Linera Launches Babbage Testnet

CZ responded on X regarding last night’s incident where a donation address burned some CZ and TCC tokens. He stated: “It’s not that deep. I haven’t checked that wallet in a long time. Opened it and found there were too many tokens (tens of thousands), and the software’s display was a bit unfriendly. I gave some suggestions, then did a test. Rather than sending to my address, it’s better to directly send them to a black hole.” Last night, CZ’s donation address transferred 700 million CZ tokens and 400 million TCC tokens to a black hole. Affected by the news, both CZ and TCC saw varying degrees of price surges.

According to data from trade.xyz, the annualized funding rate of the mainstream SK Hynix contract on the platform has soared to 907.74%, with open interest reaching $834 million. Meanwhile, the annualized funding rate for SK Hynix contracts on U.S. stock exchanges stands at -143.74%, though the open interest for this contract is only $88.77 million. The funding rate of SK Hynix contracts on Binance also reflects investors' optimistic sentiment, with the current annualized funding rate standing at 547.5%.

South Korean media reported on July 12 that South Korea’s five major commercial banks have used more than 85% of their full-year household loan growth quota in the first half of this year, with two banks even exceeding their full-year caps. Against the backdrop of strict aggregate control targets set by regulatory authorities, the banks have almost no room for new lending in the second half, leading the market to predict a credit "cliff" will materialize in H2, and stock market leverage funds entering the market via loans will face significant contraction pressure. The report notes that the two major drivers of rapid loan growth are the continuously surging demand for mortgage loans and personal loans used directly for stock market participation. Although banks tightened lending pace at the start of the year, neither type of demand has seen a noticeable decline, ultimately driving a continuous rise in loan balances in H1. For investors relying on credit leverage to trade in the stock market, available external financing channels in H2 are facing substantial tightening.

According to Bitget Market data, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 1,315 points on Monday, July 13, a 1.92% drop, ending at 67,242.73 points. Individual stock Kioxia fell over 10%. South Korea’s KOSPI index closed down 670 points the same day, a sharp 8.96% decline, to 6,805.88 points. The index triggered a circuit breaker during intraday trading after plunging more than 8%. On the individual stock front, SK Hynix dropped 15.3% and Samsung Electronics fell 10.7%.

Today, South Korea's stock market extended its nearly week-long slump, triggering another circuit breaker led by Samsung and SK Hynix. The continuous stock market decline appears to have started discouraging South Korean retail investors, with a clear trend of funds flowing back to the crypto space. According to Coingecko data, Upbit, South Korea's largest centralized exchange (CEX), recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $4.12 billion, surging by 436%. The top 5 tokens by trading volume on the exchange are, in order: Bitcoin, XRP, ETH, T, and BLAST.

According to Coinglass data, as Bitcoin continues its decline today, funding rates on major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges show the market remains significantly bearish. Specific funding rates are detailed in the attached chart. BlockBeats Note: The funding rate is a mechanism set by crypto trading platforms to align perpetual contract prices with their underlying asset prices. It serves as a fund exchange between long and short traders—platforms do not collect this fee. It adjusts the cost or returns of holding contracts to keep contract prices close to underlying asset values. A 0.01% funding rate is the benchmark: rates above 0.01% signal broad bullish sentiment, while rates below 0.005% indicate widespread bearishness.