The U.S. Treasury jolted markets by doubling liquidity buybacks for 10- to 30-year Treasurys from a maximum of $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation, a move that helped pull long-dated yields lower after a sharp bond selloff. The 30-year yield fell by more than 9 basis points on the day, while the 10-year yield slipped back toward 4.64%. The dollar index dropped 0.86% to 98.69, spot gold surged through $4,500 an ounce, and Bitcoin briefly climbed to $70,064, its highest level since June 2, according to OKX data. At the same time, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting struck a hawkish tone. Rates were left unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%, but three voters — Logan, Hammack and Kashkari — dissented in favor of an immediate 25-basis-point hike. The minutes also showed officials discussing AI-driven inflation pressure in chips, steel, power and data-center materials, while warning that aggressive borrowing and overly optimistic profit assumptions could leave AI valuations vulnerable. Equity leadership shifted sharply. A successful Phase 3 personalized mRNA cancer vaccine trial from Moderna and Merck ignited a rally in drugmakers and biotech, while semiconductor, storage and optical-networking names tied to AI momentum selling continued to weaken. Crypto-linked stocks also jumped, helped by stronger Bitcoin prices and comments tied to Hyperliquid’s possible compliant U.S. entry.

Meta’s child safety case has opened in federal court in Oakland, California, with former engineering director Arturo Béjar delivering testimony that cut directly at Instagram’s internal priorities. Béjar told jurors that the company’s posture toward users under 13 was effectively 「don’t ask, don’t tell」 and said Mark Zuckerberg’s 2021 public rejection of claims that Meta put profit ahead of user safety was not true. He also argued that Meta’s internal culture measured success mainly by how long and how often people used its products, even when that came with harm to mental health. The case, brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, centers less on specific posts and more on product design. State lawyers said features such as infinite scroll, likes, and optional safety settings were built to keep young users engaged for longer, improving ad targeting and revenue. Prosecutors also said Meta failed to take basic steps after identifying underage users and collected personal data from children under 13 without parental consent. Meta, for its part, said youth mental health and social media use are serious issues, argued it has a responsibility to work with families, and has challenged whether 「social media addiction」 amounts to a recognized psychiatric diagnosis for fraud claims.

Russia is set to tighten retail access to crypto just as cash continues to leave its banking system. President Vladimir Putin signed the Law on Digital Currency and Digital Rights on Aug. 4, with key provisions taking effect on Sept. 1. Under the new framework, non-qualified retail investors will be limited to 300,000 rubles in annual crypto purchases through any single licensed intermediary, and a central bank draft order would initially restrict eligible assets to Bitcoin, Ether and USDT. At the same time, data cited by the Financial Times, The Washington Post and Russian financial platform Banks.ru show that Russians withdrew about €24.4 billion, or roughly 2.4 trillion rubles, from the banking system in the first seven months of 2026. The Bank of Russia said cash in circulation rose by 643.4 billion rubles in July alone, the biggest monthly increase of the year. Officials have denied any plan to freeze deposits, while attributing the cash build-up to higher VAT, payment disruptions and lower deposit rates. Market participants cited by foreign media point instead to concerns over war costs, asset seizures and banking stability. Sept. 1 will also mark the retail rollout of the digital ruble, adding a second state-led channel on the same day that tighter crypto rules arrive.

ZK verification layer project Aligned said its native token, ALIGN, will go live at 23:00 on Aug. 20, with airdrop claims opening at the same time. The token has a total supply of 10 billion, and the initial circulating supply at the token generation event, or TGE, is set at about 16% of that amount. Users can check eligibility through the project’s official airdrop portal. According to previously cited details from Foresight News, 44.36% of the airdrop allocation will unlock at TGE, equal to 3.88% of total supply. The airdrop is split into three buckets: Airdrop 1 for the community, Airdrop 2 for projects that made notable contributions to Ethereum and zero-knowledge technology, and a separate allocation for ZK Arcade. Unlock schedules differ by category and by allocation size. For claim routing, Aligned set a 10,000 ALIGN threshold. Recipients allocated 10,000 ALIGN or less will claim on Base, while those allocated more than 10,000 ALIGN will claim on Ethereum mainnet.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Aug. 18 Regulation Crypto Assets proposal has triggered a wave of excitement in crypto circles, with some reading it as a green light for token issuers to raise money in the U.S. without dealing with securities regulation. That is only partly correct. The proposal creates a tailored exemption framework for crypto asset offerings inside the existing U.S. securities regime, but it does not remove SEC oversight or anti-fraud enforcement. At the center of the draft are two fundraising exemptions, a safe harbor that could let a token stop being treated as a security once core development work is completed or permanently halted, and federal preemption over state-level registration requirements. The proposal sets a $5 million cap over four years for an early-stage exemption and a $75 million cap in a 12-month period for a larger fundraising exemption that comes with audited financials and ongoing reporting. The rule is still only a proposal. Its fate will depend on a 60-day public comment period, a procedural Senate vote on the CLARITY Act scheduled for Sept. 15, 2026, and the possibility of legal challenges from Wall Street groups such as SIFMA. For crypto projects, the draft offers a clearer path than the current case-by-case uncertainty, but it also comes with legal, audit and compliance costs that the source estimates could run from hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $1 million.

Cardano wallet provider SecondFi said it has launched a wallet migration tool inside its app for users who still hold Cardano-based assets. The tool lets users move the full balance of their current Cardano wallet, including ADA, native tokens, and NFTs, to a newly created Cardano wallet address. The update comes as SecondFi is shutting down, and the team advised all users with remaining balances to complete the migration. For wallets affected in the incident, users will need to wait for an asset recovery tool that is expected to go live in September. SecondFi said completing the migration will not affect any claim. The company also noted that if ADA is currently staked, the migration process will automatically unstake it, and users will need to delegate again to a DRep from the new wallet. Assets outside the Cardano network are not covered by this tool and must be moved separately.

ChainCatcher cited Wall Street Journal chief economics reporter Nick Timiraos as saying Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Waller is facing strong scrutiny from Congress. Four Senate Banking Committee members, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen, sent a letter asking him to disclose all communications with President Donald Trump. Lawmakers said the issue could raise concerns about possible government interference in monetary policy. The report also noted earlier claims that Waller had frequent phone calls with Trump after taking office, while the Fed’s public early schedule did not record those calls. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Waller and Trump have long discussed economic issues and that Trump would not pressure the Fed. Trump later denied the reports, saying he had spoken with Waller only once for a brief call a few days earlier. The Fed said it is still delaying release of the chair’s schedule under existing rules, and the market is watching whether Waller will add more information and whether the episode will affect confidence in the Fed’s independence.

U.S. stocks snapped a three-day losing streak on Wednesday, but the rebound came with clear cross-currents. The U.S. Treasury said it would at least double the cap on long-dated bond buybacks, lifting the single-operation ceiling to $4 billion. After the announcement, the 30-year Treasury yield briefly fell by about 10 basis points, helping support equities, bonds, gold and crypto at the same time. By the close in the bond market, the 10-year yield stood near 4.64%, up about 6 basis points on the day, the 2-year was near 4.16% and little changed, while the 30-year yield was around 5.19%, down about 9 basis points. The other major development was the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting. The minutes struck a hawkish tone, showing support for rate hikes was broader than the vote alone suggested. Several officials said action would be needed if inflation failed to ease, while some also flagged AI as a potential source of inflation pressure. Sector performance was sharply split. Moderna surged nearly 180% after it and Merck said their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine succeeded in a phase 3 melanoma trial, pushing the S&P 500 healthcare sector up 3.2%, its biggest one-day gain since April 2025. Semiconductors moved the other way, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling more than 2% and Broadcom down 4.6%. Crypto joined the rebound as Bitcoin rose above $69,000 intraday and Ethereum at one point climbed 10%.