US tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history, with the volatility ratio of the Nasdaq 100 to the S&P 500 hitting a 23-year high.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, on-chain gold whale Antalpha has continued to accumulate Tether Gold (XAUT) over the past three months, purchasing a total of roughly 15,052 XAUT worth approximately $68.03 million, with all related transfers originating from Cobo. The latest data shows the address received another 1,000 XAUT about 15 minutes ago, valued at around $4.1 million, signaling its ongoing accumulation of tokenized gold assets.

According to CoinGlass data, the total open interest of Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ) contracts across all platforms stands at $92.23 million. Data shows that liquidity for this underlying asset is mainly concentrated on leading trading platforms, with Binance, Bitget and OKX ranking as the top three in open interest. Their respective open interest shares are 34.64% ($31.95 million), 26.43% ($24.38 million) and 12.22% ($11.27 million), collectively accounting for around 73% of the total market share.

Driven by escalating Middle East tensions and surging energy prices, ExxonMobil and Chevron are projected to report second-quarter net profits of $15 billion and $9.7 billion respectively, totaling approximately $24.7 billion — both figures more than tripling from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, refiners such as Marathon Petroleum and Valero Energy are also expected to post their highest profits in recent years. Amid persistently high gasoline and diesel prices, U.S. President Donald Trump has recently stepped up pressure on the energy sector, calling on retailers to lower fuel prices and directing the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether oil companies are engaging in price gouging. Analysts believe that with midterm elections approaching, high oil prices are continuing to drive up U.S. inflationary pressure, and the standoff between the Trump administration and major oil giants is likely to further escalate.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, Tether has minted 1 billion USDT on the Tron network.

According to Bitget data, WTI crude oil has plunged 3% intraday, currently trading at $72.27 per barrel.

Gold prices rebounded to above $4,100 per ounce following Wednesday's sell-off. The rebound was supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and renewed Middle East geopolitical tensions after fresh reciprocal strikes between the U.S. and Iran on Wednesday. However, rising energy prices may complicate inflation outlooks, reinforcing market expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates high for a longer period or implement additional hikes. The minutes of the Fed's mid-June policy meeting highlighted a hawkish shift within the committee, weighing on precious metals. Capital Economics economist Thomas Ryan stated: "The minutes reaffirm that the door to a September rate hike remains wide open." (Jin10)