South Korean stocks closed down nearly 6%, with Japanese and South Korean markets also closing lower in tandem.

The U.S. state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company’s generative AI products and large language models (LLMs) of constituting a legal "public nuisance." Reports indicate that several U.S. states are attempting to use the "public nuisance" legal framework to regulate AI firms, framing generative AI as "digital pollution sources" capable of causing social harm. The lawsuit alleges that AI chatbots can harm public mental health, provide unvetted advice, and pose public safety risks. Florida claims OpenAI’s rapid growth was built on deceptive practices and user exploitation, leading to widespread harm for state residents and disrupting social order. The state is seeking court-ordered restrictions and monetary damages. The case is currently regarded as a key example of U.S. regulators exploring the boundaries of AI liability. If the court upholds Florida’s "public nuisance" theory, it could prompt more states to take similar legal action against AI companies.

According to Bitget market data, SK Hynix erased an 8.3% decline in after-hours trading on the South Korean stock market, lifted by news of a share repurchase. The chipmaker rose over 4% in U.S. after-hours trading, after earlier dropping more than 3%. On the news front, SK Hynix will allocate at least 50% of its free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027 to shareholder returns. It will continue to pursue additional share repurchases and cancellations. More shareholder return plans will be announced alongside its third-quarter earnings release. The company is considering dividend schemes including regular and special dividends. It will repurchase 40 trillion won (about $28.6 billion) in treasury stock, with the repurchase aimed at share cancellation to boost shareholder returns.

Binance announced in a statement that starting at 08:15 UTC on August 19, 2026, it will adjust the funding rate settlement cycle for the USD?-M UNITREEUSDT perpetual contract, shifting from the previous 8-hour interval to every 4 hours. Post-adjustment, the funding rate settlement times for the UNITREEUSDT perpetual contract will be 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, and 20:00 UTC daily, while the maximum and minimum single funding rate limits will remain unchanged at +2.00% and -2.00% respectively. Binance noted that it will continue to adjust contract parameters—including funding rates, minimum price increments, maximum leverage, initial margin, and maintenance margin requirements—based on market risk conditions. Furthermore, the UNITREEUSDT perpetual contract is exempt from the rule that automatically reduces funding rate settlement to hourly when the rate hits its upper or lower limit; any future adjustments to the funding rate cycle will be announced separately by Binance.

According to market data from BIT (Bit.com), SK Hynix's night session share price gain has widened to 1.8%, after earlier falling more than 3%. In related news, SK Hynix will allocate at least 50% of its free cash flow generated between 2025 and 2027 to shareholder returns. The company will continue to carry out additional share repurchases and cancellations. More shareholder return plans will be announced when it releases its third-quarter earnings results. It is considering dividend schemes including regular dividends and special dividends. SK Hynix will repurchase 40 trillion won (equivalent to about $28.6 billion) of treasury stock, with the repurchase aimed at cancelling shares to boost shareholder returns.

According to monitoring by TradingBeats (formerly Hyperinsight), as of press time, UNITREE’s hourly funding rate stands at approximately -0.3544%, meaning shorts pay longs. A whale address (0xfe4), which booked unrealized profits from a top-buy position, has now opened a 10x-leveraged short worth around $728,000 at an average entry price of $125.04, with current unrealized gains of ~$58,000 and a liquidation price of ~$130.44. Since opening the position, the whale has paid ~$5,448 in total funding fees. If the current rate remains unchanged, its hourly funding cost will hit ~$2,579, translating to ~$60,000 per day. After deducting already paid funding fees, the unrealized gain from the current price is ~$55,000, which could be entirely eroded by funding fees in less than a day. In a static scenario, the position may gradually enter liquidation territory solely due to ongoing funding fee payments. On-chain perpetual and address analysis tool TradingBeats is now live, enabling real-time access to Hyperliquid data, tracing whale operations from addresses, and delivering in-depth, comprehensive insights.

Cross-chain liquidity protocol Maya Protocol has fallen victim to a security breach, with its MAYAChain network forced to suspend trading due to a series of software flaws. The attacker exploited a combination of six vulnerabilities to manipulate the network’s accounting, inflating roughly 49 million CACAO tokens in one liquidity pool—while the pool’s actual reserves stood at only around 168,000 CACAO. The attacker then deposited assets at low cost to gain over 99% of the pool’s share, withdrew approximately 48.87 million CACAO, and converted it into assets including BTC and ETH. On-chain data shows the attacker transferred out around 20.83 BTC (valued at ~$1.34 million) plus other assets, with total direct profits of roughly $1.65 million, though about 8.87 million CACAO remains in the attacker’s wallet. The attack caused the MAYAChain pool’s value to plummet by approximately $10.9 million. However, analysis indicates not all losses were stolen funds: ~$6.4 million stemmed from CACAO’s price crash, and ~$2.9 million from fund outflows due to arbitrage activities. Post-attack, CACAO’s price dropped from ~$0.115 to a low of $0.013, an almost 89% decline, before rebounding to around $0.03. Maya Protocol’s founder stated the team has suspended all trading to contain losses, is working to fix the vulnerabilities, and hopes the attacker returns funds via the bug bounty program. If the funds cannot be recovered, the team plans to cover the ~20 BTC loss through investments in projects such as Aztec Chain.