Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

As of 9:30 AM Beijing time on September 18, New York gold futures rose 0.41%, silver futures climbed 0.92%, and copper futures fell 0.48%.

According to PANews, UNI surged over 15% in the past 24 hours, trading at $7.80, while NEAR jumped over 20% in the same period, reaching $3.20.

OpenAI announced the launch of Astra for Law today, combining GPT-6 Astra with legal search indexing, professional analysis instructions, and governance tools designed for law firms and legal tech companies. The platform retrieves U.S. case law, statutes, and administrative decisions. Internal testing showed legal research accuracy improved approximately 40% compared to using only web search with GPT-6 Astra. Initial access will be available through ChatGPT and Codex trusted access programs for

According to ChainCatcher, A-stock chip stocks opened higher today (Sept 18), with Zhongjing Tech hitting its daily limit and Dongwei Semiconductor rising nearly 5%. Other chip names including Torrence, Puran Semiconductors, Huahai Chengke and Jingsheng Semiconductors also gained. Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that AI safety is paramount, and the company expects chip shipments next year to be double this year's volumes.

According to Bitget, at Hong Kong market open on September 18, artificial intelligence stocks led gains, with MINIMAX-W rising nearly 4% and Zhipu up 3.58%.

According to MSX.COM data, the U.S. stock market closed higher on September 18, with the Nasdaq up 1.69%, S&P 500 up 1.14%, and Dow Jones up 0.61%, while the VIX fear index fell 10.23%. AI-related stocks broadly advanced, with Tempus AI leading gains at 14.85%, followed by Supermicro up 9.5%, Astera Labs up 9.06%, Arm up 8.57%, and Ambarella up 6.6%.

According to Odaily, USD/CNH (USDCNH) fell to 6.700, trading at 6.69914 with a 24-hour decline of 0.2%, based on Gate data.

According to BlockBeats, the ZEC ecosystem NFT project zkSNARKs completed its auction on Sept 18, allocating 8,000 NFTs at a final settlement price of 1.5 ZEC, with 16,971 total bids received. The secondary market is scheduled to open tomorrow, with refunds for unsuccessful bidders processed within 24 hours. Bitcoin Inscriptions builder @LeonidasNFT publicly accused the zkSNARKs team of being serial entrepreneurs in the Ordinals space with a history of fraudulent projects.

According to Jinlian Creative, as of September 18, China's refined oil market displays a 10.67% rate of change with a reference oil price of $104.32 per barrel. The country is expected to increase both gasoline and diesel prices by 620 yuan per ton in the coming adjustment cycle. The next pricing adjustment window closes on September 24 at midnight, based on current market calculations.

Offshore yuan strengthened to 6.6967 against the dollar today (September 18, 2026), marking its highest intraday level since July 2022.

According to the People's Bank of China, today the central bank conducted 463.3 billion yuan in 7-day reverse repurchase operations at a 1.40% interest rate, with full subscription and allocation. The PBOC also conducted 100 billion yuan in 14-day reverse repo operations using fixed-quantity, fixed-rate bidding with multiple price levels.

According to Fortune Magazine, OpenAI hired Brian McCarthy, a senior business executive from SpaceX, as vice president of global sales on September 18. The Information reported that OpenAI simultaneously recruited two senior sales staff members from Snowflake. OpenAI's enterprise customer base has surpassed 2 million, doubling year-over-year, with a target to have enterprise customers generate half its revenue by year-end 2026.

Hanwha Finance announced on September 18 that its subsidiaries signed partnerships with Abu Dhabi authorities on September 16. Hanwha Life partnered with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) on digital finance collaboration, focusing on ecosystem development and cross-border payments. Hanwha Asset Management, alongside Hana Financial Group, partnered with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) on stablecoins and financial infrastructure to expand remittance solutions between South Korea and Abu Dhabi.

According to Yonhapinfomax, on September 18, the Korea Export Insurance Corporation (KEIC) union announced plans to hold a press conference outside the presidential office on September 29 to oppose the government's planned relocation of public institutions outside the capital region. The union, representing 630 members, argues that KEIC's core function in overseas export financing and project management cannot be effectively served outside Seoul. KEIC supported 268 trillion won in exports last y

According to Guru Club, on September 16, the CLARITY Act failed its Senate procedural vote with a 50-50 split, falling short of the 60 votes required to advance the bill for formal debate. The failed vote means the legislation cannot proceed to the amendment and debate stages at this time, though it does not permanently eliminate the bill and may be reintroduced in future legislative sessions.

According to BlockBeats, on September 18, Jacob Horne, former Zora CEO, joined Polymarket as head of product development to lead the DeFi vertical. Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan announced the appointment and stated the company will soon host a DeFi community meeting to gather feedback from longtime users and present plans to develop what the team aims to be the best version of Polymarket DeFi.

According to CNBC, Beijing-based AI startup Moonshot launched Kimi for financial services in China on September 17. The product integrates data from sources including S&P Global Market Intelligence, Crunchbase, Wind, Tianyancha, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR system, as well as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the St. Louis Fed's FRED database. Investment bank CICC and venture capital firm HSG are among early users.

According to CFTC official announcement and Bloomberg, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a no-action letter on September 18 for passive software providers under specific conditions. Staff will not recommend enforcement action if software merely assists users in trading with regulated futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, or designated contract markets, and does not hold user assets or make trading decisions on their behalf. The measure expands individual guidance

China's yuan midpoint rate rose 59 points to 6.7521 against the dollar yesterday (September 17), marking the strongest level since February 3, 2023, and the biggest daily gain since July 15, 2026.

According to ChainCatcher citing Ember monitoring, a whale closed 10,160 ZEC longs at $1,458 today, realizing $8.29 million in profit. The position was opened on August 20 at $630 per ZEC, with an initial capital of approximately $6.4 million. The whale held the position for over one month, closing at a more than double entry price.