Gold prices rebound above $4,100 per ounce, but the Fed's hawkish stance dampens the outlook.

Bank of Korea (BOK) has submitted its latest views to the National Assembly’s Finance Committee, reiterating that South Korean won stablecoins should be primarily issued by a banking consortium, and recommending the establishment of a statutory policy coordination mechanism involving relevant regulators to strengthen the stablecoin issuance and regulatory framework. The BOK noted that this stance is aimed at safeguarding financial stability, and once again underscores its divergence with some political circles and industry bodies on the issue of stablecoin issuers. Meanwhile, the BOK announced it will continue advancing its deposit token pilot program in the second half of this year, with plans to apply the technology to government subsidy disbursement, consumption vouchers, charging infrastructure payments, and other real-world commercial scenarios. Deposit tokens, which are tokenized forms of commercial bank deposits, are seen as a key direction for South Korea’s tokenized finance. Due to long-running disputes over core issues like stablecoin issuance eligibility, the legislative process for South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act has remained slow. The BOK has long advocated that banks hold controlling stakes in stablecoin issuing institutions, while how to integrate digital assets such as stablecoins and RWAs (Real-World Assets) into the existing financial regulatory system remains a major point of contention in South Korea’s digital asset legislation.

US stock index futures edged higher in pre-market trading, with S&P 500 futures up 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures rising 0.61%, and Dow Jones futures nearly flat. Against the backdrop of renewed escalation in US-Iran tensions and rising global oil prices, markets are betting that tech stocks will drive a rebound in US equities. Most major European stock indexes rose. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.4%, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.62%, China’s A-share CSI 300 index closed 2.5% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged lower. On the news front, the US announced a new round of strikes against Iran in response to attacks on merchant vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, with WTI crude oil futures rising nearly 1% at one point. US President Donald Trump previously stated that the US-Iran ceasefire "has ended," adding that he may no longer intend to continue negotiations with Iran. Markets are concerned that persistent supply risks in the Strait of Hormuz will further push up global energy prices and geopolitical risk premiums. From an institutional perspective, Wells Fargo Investment Institute noted that if Middle East tensions escalate further, against the backdrop of low global crude oil inventories, oil prices may continue to carry high risk premiums. However, corporate earnings growth and the AI investment boom will still provide support for US equities, with the S&P 500 expected to rise to the 7,800–8,000 point range by the end of the year. Markets will also focus today on US initial jobless claims data, existing home sales figures, and PepsiCo’s earnings report.

U.S. Bank of America’s latest research report states that market concerns over rising high-bandwidth memory (HBM) costs for Nvidia and competition from custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) have been overblown, while the market has underestimated the chipmaker’s strong pricing power, supply chain advantages, and ecosystem moats. BofA believes the upcoming Rubin AI platform will offset HBM cost increases via higher selling prices, and Nvidia’s roughly $119 billion in supply chain commitments will further solidify its cost edge, projecting the company’s gross margin will remain at around the mid-75% range. Regarding the ASIC substitution risk drawing market attention, BofA notes Google’s TPU has developed over a decade, yet Nvidia’s GPU business revenue has grown some 700 times over the same period, demonstrating that custom chips have not weakened GPUs’ dominance in AI training and inference fields. The bank forecasts Nvidia will continue to capture 65% to 70% of global hyperscalers’ AI infrastructure spending going forward. On valuation, BofA points out that Nvidia’s current forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is around 18.7 times, only half of its 10-year average of about 37 times, near an 11-year low, meaning pessimistic expectations are already fully priced in. With the advancement of the Rubin platform and the approaching August earnings report, BofA expects Nvidia will once again validate its product competitiveness and profitability, driving the market to reassign a valuation premium to the stock.

With the outbreak of a new round of military conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Trump’s plan to disengage from the Iran conflict has once again hit a snag. Analysts note that against the backdrop of a shaky ceasefire and ongoing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump is facing threefold pressure: diplomatic, energy, and electoral. The U.S. had earlier reinstated sanctions on Iran’s oil sales, while Iran launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. military bases. Disputes between the two sides over control of the Strait of Hormuz have become the core trigger for the conflict’s escalation. Market observers point out that with the U.S. midterm elections just months away, surging energy prices are driving up U.S. inflation, posing a major political risk for Trump. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 34%, hitting a new low in his second term. While Trump still insists the conflict will “end soon”, multiple analysts believe he can neither force Iran to compromise via military actions nor secure breakthroughs in diplomatic talks. The situation is likely to remain in a state of “limited conflict and sustained rivalry” for the long term. Institutions generally hold that if risks in the Strait of Hormuz persist, international oil and fuel prices will stay at high levels. This will not only intensify risk aversion in global markets but also further push up U.S. domestic inflation, exerting sustained pressure on Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party’s midterm election prospects.

Russia’s largest private bank Alfa-Bank has begun testing cryptocurrency trading services for select qualified investors. The test version supports assets including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, Litecoin, Tether USDt, USDC, Zcash, and others. Should Russia’s relevant regulatory framework be formally implemented, the bank plans to roll out the service to retail clients in the fourth quarter of 2026. Furthermore, Alfa-Bank intends to set up a digital asset custody entity, which will provide custody services not only for its own crypto operations but also for third-party institutions. As Russia’s digital asset legislation progresses, major lenders including Sber, VTB Bank, and T-Bank are also accelerating their cryptocurrency business initiatives.

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.