US Democratic Senator slams ethics provisions of Republican CLARITY Act, calling the draft "not in good faith"

Overnight declines in U.S. chipmaker stocks rippled through Asian equity markets. South Korea’s KOSPI index fell as much as 6.1% on Friday, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropping over 7%, leading the Korea Exchange to temporarily suspend program trading. In recent weeks, this safety measure has been triggered with growing frequency in South Korea’s $4.1 trillion stock market. Friday’s selloff unfolded as investors sought to reduce risk ahead of the weekend, while Middle East tensions have pushed oil prices to near $100 per barrel. After four straight days of net buying, global investors resumed selling South Korean equities, primarily paring tech stock holdings. Shawn Oh, head of Korean cash equities at NH Investment & Securities, stated: “Due to persistent Middle East tensions, local funds are cutting tech positions and de-risking ahead of the weekend, amplifying downside risks.” Roy Lim, a stock sales trader at Samsung Securities, said some Asian hedge funds are offloading Samsung and SK Hynix shares to build positions in China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, which is scheduled to list on July 27.

According to PeckShield’s monitoring, an address identified as the Drift attacker recently deposited 23,095.1 ETH into Tornado Cash, valued at roughly $44.4 million, and transferred 0.85 ETH to Bybit. Earlier, the Drift protocol suffered an attack on April 1, 2026, leading to approximately $285 million in crypto asset losses.

According to Farside’s monitoring, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a net outflow of $225.1 million yesterday, ending a streak of seven consecutive trading days of net inflows. Breakdown by fund: IBIT saw a net outflow of $202.5 million; FBTC recorded a net outflow of $5.6 million; BITB’s net outflow stood at $7 million; ARKB’s net outflow hit $4.3 million; EZBC’s net outflow came to $5.6 million; BTCW’s net outflow totaled $5.1 million; while MSBT posted a net inflow of $5 million.

Due to escalating shipping risks in the Middle East, oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half months, pushing oil prices back to near $100 per barrel. Vessel tracking data shows only one oil tanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz on July 23, the lowest figure since May 7. By contrast, three tankers transited the strait on July 22. Data indicates the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) New Giant departed the strait that day, carrying around 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basra crude oil and is expected to arrive at China’s Rizhao Port in mid-August. No vessels entered the strait on that day. The U.S. military stated it had completed its 13th consecutive night of military strikes on Iran, further intensifying market concerns over the security of Middle East energy shipping. Meanwhile, shipping activity at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has partially recovered: 32 oil tankers transited the strait on July 23, up from 26 the previous day, with 14 heading to the Red Sea and 18 bound for the Gulf of Aden. Amid regional risks, some oil tankers have begun rerouting. Data shows some tankers bound for Asia are choosing to detour via the Suez Canal instead of the traditional Bab el-Mandeb route, which could extend their voyage by nearly three times. Additionally, Saudi Aramco has started offering extra crude loading options via Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, as an alternative to loading at Red Sea ports, to mitigate the impact of regional conflicts on exports.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, the whale address starting with 0x511 is still holding onto its high SK Hynix (SKHX) long positions. The address currently holds 4,034 SKHX longs with 3x full leverage, at an average entry price of $1,622.6, with a position value of roughly $4.942 million and a liquidation price of $923.67. Its unrealized loss stands at $1.6034 million (-73.5%), making it the address with the largest unrealized loss on SKHX. This long position was opened on the early morning of June 26 (Beijing time), and has been held for 28 days. At the time, SKHX was trading around $1,900. The whale’s first entry was 325.5 contracts at an average price of $1,898.5, which is now 55.1% higher than the current price. As the price trended downward, it added to its position four more times at approximately $1,659, $1,678, $1,436, and $1,361, respectively. After its final position increase on July 15, the holding has not been adjusted since. Holding the position has been a constant financial drain: since opening the long, the whale has paid a net funding fee of about $198,200. The current hourly funding rate is around +0.00955%, with longs still paying, leading to an estimated hourly outflow of roughly $472 based on the existing position. Looking at its track record, this is a trader known for patience: all of its previous large trades were long-held US stock-linked longs—Micron for ~45 days, Marvell for ~29 days, and Cerebras for ~39 days, generating a total net profit of around $494,500. That same patience was once its profit source, but it has now dug the whale deeper into a losing position on SK Hynix... Data shows that SK Hynix (SKHX) on Hyperliquid hit a daily high of $1,302.8 before quickly falling to $1,214.3, marking a 6.8% intraday pullback.

Crypto trading platform BitMEX has accelerated the delisting of derivative contracts and trading pairs in July, removing a total of 65 trading products—far exceeding the 19 delistings recorded in the first six months of this year. Data from BitMEX’s website shows that at the start of July, the platform delisted 21 derivative contracts, and two weeks later, it removed 9 spot trading pairs due to insufficient trading interest. This Thursday, BitMEX announced another delisting of 35 derivative contracts, pushing July’s total delistings to 65. BitMEX stated that the adjustment is mainly attributed to "insufficient trading interest" in the relevant contracts and the exchange’s shutdown plan. Earlier, BitMEX announced it would cease all exchange services at 4:00 UTC on September 23, 2026. The platform noted the shutdown decision followed a "strategic review" of its business and the broader crypto industry, though it did not disclose specific reasons. Industry insiders believe BitMEX’s exit reflects structural pressures facing mid-sized centralized exchanges, including factors such as further concentration of market liquidity in top-tier platforms and rising regulatory compliance costs.