Gate Crypto Flash News and Market Updates

Earlier this month, SpaceX announced plans to build its own gas-fired power plant in Texas. To support this initiative and manage growing fuel and power needs, the company is now hiring a natural gas trader to build and lead an internal trading team focused on physical and financial natural gas transactions. The move underscores the importance of self-sufficient energy supply to SpaceX's core operations.

According to Walmart, the retailer will begin offering tap-to-pay options including Google Pay and Apple Pay at select U.S. locations starting August 24, 2026. Alphabet Inc. confirmed that Google Pay will be available at select Walmart and Sam's Club stores, with Apple Pay reportedly also included. Walmart plans to expand the service to all U.S. stores by year-end 2026 and to gas stations by mid-2027.

On Tuesday, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) entered consent orders imposing five-year trading bans on former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Ellison also received a 10-year registration ban, while Wang received an eight-year registration ban. CFTC enforcement director David Miller said the orders reflected Wang's and Ellison's material assistance in the Commissi

According to Bloomberg Grains Index, CBOT corn futures rose 5.17% this week to $5.0825 per bushel on the August 21 close. CBOT soybean futures climbed 4% to $12.4025 per bushel, while soybean meal futures gained 3.16%. Wheat futures added 1.52% to reach $7 per bushel. The Bloomberg Grains Classification Index rose 0.32% Friday to 33.1859 points, with a weekly gain of 3.39%.

According to Google Quantum AI's March 31, 2026 whitepaper, breaking Bitcoin's elliptic curve cryptography (ECDSA 256) requires fewer than 500,000 physical qubits, approximately 20 times fewer than previously estimated in 2019. The research identified roughly 6.9 million BTC, about 32% of total supply, sitting in wallets with publicly exposed keys vulnerable to quantum attacks, CoinDesk reported. Bitcoin developers proposed BIP 360, a quantum-resistant address standard using Pay-to-Merkle-Root o

Moderna and Merck announced on Wednesday (August 19) that their mRNA therapy successfully halted recurrence or spread of melanoma in over 1,000 patients during late-stage clinical trials, lifting the healthcare sector to its best weekly performance since June 26. The healthcare index rose over 4% for the week through Friday (August 21). Moderna's stock surged over 9% on Friday, while Merck advanced more than 2% during the same period.

According to the U.S. State Department, on August 21, the United States approved the sale of 103 AIM-9X Sidewinder BlockII air-to-air missiles worth $125 million to South Korea. The package also includes 10 tactical guidance sets and related equipment and services. The State Department said the sale will enhance South Korea's air defense and deterrence capabilities.

According to OpenAI, the company will reduce API and credit pricing for GPT-5.6 Sol by over 20% within the next three months. The API is now available for use, with gradual rollout to eligible ChatGPT Work and Codex credit plans. Pricing for Pro, Plus, and Business subscriptions will remain unchanged.

According to Kalshi, gold has just surpassed U.S. Treasury securities to become the largest reserve asset held by central banks globally.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reduced their net short positions in natural gas by 3,405 contracts during the week ended August 18, bringing the total to 66,836 contracts.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, WTI crude oil futures speculators reduced their net long positions by 3,584 contracts to 102,274 contracts for the week ending August 18.

According to Ann Miletti, head of equity investments at Allspring Global Investments, the upcoming Jackson Hole Economic Symposium next week presents a bigger concern for Wall Street than Nvidia's earnings. Miletti said the firm focuses on factors within its control, including identifying companies with strong balance sheets and operational flexibility to navigate various market conditions.

According to the CFTC, in the week of August 18, speculators' net long positions in NYMEX WTI crude oil increased by 320 contracts to 104,035 contracts, marking a three-week high.

According to the CFTC, as of the week ending August 18, COMEX gold speculator net long positions increased by 4,054 contracts to 145,922. Silver speculator net long positions rose by 456 contracts to 10,768, while copper speculator net long positions fell by 1,655 contracts to 79,225.

According to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju, Bitcoin rallied to $79,000 since August 19, gaining approximately 23% in value, driven by short position liquidations and spot market demand. Ki Young Ju stated that the recent recovery signals the market remains strong and the bear market may have effectively ended, with such rallies typically indicating the bottom has been reached. LD Capital founder Jack Yi also confirmed the bear market has officially ended, citing Bitcoin's breakthrough above 120-da

According to BitcoinTreasures.NET, SATA purchased 223 BTC on Thursday and an additional 183 BTC today (August 21). The institution's weekly funding is sufficient to support total acquisitions of 400 BTC, with purchases continuing.

According to Odaily, on August 19, crypto analysis platform Sandmark found that Binance still allows users from Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and Belgium to register and complete identity verification, with or without VPN. Verified accounts received no warnings about missing MiCA licenses and can still use services including receiving cryptocurrency deposits. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) required unauthorized institutions to stop opening EU customer accounts by July 1.

On August 21, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow the Trump administration to continue construction of the White House banquet hall project, temporarily halting a judicial order that would have stopped most of the work. The Court's administrative stay measure gives the justices additional time to review the administration's formal request to permit the $400 million project to proceed during ongoing litigation.

Onshore Chinese yuan appreciated to 6.7215 per U.S. dollar in overnight trading on Aug 21, up 45 points from Thursday's close. Trading volume reached 29.963 billion U.S. dollars.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed down 0.50% overnight at 25,895, while the Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.78% to 4,731.