Arthur Hayes: I bet that Bitcoin will surpass $110,000 before retracing to $76,500

According to Fortune, decentralized finance (DeFi) asset management and risk analytics firm Gauntlet has closed a $125 million funding round, exclusively backed by Japanese financial group SBI Holdings. The financing was completed in June this year, with the specific valuation undisclosed. This marks Gauntlet’s largest funding round since its founding in 2018, far outpacing its $24 million Series B round led by Ribbit Capital in 2022, which valued the company at $1 billion. Founded by former Wall Street quant trader Tarun Chitra, Gauntlet initially focused on providing stress testing and vulnerability analysis services for DeFi protocols. As DAO governance models declined, it gradually transitioned to a "treasury curation" business: using quantitative analysis to evaluate risks in yield strategies and assist institutional investors in managing digital asset allocations. Its current client roster includes asset management giant Apollo, Coinbase, and stablecoin issuer Circle.

Grayscale Research Head Zach Pandl released a report noting that the tokenization of global stock markets has kicked off, bringing conveniences like 24/7 trading to users. He categorized the evolution of equity tokenization into three stages: The first is the third-party "wrapping" model, which currently accounts for over 70% of the market capitalization and operates primarily on blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana. The second is the "equity" model represented by DTCC’s pilot, which uses regulated post-trade infrastructure. The third, with the greatest long-term potential, is the "issuer-initiated" model—where companies issue securities natively on-chain. Last week, Securitize became the first NYSE-listed company to do so. Grayscale believes the three models will coexist for many years to come.

Yesterday, the number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to 25, below the recent daily average of 30 to 50. The traffic slowdown followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US-Iran ceasefire had ended, with the two sides conducting further reciprocal strikes. Maritime analysts noted that the recent recovery in shipping activity has collapsed, and the strait is now operating under conditions of full-scale conflict.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, whale "yixie" — whose total profits have reached $9.42 million — has added to his long positions in SK Hynix. He currently holds SK Hynix long positions worth $2.79 million, with an unrealized profit of $324,300. Additionally, he has a TWAP order to purchase another $1.05 million worth of SKHX in the $1,488–$1,520 range.

According to Fars News Agency, U.S. airstrikes overnight damaged Iran’s Aktakhan Railway Bridge. The route connects Iran with China and Russia via Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and has grown increasingly important amid restrictions on Iran’s Persian Gulf ports. Repair work is expected to be completed soon, the report added.

According to Reuters, Meta plans to start production of its AI chip codenamed "Iris" in September. The chip is part of the fourth-generation Meta Training and Inference Accelerators (MTIA) project, designed in-house to support Meta’s own AI needs and enhance AI functions on platforms including Facebook and Instagram. The chip was developed in collaboration with Broadcom and manufactured by TSMC, aiming to reduce reliance on external GPU suppliers such as Nvidia and AMD, as well as lower massive computing costs. After the chip’s launch, Meta plans to deploy 7 gigawatts (GW) of computing infrastructure in 2026, doubling that to 14 GW by 2027. This is part of Meta’s broader AI infrastructure expansion initiative, with its capital expenditure this year projected to reach up to $145 billion.