「Whale Friend」 Increases Ethereum Long Position, Holding $34.4 Million

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), TSMC’s strong Q2 results ahead of yesterday’s US stock market opening failed to lift the chip sector. Instead, its higher capital expenditure guidance prompted a market re-examination of AI investment return timelines, revealing an anomalous phenomenon in tech stocks: the stronger the fundamentals, the heavier the selling pressure. TSMC posted a 67.7% gross margin and raised its capital expenditure guidance to $60–64 billion. This should have been strong evidence for the AI capital expenditure narrative, but the market interpreted it as "spending bloat". Most US tech stocks closed lower this morning, with declines including: Tesla down 0.86%, Amazon down 1.99%, NVIDIA down 2.40%, Meta down 2.46%, and Alphabet Class A down 4.44%.

Crypto.com announced a $400 million strategic investment from global market maker Citadel Securities, with a post-money valuation of $20 billion. This marks the first institutional financing the company has secured since its founding a decade ago. Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito noted that the convergence of traditional financial markets and digital asset infrastructure is an exciting evolution that will boost market efficiency, adding that Crypto.com has laid the foundation to support the ongoing institutionalization of the digital asset market. Crypto.com Co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek stated that crypto is increasingly becoming the backbone of financial infrastructure, with the opportunity at hand being enormous. After a decade of building compliance and technical infrastructure, the company is fully prepared to capture the growth wave across all asset classes. This financing round comes at a critical juncture as the crypto industry accelerates its institutional adoption. The funds are expected to drive Crypto.com’s expansion into all asset classes, including tokenized securities and derivatives, bridge the gap between digital assets and traditional markets, and build a more efficient 24/7 financial ecosystem. Citadel Securities is renowned for its tech-driven next-generation market-making capabilities, and this strategic partnership signifies a deep integration between core traditional financial infrastructure layers and crypto-native platforms.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower across the board: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.47%, and the S&P 500 declined 0.51%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 4.3% in a single day, with the broader semiconductor sector having tumbled 22% from its mid-June peak, officially entering a technical bear market. Semiconductor and storage-related stocks saw sharp declines: SK Hynix ADRs fell more than 13%, SanDisk dropped over 12%, Micron declined more than 5%, Western Digital slid over 9%, and Seagate Technology fell 10%.

The U.S. Central Command announced that the U.S. military launched a new round of airstrikes on Iran starting at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, marking the fifth consecutive night of U.S. strikes against Iran. (CCTV News)

Fed’s Logan says the Federal Reserve should raise interest rates to address elevated inflation, a comment suggesting she may be prepared to oppose a decision to hold rates steady later this month. Logan noted that June inflation data released on Tuesday showed price gains are slowing, but not enough to convince her inflation is back on track to hit the Fed’s 2% target. “The June CPI data does indicate inflation has the potential to return to the target level, making the outlook more optimistic,” Logan said. “But this path remains very fragile. I currently believe a moderate interest rate hike would help better balance the outlook and risks.” (Jinshi)

Bitcoin pulled back alongside U.S. stocks on Thursday, trading around $64,500 in a range, down roughly 1.5% from the three-week high it notched the prior day. Earlier, both U.S. June CPI and PPI came in below expectations, spurring brief gains for crypto assets and U.S. equities, but tech stocks were subsequently sold off. Micron Technology has now pulled back over 30% from its all-time high set on June 22. The Kobeissi Letter noted that retail investors are cashing in on tech stock gains, with net selling of Tesla and Apple hitting $200 million each over the past two weeks, while total retail stock trading volume rose to a record $370 billion. Market participants remain cautious about Bitcoin’s price trajectory. Exitpump said Bitcoin is testing the anchored volume-weighted average price (VWAP) calculated from its early-May high of $82,000, a level that could cap the current rally and trigger stronger resistance. Rekt Capital stated that Bitcoin has shown initial signs of stalling at its 50-month exponential moving average (EMA) near $65,900, and continues to believe the current trend could mirror the 2022 bear market, with the next macro bottom potentially arriving later this year.