts had warned that attackers had shifted from search engine optimization poisoning to large language model response poisoning, with related tactics including recommending download links controlled by attackers, AI brand impersonation installers, and contaminated code libraries and proxy skills. Crypto industry practitioners may hold irrevocable credentials such as mnemonic phrases, private key files, hot wallet JSON, exchange API keys with withdrawal permissions, and deployer keys.

Pablo Hernández de Cos, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), stated that stablecoins lack credibility in large-scale payment scenarios, making it difficult to use them as everyday currency. He believes that tokenized bank deposits are a better alternative, capable of achieving the advantages of tokenization while retaining the foundation of the monetary system. This statement comes against the backdrop of regulatory agencies in various countries establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins.Hernández de Cos also acknowledged that stablecoins could lower government borrowing costs but might also increase bank financing costs, which would then be passed on to household and business loan rates. He pointed out that the interoperability between stablecoin platforms is limited, anti-money laundering controls are inconsistently enforced, and the widespread use of dollar-pegged stablecoins overseas could undermine the monetary sovereignty of other countries and the effectiveness of domestic monetary policy.On the same day, the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) under BIS released a research report comparing the stablecoin regulatory rules of the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Singapore, finding significant differences in the qualifications of issuing entities and the scope of business they can conduct across jurisdictions. The United States and Singapore impose stricter restrictions on non-bank issuing entities, while Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the European Union allow certain additional businesses under separate authorization or licensing.

Cryptocurrency platform Bullish announced a $100 million debt financing line to the stablecoin protocol USD.AI to support GPU-collateralized loan operations. This financing will help USD.AI provide liquidity for artificial intelligence infrastructure development, connecting on-chain capital with computing power financing needs through tokenization.USD.AI, developed by Permian Labs, currently has over $225 million in crypto assets locked within the protocol. Bullish Exchange also plans to launch the sUSDai token of USD.AI and open multiple trading pairs, providing investors with access to a secondary market channel for GPU-collateralized debt.David Choi, CEO of Permian Labs, stated that computing power is becoming an independent credit market, and this financing will help USD.AI fund more AI development while creating a more transparent and in-depth computing power credit market.

According to sources from The Wall Street Journal, Nvidia (NVDA.O) has suspended some deals that provided credit support in exchange for revenue sharing.

On August 25, Galaxy launched the GalaxyOne Crypto Portfolio Line of Credit (PLOC) product for eligible U.S. customers. Users can pledge BTC, ETH, and SOL (including staked SOL) to borrow cash within a single revolving credit limit, without having to sell any crypto assets. The product has no initiation fees, features a variable annual interest rate of 8.99%, and a 50% initial loan-to-value ratio, meaning that $100,000 in pledged assets can borrow approximately $50,000.Galaxy stated that the value of the pledged assets will be continuously monitored, and warnings will be issued in advance if the assets decline; withdrawals are typically credited instantly, and funds can be used on the platform or withdrawn as USD and USDC stablecoins. The staked crypto assets will not be re-pledged or lent out, and staked SOL can continue to earn rewards while being used as collateral. Zac Prince, Managing Director of GalaxyOne, stated that with Galaxy's institutional infrastructure, they are able to launch this product with competitive rates, security, and flexibility.This product is offered by GalaxyOne Lending LLC in 40 states, excluding California, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and South Dakota. This move is seen as an attempt to restart retail crypto lending on a regulated track after the collapses of Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager in 2022, contrasting with the model of freezing customer funds and forced liquidations that year.

The Solana ecosystem DeFi protocol Kamino announced the launch of Kamino Fixed Rates, positioned as an on-chain fixed-term, fixed-rate credit architecture solution. The product is now live in a private testing version, with a public version planned for release in the third quarter of 2026.According to the introduction, Kamino Fixed Rates aims to provide a lending framework for the on-chain credit market with both the term and interest rate locked in advance. Kamino also released a related light paper for the market to review the product design and mechanism description.

According to The Block, Galaxy has launched a portfolio credit product backed by crypto assets, allowing eligible GalaxyOne clients to borrow cash using BTC, ETH, and SOL as collateral without selling their holdings.This revolving credit line uses a combination of qualified assets as collateral, enabling clients to obtain liquidity for daily expenses or investment needs while continuing to hold their crypto assets.

Decred, a blockchain, stated that between August 16 and 17, its mainnet inflation vulnerability was exploited, resulting in the generation of approximately 2077.97 DCR. This vulnerability has existed in the consensus code since the mainnet launch in February 2016, stemming from improper edge case handling during the interaction between the regular transaction tree and the stake transaction tree, allowing double-spending inputs.The vulnerability was reported on August 12 through a bounty program but was exploited before a fix could be implemented. Decred has decided not to roll back to minimize the impact on users. The issuance of approximately 2000 additional DCR does not affect the hard cap of 21 million coins and is far below the historical subsidies lost due to underissuance, which exceeded 215,000 coins. Currently, the team has developed additional double-spending monitoring services and plans to improve the emergency upgrade signaling mechanism.

On August 24, a portfolio manager at Fidelity International stated that the gold holdings of the fund he manages have doubled in the past three weeks, attributing this move to increased uncertainty surrounding Federal Reserve policy. After raising the gold allocation in the fund to his self-imposed limit of 5%, George Efstathopoulos mentioned that he would consider increasing this limit if the dollar's status as a safe-haven asset continues to decline. Following the Federal Reserve's July meeting, investors have been selling long-term government bonds, and it is against this backdrop that George began to increase his gold holdings."My understanding is that this is due to the Federal Reserve's lack of credibility and the intensification of policy uncertainty," George stated. He also noted that the U.S. Treasury unexpectedly increased its repurchase of long-term bonds, which seems more like "manipulating yields rather than addressing the fundamental reasons for why yields are rising." "Today, the focus on gold is no longer on the rise in yields themselves, but rather on why yields are rising."

According to CoinDesk, Ripple announced a partnership with the lending platform Clearpool and the credit management institution Cicada Partners to launch a credit fund aimed at institutions, which will provide working capital loans to fintech and payment companies in the form of the RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger.Cicada is responsible for borrower screening, loan term setting, and credit risk monitoring; Clearpool is responsible for building and managing the loan pool infrastructure; Ripple participates as a limited partner, contributing funds and enjoying the same terms as other institutional investors.

According to PR Newswire, cryptocurrency institutional broker FalconX announced a $1 billion secured loan financing mechanism in collaboration with the stablecoin protocol Ethena. The two parties will utilize Ethena USDe reserve assets through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to provide over-collateralized credit services to institutional clients.According to the announcement, this financing mechanism will connect Ethena's on-chain liquid assets with FalconX's institutional lending demand, driving on-chain capital into the traditional credit market. The loan assets will be held by qualified custodians, while FalconX will be responsible for asset origination, loan servicing, and collateral management.Ethena is the developer of the stablecoin protocol USDe. USDe maintains its dollar-pegged stability through crypto asset collateralization and hedging mechanisms, and has already partnered with several centralized exchanges and DeFi protocols. FalconX is a digital asset prime broker aimed at institutional investors, providing trading, financing, and liquidity services.