JPMorgan raised its global server shipment growth forecasts for 2026 through 2028, arguing that AI inference, rather than training alone, is becoming the main force supporting the market. The bank lifted its 2026 server shipment growth estimate from 15% to 22% and its 2027 forecast from 8% to 25%, saying enterprises need more inference servers as they put AI models into real-world applications. The report drew a clear contrast with the PC market. JPMorgan said first-half PC demand came in better than expected, but attributed that strength to pre-price-hike inventory loading by brands and replacement demand tied to Windows 10, factors it viewed as front-loading demand rather than signaling a durable recovery. For 2026, the bank expects PC shipments to fall 8%, including a 14% drop in consumer PCs and a 4% decline in commercial PCs. JPMorgan also argued that supply, not demand, is the real bottleneck in servers. It said server demand is running 35% to 40% higher year over year, but shipment growth in 2026 can only reach 22% because of constraints in CPUs, substrates, memory, PCBs, passive components and power devices. The report also highlighted uncertainty around Nvidia’s roadmap and said value creation is shifting toward component suppliers.

Rialto is pitching itself as an onchain spot exchange built around execution rather than simple asset listings, with support for crypto assets, stock tokens, ETFs and commodities on Robinhood Chain. The project has emerged alongside Robinhood Crypto, Offchain and Arbitrum, and says its key differentiator is a routing model that compares multiple liquidity sources for every trade. At the center of that design is propAMM, Rialto’s term for an onchain market maker that quotes with its own inventory and pricing logic while continuously referencing external markets. The system evaluates real-time quotes from propAMMs and traditional DEX pools, ranks routes by net output after network costs, and settles the winning path atomically onchain. Orders can also be split across venues when that improves execution. Rialto says its in-house propAMM, Rivo Altus, competes alongside outside liquidity for each order instead of receiving flow by default. The platform has also launched a partner program for apps, terminals, bots and agents, with its swap API already integrated by Arcus, Index and LI.FI. According to data shown on Rialto’s website, ETH is currently the most active asset on the platform with about $128 million in 24-hour volume, while most individual stock tokens remain in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars range.

The Cardano Foundation said it has been in discussions with Volvo Group about how blockchain could be used in manufacturing, with supply-chain compliance emerging as a key use case in the conversation. In comments shared by the foundation, Ivan Branco, who works on information management, artificial intelligence and data analytics for Volvo Group’s truck operations in Belgium, said manufacturers can face repeated fines if assembled parts include components sourced from sanctioned countries. A shared ledger across suppliers, he said, could remove trust issues at the source. Branco also said Volvo had previously created a proprietary cryptocurrency to internally test supplier payment processes. He added that the technology itself is already usable, but organizational culture has not kept pace, calling that gap harder to solve than the technical side. The remarks were shared by the Cardano Foundation in a post discussing blockchain applications in industrial settings.

A whale that built a concentrated long position in a basket of technology and semiconductor stocks is now carrying an unrealized loss of $7.67 million, according to on-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa), cited by BlockBeats on July 16. The position size stands at $19.39 million and includes MRVL, SNDK, SKHX, MU, NBIS, CRCL, and ZHIPU, among other names described as popular semiconductor-related stocks. The biggest drag came from three holdings: Marvell Technology, SK Hynix, and SanDisk. Combined, those positions account for $6.45 million in unrealized losses, or 84% of the whale’s total paper loss. The data points to a highly concentrated exposure within the broader basket, with the bulk of the drawdown tied to a small subset of names. The report attributed the figures to monitoring by Ai Yi and did not provide more detail on the whale’s identity or entry timing.

Wintermute argues that the core infrastructure debate in crypto is largely over and that the next major build cycle sits outside the sector’s old boundaries. In its latest industry thesis, the trading firm says the more important question is no longer what crypto can still build for itself, but what a world of autonomous systems will require from crypto rails. Its answer is the machine economy: a setting where AI agents, warehouse robots and automated research systems stop acting as software tools and begin operating as economic actors that make decisions, move money and carry out tasks on their own. The report points to three shifts that make that thesis more plausible now than a few years ago: models can take actions rather than simply answer prompts, open standards for payments and machine interaction are taking shape, and agents can run over long periods with persistent context. Wintermute says those changes expose the limits of financial and trust systems designed around humans and firms as accountable counterparties. It highlights three areas it believes are worth watching most closely: an agent economy layer, physical AI, and machine-driven discovery. The firm also notes that Coinbase, Robinhood and Binance have each rolled out agent trading infrastructure in recent months, while Robinhood has even launched a new chain for that purpose. At the same time, Wintermute flags unresolved security and liability risks, citing incidents involving Grok and Moonwell as signs that the stack is still early.

Chinese investor Dan Bin, chairman of Oriental Harbor, said on July 16 that the recent decline in the storage sector appears to be close to a staged bottom, based on his reading of market sentiment. He said continued weakness in leading Chinese AI storage names overseas had dragged A-shares lower as well, but argued that the long-term demand case for the AI industry remains intact. According to Dan, the recent move looks like a normal correction after a strong run rather than a sign of systemic risk for AI-related companies. He said stocks with strong earnings visibility are likely to recover gradually after short-term sentiment clears. He also pointed to a key variable for investors: whether corporate profit growth can continue, and for how many years. Dan added that companies avoiding leverage and maintaining sustained profit growth should be able to get through the current phase. He also said that all of his own capital has been committed alongside Oriental Harbor funds.

WallStreetBets says crypto’s next major opportunity is not creating more native tokens, but moving real-world assets onto blockchain rails and reshaping how they trade once they get there. The thesis starts with a simple observation: crypto users have already spent a decade getting used to round-the-clock markets, global liquidity, stablecoin settlement and trading systems that do not shut down at the end of the U.S. cash session. In that framework, tokenized stocks, funds, Treasuries, gold, oil and private-market exposure are less about digitizing ownership records and more about changing trading hours, distribution channels, collateral use and post-trade mobility. The piece points to a range of examples already in the market. Robinhood has rolled out more than 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs for EU users and supports five-day continuous trading. Hyperliquid’s perpetual market is cited as evidence that traders consistently choose efficient, liquid venues that stay open 24/7. Ondo Finance, Synapse Protocol, Sunrise on Solana, Bitget’s stock-token push and Streamex’s yield-bearing gold product GLDY are presented as signs that the industry is moving from the question of whether assets can be tokenized to whether tokenized products can keep users, sustain liquidity and plug into broader onchain financial activity. In WallStreetBets’ view, the real test is not the token itself, but whether a full trading and value-accrual market forms around it.

Crypto exchange LBank held an invite-only football watch party in Taipei early on July 16, bringing together VIP users for a live viewing of the World Cup match between Argentina and England. The event, titled "LBank Cheers for Goal: Semifinal Fever Night," took place at Old Brick Sports Bar in Da’an District and was framed by the company as part of its push to turn online community ties into in-person connections. Guests took part in a score prediction activity before kickoff, which the organizer used to encourage conversation among attendees. As the match unfolded, shifts in momentum and a stoppage-time winning goal drove the atmosphere in the venue. LBank also ran an on-site lucky draw featuring officially licensed football merchandise, including AFA-themed items and Adidas World Cup products. According to ABMedia, LBank described the event as another step in its continued push into the Taiwan market. The report also cited several earlier Taipei events hosted by the exchange, including a private movie screening for VIPs, a year-end celebration themed around Argentina blue, and a May 20 dinner gathering. Together, those activities show LBank using varied offline formats to maintain closer contact with local users.