Trump says US-Iran talks are 'progressing very well', but Iran refuses to acknowledge it.

Well-known trader Doctor Profit stated in a post that he did not short Bitcoin (BTC) precisely at the $125,000 peak, but instead built short positions gradually in the $115,000 to $125,000 range, sold all his BTC holdings, and opened large-scale short positions, while concluding that the current bull market has ended. He has now set BTC’s buying range at $54,000 to $64,000 and is executing purchases per this plan. Doctor Profit added that he cannot predict the exact bottom, noting he is more adept at identifying price zones, and the current buying range signals his view that BTC has entered the bottom area, with him preparing accordingly.

According to a Bloomberg report, Wintermute data shows that in the first half of 2026, institutional investors accounted for 72% of the spot trading volume on its over-the-counter (OTC) platform, up from 59% a year earlier. Despite weak overall crypto market trading volumes, hedge funds and asset management firms are gradually replacing retail investors as the primary source of market liquidity. Wintermute analysts noted that the crypto market is shifting to an institution-driven structure, with rising capital concentration, derivatives playing a larger role in expressing risk exposure, and secondary market trading of tokenized assets beginning to scale. Institutions are increasingly gaining exposure via derivatives, structured products, and ETFs rather than directly purchasing tokens. Beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), trading volume for altcoin options on Wintermute’s OTC platform grew more than threefold compared to the second half of 2025, though liquidity is concentrated in a smaller number of tokens. Over the past two years, the number of tokens traded by professional counterparties has risen by 24%, while the number traded by retail investors has jumped 76%—a sign that institutions favor more liquid assets. Bitcoin is now down roughly 50% from its peak of over $126,000 in October 2025, though the decline has been more gradual than in previous crypto winters. Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21Shares, said crypto assets are now traded more like other asset classes; the market may be nearing a bottom, though confirmation will only come in hindsight.

Machi(@machibigbrother) bought Bored Ape #5670 for 85 $ETH 5 years ago and sold it for only 9 $ETH today, taking a loss of 76 $ETH($142K) (-89.4%). He then used the funds to continue supporting his $ETH long position. Current position: 3,450 $ETH($6.44M) Liquidation price: $1,839.37

Boosted by overnight gains in U.S. chipmaker stocks and market speculation that SK Hynix may soon announce details of its share repurchase plan and other shareholder return programs, the company’s stock price rose. As a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips for NVIDIA, SK Hynix saw its stock jump as much as 7.9% in Seoul trading on Wednesday morning, outperforming rival Samsung Electronics’ 6% gain. Analysts and local South Korean media have been closely watching the 25-day "quiet period" that followed SK Hynix’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) issuance, which ended on August 4. The market expects the end of this quiet period to clear the way for the company to disclose its shareholder return plans. Independent analyst Douglas Kim stated, "In my view, given the quiet period ending on August 4, SK Hynix will likely announce a major shareholder return plan soon." He noted that the plan "could include a combination of share repurchases, share cancellations, and special dividends, among other measures." Multiple brokerages, including William Blair, issued their first-ever ratings on SK Hynix’s ADRs overnight, assigning a "Buy" rating. (Jin10)

US President Trump said in comments on the Iran issue that a decision will be made within 48 hours. The Strait of Hormuz could open on Wednesday or Thursday. (Source: Jinshi)

According to Lookonchain’s monitoring, crypto figure "Big Brother Ma Ji" Huang Licheng purchased BAYC #5670 for 85 ETH five years ago, sold it today for just 9 ETH, incurring a loss of 76 ETH (around $142,000), or 89.4% of his initial investment. He subsequently used the proceeds to add to his ETH long position, which now totals 3,450 ETH (approximately $6.44 million) with a liquidation price of $1,839.37.