The AI funding boom continues, with U.S. investment-grade bond issuance hitting a record high for August.

According to Bitget market data, South Korea’s KOSPI index opened 156.82 points higher on Tuesday, August 18, a 2.25% gain to 7134.76 points. Samsung Electronics rose 3%, and SK Hynix advanced 5.8%.

According to an official announcement, Coinbase has added Cluster Protocol (CP) to its token listing roadmap.

According to an official announcement, Coinbase Derivatives has launched the US500 perpetual contract. Trading hours are 8:00 PM ET on Sundays to 5:00 PM ET on Fridays, with the market closed on trading holidays. The US500 Index perpetual futures contract is a cash-settled 5-year futures contract that supports round-the-clock trading, allowing traders to manage risk, conduct margin trading, or speculate on the price of the MarketVector Top 500 US Profitable Companies Index (MVUS5P). The contract uses a funding rate mechanism to keep futures prices closely aligned with the index price, and it is tradable on Coinbase Derivatives Exchanges (CDE).

International oil prices rose roughly 3% to close on Monday amid dim prospects for U.S.-Iran peace talks. Trump stated he has no intention of extending the upcoming expiring agreement with Iran. The U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in June this year technically expired on Monday. The two sides still have differences on multiple issues including the Strait of Hormuz. Other officials hinted that the U.S. is not in a hurry to end the nearly six-month conflict. U.S. Energy Secretary said the U.S. is engaged in a long-term game with the Islamic Republic of Iran, while Trump senior advisor Kushner noted that Trump will remain patient in reaching an agreement. Per market data from BIT (bit.com), U.S. stocks closed on Monday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq declined 0.32%. SK Hynix (SKHY.O) rose 3%, Micron Technology (MU.O) gained 4%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) jumped 8.8%, and Nike (NKE.N) fell 4%. According to HTX market data, Bitcoin is currently trading at $64,288, with a 2.13% gain in the past 24 hours.

According to people familiar with the matter, Anthropic’s current performance indicates its annual revenue is on track to exceed $65 billion, more than seven times the level at the end of last year. The sources added that as of the end of July, Anthropic’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) had reached $65 billion, with one source noting the company shared the figure during regular investor updates. The sharp revenue acceleration has further strengthened Anthropic’s confidence in advancing its initial public offering (IPO) plans. Both Anthropic and OpenAI have confidentially filed IPO-related documents, and Anthropic is expected to list on Wall Street as early as this fall, possibly earlier than OpenAI.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a Bitcoin wallet dormant for 15 years has transferred 8.54 BTC (valued at approximately $539,000) to crypto exchange Kraken. The wallet initially received the Bitcoin across multiple addresses back when BTC traded at roughly $14. Calculated at current prices, the 8.54 BTC holding has surged around 4,600 times in value from its original purchase cost.