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SWIFT service provider Bottomline announced a collaboration with the blockchain infrastructure project Chainlink to enable over 600 bank clients in its network to access blockchain-based cross-border settlements. Bottomline processes over $16 trillion in payments annually and serves 1,200 financial institutions and 10,000 enterprises.Through this integration, banks can continue to use the ISO 20022 standard to send payment instructions, with Chainlink's infrastructure connecting the instructions to blockchain settlements. Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) supports the transfer of tokenized value across different blockchain networks, while Chainlink's Runtime Environment (CRE) is responsible for payment processes, transaction routing, and operational change coordination.CCIP has been recording mainnet activity since July 2023 and is currently connected to over 60 blockchain networks. Chainlink's Project Pangea has covered more than 50 banking institutions in Europe and South Korea, with participants managing assets totaling over $10 trillion, and the project's goals include achieving T+0 settlement for foreign exchange transactions.

According to The Block, XRP treasury company Evernorth announced that its SEC S-4 form related to the merger with Armada has become effective, advancing the Nasdaq listing process.CEO Asheesh Birla stated, "We believe institutional finance will increasingly build on-chain, and Evernorth aims to accelerate XRP's role in this process."

Coinbase stated on the X platform that the financial layer surrounding AI agents is referred to as agent finance, or AiFi, which encompasses agent trading and agent commerce. AI agents can research information, make decisions, and execute operations on behalf of individuals and businesses, and they need to perform basic financial activities such as payments, receipts, value storage, and fund transfers. Coinbase claims that it is building tools for AI agents to continuously execute financial operations within predefined goals, permissions, limitations, and security boundaries.Coinbase indicated that Coinbase Advisor, Coinbase for Agents, x402, and Coinbase Business have formed the AiFi infrastructure. Coinbase Advisor is an SEC-registered investment advisor integrated into the app for Coinbase One users, providing portfolio analysis and guidance through a chat interface; Coinbase for Agents connects tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor to Coinbase accounts via MCP, allowing users to set operational conditions and security boundaries for agents, as well as create independent sandbox accounts for agent use.Coinbase stated that x402 is an open payment standard initiated by Coinbase and currently managed by an independent foundation, which supports AI agents in paying fees to other agents, applications, and services. As of now, x402 has processed over 205 million transactions, with a transaction volume of $53 million, covering 200,000 sellers, with Coinbase facilitating 67% of the activities. Single payments can be used for API calls, datasets, research materials, or computing resources.Coinbase indicated that Coinbase Business supports enterprises in natively receiving AI agent payments in USDC, and Coinbiz can help merchants sell services and content to software without relying on credit card credentials, manual invoicing, or payment processes designed with human customers in mind. Eligible businesses can earn a floating reward of 3.35% from idle USDC balances. USDC currently accounts for 99% of on-chain agent commerce transactions, while x402 represents 97% of agent finance protocol usage, with related activities operating on Base.

The Sandbox released an update on the security vulnerability attack incident involving the SAND cross-chain bridge, stating that the attacker modified the verification mechanism to forge cross-chain deposit messages and mint unbacked SAND. This incident resulted in approximately 14.7423 million SAND being withdrawn, valued at about $697,000. Additionally, some uncollateralized SAND was profited through market trading, leading to an overall economic impact of approximately $1.497 million, of which the attacker actually obtained about $987,000.The Sandbox stated that the attack did not affect the supply of SAND on Ethereum and Polygon, with the total amount of SAND on Ethereum remaining unchanged at 3 billion. There were also no super administrator privileges stolen, and the attack stemmed from a vulnerability caused by the combination of the general call function in the token contract and the design of bridge permissions. Currently, the related addresses have been marked, and collaboration has begun with exchanges, security agencies, and the LayerZero team.For affected users, The Sandbox promises to compensate wallets holding legitimate bridged SAND with a 1:1 ratio of SAND on the Ethereum chain based on an on-chain snapshot taken before the attack. The compensation application process is expected to open within two weeks and will last for two weeks.

Binance co-founder He Yi stated that Binance Wallet currently accounts for about 75% of the overall wallet transaction volume, processing over $13 billion in transactions daily. The wallet uses a Multi-Party Computation (MPC) architecture to enhance asset security and account recovery capabilities, and integrates features such as error address protection, potential malicious contract warnings, and high-risk token/network alerts.He Yi mentioned that the future direction of self-custody development is not only to improve security strength but also to make security usage more intuitive at the product design level.

According to reports from Liberty Times and other media, TSMC has completed the development and verification of the angstrom-level A16 (1.6nm) process, which is expected to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2026. This process uses TSMC's back-end power delivery network technology Super Power Rail (SPR), separating signal routing from power routing, with the power located on the back of the wafer to reduce bottlenecks.Compared to the 2nm process, the A16 is said to improve computing speed by 8% to 10%, reduce energy consumption by 15% to 20%, and increase chip density by 8% to 10%. TSMC views the 1.6nm process as a transitional step towards 1.4nm, with the goal of starting 1.4nm mass production in 2028.

Alibaba announced that its latest generation AI processor, Zhenwu M890, has been widely commercialized among over 650 external customers. The chip, through Alibaba Cloud services, has been applied in more than 20 industries including autonomous driving, the internet, and financial services, validating its capability to support end-to-end AI workloads.

According to the Industrial and Commercial Times, competition in advanced process technology for PC processors is heating up. Market news indicates that Intel's next-generation Nova Lake desktop processor will prioritize the introduction of bLLC large last-level cache to reduce access latency to system memory, competing with AMD's 3D V-Cache technology; the laptop version may be delayed until the subsequent Razor Lake-HX generation is released. The supply chain reveals that Nova Lake, set to debut early next year, will utilize a combination of Intel's 18A and TSMC's N2P processes, while the subsequent Razor Lake may further adopt TSMC's high-performance 2-nanometer N2X process.N2X is a high-performance extension of TSMC's N2 platform, targeting high-frequency CPUs, AI, and HPC applications, with transistor technology shifting from FinFET to nanosheets. If mass production is achieved, Intel's collaboration with TSMC on advanced processes is expected to extend to a broader 2-nanometer family, helping to reduce risks associated with a single proprietary process and optimize the timing and capacity configuration for high-end CPU launches.In addition to TSMC benefiting directly, related supply chains are also expected to welcome business opportunities. Sungsan is one of the few manufacturers in Taiwan capable of mass-producing its own CMP polishing pads, with a 25% year-on-year increase in consolidated semiconductor revenue in the first half of the year, rising to 66% of total revenue. Demand for Hard Pads and advanced packaging is strong, with a new Soft Pad line expected to begin trial production in the third quarter and gradually ramp up production in the fourth quarter, with products already applied in CoWoS and SoIC. Zhongsha holds CMP diamond discs and recycled wafers, reporting revenue of 2.49 billion yuan in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 17.9%, with gross margin rising to 40.1%, and shipments of 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer related diamond discs rapidly increasing.

Galaxy Research released the Q2 2026 Crypto Leverage Market Report, showing that the total amount of crypto collateralized lending decreased by 16.78% month-on-month to $56.16 billion, down 40.13% from the Q3 2025 peak of $78.69 billion. Among them, DeFi lending shrank by 27.61% month-on-month to $20.43 billion, while CeFi borrowing decreased by 9.62% month-on-month to $22.98 billion, marking the first time since Q3 2023 that CeFi volume has surpassed DeFi. Tether continues to dominate the CeFi market with a 58.54% share.The report points out that the current deleveraging differs from previous bear markets in its "orderly and moderate" pace: with consecutive quarterly declines of only 10%, 5%, and 17%, rather than the cliff-like collapse of over 55% in a single quarter as seen in 2022. In the futures market, open interest in Q2 slightly decreased by 3.08% month-on-month to $103.2 billion, but rebounded to about $114 billion in July. Regarding institutional corporate debt, Strategy completed a $1.5 billion debt buyback in May, reducing the total outstanding debt in the DAT industry to $16.1 billion. The report believes that if the market does not experience severe liquidations or counterparty defaults, deleveraging is expected to continue in a gradual step-down pattern.

AI Economic Settlement Agreement AEON announced the latest data showing that its transaction volume in July exceeded 39 million USD, with a cumulative processing amount surpassing 514 million USD, and the user base has exceeded 2.3 million;Among them, QR payments and cryptocurrency payments settled through AEON saw month-on-month growth of 83.5% and 55%, respectively. As the AI economy accelerates, the demand for instant, borderless payment infrastructure by AI Agents continues to rise. AEON's QR code and cryptocurrency payment network will become an important infrastructure for machine-to-machine payments and AI payment scenarios.AEON is improving payment infrastructure around scenarios such as collaboration between Agents and autonomous consumption by Agents, facilitating the flow of funds between AI and offline commerce.

The largest bank by asset size in Latin America, Itaú, is collaborating with OpenAssets to participate in a tokenized fixed income and investment fund test led by the industry. Brazil has become a testing ground for placing bonds, credit, and other financial assets on the blockchain under a regulatory framework.

According to The Block, New York-listed fintech company Broadridge announced that its Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform processed over $8 trillion in transactions in July, averaging about $365 billion per day, a year-on-year increase of 28%.DLR allows companies to use distributed ledger technology to settle repo transactions in existing trading and post-trading environments, enabling real-time financing and tokenized collateral liquidity. In addition, Broadridge also offers on-chain proxy voting and governance services, as well as digital asset infrastructure management.

Park Chang-min from Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Research Institute's Foundry Process Development Team stated at the "2026 Next Generation Lithography + Patterning Academic Conference" that the company plans to apply High-NA EUV technology starting from the 1-nanometer (A10) process, aiming for mass production around 2030. Samsung is currently still using the existing 0.33 NA EUV multiple patterning scheme for processes at 2 nanometers and below, with plans to achieve mass production of 1.4 nanometers by 2029, and then advance to 1 nanometer.High-NA EUV will increase the lens numerical aperture (NA) from 0.33 to 0.55, providing higher resolution, which can simplify ultra-fine processes that originally required multiple patterning into single patterning, helping to reduce manufacturing costs, improve production efficiency, and enhance design flexibility. However, this technology is highly challenging, equipment is expensive, and it requires simultaneous upgrades in supporting material technologies. Park Chang-min expects that the 1.4 nanometer and 1 nanometer processes will still primarily use 0.33 NA EUV multiple patterning, after which High-NA patterning will become the core technology of the new generation processes.

According to Sui monitoring, since the Hashi test network went live three weeks ago, it has processed over 1.1 million deposits and 165,000 withdrawals.In the past two weeks, over 50% of Bitcoin Signet transactions came from Hashi test activities.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, BitMEX has transferred 367.65 bitcoins from its cold wallet to its hot wallet again, amounting to approximately 23.92 million USD at current prices.In the past week, the exchange has conducted similar transfers multiple times, possibly related to handling user withdrawal requests following its closure announcement last month.

Jiang Yi, Director of the Policy Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated at a press conference on July 31 that in the first half of the year, China's pace of independent innovation in artificial intelligence has accelerated. Domestic companies such as Deep Exploration and Dark Side of the Moon have successively released open-source large models with parameter scales reaching "trillion" levels, and the global download volume of domestic large models has surpassed 10 billion times. The next step will focus on strengthening research and development in cutting-edge areas such as the basic theory of large models, training and inference efficiency, multimodality, and intelligent agents, and accelerating the layout and construction of national artificial intelligence application pilot bases, while vigorously cultivating intelligent derivative enterprises.Jiang Yi pointed out that there will be a coordinated approach to high-quality development and high-level security, accelerating the legislative process of the "Artificial Intelligence Law", constructing a "development---regulation---security" closed-loop system, establishing and improving technical monitoring, risk warning, and emergency response mechanisms, and adhering to the development concept of "human-led, for human use, and benevolent to humanity," actively responding to the impact of artificial intelligence on economic operation and employment distribution.

Ten European financial institutions have jointly launched Regulated Layer One (RL1). This network has been established and is operational in Luxembourg as a European cooperative, targeting regulated financial markets and tokenized assets. The founding members of RL1 include ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures, and Seturion. RL1 indicates that each member has equal decision-making power in network governance and development.This private permissioned network is based on the infrastructure developed by the German fintech company Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer (SWIAT), which has transferred ownership of the network to the cooperative. SWIAT states that the platform has processed over 50 transactions amounting to more than 700 million euros during its three years of production use. The intended uses of RL1 include digital currencies, tokenized bonds, collateral, and blockchain-based settlement. RL1 will be led by former SWIAT Managing Director Henning Vollbehr, and KfW and L-Bank will continue to support the initiative. RL1 is in discussions with more institutions, including NatWest, about joining the network.

Binance UAE has adopted a policy to transfer most requests from foreign law enforcement agencies to the UAE and judicial assistance treaty process, resulting in slower access to user data.European investigators and U.S. prosecutors have stated that the relevant changes make it more difficult to track down fraudsters, combat money laundering, and quickly freeze or seize assets. Binance will still respond directly to cases involving child sexual abuse, terrorism, or imminent threats to life.Binance stated that it has not reduced cooperation with regulatory and law enforcement agencies and defined the new process as a stronger safeguard that meets regulatory standards. The company's compliance operations continue to face ongoing scrutiny.

Visa and the on-chain data analysis platform Artemis previously jointly released the report "Agentic Payments from the Ground Up," which quantifies the trends of AI agent payments based on real-time on-chain data. The report points out that intelligent commerce should be divided into macro transactions (AI agents completing bookings, subscriptions, etc., adapting to existing card systems) and micro payments (high-frequency small payments between machines, with individual transactions far below $1, which traditional payment structures struggle to support).The report focuses on two "machine-native payment" protocols: x402 (developed by Coinbase, Cloudflare, etc., launching in May 2025) with an adjusted transaction volume of approximately $15 million and 109.6 million transactions as of April 21, 2026, with 422,000 buyers and about 5,300 sellers, primarily concentrated on Base, Solana, and Polygon, settled in USDC; MPP (developed by Stripe and Tempo, with Visa's participation, launching in mid-March 2026) had a transaction volume of approximately $25,000 and 115,000 transactions within 33 days of launch, supporting both on-chain crypto payments and fiat settlements.The report believes that the leap in AI capabilities (with the release of Claude 4.5 and GPT Codex 5.2 in mid-2025) has created a demand for programmatic payments, combined with the decreasing costs of blockchain settlements, making micro payments in the range of 1 cent to 1 dollar economically viable for the first time. Currently, the boundaries between crypto-native protocols and card payment camps are gradually blurring, but agent payments still face trust challenges such as erroneous purchases, adversarial attacks, and liability attribution.