The US and Iran remain in a stalemate, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower, and Bitcoin posted a minor gain.

South Korea has denied reports that it was discussing making semiconductors its first investment in the U.S. The South Korean presidential office said Tuesday, "The claim that the two countries discussed semiconductors as a candidate for the first strategic investment project is not true." The presidential office did not disclose details of negotiations between Seoul and Washington on the investment commitment. Earlier, JoongAng Ilbo reported that South Korea’s first investment project, which it had planned to announce later this month, faced uncertainty after Washington suddenly sought investment in U.S. memory chip facilities. According to the newspaper, the request was the focus of a closed-door trade meeting held at the presidential office on August 13. South Korea had initially targeted the energy sector for its first major investment in the U.S., and officials present generally deemed investing in a U.S. memory chip factory unrealistic, as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have pledged to invest at least $880 billion in building chips and data centers.

Gambler 0xff84 just won't take profit. As $BTC rose, even though he closed part of his position early, he still couldn't avoid liquidation and got 288 $BTC ($18.55M) liquidated. He still holds a 512 $BTC ($33M) short. New liquidation price: $64,665.18

Crypto KOL Ansem has launched Ansem.io, a Solana-based token launch platform for the ANSEM token community. Users can create tokens on the platform, trade them from day one of listing, and participate in the community Z500 index. All tokens issued on the platform are created on Pump.fun and operational on the Solana mainnet immediately after generation. The platform aims to deliver higher exposure and liquidity for new tokens through community mechanisms. According to the platform, every token launch on it has a built-in community airdrop mechanism: a portion of the funds from the first purchase of each token is automatically reserved for the community and distributed in the same transaction as the token creation. Additionally, the platform has introduced a tier mechanism based on ANSEM burning. Project teams can unlock Gold and Diamond tiers by permanently burning a certain amount of ANSEM, with higher-tier launches requiring greater investment from the project side. The platform also rolled out the Z500 index and Boost mechanism for real-time ranking of community tokens, allowing users to boost project rankings. It states that through mechanisms like token airdrops, ANSEM burning, and community rankings, it aims to further align the interests of project teams and ANSEM holders, provide community exposure for new tokens, and build a community-led project curation and incentive system.

Citadel Securities said the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path in the wake of a period of high inflation continues to push long-term bond yields to multi-year highs, sparking broader market risks. Nohshad Shah, head of fixed income sales for Citadel’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, noted in a client report that although policy rates have fallen 175 basis points from their peak, long-term U.S. Treasury yields remain near their highest level in nearly 20 years. Shah wrote: “In my view, this reflects the market’s belief that when the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury face tough choices, they tend to opt for a more accommodative path. As long as this persists, it will continue to pose a risk to the broader market.” The yield on the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond rose above 5.28% on Monday, hitting a 19-year high. Earlier data showed both inflation and consumer demand had cooled, but the bond market responded by scaling back expectations for a September rate cut by the Fed. Shah warned that recent improvements in inflation and a weakening labor market should not be seen as a signal that interest rates are about to fall. He pointed out that more than 55% of core commodity prices are still rising, so the Fed’s next month policy meeting will remain a “close call.” On the AI front, Shah said AI investment logic is shifting from developing more advanced models to cloud infrastructure. Hyperscale cloud providers like Microsoft and Google, with their computing power, inference capabilities, and distribution channels, are better positioned to monetize AI, and their potential returns may be more clear-cut than those of leading-edge AI model developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

According to Bitget's market data, South Korea's KOSPI index surged 3.00% intraday, currently trading at 7188.14 points.

According to official announcements, cross-chain Meme coin Launchpad platform Printr has announced it will initiate business shutdown procedures and cease all operations on August 31, 2026. The team noted that over the past three months, it has explored all feasible options to secure a sustainable development path, but due to a lack of the funding and distribution support required by the current market, it has ultimately decided to wind down operations. Starting August 18, all staking positions and staking rewards on supported chains will be automatically unstaked or claimed and returned to their original deposited wallet addresses, after which the staking function will be suspended. Amid the shutdown, Printr confirmed it will not hold a Token Generation Event (TGE) or distribute an airdrop. The team said it understands community members had previously held expectations for these plans, and expressed regret over being unable to fulfill the related arrangements. After August 31, the Printr application interface will be taken offline, and the platform will no longer support the issuance of new tokens. Printr also emphasized that tokens issued via its platform are independent on-chain assets, not held or controlled by Printr, and will continue to exist on their respective blockchains.