Expectations of easing US-Iran tensions drive a rebound in global risk assets: Brent crude falls below $90, US stock futures rise.

Beating AI News Insight: Alibaba has unveiled the next-generation architecture for Qwen4 ahead of schedule. ModelScope has launched a preview page for Qwen3.8-Flash-Next, a multimodal Mixture of Experts (MoE) model that activates only a subset of parameters per inference, built on the Qwen4 architecture. It is scheduled for public release at 23:00 on August 26. Alibaba stated that releasing the architecture early is to let the community prepare for the upcoming full Qwen4 model family. Strictly speaking, what will launch tomorrow night is not the official Qwen4 version, but rather a "Qwen4 technical preview" – a practice Alibaba has used before. In 2025, Qwen3-Next first introduced a mixed architecture combining Gated DeltaNet and standard attention, a design later adopted by the Qwen3.5 series. Alibaba released the 2.4T-parameter Qwen3.8-Max earlier this month, and is now unveiling its next-generation architecture less than a month later, reflecting a very fast pace.

According to Trump’s financial disclosure documents, his portfolio manager purchased SpaceX stock worth between $15,001 and $50,000 on June 23, shortly after SpaceX went public. The transaction was among more than 1,000 trades made by Trump’s portfolio in June, the documents show. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle responded that the third-party firm managing Trump’s portfolio primarily tracks well-known indices including the Schwab 1000, and neither Trump nor his family can direct, influence, or participate in the portfolio’s trading decisions. The disclosure shows the stock was bought at around $156.11, while SpaceX closed at $135 on Monday, matching its IPO price, meaning the investment is currently sitting on an unrealized loss of roughly 13.5%. Given that SpaceX is a U.S. government contractor and Trump recently called for an increase in U.S. commercial space launches, Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about the transaction and Trump’s investment management arrangements. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Robert Garcia previously sent a letter to Trump, demanding he disclose the third-party firm managing his investments and the rationale for the trades, and questioning whether his numerous stock transactions during his term could create conflicts of interest with his government duties.

According to a report by The Associated Press, the U.S. Secret Service has confirmed it is aware of a video aired by Iranian state media that appears to threaten the life of Barron Trump, the youngest son of U.S. President Donald Trump. Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring stated that the agency is aware of the video and will investigate any potential threats to protected individuals, but will not disclose specific protective details due to operational security concerns. The report notes that since the U.S. killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the outbreak of hostilities with Iran, Iranian media has repeatedly spread threatening content targeting Trump and his family. CNN previously reported that the U.S. Secret Service had already obtained information about threats directed at Barron Trump.

LayerZero will launch the blockchain trading platform ATLAS in fall 2026, targeting primarily financial institutions with no consumer-facing applications. Built on the Zero blockchain that LayerZero announced in February this year, ATLAS will initially support spot crypto assets and perpetual contracts, with plans to later expand to prediction contracts, futures, and options. Citadel Securities, DTCC, and NYSE parent ICE are all Zero partners. LayerZero stated that top global market makers will provide liquidity on ATLAS’ launch day.

According to HTX market data, ZRO surged over 11% in a short period, lifting its market capitalization to $746 million. On the news front, LayerZero will launch its blockchain trading platform ATLAS in fall 2026, targeting financial institutions exclusively with no consumer-facing applications. ATLAS will be built on LayerZero’s Zero blockchain, unveiled in February this year. Its initial phase will support spot crypto assets and perpetual contracts, with plans to expand to prediction contracts, futures, and options. Citadel Securities, DTCC, and NYSE parent company ICE are all partners of Zero. LayerZero stated that top global market makers will provide liquidity on ATLAS’ launch day.

Markets are closely watching Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at this Friday’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. As U.S. long-term Treasury yields continue to rise, markets widely expect Warsh to signal a dovish tilt to ease bond market concerns over inflation and fiscal risks. Mark Cabana, head of U.S. rates strategy at Bank of America, noted that markets have grown less sensitive to Warsh’s previous verbal remarks on fighting inflation, with investors now eager to see concrete policy paths to address inflation. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has recently stepped up purchases of long-term Treasuries and increased issuance of short-term T-bills to fund government spending, reflecting a degree of divergence between the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve in bond market management. The article points out that Bessent’s shift of financing pressure to the short end effectively bets U.S. fiscal costs on future interest rate cuts. If Warsh can drive interest rate cuts by curbing inflation and boosting productivity, the short-term debt financing model is expected to reduce the government’s interest expenses; however, if long-term rates remain elevated, U.S. fiscal pressure could intensify further. Markets also expect the Federal Reserve to adjust its liquidity management and balance sheet policies. Michael Cloherty, head of U.S. rates strategy at CIBC, believes quantitative tightening (QT) could begin as early as the end of 2027, provided regulatory adjustments reduce banks’ demand for reserves. The Federal Reserve currently holds around $1.6 trillion in long-term U.S. Treasuries. Warsh’s remarks at Jackson Hole this time on long-term yields, inflation, and balance sheet reduction paths will likely serve as a key signal to gauge the future degree of policy coordination between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.