News linked to both this project and an event.
: Tyler Williams, a senior official at the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for digital asset policy, has departed. He had served as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's primary crypto advisor and was involved in shaping the Trump administration's digital asset agenda. Bessent confirmed that Williams' last working day at the Treasury was last Friday. Williams joined the Treasury in early 2025, having previously served as Head of Policy at Galaxy Digital, and is expected to return to the private sector. Williams' departure comes amid a continued stalemate in Congress over the CLARITY Act, a digital asset market structure bill. The legislation has faced obstacles to advancement before lawmakers' August recess due to disagreements over federal ethics provisions for officials.
According to an official media announcement, the South African National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) jointly released the "Draft Manual on Cross-Border Crypto Asset Activities" on August 3, 2026, which is now open for public consultation with a deadline of September 30, 2026. The manual is implemented in conjunction with the previously released "Draft Regulations on Capital Flow Management 2026," aiming to strengthen supervision over cross-border financial activities and prevent risks related to illicit financial flows associated with crypto assets. The manual clarifies the trigger points for cross-border crypto asset transactions—when crypto assets are transferred between a domestic authorized CASP and a foreign CASP, or from a domestic authorized CASP to a non-custodial wallet, it constitutes cross-border capital inflow or outflow and must be reported to the Financial Supervision Department (FinSurv). It is worth noting that at this stage, only individuals are allowed to conduct crypto asset outflow operations through authorized CASPs within the single discretionary allowance or foreign capital allowance; South African entities are temporarily not allowed to conduct related cross-border operations. In addition, the manual currently does not distinguish between different types of crypto assets, nor does it list crypto assets as official South African currency.
According to The Block, Bernstein analysts indicated that the likelihood of the U.S. Clarity Act passing within 2026 is declining, with the Senate left with only this week's window (before recess on August 7). Analysts noted that if the bill fails, the digital asset market may experience a negative reaction in the short term, but the SEC and CFTC will accelerate rule-making under the "Project Crypto" framework, covering token classification, DeFi, and self-custody regulatory details, while continuing to promote innovative areas such as tokenized real-world assets (RWA), perpetual contracts, and prediction markets. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig previously also warned that if Congress fails to act, regulators will be forced to "take over all rule-making". Currently, bipartisan senators Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego have submitted a revised ethics compromise proposal, and negotiations are still ongoing.
According to QCP Group, the US Treasury, via the New York Fed, jointly purchased yen with the Japanese Ministry of Finance last Friday, marking the first US-Japan joint foreign exchange intervention action specifically to support the yen since 1998. Meanwhile, the US 30-year Treasury yield briefly rose to about 5.27%, hitting a new high since 2007, before falling back to 5.24%. QCP pointed out that the transmission path of this intervention to the crypto market mainly unfolds through yen carry trades—rapid yen appreciation may force investors holding yen funding positions to deleverage and buy back yen, subsequently affecting risk assets including BTC and ETH, reenacting the market volatility triggered by carry trade unwinding in August 2024. QCP reminded that current macro monitoring indicators should take the USD/JPY exchange rate, Japan funding costs, and US long-end Treasury yields into consideration; fiscal policy operations are increasingly becoming an important variable affecting the direction of global liquidity.
According to Odaily, the U.S. Senate's publicly released Monday agenda shows that the CLARITY Act is not included in Monday's scheduling. The Senate currently only plans to hold a procedural vote on H.R. 6500, the continuing resolution.Under Senate rules, the standard cloture process requires at least 16 senators to sign a petition. If the Senate files a cloture petition on Wednesday, August 5, a related vote could occur as early as Friday, August 7. However, that vote would only concern whether to end debate on the "motion to proceed," not final passage of the CLARITY Act. If cloture is invoked, the Senate would still need to: allow up to 30 hours of debate on the motion to proceed; formally consider the bill; and potentially face another cloture process. Therefore, the normal process is unlikely to be completed before recess. (Cryptoslate)
Odaily News: Digital asset management firm Grayscale has called on U.S. Senate leaders to hold a vote on the CLARITY Act before the August recess, warning that further delay could undermine U.S. competitiveness in the digital asset market. The company sent letters to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, stating that ongoing regulatory uncertainty continues to subject digital asset businesses to enforcement pressure in the absence of a unified federal framework. The CLARITY Act aims to allocate regulatory oversight of digital asset markets between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while establishing a unified set of national market rules. The legislation also addresses market structure, custody, enforcement, stablecoins, government ethics, developer protections, and safeguards for direct asset holders.
Odaily News – Russia has expanded its cryptocurrency mining restrictions to cover Moscow, the Moscow region, and parts of the Kursk region. The relevant bans will take effect on August 15, 2026, and remain in place until December 31, 2032. According to Russian Government Resolution No. 936, the newly added restricted areas are primarily due to pressure on electricity supply. Russia had previously implemented similar mining restrictions in parts of the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory.Russia's Moscow Regional Energy Department stated that, amid the growth of data centers and rising electricity demand, curbing high-consumption cryptocurrency mining activities will help alleviate pressure on the power supply. Data shows that Moscow and the Moscow region currently host 65 data centers connected to the power grid, with a total capacity of approximately 734 MW. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has frozen the approval of Nasdaq's QBTC bitcoin options in order to re-examine the decision after a legal challenge from CME Group. CME Group argues that, since bitcoin is a commodity, options linked to its value should fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not the SEC. The approval remains suspended while the SEC reviews the dispute, with interested parties able to submit comments until August 24.
Odaily News: U.S. President Trump is weighing a bipartisan ethics counterproposal to the CLARITY Act, as Senate negotiators need to finalize crypto conflict-of-interest rules before the August 7 recess. The bill aims to establish a federal regulatory framework for crypto companies through a division of labor between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego submitted a state attorneys general enforcement plan to the White House on July 29. The plan allows state-level agencies to enforce the ban on federal officials issuing or sponsoring digital tokens, rather than leaving related violations solely to the Department of Justice. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the bill on July 17 with 294 votes in favor and 134 against, with over 70 Democrats voting in favor. The Senate has not yet held a full floor vote, and the bill needs 60 votes to pass. If all Republicans support it, at least 7 Democrats would still need to vote in favor.
TechFlow News, August 1, according to South Korean media NexBlock, South Korea's virtual asset market trading volume continues to shrink, and the competitive landscape among the five major KRW exchanges is changing. During the market downturn, funds are further concentrating on platforms with leading liquidity, while small and medium-sized exchanges are seeking breakthroughs through cooperation with securities companies, institutional market positioning, and business restructuring. The focus of future competition will no longer be just trading volume, but stablecoin liquidity, traditional financial cooperation, institutional market expansion, and regulatory compliance capabilities. Data shows that in the first half of this year, South Korea's five major KRW exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) accumulated trading volume of about $366.58 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 54.6%. From July 1 to 27, the five major exchanges accumulated trading volume of about 17.34 trillion KRW, a decrease of 16.9% compared to the same period last month. Among them, Upbit's trading volume was about 11.69 trillion KRW; although down 10%, its market share rose from 62.3% to 67.4%. Bithumb's trading volume dropped to 4.71 trillion KRW, with its share decreasing from 30.7% to 27.1%, expanding the gap between the two to 40.3 percentage points.
trade.xyz stated that compensation for the July 27 Hynix contract pricing anomaly incident has been partially distributed, and users can receive USDC without additional action. Compensation exceeding 10,000 USDC will be distributed after due diligence is completed before August 15.
Odaily News, August 1: trade.xyz has announced the completion of compensation distribution for the Hynix contract pricing anomaly event that occurred on July 27. Users will receive their corresponding USDC compensation without any additional action required.According to the announcement, compensation amounts are calculated based on a reference price of $1,115.5. Users with compensation under 10,000 USDC will receive the full amount directly; for amounts exceeding that threshold, an initial distribution of 9,999 USDC will be issued, and users must contact support to complete due diligence before August 15 to claim the remaining balance.At 23:01 UTC on July 27, the marked price of the SK Hynix token on trade.xyz briefly dropped from $1,127.9 to $917.25, triggering forced liquidations across numerous long positions.
Odaily News, BIT Official released a weekly report stating that trading volume in the crypto market has fallen 80% from its peak, contracting approximately 60% from the Q4 2025 high, while the total crypto market cap has also dropped 50%. The report noted that without a meaningful recovery in volume, the market will struggle to form a sustained rebound.Despite the market still digesting the double headwinds of the Fed's hawkish policy stance and stalled progress on the CLARITY Act, Bitcoin has held within the $62,000 to $66,000 range. BIT Official expects Bitcoin to eventually break upward.The report stated that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has recently adopted a "say less, do less" communication strategy, and the uncertainty surrounding his policy stance is unsettling the market. Warsh has been known for his hawkish position over the past two decades, but the market had previously anticipated that, with Trump's support, he might push monetary policy in a more dovish direction. If that shift materializes, it could be a positive catalyst for Bitcoin.Additionally, prediction market data shows that the probability of the CLARITY Act being signed into law by the end of 2026 currently stands at just 32%. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated that the Senate will prioritize other issues, and with the August recess approaching, the remaining legislative window for the bill is further narrowing.
According to The Block, bipartisan Senators Thom Tillis (Republican) and Ruben Gallego (Democrat) submitted a new ethics compromise proposal to the White House on Thursday morning local time, attempting to break the deadlock in advancing the Clarity Act cryptocurrency legislation. Currently, there is less than a week left until the Senate recesses on August 7, but the bill still has not obtained the 60 votes required for passage. Democrats insist on adding stricter ethics provisions to constrain the Trump family's crypto interests, including the Meme coins they issued and the World Liberty Financial project in which the family participates, while some Republican senators have objections to the stablecoin interest provisions, worrying that it will divert deposits from traditional banks to the crypto sector. Although the draft leaked last week prohibited public officials and their spouses from issuing digital assets, it did not cover other family members, and included a "sunset clause" expiring in January 2029, which critics believe essentially nullifies the entire ethics provision. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent subsequently blamed the Democrats on X, stating that they "chose political gaming on the verge of a major victory". The Crypto Innovation Committee (CCI) warned that if the bill fails to pass, the US will hand over its global leadership position in the field of crypto regulation.
Odaily News: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the Senate on Thursday to pass the Clarity Act, stating that the House of Representatives passed the bill over a year ago, and staff from the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees have since conducted thousands of hours of negotiations on bipartisan amendments. Bessent stated that the bill will enhance consumer protection and anti-money laundering requirements while providing regulatory certainty for digital assets. He also noted that the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act provision within the Clarity Act will protect decentralized software developers, making it clear that they are not subject to the registration requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act. Bessent criticized Senate Democrats for delaying the vote for political reasons, arguing that the vote will determine whether the United States maintains its global leadership position in digital assets. He concluded his statement by quoting Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto: "If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry." The Clarity Act aims to establish a federal framework for the US digital asset market and divide the regulatory responsibilities for digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC, with most crypto assets generally falling under CFTC jurisdiction. Senate Majority Leader John Thune recently indicated that the bill is not expected to pass the Senate before the August recess.
According to Decrypt, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that if Congress fails to pass the Clarity Act, the SEC is "ready at any time" to issue cryptocurrency market rules independently. Atkins emphasized that legislation is the only way to prevent the regulatory framework from shifting with changing administrations, and expressed continued optimism regarding the bill's ultimate passage. Currently, the Clarity Act passed the House of Representatives last July with a 294-134 vote, and passed the Senate Banking Committee this May with a 15-9 vote, but has not yet undergone a full Senate vote (requiring 60 votes to pass). Senate Majority Leader Thune recently hinted that the bill may not be voted on before the August recess. If passed, the bill would transfer regulatory authority over the spot market for most tokens to the CFTC, removing them from SEC jurisdiction. The SEC has made advance arrangements; the "Project Crypto" regulatory scheme advanced by Atkins has been included in the 2026 agenda, covering token registration exemptions, safe harbors, and broker-dealer custody, and is regarded as a transitional plan for the Clarity Act.
According to Bloomberg, OpenAI's ChatGPT and gaming platform Roblox are set to be officially designated as "Very Large Online Platforms" (VLOP) by the EU executive body under the Digital Services Act (DSA), as both have surpassed the 45 million monthly active user threshold in the EU. Insiders revealed that the designation is expected to take effect as early as August. Once designated, the two companies will face stricter regulatory requirements, including content moderation obligations, algorithm transparency requirements, and systemic risk assessments, with violations potentially incurring fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue.
According to CNBC reports, Frank Pallone (New Jersey), the ranking Democratic member of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, wrote to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on July 29, requesting that he provide relevant records regarding its xAI Memphis data center by August 11 and allow an onsite visit. Pallone accused SpaceX of extensively using natural gas combustion turbines to power the Colossus and Colossus 2 data centers without obtaining permits or installing pollution control equipment, posing "significant health risks" to surrounding communities. Notably, the Trump administration's Department of Justice has sought to intervene to assist xAI in defending against relevant lawsuits filed by environmental organizations and the NAACP. A May Gallup poll showed that 70% of Americans oppose building AI data centers locally, as public resistance to the expansion of AI infrastructure by major tech companies continues to intensify.
Currently, the bill is stalled in the Senate, with Democrats demanding strengthened ethics constraint clauses targeting crypto conflicts of interest involving the Trump family. As the congressional recess approaches (the Senate is scheduled to recess on August 7), little time remains in the legislative window.
: The world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock, has expressed support for the CLARITY Act. Samara Cohen, Senior Managing Director and Head of Global Market Development at BlackRock, stated the bill represents a significant step toward establishing an investor-first regulatory framework for digital assets. Cohen stated the bill will help shape the next phase of market structure in the US by supporting innovation while maintaining transparency, resilience, and investor protection. Fidelity, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and Charles Schwab have previously expressed support for related legislation or clearer digital asset rules. Last week, the US Senate Republicans released an updated version of the CLARITY Act, integrating work from both the Senate Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee. Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated that relevant Senate work could extend beyond the August recess. Crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto stated that it has sent over 925,000 emails to Congress in 2025, exceeding 1.1 million contacts with Congress since its founding. The organization said each Senate vote on the CLARITY Act will be included in a public congressional scorecard.