Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

According to investment banking industry sources on August 20, South Korea is accelerating preparations to secure European covered bond equivalence status, which would reduce funding costs for Korean financial institutions issuing euro-denominated covered bonds. Korea Housing Finance Corporation, which issues over €1 billion annually, is leading the effort alongside German DZ Bank and law firm Kim & Chang. Equivalence recognition would allow Korean-issued covered bonds to receive the same regula

According to Yonhap Infomax, Saemaul Geumgo Central Council sold 3.4783 trillion won in non-performing loans in the first half of 2026 as of August 20. Of this amount, 3.1881 trillion won was sold through MG Asset Management Company, a specialized non-performing loan manager launched in July 2025. The asset recovery efforts drove the institution's delinquency ratio down to 5.08% by the end of 2025, from 8.37% at the end of the first half of 2025.

According to Bitget trading data, on August 20, South Korea's KOSPI index surged 6.28% intraday, with chip manufacturer SK Hynix gaining 10.80% and Samsung Electronics rising over 7%.

According to local media, a storage tank explosion erupted at Stora Enso's Kaukopaa facility in Imatra, southeastern Finland, on the morning of August 18. The fire triggered a tar oil leak of approximately 50 cubic meters, with portions flowing into nearby Lake Saimaa. The company is investigating the cause of elevated internal pressure that led to the tank rupture. Stora Enso stated that production at the Imatra plant has been temporarily halted to assess damage and begin repairs; the duration

Spot gold declined below $4,490 per ounce on August 20, falling 0.73% during the trading day.

According to Bitcoin.com News, on Aug. 18, Luke Dashjr and BIP-110 supporters escalated disagreement over replay protection for the proposed hard fork, which stalled Aug. 8 with only 2.53% miner support. Dashjr argued that replay protection is the "Spamcoin" (dominant Bitcoin chain's) responsibility, while BIP-110 backers plan to implement optional, rather than mandatory, replay protection via a new sighash option. This opt-in approach leaves users responsible for manually separating assets and

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, SpaceX explored acquiring AI coding startup Cognition, but Cognition CEO Scott Wu stated the company is "not for sale and no such negotiations are underway." Insiders revealed the two parties are currently discussing collaboration, including Cognition potentially accessing SpaceX's computing resources. Cognition raised funding at a $260 billion valuation in May 2026 and is now seeking a new funding round at a minimum $400 billion valuation.

According to KB Securities research head Kim Dong-won, Samsung Electronics' recent stock decline should not overshadow the near-term profitability potential of AI investments. Over the past two days, Samsung's shares fell nearly 10% to 247,500 won amid concerns over rising U.S. Treasury yields. KB Securities argues the slump presents a rebound opportunity, citing that AI infrastructure capacity at major cloud providers including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft is largely booked through 2028, sugge

According to Yonhap News, South Korea's ASAP (voice phishing information sharing and analysis AI platform) has blocked approximately 660 billion Korean won in losses and frozen over 7,000 accounts in its roughly 9 months of operation.

According to Samsung Securities analyst Yi Jong-wook and Yonhap News, on August 20, SK Hynix announced a 40 trillion won stock buyback and cancellation program, representing 3.3% of circulating shares. The decision comes as the company aims to address market concerns about memory semiconductor profit sustainability amid recent slowdowns in DRAM price increases. The scale and proportion of SK Hynix's buyback exceeds those of global competitors, including Kioxia's 800 billion yen program announced

According to Strategy's disclosure reported by PANews on August 20, twelve of the company's top 15 institutional shareholders increased holdings in the second quarter, adding $1.2 billion combined to their positions. Capital International Investors led with $3.49 billion in holdings, adding $346 million compared to Q1, while UBS, Geode Capital, and Capital Research Global Investors reduced their stakes. Goldman Sachs posted the largest increase, raising its position from $149 million to $555 mil

Japan's 40-year government bond yield declined 9.5 basis points, settling at 4.055% as of August 20.

According to Bloomberg, Kuaishou's second-quarter net income fell 36% year-on-year to 3.2 billion yuan (US$467 million) in an August 19 filing, with revenue largely flat at 35.5 billion yuan (US$5.27 billion). Higher revenue-sharing payouts to content creators and increased AI-related research and development spending drove operating costs up 35%. Weaker income from the livestreaming business offset most growth in online marketing services.

According to Jin10 Futures citing CITIC Futures on August 20, fuel oil futures contracts opened higher but retreated sharply, trading at 4,229 yuan/ton with gains of less than 1%. CITIC Futures noted that geopolitical tensions remain the core driver of current oil prices, with fuel oil tracking crude oil's significant rise. The firm highlighted that heightened Middle East tensions create dual benefits for fuel oil: increased export disruption expectations and reinforced expectations of natural g

According to BlockBeats, Unitree stock on China's Shanghai exchange opened down 15.01% on August 20, with market valuation at 2,980.9 billion yuan. The decline comes after the stock surged 460% the previous trading day.

According to Bloomberg, Alibaba shares in Hong Kong rose 34% this quarter through August 20, outperforming the Hang Seng Tech Index as investors bet on the company's AI spending. Revenue is expected to grow 8.4% year-over-year, marking the fastest pace in nearly three years, though profit may decline due to continued heavy investment in AI models and cloud services. Alibaba Cloud's Qwen AI model family was adopted by more than 90,000 enterprises within its first year.

According to E-Daily, the Korean won fell to the 1380 level on August 20, declining 3.45 won from the previous trading day as of 10:09 a.m. local time. The weakness was driven by semiconductor exporters' continued dollar sales and weakening global dollar sentiment following the U.S. Treasury's expanded long-term government bond buyback program.

Fuel oil 2609 contract retreated sharply intraday to 4,239 yuan/ton on August 20, narrowing gains to 0.62%, down from the session high of 4,386 yuan/ton. Trading volume exceeded 11.3 billion yuan, with open positions declining by 12,900 contracts during the day.

The Malaysian ringgit appreciated to 4.04 against the U.S. dollar, reaching its strongest level since mid-June.

Spot gold surged past the $4,500 mark on August 20, marking the first breakthrough since June 4. The rally rippled through precious metals ETFs, with China Investment Promotion Group Silver LOF climbing over 4%, while Gold-themed LOF and Harvest Gold LOF each rose more than 3%, and Gold LOF gained nearly 3%.