News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Bloomberg, Google's parent company Alphabet launched its inaugural Australian dollar bond issuance on August 18, planning to raise approximately 5 billion Australian dollars (approximately 3.6 billion US dollars), with the funds raised to be used to address continuously rising AI infrastructure expenditures. The issuance is underwritten by institutions including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), offering Australian dollar notes with four maturities, with the longest maturity reaching 20 years.
Odaily News: AI video generation platform Higgsfield has completed a $400 million funding round at a valuation of $5.4 billion. Investors include DST Global, Goldman Sachs, Liberty Global, Intel, Tribe Capital, Smash Capital, Fifth Wall, Valor Capital, Mirae Asset Capital, and NTT DOCOMO Ventures. The funding will primarily be used for enterprise-grade products, security, and computing power investment.Higgsfield was founded by former Snap executive Alex Mashrabov and currently has over 30 million users across 238 countries and regions. As of August this year, its annualized revenue had reached $700 million. Previously, Higgsfield raised $80 million at a valuation of $1.3 billion. (FT)
Odaily News, August 14 close: Shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) closed at $140 per share, with a total market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, up 3.7% cumulatively from the offering price, successfully recovering nearly 50% of the post-listing pullback.According to recently disclosed 13F filings, as of the end of Q2 2026, Harvard University's Harvard Management Company (HMC) held total US equity positions of $4.26 billion, of which SpaceX accounted for the lion's share with 12.9351 million shares valued at $2.21 billion, representing a weight of 51.9%.The University of California system disclosed approximately $1 billion in SpaceX holdings; at the University of North Carolina system, SpaceX represents approximately 10% of the endowment fund (Odaily note: public information shows the fund is approximately $15 billion in size), primarily stemming from early joint investments with Founders Fund; Washington University in St. Louis has a holding ratio of 14%-16%, and its $13.4 billion endowment fund has benefited significantly from a direct capital injection in 2018 and indirect follow-on investments; Stanford University also holds substantial positions through top venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and a16z. Most of these universities entered when SpaceX was valued at only a few hundred million dollars in its early startup phase, fully capturing the valuation leap from the primary market to the secondary market, once again validating the core logic of ultra-long-term capital, exemplified by the Yale model, enhancing returns through venture capital. (Interface News)Previously reported: Harvard University holds a heavy position of $2.2 billion in SpaceX stock.
According to Red Star News, Moonshot AI Kimi issued a statement on August 14, stating that it has reported acts of false financing using the company's name and suspected illegal criminal activities in the market to the public security organs, and will pursue accountability to the fullest extent. The statement explicitly denied the existence of so-called "Friend Fund", "Special Channel", "Old Share Quota", "Reserved Quota", "Official Agent", or "Authorized Intermediary" during the financing process, reminded investors to be aware of risks, and advised that suspicious transactions can be reported to the company's legal department.
According to TechFlow Research, Morgan Stanley's August Q2 earnings report indicated that CoreWeave added 500MW of net active power in a single quarter, exceeding any quarter in history, more than three times year-over-year. Management reaffirmed the target of reaching at least 8GW before 2030. FY26 revenue guidance midpoint was raised 2% to $12.4 billion to $13.2 billion, ARR midpoint was raised 3% to $18.5 billion to $19.5 billion. The company raised full-year capital expenditure guidance midpoint by 12% to $35.5 billion to $39.0 billion, Q3 capital expenditure guidance is $11.5 billion to $13.5 billion, higher than the market expectation of $10 billion. Managed Inference Platform (managed inference platform) ARR grew from $1 million to over $100 million, expected to reach at least $250 million by year-end. The research report judges that Q2 adjusted operating margin was about 8%, higher than expected, but Q3 margin guidance of 5.8% to 7.2% is lower than market expectations, Q4 margin needs to increase significantly to achieve full-year guidance. Morgan Stanley expects CoreWeave FY27 operating margin to be 15.9%, FY28 to be 22.4%, free cash flow to remain negative until 2028, and debt is expected to increase to approximately $38 billion by the end of 2026. Morgan Stanley maintains Equal-weight (in line with the market) rating and $99 price target.
According to Cointelegraph, digital asset infrastructure provider Copper announced that its US subsidiary, Copper Markets (US) Inc., officially obtained SEC-registered broker-dealer status on August 7 and became a FINRA member, officially establishing a compliant market presence in the United States. The company will provide institutional clients with qualified custody, staking, financing, and over-the-counter trading services, while also opening its ClearLoop network, allowing institutions to pledge and transfer crypto assets and tokenized assets between counterparties as collateral.
Binance will launch 6 USDT-quoted perpetual contracts on traditional financial assets on August 14, with underlying assets covering Hong Kong stocks, Korean stocks, and the South Korea KODEX 200 ETF, including Zhongji Innolight (3308.HK), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (009150.KS), Hanmi Semiconductor (042700.KS), LG Electronics (066570.KS), NAVER (035420.KS), and KODEX 200 ETF (069500.KS).
According to Chaoxiang Research, JPMorgan's expert commentary on August 12 noted that SanDisk will hold an Investor Day on August 13. The market expects management to provide guidance for annual revenue growth of over 20%, flat gross margin, operating leverage driving EPS growth of over 20% to 30%, and significantly reduced cyclicality. Investor communications indicate the market expects the annual buyback ratio to be around 10%. To date, SanDisk has signed 8 customers and 10 LTAs, covering over 50% of FY2027 wafer capacity, with minimum revenue commitments reaching $93.9 billion. The HBM market is moving from standardization to customization; Micron stated that HBM4E will usher in the era of "customized SKUs," and the ratio of HBM encroachment on traditional DRAM capacity has worsened from 3:1 to approximately 4:1. eSSDs now account for 48% of global NAND shipments, up from just 26% a year ago, with industry revenue increasing fivefold year-over-year. JPM judges that the combination of LTAs, HBM customization, and changes in eSSD demand structure is pushing memory chips from a commodity cycle to a structural cycle, and valuation methodologies may need adjustment. Quantinuum's quantum computer commercialization is accelerating, with CY27 revenue guidance exceeding $60 million (+34%); JPM maintains a $97 price target and Overweight rating. Super Micro Computer F4Q26 gross margin of 17.6% exceeded guidance, orders exceeded 6
The Bitcoin treasury company Strategy officially announced that it will hold an investor Q&A livestream at 12:00 ET on August 17. The company's Founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le will attend. It is reported that this investor Q&A is expected to focus on market-concerned topics such as the company's Bitcoin strategy, capital operations, financing plans, and future business direction.
Odaily News – Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings disclosed in its latest quarterly SEC filing that it has pledged 18,750 BTC as collateral for two Bitcoin-backed loans, totaling $750 million in principal.Among these, financing provided by Coinbase Credit includes a refinancing of the original $150 million credit facility plus an additional $300 million in new funds; Two Prime Lending separately provided a $300 million loan. Both loans have been fully drawn, with a combined financing cost of approximately 7.56%, primarily maturing in August 2028.The pledged 18,750 BTC were valued at approximately $1.2 billion at the time of the transaction. If a decline in Bitcoin's price pushes the collateral ratio below the agreed level, MARA could face margin call requirements; otherwise, the related BTC may be subject to liquidation risk.The new funds will mainly be used for general corporate purposes and to support MARA's acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power. The transaction has an enterprise value of approximately $1.5 billion. Long Ridge owns a natural gas power plant in Ohio, USA, with an expected installed capacity of 505 MW, along with over 1,600 acres of industrial land. MARA plans to further develop the site into a base for Bitcoin mining, AI, and high-performance computing infrastructure. (Crowdfund Insider)
Odaily News: ZEC treasury company Cypherpunk Technologies (Nasdaq: CYPH) has released its Q2 2026 financial report, posting a net profit of $39.39 million, or $0.18 diluted earnings per share; in the same period last year, the company reported a net loss of $16.64 million and an operating loss of $4.69 million. R&D expenses stood at $0.2 million, down from $10.54 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the completion of clinical trials; general and administrative expenses reached $4.49 million, up $2.75 million year-over-year, mainly driven by increased stock-based compensation. As of June 30, the company's cash balance was $7.6 million. During Q2, the ZEC price rose from $243.35 to $400.09, generating approximately $46 million in non-cash unrealized gains for the company. As of August 11, 2026, the company held a cumulative total of 323,400 ZEC, with an average cost basis of approximately $341.83, representing about 1.92% of ZEC's total circulating supply. On the business development front, the company has appointed Dev Ojha, founder of Valar Group, as an advisor. Valar Group focuses on Zcash network development and research, and has led the development of the high-performance full node software Zakura and the Ironwood shielded pool. The company's subsidiary, Leap Therapeutics, has reached an agreement with the U.S. FDA on the Phase III clinical trial design for sirexatamab (anti-DKK1 monoclonal antibody), and received FDA Fast Track designation in May 2026 for the treatment of patients with second-line metastatic colorectal cancer with high DKK1 expression. The company has also initiated a strategic process to evaluate pathways for advancing sirexatamab development through independent financing or collaboration with partners.
According to TechFlow Research, JPMorgan's US stock strategy report on August 9 raised the S&P 500 year-end target price from 7,800 points to 8,000 points, the 2026 EPS forecast from $358 to $365 (+35%), and the 2027 EPS forecast to $420 (+15%). Among the 87% of companies that have disclosed earnings, 78% beat earnings expectations, with Q2 earnings growth reaching 53%. The report noted that AI capital expenditure is expected to reach $900 billion in 2026 (+85%), surpassing $1.2 trillion in 2027, with hyperscale vendors accounting for approximately 87%. However, cloud revenue realization is accelerating: AWS up 37%, Azure up 43%, Google Cloud up 82%; AWS backlog orders increased 36% quarter-over-quarter to $496 billion, and Google backlog orders increased by $55 billion to $514 billion. JPMorgan believes the order coverage ratio is improving, and monetization pace is catching up with spending pace. Excluding Google and Amazon's combined $152 billion in unrealized private equity gains (mainly from Anthropic's $65 billion financing), Q2 actual earnings growth was about 31%, and 2026 normalized EPS is about $347 (+28%). JPMorgan maintains the assumption of approximately 20x forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500 index unchanged, stating that the earnings upward revision is sufficient to
According to TechFlow Research, a Bank of America research report on August 10 pointed out that NVIDIA signed a memorandum of understanding with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to mobilize over $500 billion in third-party capital through an independent platform. Previously, NVIDIA invested approximately $70 billion in equity in ecosystem partners such as OpenAI and Anthropic, accounting for only 15% of the expected free cash flow of $470 billion from 2026 to 2027, without affecting the commitment to return 50% of free cash flow to shareholders. Bank of America believes the financing structure shifts the capital burden from NVIDIA to the consortium. GPU computing power can be transferred across operators, and CUDA extends the service life, with the asset quality itself resisting depreciation. The $500 billion fund pool allows non-investment grade buyers to acquire GPUs at preferential rates, transforming AI computing power acquisition from capital-intensive purchases to financial leasing, supporting the $1.7 trillion AI system TAM by 2030. Bank of America maintains a Buy rating with a target price of $350, corresponding to 26 times the expected earnings per share in 2027. The upcoming earnings conference call is the next important catalyst.
Empery Digital sold 1,635 Bitcoin between July 1 and August 6, raising $102.2 million, with holdings reduced to 1,279 BTC. Of these, 954 BTC have been pledged as collateral for a $35 million debt, leaving only 325 BTC unrestricted, a notable decrease from 1,375 BTC on June 30. In the first half of this year, Empery Digital also sold 1,167 Bitcoin, generating $80.1 million, while spending $54 million to repurchase shares, repay $50 million under a repurchase financing facility, and another $10 million loan. The company repaid $20 million in debt after June 30, with the lender returning 585 Bitcoin, reducing the collateralized amount from 1,539 BTC to 954 BTC. Empery Digital has invested $2.9 million in EMHU, an independent real estate project managed by Texstack, and may need to contribute an additional $62.1 million if the acquisition is completed. The company has also completed a $20 million investment in Cardinal Data Power, acquiring approximately 8% equity; as of June 30, the company held $3.7 million in cash including restricted cash, with a working capital deficit of $5.7 million. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a public meeting on August 14 to consider proposing a "Regulation Crypto" rule framework that would allow certain crypto projects to raise funds without completing full securities registration. If public comment is initiated, this would mark the SEC's first formal, long-term crypto industry rulemaking. The framework is expected to establish a pathway for exiting SEC oversight: after project developers raise funds, if they no longer actively manage the project and the project achieves decentralization, it may fall outside SEC jurisdiction. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has previously stated that the exemption period could last up to four years, though the announcement did not disclose funding amount thresholds. The U.S. Senate did not advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before entering its August recess. The final rule will still take several months to complete, and the meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. ET on August 14. (Decrypt)
HTX DeepThink columnist and HTX Research analyst Chloe (@ChloeTalk1) pointed out in her analysis that the core contradiction in the current macro market has shifted from "when the Fed will cut rates" to "whether the Fed needs to raise rates again." Warsh attempted to reduce the impact of single-month data on policy, but since his policy framework has not been fully understood by the market, July and August inflation data have instead become the key variables determining September policy expectations. If core CPI remains at 0.2% or below, the market will re-trade inflation decline and policy pause; if it consecutively exceeds expectations, the Fed will face a binary choice of "raise rates or lose credibility."
According to Cryptopolitan, Bitcoin mining company Keel Infrastructure (formerly Bitfarms) released its Q2 2026 financial report this Monday, disclosing that the company has completed the shutdown of all its US Bitcoin mining farms, and sold 1,085 BTC between April 1 and August 7, cashing out approximately $75 million, and currently still holds 1,861 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at approximately $121 million. Financially, Keel's Q2 revenue was $30 million, down 50% year-over-year, mainly dragged down by weak Bitcoin prices and the shutdown of the Moses Lake mining farm; operating loss reached $141 million (including $84 million in non-cash depreciation), net loss from continuing operations was $64 million, and adjusted EBITDA was negative $24 million. Following the announcement, KEEL stock price fell more than 11% in a single day. In terms of strategic transformation, Keel is converting its core sites in Pennsylvania, Washington State, and Quebec into high-performance computing data centers; currently, permitting approvals for the three priority sites are nearly complete, and negotiations with potential tenants are underway. The company's current liquidity is approximately $819 million, including $698 million in unrestricted cash and $121 million in Bitcoin, and during the quarter, it also raised $458 million through convertible notes.
Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited (also known as "TVB") announced at its board meeting on August 10 that it plans to form a joint venture with Gaw Capital to provide computing power services. The joint venture's ordinary voting shares are proposed to be held 51% by TVB and 49% by Gaw Capital, respectively. The project will be implemented in phases over the coming years, with funding sources including equity investment of up to HKD 2 billion from Gaw Capital into the joint venture, project bank financing, and the Group's internal resources.
Odaily News Unitree Technology (688836.SH), the "first humanoid robot stock on the A-share market," has drawn significant market attention for its IPO subscription. The company's issuance price-to-earnings ratio has reached 219.23 times, significantly higher than the industry average of approximately 38.56 times, with the effective subscription multiple in the offline inquiry phase surpassing 2,618 times.In addition, primary market investors have already reaped considerable returns. Variable Capital invested only 2.09 million yuan in 2018, and its return multiple has now soared to over 174 times. Sequoia Capital China has injected a cumulative total of approximately 102 million yuan over the years, and based on the issuance price estimate, its shareholding market value is approaching 3 billion yuan. Meituan-affiliated entities collectively hold a 9.65% stake through multiple investment vehicles, with book gains exceeding 3.6 billion yuan.However, contrasting with the high returns in the primary market, secondary market investors will face a game between high valuations and limited floating chips. Unitree Technology will publicly issue approximately 40.44 million shares this time, with the initial online offering ratio at only about 16%, while the remaining shares are mainly allocated to institutional investors through strategic placement and offline inquiry. Based on a total share capital of approximately 404 million shares after issuance, the floating shares on the first trading day will be around 29.77 million shares, accounting for about 7.36% of total share capital, with over 90% of shares remaining locked up.Currently, Unitree Technology has not yet announced a specific listing date. Following the STAR Market's new share issuance process, the company is expected to officially begin trading as early as mid-August. (Tencent Technology)
Odaily News: DeepSeek's main entity, DeepSeek, is currently conducting a second round of financing totaling 50 billion RMB, with the first batch of signings expected to take place in Hangzhou as early as August 10. The target valuation for this round is 500 billion RMB. DeepSeek has already agreed on delivery timelines with some prospective investors, with the earliest deadline set for August 30.This round of financing has a minimum investment threshold of 5 billion RMB. The funds will primarily be allocated to computing power investments, model research, workforce expansion, and potential preparation for a domestic listing. The capital will flow through two channels: some will go directly into DeepSeek's main entity, while the rest will go into a limited partnership controlled by founder Liang Wenfeng.Earlier, DeepSeek briefly paused financing discussions at the end of July before resuming them in early August. (IPO Early Know)