Talks between Stripe and Advent to acquire PayPal are heating up, with the potential deal valued at up to $53 billion.

As AI firm Anthropic’s valuation continues to soar, the market is re-evaluating whether the artificial intelligence investment boom is entering "bubble territory." Reports indicate Anthropic is planning an IPO, with market expectations that its listed valuation could exceed $2 trillion, making it one of the largest IPOs in history. Anthropic has attracted significant investor attention with its rapid growth driven by the Claude series of AI models. The company was valued at around $965 billion in its May 2026 funding round, while recent secondary market trading has pushed its valuation even higher. Supporters argue that Anthropic’s high valuation reflects the pace of AI commercialization and its future growth potential. The market expects the company’s annual revenue to reach $10 billion to $12 billion by the end of 2026, as investors bet on the continued penetration of AI models in the enterprise market. However, critics point out that the current AI industry is facing a mismatch between valuation and profitability. Top AI firms including Anthropic and OpenAI still need to invest massive sums in computing power, data centers, and model training, leaving uncertainty over whether future revenue growth can cover infrastructure costs. Some investors warn that the AI investment boom bears similarities to the dot-com bubble, with massive capital betting prematurely on future returns that have not yet materialized. However, others argue that AI is distinct from the dot-com bubble, as leading firms have already demonstrated real business demand and a rapidly growing revenue base. As AI giants like Anthropic and OpenAI prepare for their IPOs, the AI industry’s true value and market valuation will face greater scrutiny in the capital markets.

A new report from Oxford Economics reveals that global trade is heavily reliant on 27 critical maritime "chokepoints" — a severe disruption to any of these nodes could impact energy and goods transport, as well as the global economy. The report notes that nearly six months of U.S.-Iran tensions have disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a core global energy transport route that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Rising risks of attacks on commercial vessels have slowed shipping, driving up international oil prices, pushing U.S. gasoline costs above $4 per gallon, and further exacerbating inflationary pressures. Beyond the Strait of Hormuz, global trade is also heavily concentrated at key nodes including the Strait of Malacca, Taiwan Strait, Suez Canal, Strait of Gibraltar, and Panama Canal. Asia hosts the world’s densest network of trade routes: the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is a key global energy and goods transport corridor, while the Taiwan Strait handles roughly one-quarter of global trade volumes. The report warns that geopolitical conflicts are among the biggest risks to global trade. Some nations may weaponize key shipping lanes for political leverage, while climate change is also raising shipping risks. For instance, drought and El Ni?o-driven water level drops at the Panama Canal have limited vessel cargo capacity and pushed up transport costs. Oxford Economics says the risk level of individual chokepoints depends on the availability of alternative routes. The Strait of Hormuz is particularly high-risk due to the lack of viable alternatives, while some routes can be bypassed, though longer travel distances increase fuel, labor, and operational costs, driving up global freight rates. As geopolitical tensions, extreme weather, and supply chain vulnerabilities rise, the global trade system’s reliance on critical shipping nodes is emerging as a new source of economic risk.

Mizuho Securities’ latest research note has cut its price target for crypto custody firm BitGo from $14 to $11, while maintaining an “Outperform” rating. The analyst noted that the ongoing delay of the U.S. crypto market structure bill, the Clarity Act, could instead help BitGo solidify its competitive edge. Mizuho said the market widely views the delay in regulatory frameworks as a negative for BitGo, but the firm believes the opposite is true. Since BitGo already operates the U.S.’s first federally chartered digital asset trust bank controlled by a public company, its business does not depend on new regulations taking effect, while competitors still await clarity on regulatory rules. The analyst pointed out that with each additional quarter of delay, BitGo’s existing licenses, compliance framework, and first-mover regulatory advantage will further accumulate, raising the barrier to entry for new competitors. In terms of performance, BitGo’s second-quarter revenue hit $4.33 billion, up 79.6% year-over-year, with a net loss of $19 million, a significant narrowing from the $60.7 million loss in the prior quarter. Mizuho believes the market is currently valuing BitGo as a “distressed company,” but it actually operates more like a “high-growth, recurring revenue business.” The report stated that BitGo’s customer count rose 27% year-over-year, while subscription and services revenue grew 7% quarter-over-quarter. In addition, the company’s partnerships with institutions including DTCC, Canton, and Figure position it to become a key infrastructure provider for tokenized securities and on-chain financial products.

The Cboe BZX Exchange, a unit of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), has filed a rule change application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the U.S. market’s first 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Per the filing, Cboe plans to list ETFs including 3x Bitcoin ETFs, 3x Ethereum ETFs, and 3x leveraged ETFs for gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas. These products aim to deliver 3x the daily returns of their underlying assets by holding futures contracts from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) or the New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX), with cash and cash equivalents serving as collateral. The proposed ETFs will operate as "commodity pools" regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), rather than the traditional ETF structure overseen by the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940. As leveraged products do not meet the exchange’s existing general listing standards, Cboe is required to file a special rule change application with the SEC and plans to concurrently submit an S-1 registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933. Cboe stated that this structure will provide an additional federal regulatory layer. The funds will be issued by Volatility Shares LLC and operated under VS Trust. Market analysts note that 3x leveraged ETFs are primarily targeted at short-term trading and professional investors, and are not suitable as long-term holding instruments. Previously, Volatility Shares had launched 2x Bitcoin and Ethereum strategy ETFs in the U.S., while Europe saw the launch of the first 3x and inverse 3x Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF products last year.

Crypto finance platform ABFinance, founded by former Bybit co-CEO Helen Liu, announced it will not proceed with its planned launch and is now in the process of orderly shutdown. ABFinance stated on social media that it thanks all team members, community users, and partners involved in its development, adding: "Thank you for your trust, support, and belief along the way." In March this year, after leaving Bybit, Helen Liu announced the launch of her startup ABFinance, which aimed to build a one-stop financial platform connecting fiat and crypto assets, integrating functions such as deposits, yields, trading, and payments, and emphasized that it would be built under the U.S. compliance license framework from day one. According to prior reports, Bybit announced that Helen Liu would step down on April 30, 2026, to embark on her personal entrepreneurial journey. However, just about five months after ABFinance unveiled its project plan, the platform announced it would halt its launch and enter the shutdown process. The specific reason for the shutdown has not been disclosed by officials so far.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Circle (CRCL) stock rating from "Hold" to "Underweight" on August 3, slashing its price target from $106 to $38. Analysts attributed the rating cut primarily to the contraction in USDC circulation, which exposed Circle’s high sensitivity to reserve-related revenue. Meanwhile, the company’s business structure is shifting toward a transaction-based revenue model with lower profit margins. The report also cut Circle’s USDC size forecasts for 2027 and 2028 by approximately 33% and 44% respectively, and projected the company’s GAAP earnings per share (EPS) to be about 3% and 20% lower than market consensus. However, Morgan Stanley’s latest filed 13F document shows that as of June 30, its holdings of Circle shares surged from around 1.46 million to 8.32 million, marking a clear position increase in the second quarter. This means that while Morgan Stanley publicly downgraded Circle’s rating and price target in early August, signaling a cautious outlook, its disclosed holdings as of the end of Q2 showed a significant position increase. It should be noted that 13F filings reflect holdings as of June 30, and cannot reflect whether positions were adjusted before or after the August rating cut. The market’s focus centers on the stark contrast between the institutional research view and the historical holdings disclosure.