The crypto market downturn continues, with Bitcoin dropping below $113,000 earlier this morning.

Crypto finance platform ABFinance, founded by former Bybit co-CEO Helen Liu, announced it will not proceed with its planned launch and is now in the process of orderly shutdown. ABFinance stated on social media that it thanks all team members, community users, and partners involved in its development, adding: "Thank you for your trust, support, and belief along the way." In March this year, after leaving Bybit, Helen Liu announced the launch of her startup ABFinance, which aimed to build a one-stop financial platform connecting fiat and crypto assets, integrating functions such as deposits, yields, trading, and payments, and emphasized that it would be built under the U.S. compliance license framework from day one. According to prior reports, Bybit announced that Helen Liu would step down on April 30, 2026, to embark on her personal entrepreneurial journey. However, just about five months after ABFinance unveiled its project plan, the platform announced it would halt its launch and enter the shutdown process. The specific reason for the shutdown has not been disclosed by officials so far.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Circle (CRCL) stock rating from "Hold" to "Underweight" on August 3, slashing its price target from $106 to $38. Analysts attributed the rating cut primarily to the contraction in USDC circulation, which exposed Circle’s high sensitivity to reserve-related revenue. Meanwhile, the company’s business structure is shifting toward a transaction-based revenue model with lower profit margins. The report also cut Circle’s USDC size forecasts for 2027 and 2028 by approximately 33% and 44% respectively, and projected the company’s GAAP earnings per share (EPS) to be about 3% and 20% lower than market consensus. However, Morgan Stanley’s latest filed 13F document shows that as of June 30, its holdings of Circle shares surged from around 1.46 million to 8.32 million, marking a clear position increase in the second quarter. This means that while Morgan Stanley publicly downgraded Circle’s rating and price target in early August, signaling a cautious outlook, its disclosed holdings as of the end of Q2 showed a significant position increase. It should be noted that 13F filings reflect holdings as of June 30, and cannot reflect whether positions were adjusted before or after the August rating cut. The market’s focus centers on the stark contrast between the institutional research view and the historical holdings disclosure.

Binance Research data shows that Gen Z investors are gradually shifting to long-term asset allocation tools like ETFs, with lower trading frequency and weaker leverage preference compared to Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. In early August, ETFs accounted for 25% of Gen Z's stock trading volume. In July, ETFs made up 21.9% of Gen Z's net inflows into stocks, up from 18.5% in June; over the same period, the share of individual stock investments dropped from 77% to 74.2%. Binance Research analyzed trading activities including direct stocks, tokenized stocks, and traditional financial perpetual contracts. The data shows Gen Z's trading activity across these three asset classes is lower than that of other working-age groups. Specifically, Gen Z's traditional financial perpetual contract accounts average 13 trades per month, lower than Millennials' 17 and Gen X's 16.5. Among direct stock accounts, 22% of Gen Z users have never sold any stocks, higher than Gen X's 19% and Baby Boomers' 9%. For Gen Z accounts where stocks were purchased but never sold, the top assets by cumulative purchase amount include Broadcom, Tesla, and the Charles Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF. In terms of leveraged products, Gen Z exhibits a lower risk appetite. Data shows 88.2% of Gen Z's traditional financial perpetual contract accounts have never traded leveraged or inverse ETFs, higher than Millennials' 84.5% and Gen X's 85.9%. Additionally, the tokenized stock market continues to expand. Data shows Binance's bStocks recently briefly surpassed Kraken's xStocks to become the world's second-largest tokenized stock issuance platform. As of the latest data, Ondo Finance ranks first with approximately $972 million in tokenized stock value, while xStocks and bStocks stand at around $611 million and $580 million respectively.

Serenity released a statement accompanied by photos to address recent market rumors that his trading account has "gone to zero", calling the claims "too exaggerated". He added that despite the sharp correction in the AI sector in July, his year-to-date (YTD) return still stands at 2411.84%. Earlier, Serenity had publicly stated that the slump in AI-related stocks in July led to a roughly 49.4% drawdown in his portfolio at one time, with his positions mainly concentrated in key segments of AI infrastructure—including high-volatility sectors such as storage, optical communications, robotics, and upstream semiconductors. Serenity has long focused on "bottleneck segments" within the AI industrial chain, has conducted multiple researches on memory, photonics, CPO, and semiconductor supply chains, and has drawn market attention for his bets on AI infrastructure-related assets.

Payment giant PayPal’s acquisition talks with Stripe and private equity firm Advent Global Opportunities are heating up, with a potential deal to be finalized in the coming weeks. Back in July, Stripe and Advent proposed acquiring PayPal at $60.50 per share, valuing the deal at roughly $53 billion, but PayPal rejected the offer at the time. However, sources familiar with the matter revealed that negotiations have not broken off and are still ongoing. Neither PayPal nor Stripe has confirmed the reports. PayPal declined to comment, while Stripe said it does not respond to market rumors or speculation. The potential sale comes as PayPal seeks to reverse its growth struggles. Since PayPal CEO Enrique Lores took office in March this year, he has rolled out a restructuring plan splitting the business into three segments: checkout and PayPal core services, consumer financial services (including Venmo), and payment services and crypto operations. Lores has stated that PayPal will return to its identity as a technology company and strengthen its core payment capabilities. Meanwhile, the company plans to boost efficiency through cost cuts, with an estimated 20% workforce reduction over the next two to three years. Founded in 1998, PayPal’s founding team includes Silicon Valley figures such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin. The company grew rapidly during the pandemic due to the e-commerce boom, but has faced challenges including slowing growth and downward pressure on its stock price in recent years. If the deal is completed, it will be one of the largest acquisitions in the fintech industry in recent years.

According to public information from Xueqiu platform, Duan Yongping recently participated in SpaceX (SPCX) via two transactions: options and common stock. On July 24, he sold 1,000 SPCX put options expiring on December 18, 2026, with a strike price of $115, at a transaction price of approximately $23.26, corresponding to a premium of about $2.326 million. Then, on August 5, Duan Yongping bought 100,000 SPCX shares at a cost of roughly $108.68 per share. Based on SpaceX’s latest closing price of $140, this long stock position has an unrealized gain of around $3.132 million. Combined, Duan Yongping’s round of SpaceX trades has generated an unrealized profit of approximately $5.458 million in about 20 days. However, it should be noted that although the premium from selling the put option has been credited, the option has not yet expired. If SPCX subsequently falls below $115 and is exercised, he will still be obligated to take delivery of the shares at the strike price. SPCX has been highly volatile recently: after its June listing, the stock once surged to above $200, then dropped back to around $105. In August, as the impact of the first batch of restricted stock unlocks was weaker than expected and market risk appetite recovered, the stock price rebounded to the $140 level. As a result, Duan Yongping’s current trade has evolved from "selling puts to collect premiums" to a staged high-probability trade.