Vanta will launch a 100,000 USDC trading competition on July 30, with a weekly reward pool of 1 million points.

According to GMGN market data, as of press time, the market capitalization of crypto token STONKBROKER has risen to approximately $24.43 million, with its price standing at $0.00987. Its current liquidity pool is around $2.3 million, with a 24-hour increase of 73.63%, a 1-hour rise of 9.11%, and an intraday peak market cap of roughly $24.57 million, hitting a new all-time high.

According to a report by The Chosun Ilbo, South Korean individual investors’ dissatisfaction has surged after single-stock leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plummeted. On that day, around 30 mourning wreaths were placed in front of the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Seoul, calling for the scrapping of the related 2x leveraged ETF products. The wreaths were sent by the individual investor group "Stock Market Normalization Council", whose demands include strengthening investor protection and pushing for the delisting of such products. The group argues that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix single-stock leveraged ETFs amplified stock price volatility and exacerbated retail investors’ losses. The protest came amid sharp fluctuations in South Korea’s stock market. On the previous trading day, the KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index) plunged more than 8% at one point, triggering the circuit breaker; the single-stock leveraged products tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also tumbled around 25%. Against the backdrop of a downturn in the AI hardware chain and sharp falls among semiconductor leaders, the risks of highly leveraged products were rapidly magnified. South Korea’s financial authorities have started tightening trading thresholds. The Financial Services Commission plans to require individual investors to hold a minimum cash margin of at least 30 million won when purchasing new or additional single-stock leveraged products starting from July 31. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eui-keun said industry estimates show that after the measure takes effect, related trading accounts may drop from around 100,000 to about 10,000, with trading volume likely to decrease by around 60%.

Bitunix has officially launched the "Trading King Challenge" individual trading contest, running from July 28 to August 12 (UTC+0), open to all registered users on the platform. The contest features two leaderboards: the trading volume leaderboard and the return rate leaderboard, with their respective prize pools accounting for 80% (560,000 USDT) and 20% (140,000 USDT). Eligibility requires a valid contract trading volume of at least 50,000 USDT; users ranking on both leaderboards will receive the higher reward. As Bitunix's contract trading ecosystem continues to expand, the platform is giving back to the community with a total prize pool of up to 700,000 USDT, inviting traders worldwide to compete and claim the "Trading King" title.

Fred Thiel, CEO of MARA Holdings, stated that revenue generated from using electricity for AI infrastructure is far higher than that from Bitcoin mining, making power resources the most critical strategic asset for mining firms. He said: “For every unit of electricity used, the returns from AI are significantly higher than those from Bitcoin mining.” Thiel pointed out that as Bitcoin halvings continue to compress mining revenues, and electricity remains the largest operating cost for mining companies, firms must secure power resources or form close partnerships with utilities to stay competitive. MARA has partnered with Starwood to build a roughly 1GW computing power platform, with plans to expand further to 2.5GW; this month, the company also announced the acquisition of a Texas campus with approximately 2GW of power access capacity for developing digital infrastructure. However, Thiel emphasized that AI will not completely replace Bitcoin mining. In regions with low-cost, idle, or surplus power, Bitcoin mining remains an important method to boost power utilization rates. He believes that in the future, for mining firms with grid access and developable land, Bitcoin mining will become one of the uses for power resources, rather than the sole purpose.

According to South Korean lawmaker Yoo Dong-soo, South Korea's financial authorities will hold an emergency meeting today, set to begin at 6 PM local time (17:00 Beijing time). (Jinshi)

Moonshot AI (Chinese name: 月之暗面) has raised $3.5 billion, exceeding expectations, in a recently completed funding round, bringing its valuation to $35 billion. (Jinshi)