Ethereum Gas Fee Continues to Drop, Now at 0.352 Gwei

Japan’s financial regulator has approved Laser Digital Japan’s registration as a crypto asset transaction service provider, making it the first new entrant to obtain such a license in Japan in nearly four years, marking the accelerated entry of institutional-grade digital asset services into the Japanese market. Laser Digital stated that it will initially provide liquidity services for local virtual asset service providers in Japan, with plans to further launch digital asset trading services for institutional investors in the future; specific launch timelines and business scopes have not yet been announced. Laser Digital is backed by Nomura Holdings, one of Japan’s largest investment banks. Jez Mohideen, co-founder and CEO of the company, noted that Japan’s digital asset market is entering a new stage of development, and with rising interest from institutional investors, the market needs more reliable counterparties and infrastructure. A prior institutional investor survey released by Nomura and Laser Digital showed that 79% of respondents plan to invest in crypto assets within the next three years. This regulatory approval comes as Japan advances crypto asset regulatory reforms. Japan has previously reclassified cryptocurrencies as financial assets, laying a legal foundation for the future launch of crypto asset ETFs and the implementation of a separate tax system, with the new rules expected to take effect in 2027. Steve Ashley, executive chairman of Laser Digital, said global institutional investors are increasingly focusing on the digital asset market and seeking professional infrastructure tailored to institutional needs.

According to the latest compiled data on current-earning products of major centralized exchanges (CEXs), stablecoin current yields on platforms like HTX, Binance, OKX, and Bitget still follow a structure of "high yields for small amounts, tiered reduction for excess amounts". Among these, yields for small tiers of USDT, USDC, and Binance U products are relatively prominent. For USDT: HTX’s 0–200 USDT tier offers an annualized yield of 10%, dropping to 1.95% for amounts over 200 USDT; Bitget’s 0–300 USDT tier is 6.66%, with excess amounts at 2.00%; Binance’s 0–200 USDT tier is 5.23%, excess amounts at 2.23%; OKX offers 2.34%. For USDC: HTX’s 0–200 USDC tier has an annualized yield of 8%, falling to 2.75% for amounts over 200 USDC; Binance’s 0–200 USDC tier is 7.22%, excess amounts at 2.22%; Bitget’s 0–300 USDC tier is 6.66%, excess amounts at 1.46%; OKX offers 2.24%. For other stablecoins: HTX’s USDT VIP tier has an annualized yield of 6%–9%, applicable for amounts between 50,000–100,000; Binance’s USDT VIP tier is 2%–2.7%; Bitget’s USDT VIP 0–300,000 tier is 2.06%, excess amounts at 1.80%. For USDE: HTX offers tiered yields of 5%/3%, Binance at 4.00%, Bitget at 1.00%; HTX’s USDD is 4.00%; Binance U products’ 0–5,000 tier has an annualized yield of 8.56%, excess amounts at 0.56%; Bitget U offers 1.50%. Overall, current high yields for stablecoin current accounts on major CEXs are still concentrated in small amounts, with yields for large capital generally declining. When comparing related products, users should pay attention not only to the nominal annualized yield but also to the quota cap, interest calculation rules, supported currencies on the platform, and real-time availability of products. The above data are displayed yields and do not constitute investment advice.

PUMP has been rallying steadily since hitting a low of $0.001 at the end of June. It gained roughly 19% in the past 24 hours, approaching $0.004; 36% over seven days, 98% in 30 days, and around 116% over 90 days. The broader crypto market has warmed up in recent days, with Bitcoin briefly breaking above $79,000. Some meme coins like PEOPLE, NEIRO, and BOME topped Binance’s gainers list, aligning with the common pattern of “market recovery first, meme coins leading.” However, PUMP’s rally started significantly earlier than the current market upswing, launching roughly two months ahead of this cycle. The strong price movement is driven by its fundamentals: Pump.fun is forming a positive feedback loop of “revenue – buybacks – traffic.” On-chain data shows the platform’s fees totaled around $38.15 million over the past 30 days, with revenue of $29.19 million—second only to Tether, Circle, and Canton, and surpassing protocols like Hyperliquid, Polymarket, GMGN, and Tron. The window where the golden cross appeared coincided with a reacceleration in revenue, ongoing PUMP buybacks and burns, and a return of trading users to the platform. Pump.fun allocates 50% of its revenue to buy and burn PUMP tokens. Recent weekly fee revenue has exceeded $10 million—one of the strongest levels since January—translating to potential buyback pressure of around $5 million. The platform recently launched Callout Rewards, cut Solana trading fees to 0% and cross-chain fees to 0.1%, using its revenue advantage to subsidize traffic and compete for users with entry products like GMGN and Fomo. If weekly and daily active trading users continue to hit new highs, PUMP’s market narrative could shift from a pure “meme platform token” to more of a “trading entry with strong cash flow.” Overall, this rally is driven by both technical signals and fundamental positive feedback, with revenue scale and the buyback mechanism serving as core supporting factors.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has announced it will add trading support for digital asset NEXO (Nexo). Per the announcement, NEXO will launch on the USDT market at 22:00 Korea Time on August 21, with the supported network being Ethereum. Deposit services will open within two hours of the announcement’s release.

According to CoinGecko data, Upbit’s trading volume surged 244.8% over the past 24 hours, spiking to $1.706 billion. The XRP/KRW trading pair led the KRW market with a 24.49% trading volume share, while the remaining top five pairs are BTC, USDT, ETH, and ONG. Earlier, South Korean retail investors poured $4.5 billion into US stocks in July, with approximately $840 million flowing into SK Hynix’s ADRs. This shift to US stocks did not dampen South Korean retail investors’ risk appetite—AI, semiconductors, and high-leverage products remain their core bets. Among the top 10 US stocks net purchased by South Korean investors in July, four were leverage products, with Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x ETF (SOXL) being the most popular.

China Merchants Wing Lung Bank issued an important notice to customers today, stating that in compliance with the latest risk management and account compliance guidelines from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), it is conducting a comprehensive optimization and review of investment accounts held by mainland Chinese investors. Upon verification, all investment accounts held by the relevant customers (including wealth management, securities, and/or paper gold passbook accounts) had zero asset balances as of May 22, 2026, and no investment transaction records in the past 12 months, thus being classified as "zero-balance inactive investment accounts". To maintain normal account operations, the bank requires customers to submit the "Inactive Investment Account Declaration Form" as soon as possible. Customers can submit the form via the automatic pop-up window in their personal accounts on the China Merchants Wing Lung Bank mobile app; holders of joint accounts or those who have not registered for the mobile app may call the customer service hotline to complete the submission per instructions. Each holder of a joint account must submit the form separately. The main contents of the declaration form include confirming the accuracy of personal information, the legality of fund sources, that the account has not been closed or suspended due to suspicious documents, and timely notification of any information changes, among other requirements. The bank reminds that if customers fail to submit the form in a timely manner, it will suspend new investment transactions (including stock purchases, wealth management product subscriptions, etc.) at an appropriate time; if the submission remains pending, the relevant "inactive investment accounts" may be closed starting from November 2026. Once an account is suspended or closed, no new securities or wealth management product investment transactions can be conducted.