US-Iran tensions resurface, WTI crude oil’s intraday rally hits 7% at one point.

According to GMGN data, the on-chain meme coin PIPEDOG on Robinhood staged a rally tonight after a half-day pullback. As of press time, its market cap stands at $59.89 million, with a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $57.7 million. However, constrained by the overall liquidity of the Robinhood chain, while PIPEDOG rallied, multiple tokens in the Robinhood ecosystem suffered "siphoning"—STONKBROKER, PONS, and others all saw short-term drops. It should be noted that this meme coin was not issued via Robinhood’s official launch platform; its issuer remains anonymous, and multiple data points indicate severe signs of insider trading: multiple group addresses acquired large token holdings in the early stage of issuance. That said, the token’s on-chain locking of a substantial liquidity pool has won favor from some users. BlockBeats reminds users that this token carries significant uncertainty, so investors should exercise caution.

Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) issued a statement refuting online rumors that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ruled on July 28 that all 19 claims of YMTC’s core 3D NAND patents are invalid, calling the information seriously misleading. The claim that "YMTC-related concept stocks plummeted across the board" is maliciously fabricated based on the misleading information, and such descriptions are grossly inconsistent with facts. The statement added that since November 2023, YMTC has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Micron Technology in the U.S., involving 27 patents and 295 patent claims, which is still in progress. YMTC does not comment on ongoing litigation, and relevant updates are available via public channels.

Tom Lee posted on X that today’s FOMC meeting is expected to hold interest rates steady. His team reviewed comments from 12 voting members since the June meeting: 3 are hawkish, 2 dovish, and Warsh holds a neutral stance. However, the FOMC may announce a resumption of quantitative tightening (QT). Currently, the monthly balance sheet reduction pace stands at zero; this move amounts to a stealth rate hike without launching formal tightening policy. Uncertainty surrounding the new Fed could lead to restored market clarity after the statement. As a result, Tom Lee expects stocks to perform better post-FOMC, particularly AI laggards like Micron, which has fallen 41% from its peak, with its forward P/E dropping to 5.372x, below the 10-year average of 6.524x, showing a significant valuation discount.

According to Israeli media outlet i24News, senior Israeli officials said centrifuges are located at Iran's Fordow site, though uranium enrichment activities have not yet started.

The Federal Reserve stands at a turbulent crossroads. With current Chair Kevin Warsh repeatedly hinting he will break the market convention of pre-announcing policy moves, this Wednesday’s interest rate decision has become one of the most unpredictable calls in recent years. Citadel Securities has bluntly predicted a "surprise rate hike" this week. The firm argues Warsh may use this move to signal the end of the "forward guidance" era, and restore the Federal Reserve’s independence by inflicting short-term pain on markets. On the other hand, the iShares 20-Year+ US Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) has recently shown strong bullish momentum. Data shows TLT’s put/call ratio has fallen to 0.63, a level not seen since May. On Tuesday, TLT’s call option volume hit 171,000 contracts, three times that of put options. Zed Francis, chief investment officer at Convexitas, revealed the logic behind this "curve twist": If Warsh opts for a decisive rate hike, markets will view it as the Fed’s ultimate resolve against inflation, causing long-term inflation expectations to collapse and driving long-dated yields lower (bond prices rise). This means a hawkish rate hike could actually be a bullish signal for long-dated US Treasuries and tech stocks like the Nasdaq 100 index.

U.S. Solana Policy Institute (SPI) has sent a letter to Senate bipartisan leaders, urging them to advance the Clarity Act digital asset bill to a vote before Congress’s legislative window closes in early August. The bill aims to provide regulatory clarity for U.S. crypto developers, institutions, and consumers, and establishes a "non-money transmission" safe harbor for non-custodial software developers via the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. The latest Republican version of the bill also adds ethics provisions banning federal public officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, with the relevant clauses set to expire on January 20, 2029. SPI states that the legislation will help prevent "overreach" by regulators and criminal law enforcement targeting software developers, while sustaining domestic U.S. development momentum.