Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

From 12:30 to 12:45 UTC on August 21, 2026, BTC surged rapidly over the 15-minute period, reaching a high of 77,438.4 USDT and ultimately closing above 77,000. Its return for the period was +0.97%, with prices ranging from 76,636.1 to 77,438.4 USDT and an amplitude of 1.05%. Market volatility intensified significantly, as safe-haven sentiment and short covering jointly drove the rapid rebound. The primary driver of this move was the sharp escalation in geopolitical risks. The U.S.-Iran conflict

According to ChainCatcher, Starbridge Capital's automated trading system triggered mass liquidations in London Gold (XAUUSD) derivatives on August 19 evening. The system generated large reverse short positions within 1-3 seconds, followed by a rapid rise in gold prices, resulting in collective

SK Hynix announced a 40 trillion won share buyback program on the 20th (local time), drawing Wall Street attention to the timing strategy. The South Korean memory chipmaker issued American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) last month, raising over $2.6 billion at prices approximately 50% higher than

According to the Wall Street Journal, SK Hynix announced on August 20 a buyback program worth approximately 40 trillion won, under which the chipmaker will retire 24.07 million shares. The buyback comes roughly one month after SK Hynix raised over $2.6 billion through ADR issuance to U.S.

CME CEO Terry Duffy told the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee that perpetual futures and 24/7 trading are unavoidable trends for traditional finance. According to Duffy, decentralized platforms such as trade.xyz are directly challenging the U.S. market through around-the-clock trading, even

According to Businesswire, BSTR Holdings announced it has terminated its merger agreement with Cantor Equity Partners, originally signed in July 2025. The termination was driven by current market pressures on bitcoin valuations and public bitcoin treasury company valuations, which limited the

According to Gate market data, spot gold declined $20 short-term to trade at $4,566.49 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rose 10 points to 98.76.

U.S. Treasury markets steadied on Friday (August 21) after a volatile week, with the 10-year yield holding at 4.69%, according to analysts including Philip Marey of Rabobank and Gregoire Pesques of Amundi. The Treasury Department announced expanded bond buyback operations this week, which briefly

Kakao announced on the 21st a board decision to split into Kakao AI (new entity) and Kakao X (surviving entity) via equity carve-out, citing AI competitiveness strengthening. Major institutional shareholders Tencent affiliate MAXIMO (5.7%, 2nd largest) and BlackRock (exceeding 5%) have increased

According to Maeil Business News, Kakao announced on August 21 a reorganization splitting the company into two entities: KakaoAI (36%) and KakaoX (64%). KakaoAI will house KakaoTalk, AI services, advertising, and commerce operations under CEO Jung Shin-a. KakaoX will serve as an investment holding c

According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, Nvidia (NVDA.O) is expected to announce its investment in Cloverleaf Infrastructure on Friday (August 22).

According to UAnalyze, U.S. stock index futures rebounded on Friday premarket (August 21), with Dow Jones futures gaining 0.37%, S&P 500 futures up 0.33%, and Nasdaq 100 futures jumping 0.60%. High U.S. Treasury yields and geopolitical risks continue to weigh on market sentiment, though tech

According to its prospectus filing, Yangtze Memory achieved operating revenue of 47.042 billion yuan (approximately $6.5 billion USD) and net profit of 33.379 billion yuan in Q1 2026. Based on TrendForce data calculations, the company ranked third globally and first in China among NAND Flash

Moderna fell about 24% to $133.32 on Thursday, according to on-chain data, giving back a large portion of its historic 177% surge the prior day following the first positive Phase 3 result for an mRNA cancer vaccine.

According to Jinrui Futures research report, silver futures on the Shanghai Exchange closed at 16,771 on August 21, driven by declining long-term U.S. Treasury yields and a weakening U.S. dollar. The decline in Treasury yields follows signals of improved liquidity conditions from expanded U.S.

According to BlockBeats, on August 21, the Shanghai Stock Exchange changed Yangtze Memory Holdings' IPO review status for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board to accepted.

According to Ukraine's Agricultural Ministry, grain exports from August 1-21, 2026 dropped to 540,000 tons from 1.73 million tons in the same period of 2025, representing a 69% decline year-over-year.

Standard Chartered's global head of digital asset research Geoff Kendrick stated in a Friday note that Bitcoin may move toward its all-time high of $126,000 before year-end. Kendrick cited short liquidations as the primary driver of the latest rally, alongside recovering inflows into spot Bitcoin

Michael Burry, the investor known for shorting the 2008 housing market, warned on Friday that the AI data center construction boom presents structural risks similar to the 2008 financial crisis. In a Substack post, Burry highlighted that private non-residential construction excluding data centers

Michael Burry warned on Friday that the AI data center investment boom exhibits structural risks similar to those preceding the 2008 financial crisis, according to his latest Substack post. He cited June data showing private non-residential construction excluding data centers fell 7.9%