Last night and this morning’s important news (July 14–July 15)

Humanoid robotics company Zujidongli (逐际动力) completes nearly $200 million Pre-IPO funding

Shenzhen humanoid robotics company Zujidongli (逐际动力) has completed a Pre-IPO round of nearly $200 million (about RMB 1.36B). Post-investment valuation reaches RMB 15 billion. In the past six months, it has raised a cumulative $400 million. Investors in this round include IDG Capital, Luxshare Precision (an Apple supply-chain company), Europe’s GGG Group and Redstone VC, Huashan Capital, and Hefei Binhu Industrial Development & Investment Group, among others. In addition, United Arab Emirates-based Stone Venture has made follow-on investments across multiple rounds; several existing shareholders including Oasis Capital, Jichu Capital, Nanshan Zhanxin Investment, Shangqin Capital, and NIO Capital have made oversubscribed additions. Overseas capital accounts for nearly 70%. The company plans to step up core technology R&D, advance mass-scale deployment of LimX Luna, and expand into overseas markets. It has already completed a shareholding restructuring and is steadily advancing toward an IPO.

DeepSeek restarts a new round of funding within one month, with valuation potentially rising to about $71 billion

After Chinese AI startup DeepSeek completed its first round of roughly $7 billion funding at the end of May, with a post-investment valuation of about $52 billion, this week it has begun preliminary negotiations with new investors for a new round. The pre-deal valuation for the new transaction is set at about $71 billion, up about 37% from the prior round. The company plans to increase capital expenditures—building its own data centers and buying more AI chips—to meet rapidly growing compute demand for businesses such as AI Agents. In the first round, founder Liang Wenfeng personally invested about $3 billion; other investors include CATL, Tencent, JD.com, NetEase, IDG, Monolith, 10X and a national-level AI fund, among others.

UK HMRC will apply “no gain, no loss” tax treatment to some crypto lending and liquidity pools

The UK’s HMRC will apply “no gain, no loss” treatment to specific crypto-asset lending and liquidity pool arrangements, taxing capital gains (CGT) only when users make a substantive economic disposal. The measure takes effect from April 6, 2027 and applies to individuals and trustees participating in crypto lending and liquidity pools run by automated market makers (AMMs). The policy covers three scenarios for a single crypto lending arrangement, borrowed assets, and participation in liquidity via smart contracts: where crypto of the same type is used in and out and the amount remains unchanged, it is treated as “no gain, no loss”; the difference between deposited and redeemed amounts is used to calculate capital gains or losses. HMRC expects the rule to affect about 700k participants in related transactions, and will be implemented by amending the “Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992”.

The ECB selects 36 payment institutions to take part in the digital euro pilot launching in the second half of 2027

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced it has selected 36 payment service providers (PSPs) in the euro area to participate in a digital euro pilot. The pilot will start in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months, in cooperation between the ECB and 19 euro-area national central banks. It will test functions such as digital euro payments, offline payments, e-commerce and in-store consumption, and optimize user experience in preparation for a future formal issuance of the digital euro. After a call for expressions of interest was sent to payment service providers (PSPs) in March 2026, more than 50 applications were received; ultimately 36 PSPs from multiple member states were selected. They include Deutsche Bank, Adyen, Revolut Bank, Stripe Technology Europe, Worldline, and others. The ECB said that if the EU passes digital euro regulations in 2026, it aims to be ready for the first issuance of a digital euro by 2029; whether it will be formally issued remains subject to a later decision.

Binance Alpha Box launches token airdrops for Orochi Network (ON) and Metaplex (MPLX)

The Binance Alpha Box campaign is live. The airdrop prize pool consists of tokens from Orochi Network (ON) and Metaplex (MPLX). Users holding at least 251 Binance Alpha Points can claim an airdrop once on the Alpha Events page. After claiming, they will be assigned to different reward tiers, receiving either 315, 395, or 1125 ON, or 1038, 1298, or 3705 MPLX. Rewards are first-come, first-served; if they are not fully distributed, the participation threshold will automatically drop by 5 points every 5 minutes. Claiming consumes 15 Alpha Points, and users must confirm within 24 hours; otherwise the airdrop will be considered forfeited.

London payments firm Velocity completes a $38 million Series A round led by crypto VC Dragonfly

London-based payments startup Velocity has completed a $38 million Series A round led by crypto VC Dragonfly, with participation from Coinbase, Capital One Ventures, and market maker Wintermute. Velocity was founded in 2025. It serves global merchants, payment institutions, fintech companies, and financial institutions, providing stablecoin-based cross-border settlement and treasury management solutions. Its main competitors are traditional banks and FX institutions. The company is currently operating in the US, some European countries, and Australia. The new funding will be used to apply for licenses related to Africa and Latin America, strengthen asset custody infrastructure, and develop yield-generating stablecoin products to meet the more complex treasury and cross-border settlement needs of large enterprises.

Ethereum institutional privacy tech firm EthSystems is formed and supported by Bitmine and Sharplink, among others

Ethereum institutional privacy technology company EthSystems announced it is officially starting up and has received strategic funding support from ecosystem backers including Bitmine, Sharplink Gaming, and Joe Lubin. The company is reportedly founded by the core team from the Ethereum Foundation’s institutional privacy working group, focusing on developing privacy technologies for banks, asset management firms, and other regulated institutions—enabling institutions to execute large-scale financial transactions on the Ethereum network while protecting sensitive information such as transaction details and customer identities.

US June CPI year-on-year (not seasonally adjusted) 3.5%, below market expectations of 3.8%

The US June CPI year-on-year (not seasonally adjusted) recorded 3.5% (prior value 4.2%), while market expectations were 3.8%. US June CPI month-on-month (seasonally adjusted) recorded -0.4%, the largest decline since April 2020.

Pact Labs completes $7 million A round led by Tether

Tether announced that it led a $7 million A round for infrastructure provider Pact Labs. Blockchange Ventures and Lasagna also participated. The funds will be used to expand USA₮ applications in scenarios including payroll disbursement, salary advances, credit, and everyday payments. Tether plans to embed digital dollars USA₮ that meet US regulatory requirements into US enterprises’ payroll and payment systems through Pact Labs—enabling real-time salary payments, embedding into digital wallets, and bypassing the time delays of traditional batch-processing payments.

Grayscale transfers about 852 BTC to Coinbase Prime

Grayscale transferred 852.7 BTC to Coinbase Prime, worth about $54.4 million at the current price.

Insiders: DeepSeek expects to file an IPO application this year

DeepSeek has started planning for an IPO in mainland China. It plans to submit filings as early as this year, targeting a listing in 2027. The company is working with accounting firms to complete its financial reports before December this year to prepare for the filing. DeepSeek is also restarting another private placement after the prior round of about $7 billion funding. It plans to raise at least RMB 480 billion (about $71 billion), targeting new funds of no less than RMB 10 billion. The final size will depend on investor participation, or could be multiplied several times. Existing shareholders include Tencent, CATL, and a national AI industry investment fund, among others. Founder Liang Wenfeng said the company will prioritize investment in cutting-edge AI research and open-source models, aiming for a long-term goal of general artificial intelligence.

Kalshi launches an AI compute forward curve tool, betting on “compute commoditization”

Prediction market platform Kalshi has launched a forward curve tool used to price AI computing cost. Through weekly and monthly compute-cost event contract timelines, it provides a single forward price for up to one year to measure where the cost of renting GPUs of different tiers may go in the future. Kalshi says the tool can provide a pricing foundation for subsequent derivatives such as AI-compute-related futures and options, serving hedging and risk management needs. Meanwhile, CME Group and ICE are also moving to work with index compilers to launch futures contracts linked to AI compute. Compute is increasingly being viewed as a new type of commodity, similar to natural gas and jet fuel.

Federal Reserve Chair Waller: The Fed is committed to price stability; the inflation target is 2%

At a hearing in the US House of Representatives, Fed Chair Waller said: “We want economic growth to be broader. We want the rise in inflation to be more limited. Inflation is a matter of choice. This is not the time for the Fed to shrug off responsibility for inflation. The Fed is committed to price stability, with an inflation target of 2%. The Fed has tools to achieve price stability. I have been very critical of the Fed framework in 2020—this is not a secret. The framework the Fed had in 2020 was a mistake and it failed. I’m glad my predecessors later abandoned the Fed framework from 2020. I will revisit the inflation framework to understand the causes of inflation and what measures we can take.”

Trump: The strike on Iran will continue until I call it off; energy targets hit last

US President Trump said in an interview that the US strikes on Iran will continue until he decides to stop. Trump reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open. Trump said the US will ultimately target Iran’s energy targets, but those targets will be hit last. Trump said that unless Iran returns to the negotiating table, the US next week will strike Iran’s power plants and bridges. When asked when he last spoke with Iran, Trump said his representatives spoke with Iranian officials this afternoon. Trump said US officials told Iran that Tehran would be better off reaching an agreement, otherwise it would have “nothing.” When asked whether he thinks Iran will reach an agreement, Trump said Iran should do so, but he doesn’t know whether Iran will.

Apple is in talks with a startup that compresses AI models so they can run locally on iPhones

Apple is evaluating the technology of PrismML. The startup claims the technology can deeply compress high-performance AI models so they can run directly on iPhones, with up to a 15x reduction in memory usage. The breakthrough could allow more AI processing to be done locally on phones without sending requests to the cloud, improving Siri’s speed and strengthening user privacy protection. If the performance PrismML claims fully holds up in real-world tests, the technology could reshape market demand for memory and data-center compute; however, analysts say the AI industry overall will continue to consume large amounts of chip resources.

OpenAI plans to launch a smart home speaker as its first hardware product

OpenAI is developing a screenless, mobile smart speaker as an AI companion device with human-like traits. It can integrate with and control smart home appliances while deeply leveraging the full capabilities of ChatGPT. The device’s core design feature is that it will continuously complete personalized iterations as it learns more deeply about users’ usage habits—proactively serving users. Its most significant highlight is having a dedicated personality trait that can build a human-like emotional connection with users. OpenAI plans to officially launch the product this year, with market availability in 2027. However, the project may be delayed due to a lawsuit filed by Apple—Apple alleges that OpenAI stole its trade secrets to speed up development of its own hardware.

Wall Street grows cautious about Circle; analysts warn USDC’s economic model pressures are increasing

Wall Street analysts’ caution about Circle is intensifying. Mizuho downgraded Circle from neutral to underperform, cutting its target price from $85 to $50, a decline of more than 41%. On the same day, JPMorgan also lowered its profit expectations for Circle and Coinbase. Mizuho believes Open USD is supported by more than 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase. Using a “through” model, it distributes almost all reserve earnings to distributors, which may force Circle to concede a larger share of reserve earnings to maintain competitiveness. Mizuho also noted that Circle’s revenue-share agreement with Coinbase will be renewed next month, and Coinbase—being a founding member of Open USD—may hold greater advantage in negotiations. JPMorgan cited the new agreement between Circle and Hyperliquid, saying it reflects a competitive landscape in which Circle and Coinbase are forced to offer the best revenue-share splits to keep partners. Bernstein and William Blair still like Circle, saying its liquidity, regulatory first-mover advantage, and network effects are difficult to replicate.

Morgan Stanley files updated documents for an Ethereum ETF and a Solana ETF; fees are both 0.14%

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart wrote on X that Morgan Stanley has submitted updated filings for its Ethereum ETF and Solana ETF, with codes MSSE and MSOL respectively. Fees are both 0.14%, and the launch timing may be close.

Czech Republic blocks Polymarket on the grounds of illegal gambling; orders ISPs to block it

On July 13, the Czech Ministry of Finance listed Polymarket as an unauthorized online gambling game. Internet service providers have 15 days to block the platform, making it the latest country in Europe to block Polymarket. Jan Řehola, head of the Czech Gambling Regulatory Research Institute, said that legitimate gambling countries know the operator, the bettors, and the comparable safeguards for players, whereas prediction markets are open to betting on almost all events without comparable regulation. “This is not innovation without risk—it’s a gambling product without rules.” He emphasized that the contracts settle based on real-world outcomes, creating incentives that can affect events or use non-public information trading.

US Treasury: Frozen more than $130 million worth of Iranian digital assets

US Treasury said it froze more than $130 million worth of Iranian digital assets. Previously reported: Tether froze four wallets holding a total of 131 million USDT on the TRON network.

Circle previously banned the Tether-supported crypto fund Heka Funds; after arbitration it lost

According to the latest publicly available court documents, stablecoin issuer Circle banned the Tether-backed crypto fund Heka Funds at the end of 2023. Circle accused it of manipulating the market through large-scale arbitrage and helping Tether expand its market share. During the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank crisis, USDC briefly fell below its $1 peg price. Heka continued to buy discounted USDC in large quantities and redeem USD cash with Circle. Circle believed its redemption scale was far larger than that of other market participants and suspected the related funds ultimately flowed to Tether to help it expand the USDT market. Arbitration documents show that Tether had invested about $800 million in Heka, representing about 75% of the fund’s assets, and waived stablecoin minting fees. The arbitrator found that Heka did not accurately disclose the Tether support relationship and knew that the information would raise Circle’s concerns. In 2024, Heka brought arbitration claims for about $49 million in profit loss due to account freezes. Earlier this year in February, the arbitrator dismissed all claims and ruled that it pay Circle about $166k in fees. Heka denied market manipulation and was not investigated by regulators. Circle declined to comment; Tether did not respond to the media.

Bitmine buys another 6,000 ETH from FalconX 7 hours ago, about $11.18 million

Tom Lee’s Bitmine bought another 6,000 ETH (about $11.18 million) from FalconX 7 hours ago.

Warning: BarnBridge Smart Yield’s old proposal has token authorization risks; users are advised to revoke relevant authorizations

According to a community alert released by Blockaid, BarnBridge Smart Yield’s old governance proposal (#14和#15) has token authorization risks. If it is maliciously executed or upgraded, it could endanger existing token authorizations. It has not yet been confirmed that funds have been taken, but users are advised to check and revoke related authorizations on Ethereum as soon as possible. Proposal #14处于可执行宽限期，提案#15 is queued; the expected on-chain execution time is July 16 at 09:23:58 UTC. Affected tokens include USDC, DAI, USDT, GUSD, and RAI, and the relevant contract addresses have been publicly disclosed. Blockaid reminds users to use trusted authorization-management tools, not to believe links in replies or accounts claiming to “support,” not to send funds to any address or sign any transfer—only revoke authorization through trusted tools.

Coinbase: Over 95% of code is currently written by AI or assisted by AI, double from February’s 40%

Coinbase platform chief Rob Witoff said that currently 95% to 100% of the company’s code is written by or assisted by AI, up from an estimate of 40% in February. Coinbase laid off 700 employees in May (14% of total employees). CEO Brian Armstrong said AI has “dramatically” changed the pace of work and the company needs to “go back to the speed and focus of a startup, with AI at the core.” Witoff said about 100% of Coinbase employees use AI daily. Core cryptography coding is still mainly manual, and prototype development has been fully automated. The team has reorganized around smaller, more senior personnel; work that previously required more than 10 people can now be done by 2 to 3. Most engineers run 5 to 10 AI agents simultaneously. Collectively, the AI agents complete about the coding workload of 1,200 employees. It is expected that by 2030, AI agents will be able to do work equivalent to 100k employees.

Tencent runs a lightweight social mini program “Tongping Pai” in testing: AI can find a buddy; WeChat receives friend notifications

Tencent is beta-testing a lightweight social mini program called “Tongping Pai,” with the slogan “Find a buddy with the same frequency and set up the fun.” It is said that Tongping Pai is designed for lightweight social scenarios, helping users quickly form plans and find like-minded companions based on personality and interests. The Tongping Pai mini program is available on WeChat, supporting one-click WeChat login, but currently it is limited to internal users of Tencent Group and has not opened permissions for the public. In addition, according to the Tongping Pai service account introduction, users on the WeChat side can also see friend notifications, system notifications, and premium events pushed by Tongping Pai, helping everyone find friends who share similar interests faster. It is understood that Tongping Pai includes a Tongping Pai radar feature; when enabled, it reads the user’s location, shows nearby users with shared interests, and allows users to click through to view others’ profiles. It also supports AI matching. There is also an events plaza feature, showing interest activities initiated by users. Users can create events themselves and invite buddies to participate. The product is still in testing; the specific launch time and functions will follow the official release.

Pump.fun team and investors’ tokens unlock for the first time; 57.2 billion PUMP distributed to 121 wallets

Pump.fun’s team and investor tokens’ one-year lockup period ends today and enters a 3-year unlock cycle. In the early hours today, the first unlock took place: 700k PUMP (85.49 million USD) were unlocked, transferred out, and distributed to 121 wallets. Among them, the GsM3...u6ya address unlocked and transferred out 901k PUMP (78.58 million USD), and the ESrc...ZM67 address unlocked and transferred out 5.24 billion PUMP (7.91 million USD).

Coinbase will pause trading of Across Protocol (ACX) on July 28

Coinbase Markets posted on X: “Coinbase will pause trading ACX on July 28, 2026, because the project team is gradually shutting down Across Protocol (ACX).” The relevant proposal mentioned in the announcement is “Across plans to change the protocol structure from ‘DAO + token’ to a US C-corp company.”

AI already knows

Curated AI news worth watching in the past 24 hours, helping you filter AI noise. Source: PANews AI Observation Room

PrismML announces Bonsai 27B: the first 27B-parameter model that runs on phones

PrismML released Bonsai 27B, the first mobile-running 27B-parameter multimodal model. Its 1-bit variant uses only 3.9GB of memory and can run on an iPhone 17 Pro; the 1.58-bit variant uses 5.9GB and is suitable for laptops.

Is GPT-5.6 Sol “thinking budget” slashed? Tibo denies, says it has been restored and adds 10% more usage

Rumors about OpenAI reducing GPT-5.6 Sol’s “thinking budget” were refuted. OpenAI VP Tibo clarified that no budget was cut—instead, about 10% additional usage was freed from inference optimizations. The company has begun restoring the “thinking budget” in batches for 500k users, aiming to cover 7 million users.

SpaceXAI’s Grok programming tool reportedly uploads the entire user codebase to the cloud

SpaceXAI’s Grok Build CLI was found by Cereblab to package and upload users’ complete code repositories to Google Cloud, including files explicitly instructed not to read. After the issue was reported, the functionality has been shut down.