Data: Web3 social application Towns has over 400,000 total users, with over 200,000 token holders

Stimulated by the U.S. SEC’s new innovative exemption policy for tokenized stocks, related beneficiary concept coins and stocks have extended their rally, with gains also spilling over to associated DeFi tokens. According to HTX market data: NEAR trades at $3.5, up 28.7% in 24 hours; UNI is at $8.74, up 28.1% in 24 hours; ARB stands at $0.21, up 27.8% in 24 hours; ONDO is at $0.385, up 9.22% in 24 hours; BP trades at $0.546, up 19.3% in 24 hours; MET is at $0.253, up 20.1% in 24 hours; RAY is at $1.73, up 16.3% in 24 hours. Separately, per BIT (bit.com) market data, in the stock segment: Securitize closed this morning up 14.93% at $8.93, while Robinhood rose 5.16%. For more information, see the report: "SEC’s Major Positive: Tokenized Stock Innovation Exemption – Which Products Qualify?"

According to HTX market data, Gravity’s token G has surged past $0.007, logging a 69.2% 24-hour gain. In related news, on September 17, Gravity officially announced that its testnet has integrated Chainlink CCIP cross-chain technology.

Beating AI Express Brief: Exa has launched Snapshot, a feature that enables search to "go back in time". The tool indexes over 400 billion web snapshots spanning roughly 20 years. Developers specify a target date, and Exa’s search and web-reading APIs return the archived version of the webpage from that time. The key use case is preventing AI evaluations from "peeking at answers" to cheat. For example, a task designed in June may be given to an agent only in September, by which time the answer could already exist in papers, GitHub pull requests, or blogs. Now, users can lock the search time to May, so the agent won’t access answers published later. Financial teams can use this same method for historical backtesting, feeding models only information that existed at the time. However, this "time machine" has limitations: it guarantees users see the webpage version from the specified date, but search results may not match exactly what they were like back then. Regular paid users are currently restricted to searching the last 5 months; to access older historical data, they need to contact Exa.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) plans to launch a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) by the end of this year, for interbank settlement of tokenized deposits as part of Project EnsembleTX, to enable 24/7 round-the-clock payments. This is one of several initiatives announced by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive in the 2026 Policy Address. While tokenized deposit solutions from individual banks have proliferated, multiple jurisdictions are shifting toward interbank solutions. The key complexity lies in that interbank solutions not only process cross-bank payments on behalf of customers but also require settlement between participating banks. Hong Kong launched a live transaction pilot at the end of 2025, but initial interbank settlement still relied on the traditional Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, which only operates during set hours—a limitation the wCBDC will resolve. Additionally, Hong Kong plans to use the wholesale CBDC for post-trade settlement of derivatives on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), as previously announced. Live-value transactions are also scheduled to roll out within this year.

Analyst Axel Adler Jr. pointed out that over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has climbed from $76,300 to $77,400, as the market’s buying-selling power balance has shifted toward buyers. Short positions make up the vast majority of liquidations: traders who bet on a price decline have been forced to close out their positions, a move that has in turn supported the upward price trend. The liquidation pressure oscillator rose from +0.48 a day prior to +54.52 as of September 18, and has stayed positive since the morning of September 17, signaling that the current short covering-driven dynamic remains in place. The analyst also flagged the fragility of this advantage: if the liquidation pressure oscillator drops back to zero, the liquidation balance will shift back to favor longs, and forced liquidations of bullish positions will generate selling pressure and deepen a downturn. This rally is clearly characterized by being driven by a short squeeze, with buying power only established over the past several hours. Whether this can translate into a more sustained upward move hinges on whether the liquidation structure can hold in a range favorable to longs.

Renaiss and GIWATER have completed integration of TCG card machine applications, making GIWATER the first decentralized exchange (DEX) in South Korea to integrate such card-based use cases. GIWATER is a project selected for Upbit’s GIWA ecosystem incubation program, focused on delivering native liquidity and asset distribution services for the GIWA ecosystem. GIWA is an Ethereum Layer 2 network co-developed with Upbit, built to expand on-chain applications and asset services for the South Korean market. Under the partnership, Renaiss will provide GIWATER with key capabilities including the Proof of Fair random number fairness verification standard and third-party verifiable custody for card inventories. The two sides noted they will pursue more collaborations in the future across DeFi, RWA, and the collectibles market. Renaiss will also participate in events such as Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) in the near term to further advance local ecosystem partnerships in South Korea.