US stocks open: Nasdaq up 0.16%, SanDisk gains 7%

August 14 Update: #Bitcoin ETFs: 1D NetFlow: -2,015 $BTC(-$126.06M)?? 7D NetFlow: -3,890 $BTC(-$243.38M)?? #Ethereum ETFs: 1D NetFlow: -277 $ETH(-$517.08K)?? 7D NetFlow: +22,908 $ETH(+$42.74M)??

According to a Forbes report, after Trump and Musk publicly split last year, they now speak on the phone roughly once a month, often discussing topics such as artificial intelligence and international affairs. However, Trump privately acknowledged that their relationship "will never be the same as before." Late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, and others have pushed to repair the Trump-Musk relationship, arguing that the bond is too important to lose. In May this year, Musk accompanied Trump and other corporate executives on a visit to China, during which the two discussed topics including Musk’s plans to build a new factory in the U.S., his family, and his plan to invest $100 million to help the Republican Party win the November election. In an interview with The Economist last month, Musk stated that he had previously "gotten a bit too involved in politics, and frankly, it got out of hand." During their split last year, Musk publicly criticized the Trump administration’s policies and once called for Trump’s impeachment, later deleting some related posts and expressing regret over some of his criticisms of Trump.

JPMorgan Chase’s latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals that as of June 30, the firm held approximately 10.4 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT—up roughly 25% from the 8.3 million shares it held in the first quarter, with a disclosed holding value of around $356 million. Over the same period, its position in BlackRock’s ETHA rose from roughly 267,000 shares to about 1.17 million shares, an increase of more than three times and exceeding four times its prior holding size. The filing also disclosed small holdings in XRP-related investment products for the first time, including 181 shares of Grayscale’s XRP product and 113 shares of Bitwise’s XRP ETF. Jonatan Randin, senior market analyst at PrimeXBT, pointed out that this 13F covers 18 investment management entities under JPMorgan, with some positions potentially linked to client trades or inventory management. Since 13F filings do not disclose short positions, it is impossible to assess JPMorgan’s net exposure or directional views on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) solely based on these long positions. Separately, JPMorgan cut its holdings in multiple Bitcoin mining companies during the second quarter. Randin noted that as some mining firms expand into AI and high-performance computing, their status as proxy assets for Bitcoin prices is weakening.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) once fell to its lowest level since May, as unexpectedly weak U.S. retail sales data prompted traders to further scale back expectations of interest rate hikes this year. Following the release of the economic data, bond market traders have pulled back their bets that the Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs in 2026. This hawkish narrative has been supporting the dollar in recent months, and the latest decline puts the greenback on track to post its sixth weekly drop in the past seven weeks. The unexpectedly weak labor market report released last Friday, paired with this week’s moderate inflation data, has jointly fueled the recent downturn. (Jin10)

Israel’s largest bank, Bank Leumi, announced it will offer crypto asset trading services to clients starting early 2027, becoming the first Israeli bank to launch such services. Clients of Leumi and its mobile banking arm Pepper will be able to buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) via the Leumi Trade app. Galaxy Digital will provide trading and related services through its GalaxyOne Institutional platform, which is tailored for banks and asset management firms. Bank Leumi also signed an agreement with Galaxy to use the latter’s digital asset custody infrastructure—formerly known as GK8—to support the business. Maya Ravia, Bank Leumi’s head of strategy, noted that digital assets are increasingly becoming an important part of the global financial system. Lior Lamesh, CEO of Galaxy Israel, added that banks entering this space early will help shape the direction of the financial system’s transition to open, programmable infrastructure. The two sides have not yet disclosed the partnership’s commercial terms, transaction fees, or client eligibility requirements.

According to South Korean media reports, to address the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) storage, SK Hynix significantly boosted its equipment investment and R&D spending in the first half of this year. Cash outlays for acquiring tangible assets surpassed 18 trillion won, rising more than 70% year-on-year. Per SK Hynix’s semi-annual report disclosed on the 14th, on a consolidated basis, the company’s cash expenditure for tangible asset purchases in H1 totaled 18.3288 trillion won, an increase of 72.7% from 10.6157 trillion won in the same period last year. R&D investment also saw a sharp jump: total R&D expenditure hit 6.0428 trillion won in H1, up 98.4% from 3.0456 trillion won year-on-year, with 5.8163 trillion won allocated to ongoing development costs. Driven by growing demand for AI-specific high-bandwidth memory (HBM), server DRAM, and enterprise-grade solid-state drives (SSD), SK Hynix is accelerating the expansion of its production facilities.