PANews’ daily briefing for Aug. 23 spanned crypto market flows, exchange data, regulatory signals, AI spending and a robotics milestone, with several large on-chain transfers standing out.
Top lines from the daily digest
The main items highlighted by PANews were Alibaba’s planned HK$80 billion share placement for AI investment, Wintermute’s $57 million in SOL and BTC transfers to Binance and Coinbase, an apparent ETH deleveraging move by F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun, Grayscale’s view that Bitcoin may be nearing a cycle turning point, faster institutionalization in South Korea’s crypto market, comments from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on CFTC reform, Grayscale’s take on a proposed SEC fundraising framework, and a 9.32-second 100-meter run by Honor’s humanoid robot Flash.
Regulation and macro
Trump investment account made more than 1,000 stock trades in June
In June, U.S. President Donald Trump’s investment account made more than 1,000 stock trades, including over 550 buys and more than 450 sells. Stocks with trade values above $1 million included Berkshire Hathaway, Visa, Mastercard, Meta Platforms and Motorola.
Since the start of Trump’s second presidential term in January 2025, investments have been made through an investment account in a revocable trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. The White House said the account is independently managed by a third-party financial institution and uses computer-model portfolios that automatically track benchmarks such as the Schwab 1000 Index. It said neither the president nor his family takes part in trade timing or investment decisions.
The White House also said Trump made more than $2 billion last year, with a large share coming from investments in cryptocurrency companies.
Garlinghouse says first CFTC innovation committee meeting reached a common view
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a post on X that the first meeting of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee looked like an “Olympic roster” for the crypto industry. While the meeting centered on crypto innovation, it also included representatives from traditional finance, including Nasdaq, CME, Cboe, OCC, the New York Stock Exchange and DTCC.
Garlinghouse said participants converged on the view that rules written for an earlier era no longer fit current needs, and that they fail both consumer protection and business development as well as financial innovation. He added that he had called for a clear crypto regulatory framework in a 2019 letter to Congress, but the industry is still waiting for clarity years later. In his view, with the Trump administration, CFTC Chair Selig and several pro-reform lawmakers involved, the U.S. has “never been closer” to a clear crypto rulebook.
Grayscale says proposed SEC framework could benefit ETH, SOL and BNB
Grayscale research head Zach Pandl said in a report that Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain could be the main beneficiaries if the SEC’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets is ultimately adopted.
The proposal sets out two exempt pathways. Projects raising less than $5 million could receive a four-year registration exemption, while those raising less than $75 million could qualify for a one-year exemption. It also includes a conditional safe harbor intended to create a clear domestic compliance path for crypto asset issuance and reduce the incentive for issuers to operate overseas.
Pandl said tokenized fundraising had been held back by regulatory uncertainty. If the proposal stimulates issuance activity, more U.S. issuers and investors could move on-chain, sending value back to base-layer networks and native tokens such as ETH, SOL and BNB. He also noted that the proposal remains in the comment stage and that the final rule could change after public feedback and SEC review. More network activity, he said, does not guarantee token price gains.
Hong Kong SFC flags “King Kong Coin / King Kong Fund” as suspicious
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission said it has added “King Kong Coin / King Kong Fund” to its list of suspicious investment products involving digital tokens. According to the SFC, the product involves a digital token called King Kong Coin that claims to represent certain interests in a fund called King Kong Fund, which invests in ancient art and historical relics and advertises an annualized target return above 30%.
The SFC said the product had previously been promoted to investors at events in Hong Kong and warned investors to be cautious of any social media accounts or posts related to it.
Project updates
Alibaba plans HK$80 billion share placement for AI
Alibaba said it plans to place new shares with non-U.S. persons outside the United States for a total of HK$80 billion. The company said this is its first new share placement since its Hong Kong listing in 2019.
Net proceeds from the placement will be used entirely to invest in full-stack AI capabilities and to strengthen AI infrastructure construction, according to the company.
Upbit to list FOLD in KRW, BTC and USDT markets
South Korean exchange Upbit will list the FOLD token in KRW, BTC and USDT markets. Trading is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. local time on Aug. 23.
Cardone Capital adds 350 BTC
Real estate investment firm Cardone Capital increased its holdings by 350 BTC, valued at $26.9 million.
Honor robot Flash posts 9.32 seconds in 100-meter test
On Aug. 22, the second World Humanoid Robot Games opened in Beijing. During preparation for the sprint events, Honor team robot Flash completed a 100-meter test in 9.32 seconds and reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second, improving on the previous human 100-meter world record of 9.58 seconds.
The event is jointly organized by the Beijing municipal government, China Media Group and others, with 50 competitions in total. Organizers tightened the rules from the inaugural edition: aside from the 100-meter and 400-meter obstacle races, all other events must be completed fully autonomously. Completion times for the three racing events were also shortened to 1 minute, 5 minutes and 15 minutes.
Under the schedule, Flash will compete in the 100-meter, large-group 400-meter and 1,500-meter races, from preliminaries on the evening of Aug. 22 through the finals on Aug. 26.
Nvidia denies report of China-specific AI chip by year-end
The Information reported that Nvidia planned to ship a custom AI chip in small batches to Chinese customers before year-end. Nvidia later denied the report.
An Nvidia spokesperson said: “The Information’s report about Nvidia LPU is inaccurate. We currently have no LPU sales in the China market, and there is no China-market LPU product on our roadmap.”
Outside reports said the chip was a derivative of the Groq 3 LPU unveiled at Nvidia’s GTC event in March. It was described as being built with licensed Groq technology and designed to work alongside GPUs to speed up AI chatbot response times. The report also said Nvidia engineers had modified software so the LPU could work with processors available in China because the company’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform cannot be exported there, and claimed several Chinese customers had already placed orders.
Funding
Starcloud raises $250 million in new round
Space computing startup Starcloud said it has raised $250 million in a new funding round led by Manhattan West Ventures, with participation from Nvidia, Cisco, Benchmark and EQT. Nvidia invested about $25 million in the round.
The company said the new capital will be used to expand satellite manufacturing facilities and to advance development of its next-generation orbital data center satellite, Starcloud-3. Starcloud also said it has already operated Nvidia H100 data center GPUs in orbit and completed model training based on those GPUs.
The company added that most space computing projects currently use edge-computing chips, while Starcloud is working with Nvidia to provide test data for the future Vera Rubin Space-1 GPU designed for space environments. CEO Philip Johnston had previously said the company planned to mine Bitcoin in space.
Views and analysis
Grayscale says Bitcoin may be at a cycle turning point this week
Grayscale said in a post on X that this week’s market action could mark an important turning point in the Bitcoin cycle. In prior cycles, Bitcoin usually bottomed after falling around 80% from the previous cycle peak. In the current bear market, the deepest decline was about 50%, notably less than in several earlier cycles.
Grayscale said the market had been debating whether Bitcoin could face another leg down in the fourth quarter of 2026, but this week’s sharp rebound may indicate a more durable bottom has already formed, even though risks remain. If the rebound continues, Bitcoin may be entering a new accumulation phase, shifting market attention from whether a new low is still ahead to what conditions would trigger the next upcycle. Grayscale added that the macro backdrop, market liquidity and investor sentiment remain key variables.
Serenity points to U.S. policy focus on space, minerals and supply chains
Trader Serenity, known online as “White-Haired Stock God,” said on X that a recent batch of policy fact sheets from the U.S. government gives a clearer picture of the industries Washington is likely to support and build around next. This week’s policy document on a “golden era” of space transportation put the space sector in focus.
Serenity said the policy targets could support the launch industry and companies across the space supply chain, including rocket manufacturers. The U.S. government has set a goal of 1,000 launches and reentry missions per year by 2030, which could benefit companies such as Rocket Lab (RKLB).
He added that other policy focus areas this month include tariffs on drone components, cooperation around U.S. mining and critical minerals, adjustments to polysilicon supply-chain tariffs, and other strategic industry policies.
a16z Crypto says AI will not replace writers
a16zcrypto published an article titled “The habits of AI writing — and what to do about them,” arguing that debate around AI writing often misses the point. The piece said people tend to focus on spotting machine-generated traces while overlooking the basic goals of writing: whether information is communicated clearly, whether the work is trustworthy and whether it actually serves readers.
The article said common flaws in AI writing are not uniquely machine problems, but amplified versions of long-standing human weaknesses, including empty phrasing, business clichés, over-structuring, lack of personality and vague language. Rather than trying to measure an “AI percentage,” it argued that these traits should be treated as a classification of writing problems that can help improve quality.
a16zcrypto listed several recurring patterns: pseudo-profound phrasing, generic language, over-structuring, a missing personal voice, and repetitive punctuation and sentence patterns. The article said the core of good writing is not hiding AI traces but preserving specificity and truthfulness. Creators can use AI to spot vague phrasing and improve structure, but should not hand over their views, language habits and style entirely to a model.
It concluded that debate over whether a piece was generated by AI will matter less as AI tools become common, because most future content may be produced with some level of AI assistance. The central question, it said, remains whether the piece accomplishes its task and communicates what it intends to say.
Cathie Wood keeps $1.5 million Bitcoin target
ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood said in an interview: “Bitcoin is getting ready for a new big move higher, and I believe Bitcoin will ultimately reach $1.5 million.”
The report said Wood has maintained that $1.5 million target even when many people said she had “lost her mind.” Her thesis rests mainly on three pillars: institutional adoption, Bitcoin’s fixed supply and its growing role as a true digital store of value. She has also repeatedly said that one specific catalyst could significantly accelerate that path: U.S. government purchases of Bitcoin.
Other opinion items
The roundup also noted one analyst’s view that a “god-tier reversal” on the Bitcoin weekly chart could signal the start of a new bull-market cycle, and a separate argument that tokenized stocks could recreate Wall Street’s “paperwork crisis,” making common industry standards urgent.
Key data and whale activity
Wintermute moves $57 million in SOL and BTC to Binance and Coinbase
Wintermute transferred $57 million to Binance and Coinbase. The firm sent 1.2954 million SOL, worth about $12.42 million, and 169.5 BTC, worth about $13.11 million, to Binance. Another 407.47 BTC, worth about $31.36 million, moved through an intermediate wallet and was then forwarded to Coinbase.
Wang Chun-linked address sends 12,765 ETH to Binance to repay borrowing
An address linked to F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun appeared to reduce ETH exposure and lower leverage during the past more than three days of price gains. The address sent 12,765 ETH, worth about $28.73 million, to Binance, then withdrew 87.68 million USDC to repay a loan on Spark.
The address still holds 65,000 ETH worth about $159 million and 1,000 WBTC worth about $77.18 million on-chain.
Whale deposits 2,555 BTC to Binance
A whale transferred 2,555 BTC to Binance 13 hours ago, worth about $197 million.
South Korea’s five largest exchanges have 6,590 corporate accounts
Data submitted by South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service to the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee showed that, as of the end of July, the country’s five biggest virtual asset exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Digital Asset Exchange and Gopax — had 6,590 registered corporate accounts.
Bithumb had the largest count at 3,280, while accounts under Upbit operator Dunamu totaled 2,086. Together those two exchanges accounted for 5,366 accounts, or 81.4% of the total. Korbit had 620, Coinone 539 and Gopax 65.
There were 711 corporate accounts that had completed know-your-customer verification, equal to 10.8% of all corporate accounts. Upbit had 290 of them, Bithumb 199, Korbit 184, and Coinone and Gopax 33 and 5 respectively.
Corporate accounts held about 43.377 billion won, or about $31.2 million, in virtual assets. Upbit accounted for 27.08 billion won, or 62.4% of the total. Bithumb held about 6.29 billion won and Coinone about 5.15 billion won. Corporate account deposits stood at about 9.13 billion won.
TRUMP team address transfers 3.837 million tokens to OKX
A TRUMP token team-linked address transferred 3.837 million tokens to OKX, worth about $9.33 million.
Wintermute holds $160.03 million in open interest on Hyperliquid
Wintermute currently holds $160.03 million in open interest on Hyperliquid, including $146.19 million in shorts and $13.85 million in longs. Those positions are showing a combined unrealized loss of $3.66 million, though Wintermute’s cumulative profit still stands at $203.55 million.
NFT weekly sales jump to $97.86 million
CryptoSlam data showed NFT trading volume rose 155.23% week over week, from $35.29 million to $97.86 million. The number of buyers increased 50.56% to 174,203, sellers rose 51.33% to 160,382, and transaction count climbed 5.38% to 952,541.
By chain, Ethereum NFT sales rose 579.79% to $71.51 million, with buyers up 63.72% to 24,647. Polygon ranked second with $10.55 million in sales, down 10.58%, while buyer count rose 27.35% to 722,266. Base came third with $4.51 million in sales, up 99.84%, and buyer addresses increased 86.74% to 2,168. BNB Chain followed with $3.59 million in sales, up 107.39%, while buyers rose 117.48% to 8,895.
SK hynix ADR premium tops 40% at one point
After SK hynix announced a 40 trillion won share buyback and cancellation plan, South Korean investors moved aggressively into its Nasdaq-listed ADRs, pushing the ADR to a large premium over the Korea-listed stock.
Data from the Korea Securities Depository showed that from the ADR’s Nasdaq debut on July 10 through Aug. 19, South Korean investors were net buyers of about $835 million worth of SK hynix ADRs, or roughly 1.16 trillion won. That ranked second among U.S. stocks bought by Korean investors over the same period and represented 16.4% of their total net purchases of U.S. stocks.
On Aug. 19, SK hynix common shares in Korea fell 9.75% to 1.5 million won, while the U.S.-listed ADR rose 0.35% to $156.16. The report said the premium reflects liquidity differences and supply-demand imbalance more than a difference in how the business itself is valued. Because conversion restrictions limit arbitrage, the gap may persist.
Wintermute sends another 590.9 BTC to Binance
About 43 minutes before the PANews update, Wintermute deposited another 590.9 BTC to Binance, worth about $45.66 million. Its total BTC deposits to Binance this week have reached 3,834.3 BTC, worth about $256.8 million.
CryptoQuant analyst says 23% BTC rebound triggered largest short-term holder inflow since February
CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost said Bitcoin’s 23% rebound triggered the largest short-term holder inflow since February. BTC closed at about $78,300 yesterday, up more than 7% on the day. Over the past three days, it has gained more than 23%, adding $275 billion in market value.
Darkfost said the rally came with profit-taking, lifting exchange inflows. About 53,000 BTC were sent to trading platforms, including 17,800 BTC to Binance alone. He said all of the BTC sent to Binance came from short-term holders, with most of those coins held for less than one day. These ultra-short-term traders chose to send about 17,800 BTC to Binance rather than keep holding them. He described the flow as speculative rather than structural and said long-term holders with more than six months of holding time did not send any BTC to exchanges.
He added that while the move was purely speculative, it was still the biggest Binance inflow since February 2026, when short-term holders went through what he described as a genuine capitulation event. In his view, these brief spontaneous swings are bringing strong volatility back to crypto markets.
Trader long 120,000 ETH takes profit, then adds again on the dip
The trader described as a “hardcore long” with 120,000 ETH exposure, identified in the roundup as a “bit-affiliated entity,” closed 40,000 ETH at $2,513 in the morning for a $9.897 million profit, then added again through another address during the pullback. The trader has already bought 9,021 ETH, and open orders show a plan to add 10,000 more.
Across three addresses, the entity now holds 59,000 ETH in long positions with an unrealized gain of $8.73 million.