Binance Stocks has launched spot trading for Strategy's STRC perpetual preferred stock. Meanwhile, Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million to fund Digital Credit dividend payments, retaining 843,775 BTC and $2.55 billion in cash. STRC and MSTR rose in premarket trading.

U.S. optical communications names moved higher on July 22, according to market data from BIT (bit.com). The Pure-Play Photonics ETF, FOTO, gained more than 9% in the session. Among individual stocks, Coherent rose more than 11%, while Lumentum also climbed more than 9%. Ciena advanced nearly 8%, and both Marvell Technology and Corning posted gains of more than 6%. Credo was also higher, rising more than 5%. The move covered the broader optical communications segment, with the cited names all trading in positive territory at the time of the update.

More than a month after Binance launched its stock trading business on June 1, early usage data suggests the product has found real demand, though not broad-based adoption. Out of more than 7,000 tradable U.S. stocks and ETFs, over 700 have seen trading activity. As of the week ended July 1, Binance stock users added $193.3 million in net equity exposure, marking the second consecutive week above $190 million. The flow profile is highly concentrated. Emerging-market users accounted for 81% of net inflows, while technology absorbed 83% of weekly net inflows, led by AI memory and semiconductor names such as MU, MUU, SNDK, AMAT, and INTC. The data points to catalyst-driven, narrative-heavy behavior rather than long-term portfolio allocation, with users rotating quickly across themes including AI infrastructure, quantum computing, SpaceX, and defense. On the tokenized equities side, Binance’s bStocks appears to be finding product-market fit in off-hours trading. According to Binance Research, 44% of bStocks volume occurred outside regular U.S. market hours, and weekend trading still averaged roughly $346,000 per hour. However, while demand for on-chain tokenized stock exposure appears validated, a large share of that activity on BNB Chain is still flowing through third-party ecosystems such as Ondo, leaving bStocks’ standalone market share unclear.

More than a month after Binance launched its stock trading business on June 1, early data suggest the product has found real demand, though that demand is concentrated rather than broad-based. Out of more than 7,000 tradable U.S. stocks and ETFs, over 700 had seen trading within the first month, implying roughly 10% instrument participation. For the week ending July 1, users added $193.3 million in net stock exposure, marking the second straight week above $190 million, after $227.3 million the prior week. Binance Research said 81% of net inflows came from emerging markets, while nearly 93% of stock-trading users were from those regions. Flows were heavily tilted toward technology. In the same week, tech absorbed $159 million, or 83% of total net inflows, with AI memory and semiconductors leading after Micron’s earnings. On the tokenized side, bStocks, launched on June 11, showed a distinct use case in off-hours U.S. equity trading: 44% of volume occurred outside regular U.S. market hours, and weekend activity averaged about $346,000 per hour. Still, Binance’s market share in tokenized equities remains uncertain as much of the broader on-chain activity appears to be captured by third-party issuers such as Ondo.

As AI data centers upgrade from 800G to 1.6T and 3.2T, the bottleneck shifts from chips to photonic transmission. Podcast host Brian dissects the entire photonics chain, highlighting Corning, Amphenol, Credo, Ciena, AXT, and VEO Solutions as key suppliers, while advising to wait for pullbacks.

The real bottleneck in AI data centers isn't a single chip, but the entire photonics supply chain that converts electrical signals to optical and moves massive data. Brian, a former procurement expert from Amazon and Target, explains that as the industry upgrades from 800G to 1.6T and 3.2T, the biggest gains flow to essential suppliers like Corning, Amphenol, Ciena, and upstream materials and testing companies. This article breaks down the complete photonics chain and highlights high-growth stocks to watch.

AI data centers face copper's physical limits, making photonics the inevitable choice. Former Target and Amazon executive Brian dismantles the photonics supply chain — from Corning's fiber, Amphenol's connectors, Ciena's systems, to upstream materials (AXT) and testing (VEO) — highlighting overlooked 10X potential stocks at each layer.