Ripple Makes Strategic Investments in Zilo and Licuido to Accelerate Its Tokenized Capital Market Expansion on the XRPL

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama confirmed that the Japanese government intervened in the foreign exchange market last Friday. Market analysis shows that Japanese authorities likely deployed around 5.33 trillion yen (approximately $340 billion) to buy yen that day, making this round of forex intervention the largest single-month scale in Japan’s history. Bloomberg estimated the intervention amount at roughly 5.33 trillion yen last Friday, based on Bank of Japan account data and forecasts from market institutions. If confirmed, this figure—combined with earlier interventions—would push Japan’s recent total intervention volume past the previous record of 11.73 trillion yen. Earlier, Japanese authorities were estimated to have spent around 8.45 trillion yen to prop up the yen last Thursday, an operation that could be the largest single-day forex intervention in Japan’s history. The intervention came after the USD/JPY exchange rate briefly hit 164, its highest level since 1986. Japan’s yen-buying move aimed to curb speculative short positions and stabilize the currency’s trajectory. The U.S. Treasury Department also joined the yen-support efforts, marking the closest monetary policy coordination between Japan and the U.S. in 15 years. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the U.S. will not rule out further market intervention, and President Donald Trump has backed the move. Market participants expect Japanese authorities may take additional action going forward. Traders are also monitoring the Bank of Japan’s potential for a September interest rate hike, as well as the quarterly forex intervention report to be released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance this Friday, which will disclose daily intervention details for the April-June period.

Bitcoin reserve company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) announced it has increased its U.S. dollar reserves by $250 million and repurchased $81 million worth of STRC shares. Strategy said the move extended the duration of its U.S. dollar reserves by 57 days to 2.3 years, while tightening STRC’s Bitcoin credit spread (BTC Credit) by 5 basis points. As of August 2, 2026, Strategy holds 842,138 Bitcoin as BTC reserves (having sold 1,637 BTC last week) and approximately $4 billion in U.S. dollar reserves. The company stated that STRC’s BTC credit metric is calculated based on an internal credit model, with assumed parameters including a 10% Bitcoin annual rate of return (BTC ARR), 40% Bitcoin volatility, and a BTC price of $62,900.

According to monitoring by OnchainLens, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) transferred 1,948.07 BTC to Coinbase Prime, valued at approximately $122 million. As of July 31, IBIT held 737,118.26 BTC, with a total value of around $46.18 billion. Data shows that as of June 30, IBIT has delivered a cumulative return of 12.18% since its inception, and a -45.62% return over the past year.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently highlighted a "cool use case" for ChatGPT: helping families manage information, such as syncing family calendars, learning children’s interests, and generating a daily AI podcast about kids’ activities for parents to listen to during commutes. In a post on X, Altman noted that AI could organize content like a child’s same-day soccer game, upcoming birthdays, and related news to create personalized audio programs. The proposal has sparked widespread controversy, with some netizens criticizing: "Using AI to replace real human connection is the worst possible use case." Meanwhile, AI companies are accelerating their exploration of the home management market. Multiple AI home assistant products are already available, integrating emails, calendars, and to-do lists to help parents manage schedules, remind of birthdays, track bills, and handle household tasks. Investment firms are bullish on AI’s commercial potential in home scenarios. Analysis points out that roughly 85 million mothers in the U.S. control around $2.4 trillion in annual consumer spending; if AI can effectively reduce the burden of home management, it will hold massive market potential. Market research forecasts that the AI market in childcare and parenting could reach nearly $42 billion by 2035. However, how AI should engage with family dynamics and whether it will erode real human interaction remains a core point of industry debate.

After US President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of the planned military strike on Iran and stated that bilateral talks would resume on Monday, US stock futures rose on Monday, market risk appetite rebounded, and international oil prices plummeted. In pre-market trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained approximately 535 points, or 1%; S&P 500 futures rose 0.6%, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.2%. In the energy market, expectations of easing tensions in the Middle East drove oil prices to fall sharply. Brent crude dropped 5.2% to $83.39 per barrel, while WTI crude futures slid 6.2% to $79.45 per barrel. US Treasury yields also moved lower, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling 6 basis points to 4.68%. Investors believe that the easing of conflicts may reduce inflationary pressure stemming from rising energy prices. However, market institutions warn that investors should remain cautious. Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, noted that similar diplomatic turning points have emerged before, and there remains uncertainty over the final resolution of the conflict. This week, the market will focus on US employment data, with the July non-farm payrolls report scheduled for release on Friday. FactSet forecasts that the US will add around 87,500 non-farm jobs in July, up from 57,000 in June, while the unemployment rate is expected to rise from 4.2% to 4.3%.

Crypto custody firm BitGo has announced the launch of its new platform, BitGo Link, enabling institutional clients to connect centralized exchange accounts including Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com to the BitGo system for unified digital asset management. BitGo noted that Link is designed to provide institutional treasury teams with a single interface to view and manage assets held on BitGo’s custody platform and external exchanges in real time, supporting direct asset transfers for cross-platform portfolio rebalancing, margin requirements, or seizing market opportunities. All transfer requests are processed via BitGo’s Policy Engine, with institutional users able to set additional permission controls to restrict fund usage. The platform also automates reconciliation of exchange records and tracks asset settlement status. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe stated that Link will serve as the "control center" for institutional trading and fund management, helping institutions achieve more efficient asset deployment across different markets and platforms. Built on BitGo’s existing Go Network, Link will expand to support more exchanges and add additional institutional treasury management features in the future, the firm added. Founded in 2013, BitGo is one of the leading U.S. crypto asset custody providers, with over $100 billion in assets under custody. The company went public in 2026 and had earlier secured conditional approval for a U.S. trust bank license. In June, BitGo laid off roughly 15% of its staff amid widened first-quarter net losses.