Global Rate Hike Cycle Begins: Number of Rate Hikes Matches Rate Cuts in May, First Time Since Early 2021

Perpetual decentralized exchange (Perp DEX) Trade.xyz on the Hyperliquid chain has purchased HYPE for the first time using its HIP-3 revenue, acquiring 2,000 HYPE tokens worth approximately $108,000.

HIP-3 decentralized trading platform Trade.xyz has launched Unitree’s pre-IPO perpetual contract, currently quoted at $69, corresponding to a post-listing market cap of approximately $27.9 billion. Separately, HIP-3 decentralized trading platform Paragon also launched Unitree’s pre-IPO perpetual contract yesterday, with a current quote of $68.8. The UNITREE pre-market perpetual contract price represents the USD value of one ordinary Unitree share. Unitree’s STAR Market IPO plans to issue at least around 40.45 million shares, accounting for 10% of its total post-issuance share capital, with post-issuance total shares standing at approximately 404.5 million. The current contract price implies a market cap of $27.9 billion, equivalent to around 190.6 billion RMB. Unitree’s IPO prospectus targets an issuance valuation of approximately 42 billion RMB (around $5.8–6.2 billion), which is expected to deliver a 4.5x gain for new share subscribers after listing. Unitree is set to hold its initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market, with its net subscription date scheduled for August 10, 2026.

According to BIT (bit.com) market data, the U.S. optical communications sector extended its gains from yesterday, with the following performances: Pure Photonics ETF (FOTO) rose 2.2%; Corning (GLW) gained 0.52%; Marvell Technology (MRVL) increased 0.5%; AAOI (Applied Optoelectronics) climbed 5.1% — a manufacturer of 800G/1.6T high-speed optical modules focused on AI data center transceivers; LITE (Lumentum Holdings) rose 2.56%, a core supplier of optical communications lasers and modules and a key player in AI data centers; COHR (Coherent Corp) gained 5.86%, a leader in lasers, optical components and photonics solutions covering data center and industrial sectors; CIEN (Ciena Corporation) climbed 2.49%, which produces high-speed SerDes and connectivity chips and focuses on low-power interconnections for AI data centers. Yesterday’s development: The Trump administration is drafting a ban on imports of new Chinese data center components, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to impose import restrictions on Chinese optical transceivers (used for high-speed fiber data transmission in data centers), aiming to announce and take effect within this year. A U.S. ban on new Chinese data center equipment imports could raise costs for U.S. cloud computing firms including Amazon Web Services (AWS, AMZN.O), forcing them to switch to alternative suppliers such as U.S.-based Coherent (COHR.N) and Lumentum (LITE.O).

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has posted an update on its official website, lifting sanctions related to Iran.

Duan Yongping once again responded on Xueqiu to his recent reduction in Pop Mart positions, elaborating on his long-term holding strategy: "It’s mainly because the put options I sold expired, which significantly impacted my shareholding ratio. Additionally, for some of the stocks I purchased, I simultaneously sold call options at the time of buying, and the counterparty ended up exercising the right to 'call away' those shares. Going forward, as long as the stock price stays within a certain range, I may continue this approach. From the start, I said 'Pop Mart Insurance Company has opened', but many people didn’t actually grasp what that meant." The Hong Kong Stock Exchange disclosed today that H&H International Investment, managed by Duan Yongping, cut its long position in Pop Mart International Group Limited from 7.65% to 5.55% on July 30, 2026. Following the expiration and exercise of some call options on July 30, Duan was obligated to deliver shares at the agreed price, leading to a reduction in his physical shareholding. The exercise involved delivering a portion of the shares at a combined settlement price of approximately HKD 162.50, resulting in a net decrease of around 8.9328 million physical shares. BlockBeats Note: Duan Yongping stated in April this year that "Pop Mart Insurance Company has opened", referring to his official initiation of selling put options on Pop Mart. He positions himself as an insurance company that collects "premiums" (option premiums) from other traders upfront: if the stock price falls, he buys shares at a lower price; if not, he earns the option premiums.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the US stock storage sector rose after the market opened. Leading storage players SanDisk and Western Digital will both release their fourth-quarter financial results after Wednesday's close. Among them: Seagate Technology (STX) gained 2.3%; Western Digital (WDC) rose 1.86%; SanDisk (SNDK) narrowed its decline to 0.16%; Micron Technology (MU) climbed 2.76%; SK Hynix ADR jumped 5.77%.