Standard Chartered Bank plans to cut over 7,000 jobs in the next four years and increase investment in AI.

May 19th: According to Bitget’s market data, the US storage sector weakened in pre-market trading, with Micron Technology (MU) declining 2.5%, SanDisk (SNDK) dropping 3.3%, Western Digital (WDC) falling 3.85%, and Seagate Technology (STX) decreasing 3.22%.

**MAY 19 – Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Advisory** The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is urging the public to stay highly vigilant against a sophisticated scam that misuses the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF), a fraud that often leaves victims with additional financial losses. The SFC says it has recently received reports of scammers targeting people who already suffered investment losses—most likely from scams run by the same criminal syndicate. These fraudsters falsely tell victims they are eligible to recover their money via the ICF. In these schemes, scammers usually pretend to be SFC officials or legal professionals. They claim victims must pay an extra "deposit" or "fee" to get their "refund" from the Compensation Fund, a trick that has already fooled many people into falling for this secondary fraud. If you have any doubts about someone claiming to arrange compensation for your investment losses, contact the Investor Compensat

May 19 – U.S. ADP Nonfarm Employment Change for the week ended May 2 was reported at 42,250, up from the prior reading of 33,000. (FXStreet)

May 19 – Per Al Jazeera, U.S. officials have announced that a White House National Security Council meeting, set to take place today, has been postponed due to President Trump’s decision to delay the planned attack on Iran.

May 19 – Tether is accelerating its push into the South Korean crypto market, with its latest trademark moves signaling it’s laying the groundwork for a local presence, industry watchers say. The stablecoin giant recently filed 7 trademark applications in Korea, covering its brand name, official logo, and its gold-backed stablecoin Tether Gold. Notably, this marks a shift from Tether’s prior Korean trademark efforts, which only focused on registering stablecoin product names—this time, it’s expanding to full brand identity assets like its core logo. Industry insiders frame the move as a proactive step aligned with Korea’s upcoming rules under the Act on the Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transaction Information (the Virtual Asset Service Provider, or VASP, Act), which will require overseas stablecoin issuers to establish local branches to operate their services domestically. Tether’s action stands out because it’s acting faster than key rival Circle, analysts note. Fo

On May 19th, Hut 8 announced it has struck a deal with West Feliciana Parish in Louisiana, USA, to invest roughly $16 million to expand the parish’s local water supply system in support of its River Bend artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus development. The investment includes building a new water well, roughly 8 miles (about 13 kilometers) of water supply pipelines, and additional system upgrades. Once finished, the full infrastructure will be transferred to the parish at no cost to taxpayers, with the project expected to wrap up in the second half of 2026. Hut 8 said this move is part of its energy infrastructure platform strategy, aimed at integrating power, digital infrastructure, and computing capacity to serve next-generation high-energy computing needs—such as AI data centers.