Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3% at 66,016.36 points on Aug 21, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.2% to 4,067.29 points.

According to the Cardano Foundation, the network has published a draft Cardano Improvement Proposal called Dijkstra aimed at improving smart contract execution pathways and compute efficiency. The proposal remains in draft form and has not been activated on Cardano's mainnet. The initiative targets developer experience and smart contract performance as part of Cardano's long-term competitive strategy in the blockchain ecosystem.

According to recent announcements, SpaceX's Starship second-stage recovery test has been delayed from originally planned August to the end of 2026 or early 2027. While the first-stage booster has achieved multiple successful recoveries, the second-stage vehicle's recovery breakthrough remains pending, prompting the postponement.

According to on-chain data tracked by Odaily, trader Maji Dage currently maintains long positions totaling approximately $81.5 million across ETH, HYPE, BTC, and PUMP, with combined unrealized gains of roughly $4.1 million. His largest position is a 25x leveraged ETH long worth $43.65 million, with unrealized gains of $3.496 million, followed by a 10x HYPE long valued at $17.98 million with $237,000 in gains.

According to Odaily, on August 12, Poolin mining pool established a creditor committee to oversee its bankruptcy proceedings and has engaged legal counsel to monitor the liquidation process. Creditors can now submit claims through the official Verita Global page without requiring separate legal representation. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey in July and is proceeding with the sale of its Texas-based bitcoin mining asset

According to OKX market data, NEIRO surged over 60% intraday on August 21, briefly breaking through 0.00011 USD. The token was trading at 0.0001103 USD at the time of reporting.

According to The Block, Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley said on August 21 that AI agents will become "first-class economic actors" with the ability to freely operate across cash, bank cards, and crypto payment channels. The company has built an agent banking platform and implemented a "know-your-agent" mechanism to support these transactions.

According to Anthropic, Claude can now directly control computers and browsers. Previously, the model required a separate call for each action like mouse clicks or text input; now it can perform multiple actions—clicks, inputs, key presses, and screenshots—within a single task. The updated browser tool no longer relies solely on screenshots to locate buttons; it reads both page structure and visual information, enabling direct manipulation of webpage elements. The approach makes the tool more ro

Hong Kong-listed gold stocks advanced on August 21, with Chifeng Gold (06693.HK) leading gains at over 9%, followed by Shandong Gold (01787.HK) and Tongguan Gold (00340.HK) both up more than 8%. Zijin Gold International (02259.HK) rose 7.5%, while Lingbao Gold (03330.HK) climbed 6.9%.

According to an analysis by AP and Brazilian investigative outlet Reporter Brasil based on Brazilian National Mining Agency data released in June, foreign mining companies have submitted 42% of Brazil's 2,727 rare earth exploration applications, making the South American nation an increasingly attractive alternative to China for resource diversification. Australian firms lead with 695 applications, followed by US companies with 347 applications and Canadian firms, reflecting growing Western inte

According to TrendForce and China's National Bureau of Statistics, China's domestic AI chip localization rate is projected to reach nearly 90% in 2026, more than doubling from 45% in 2025, with Cambricon and Huawei as primary beneficiaries. In July, China's integrated circuit production reached 53 billion units, up 20.7% year-over-year, averaging 1.7 billion units daily; cumulative output for the first seven months totaled 334.2 billion units, exceeding annual production in most countries. Inves

CME Group Chairman Terry Duffy and Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara clashed over prediction-market regulation during a Commodity Futures Trading Commission meeting on Thursday. Duffy raised concerns that some prediction-market contracts could be manipulated and questioned why Kalshi could offer a compute-related prediction market while similar CME products remained under regulatory review. Lopes Lara challenged Duffy over CME's own history with market manipulation, prompting a sharp exchange o

According to the presidential office, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung appointed Park Jung-Sung as trade minister on August 21.

Following South Korea's regulatory tightening of single-stock leveraged ETF requirements on July 31, domestic investors shifted allocation patterns from 2x to 3x leverage products through August 19, according to the Depository Institution. The 3x leverage segment surged to 40.8% of overseas stock trades from 36.6% prior to regulation, while 2x products declined to 4.3% from 7.4%. The U.S. semiconductor index tracker SOXL (Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x ETF) emerged as the top overseas stoc

According to Citi strategists, on August 21, the bank downgraded its 3-month U.S. dollar index forecast to 98.34 from 102.12. Separately, Federal Reserve Governor Beth Harmon stated the central bank had not yet seen evidence requiring an early rate increase, and noted that rising long-term Treasury yields represent a global issue rather than a domestic one.

According to Jin10, citing UK Office for National Statistics, UK retail sales declined in July, primarily dragged down by weakness in non-food stores and non-store retail. The ONS attributed the slowdown to early promotional timing that shifted demand to June. Department store sales fell 1.4% month-on-month, while textile, clothing, and footwear retailers dropped 2.7%; non-store retail sales slid 3.6%. Food retail showed resilience with a 0.5% monthly gain, boosted by promotions, high temperatur

According to Korean Economic TV's analysis on August 21, the U.S. dollar index fell to 98, marking a three-month low, despite rising Treasury yields globally. The dollar weakening amid higher rates signals renewed investor concern over fiscal sustainability rather than economic strength, prompting a resurgence of debasement trades—strategies betting on currency depreciation through alternative assets like gold and crypto. The won strengthened sharply, breaking the 1,400 psychological support lev

According to a U.S. investment firm on Aug 21, AMD and Marvell's reported collaboration with Google on AI ASICs does not indicate that MediaTek will lose its existing projects. The firm noted that Google is expanding its custom chip ecosystem rather than replacing MediaTek's current allocation, with no evidence Marvell has taken over MediaTek's planned AI accelerator program. The firm expects MediaTek's AI ASIC revenue to grow from $2 billion in 2026 to $18 billion in 2027 and $40 billion in 202

According to Korea Economic Daily TV, the U.S. Treasury Department rolled out a large-scale buyback program today (August 21) to ease surging long-term bond yields, but the measure's effectiveness appeared limited after just one day. The move confirmed the market's direction toward higher interest rates even as the Treasury attempted to stabilize the volatile Treasury market.