PANews’ weekly roundup showed that blockchain funding stayed subdued from July 27 to Aug. 2, with six disclosed deals totaling $41.5 million, while capital in the broader private market continued to cluster around AI, robotics and computing infrastructure. In crypto, funding was concentrated in security, execution infrastructure and AI-related Web3 projects. V12 raised a $10 million seed round led by Electric Capital, Birdai Labs secured $4 million for onchain execution infrastructure, and Axis Robotics closed a $12 million seed round led by Hack VC. Perceptron Network and ALPHEA also announced financing tied to decentralized AI data and distributed AI infrastructure. Outside crypto, the biggest checks went to major AI model companies and robotics platforms. Amazon disclosed that it had completed a total of $50 billion in investment in OpenAI and separately invested $11.3 billion in Anthropic and $13.7 billion in OpenAI during the second quarter. Moonshot AI reportedly raised $3.5 billion at a $35 billion valuation. Simile, Fish Audio, Modus and Pangram all announced new rounds, while Standard Bots, Enigma and Quantum Dynamics highlighted continued investor appetite for physical AI and robotics deployment. The period also saw M&A activity from Metaplanet and Fanatics, alongside fresh financing in nuclear power, bot detection and AI-focused funds.

July 28 brought a dense mix of crypto market moves, semiconductor headlines, AI developments, and regulatory updates. In equities tied to China’s chip sector, CXMT posted a 465.82% gain on its first trading day, with turnover topping RMB 140 billion and market capitalization reaching RMB 3.28 trillion. Separate reporting cited by The Information said a Shanghai state-backed company has started mass production of self-developed DUV lithography manufacturing equipment, with output planned at around five units in 2026 and about 20 in 2027; SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and CXMT were named as intended customers. In crypto, most of the highest-volume CEX tokens were down over the past 24 hours, while AEON led the OKX gainers list with an 84.28% rise. Hyperliquid data around the CXMT IPO drew attention after Allium said pre-listing volume reached $17.8 million and that 96% of smart-money accounts had established profitable shorts before the open. Elsewhere, Strategy disclosed its first buyback of Stretch STRC shares under its digital credit securities repurchase plan, and Triple-A’s reported exploit losses expanded to $11.8 million. On policy, BlackRock backed the CLARITY Act, but the U.S. Senate temporarily set the bill aside, while lawmakers in Japan called for easing the country’s 2x crypto leverage cap.

Fanatics has agreed to acquire Water Street Labs and CX Clearinghouse from BGC Group, giving the sports platform direct control over both exchange and clearing infrastructure for event contracts. Water Street Labs is registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a designated contract market, while CX Clearinghouse is a registered derivatives clearing organization. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal will let Fanatics list and settle contracts directly through Fanatics Markets, the prediction-markets unit it launched in December 2025, rather than relying on third-party routing and clearing. The move comes as DraftKings and FanDuel also expand into CFTC-regulated event contracts, and as prediction-market activity accelerates across platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi. Dune Analytics data cited in the report shows Kalshi recorded $33 billion in June volume, while total prediction-market volume across Polymarket, Kalshi, Limitless, and Myriad has reached $48 billion so far in July. The agreement also includes a partnership between Fanatics and BGC on market-data products combining prediction-market sentiment with traditional financial data.

Fanatics, a sports merchandise and betting platform, is set to acquire a federally regulated exchange and clearinghouse from BGC to launch and settle its own prediction market business, according to CoinDesk as cited by Odaily. The companies also plan to build new market data products that combine prediction market activity with traditional financial market data. The deal would give Fanatics a direct entry into the prediction market sector, where it would compete with platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket. The report did not disclose financial terms or a timeline for completion.

Pantera Capital's annual report reveals the brutal truth of 2025: Bitcoin edged down 6%, but most altcoins crashed 60%, with the median token down 79%. Non-BTC market cap fell 44%. Macro, positioning, and structure dominated, while institutional inflows concentrated in BTC/ETH/SOL. For 2026, Pantera highlights institutional adoption, RWA, AI security, and stablecoin trends.

Bloomberg senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone warns that crypto's relative strength vs precious metals has broken key support, signaling potential underperformance through 2026 as structural supply differences favor hard assets.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to transfer his Cantor Fitzgerald stake to his children and investors, and sold shares in BGC Group and Newmark Group for $278.5 million, as part of an ethics agreement addressing conflicts related to his firm's ties to Tether.

Howard Lutnick has agreed to transfer his stake in Cantor Fitzgerald and sell holdings tied to BGC Group and Newmark Group as part of a US government ethics agreement, while scrutiny of Cantor’s links to Tether remains in focus.