The US has secretly established a shipping lane in the Strait of Hormuz, moving around 10 million barrels of oil daily.

Prediction market platform Kalshi has submitted an application to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch copper price-linked perpetual futures contracts. According to an August 18 filing, the proposed COPPERPERP contract will track copper spot prices priced in U.S. dollars per pound, utilizing price data from blockchain data service provider Pyth Network. The contract will be cash-settled with no physical copper delivery involved. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual futures have no expiration date, enabling traders to hold positions long-term without rolling over, and maintain price alignment with the spot market via a periodic funding rate mechanism between long and short parties. This application signals Kalshi’s further expansion beyond the bounds of traditional event prediction markets into the commodities and financial derivatives space. Earlier this May, Kalshi secured CFTC approval to launch bitcoin perpetual futures. Additionally, the firm has recently submitted applications for stock index perpetual futures. Copper, a critical raw material for infrastructure including power grids, construction, electric vehicles, electronic devices, and AI data centers, is already widely traded on exchanges such as CME COMEX, London Metal Exchange (LME), and Shanghai Futures Exchange.

U.S. President Trump met with executives from crypto firms including Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, and Chainlink at the White House on Wednesday, urging Congress to pass the CLARITY Act. However, the meeting also renewed outside scrutiny over Trump and his family’s massive wealth derived from the crypto industry. According to financial disclosure documents, Trump earned over $1.4 billion in 2025 from crypto-related businesses, including his personal token project, the family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial (WLF), and stablecoin-related transactions. This income exceeds the total earnings from his traditional real estate and licensing businesses. During the White House meeting, Trump stated that the CLARITY Act would help the U.S. establish a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets and maintain its leadership in crypto innovation, calling the bill a "gateway to the next wave of innovation." However, while Trump advances crypto-friendly policies, his growing personal wealth has drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and some regulators. Critics argue there is a potential conflict of interest between the Trump family’s crypto business interests and the government’s rulemaking for the sector; the White House has denied the allegations, stating Trump’s policy goal is to position the U.S. as a global crypto hub. During the meeting, Trump also said U.S. regulators are working to bring decentralized perpetual contract trading platform Hyperliquid to the U.S. market in a "fully compliant" manner.

US President Donald Trump once again criticized the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy on Wednesday, stating that amid positive economic data, the central bank should not block interest rate cuts, and that the US should pay “much lower” interest rates. Trump said Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is “doing a good job,” but criticized the Federal Reserve Board for having “political factors,” noting that some members were appointed by Obama, Biden, and himself, and may support keeping rates high for political reasons. He added that in the past, improving economic data typically led to lower interest rates, but now “the better the data, the higher the rates instead.” Trump argued that interest rate cuts would not only boost economic growth, but also reduce financing pressure on the US’s nearly $40 trillion debt. However, the Federal Reserve has not raised rates since 2023, and launched a rate-cut cycle in the second half of 2025, cutting rates six times in total. The minutes of the Fed’s July meeting showed that most officials believe that if inflation fails to cool further, it may still be necessary to maintain high rates in the future. Trump also complained that US interest rates are higher than those of some overseas economies, citing Switzerland’s benchmark rate of around 0.5% as an example, calling the US’s current rate of about 3.5% “unreasonable.” On the same day, the US Treasury Department announced an expansion of its long-term Treasury bond repurchase operations, at least doubling the scale of its 10-year to 30-year Treasury bond repurchases from $2 billion per operation to $4 billion, to boost liquidity in the long-term bond market. Markets view the move as helpful in easing recent upward pressure on US Treasury yields.

As Bitcoin approaches $70,000, crypto-related stocks notched their largest single-day gain since summer on Wednesday, with major players including Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL), and BitMine (BMNR) rallying sharply. Bitcoin reserve firm Strategy’s stock rose 11.95% to $103.58, surging over 13% at one point during the session. Crypto exchange Coinbase gained 9.05% to $159.47; stablecoin issuer Circle climbed 9.44% to $78.50; and Ethereum reserve firm BitMine jumped 9.68% to $20.05. The rally was primarily driven by Bitcoin’s short-covering squeeze. As Bitcoin pushed toward $70,000, numerous bearish positions were forced to liquidate, leading to nearly $2 billion in crypto market liquidations over the past 24 hours. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury expanded its long-term Treasury repurchase operations, improving market liquidity expectations and spurring broad gains in risk assets. Stocks like Strategy and Coinbase were also boosted by short covering: both firms had previously ranked among Wall Street’s most heavily shorted stocks, and as share prices rebounded rapidly, some short sellers were forced to buy to close positions, further amplifying gains. Strategy currently holds around 840,000 Bitcoin, with its stock price highly correlated to BTC’s value. BitMine, meanwhile, holds approximately 5.82 million ETH, making it one of the publicly listed companies with the closest pure exposure to Ethereum. However, despite the sharp rebound, Strategy, Coinbase, and BitMine are still down year-to-date. The market is now closely watching whether Bitcoin can break through and hold the $70,000 resistance level to determine if this rally marks a trend reversal or a short-term short squeeze.

Per HTX market data, HYPE has jumped over 22% in the past 24 hours, currently trading at $71.94. On the news front, US President Donald Trump stated that SEC Chair is working to advance Hyperliquid’s entry into the US market. Trump noted that relevant efforts are ongoing, with the goal of enabling Hyperliquid to operate under the US regulatory framework. No specific implementation plan or timeline has been disclosed yet. Earlier, Hyperliquid representatives discussed digital asset regulatory issues with the US SEC Crypto Assets Working Group, covering Hyperliquid’s ecosystem, technical architecture, and market regulatory pathways.

U.S. President Donald Trump said during a meeting with tech and innovation leaders at the White House that the U.S. has "completely ended its war on the crypto industry" and that the crypto market is developing rapidly. "The crypto industry is booming and performing extremely strongly—no one can stop it," he stated. He also noted that China aims to enter the crypto space and gain a leading position, but has not yet succeeded. Trump has repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. needs to maintain global leadership in emerging technologies such as Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence, and push for the establishment of a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets. At a recent White House crypto industry meeting, Trump also urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act to set clearer regulatory rules for the digital asset market, saying the U.S. needs to use policy support to attract crypto companies to stay and develop domestically.