Margin requirements for leveraged semiconductor ETFs in South Korea may increase fivefold.

Binance will add 10 bStocks tokenized securities as eligible collateral assets for cross-margin, unified account mode, and unified account pro at 21:30 (UTC+8) on July 15. The assets include Applied Optoelectronics (AAOIB), Arm (ARMB), Broadcom (AVGOB), Alibaba (BABAB), Robinhood (HOODB), IBM (IBMB), Marvell Technology (MRVLB), Nokia (NOKB), Rocket Lab (RKLBB), and TSMC (TSMB). Meanwhile, leveraged trading for these bStocks trading pairs will be enabled. Currently, these tokens are only supported as collateral assets, with borrowing functionality unavailable. This feature is exclusively open to VIP 3 and above users in approved jurisdictions, and does not apply to users in restricted regions.

According to Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 1,008.01 points on Wednesday, July 15, a 1.49% gain to end at 68,751.51 points. Individual stocks: Kioxia rose 5.4%, Ibiden gained 7.7%. South Korea’s KOSPI index closed up 427.58 points on the same day, a 6.24% increase, finishing at 7,284.41 points; the South Korean KOSDAQ index rose 5.79%. Individual stocks: SK Hynix rose 8.8%, Samsung Electronics gained 6.2%, and Hanmi Semiconductor jumped 29.8%.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, the whale with an address starting with 0x4c7, which established short positions during the "fateful week" of South Korean semiconductor stocks, has now fully liquidated all short positions on SK Hynix (SKHX). The average entry price of the position was approximately $1,453. The closing trade amounted to around $9.0325 million, with an average closing price of roughly $1,424.47. The whale earned about $230,000 from this round of liquidation; adding earlier partial take-profits, its net profit totals approximately $560,000. On the midday of July 14, when SKHX dipped to a low of $1,146.40, the unrealized profit of the position once reached around $1.991 million. Following that, Hynix staged a strong rebound, causing the unrealized profit to shrink rapidly, leading the whale to finally exit its position near the break-even line. Separately, Whale Discovery reported that one major address shorted South Korean semiconductor stocks during that "fateful week", with combined short positions on Samsung and Hynix reaching $14.8 million.

Crypto market analyst gaah cited CryptoQuant data in a post, stating that the ratio of Bitcoin’s long-term holders (LTH) to short-term holders (STH) has climbed to a 30-month high. This metric measures the distribution of Bitcoin supply between long-term and short-term holders. The analysis notes that extreme highs in this indicator typically do not coincide with market euphoria peaks, but rather occur during the re-accumulation phase. Historically, bull market tops often form when this metric starts to drop from its high, not when it hits a new record. Currently, with BTC still around 50% below its previous all-time high, long-term holders are steadily absorbing circulating Bitcoin supply.

According to South Korean media outlet Bloter, a source familiar with the matter disclosed that Samsung Electronics has initiated internal research on various plans for issuing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in the U.S. and is assessing related operational procedures. Bloomberg reported on July 14 that Samsung Electronics had held preliminary discussions with multiple investment banks regarding a U.S. listing via ADRs. The company responded at the time that it was not considering a U.S. market listing through ADR issuance. However, market observers note that Samsung’s denial does not completely eliminate the possibility of issuing ADRs in the future. Despite the company’s rejection of the plan, relevant business departments have, under management’s direction, begun evaluating the potential costs, benefits and required procedures for ADR issuance. A semiconductor industry source revealed on July 15 that the company’s management recently tasked relevant departments with studying whether a feasible structure tailored for Samsung’s ADR issuance can be developed. As part of this research, Samsung Electronics personnel have consulted SK Hynix, which recently completed an ADR issuance and listed on the Nasdaq, for insights. (Jinshi)

According to official announcements, Binance will open trading pairs for ten tokenized bStocks – Applied Optoelectronics (AAOIB), Arm (ARMB), Broadcom (AVGOB), Alibaba (BABAB), Robinhood (HOODB), IBM (IBMB), Marvell Technology (MRVLB), Nokia (NOKB), Rocket Lab (RKLBB), and TSMC (TSMB) – at 21:30 on July 15, 2026, with simultaneous support for spot algorithmic trading bots. Order placement fees for these trading pairs will be waived until 23:59 on August 31, 2026.