Are South Korean retail investors returning to crypto? Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume surges 244.8%

Crypto analyst Darkfost noted in a post that Bitcoin’s 2026 apparent demand reached a record 25,000 coins, signaling that actual spot buying volume outpaces newly mined Bitcoin, with market buying strength exceeding supply. Apparent demand is defined as daily block subsidies minus the daily change in supply that has remained unused for over a year, a metric used to gauge whether structural accumulation can effectively absorb new supply.

According to an official announcement, Binance Alpha is distributing the third wave of ChainOpera AI (COAI) airdrops. Users holding at least 242 Binance Alpha points can claim 105 COAI tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully claimed, the point threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes.

Bernstein analysts believe Bitcoin’s rally over the past two days may signal a shift in market momentum, driven by improved liquidity conditions, rebounding ETF demand, and more favorable regulation. Bitcoin hit $79,500 at one point on Friday before pulling back to around $78,000. The analysts linked this rally to the U.S. Treasury’s announcement of expanded long-term Treasury repo operations, noting that liquidity expansion has historically been positive for Bitcoin. Additionally, Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin during this rally, a trend analysts attribute to ETH’s greater exposure to stablecoins, tokenization, and real-world assets. Flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have shifted from net outflows in May and June to net inflows of $1.6 billion this week, pushing their total assets under management to over $85 billion. Strategy’s holdings have turned into unrealized gains of more than $2 billion, with its cash reserves sufficient to cover 2.8 years of dividend payments. Bernstein also noted that regardless of whether the highly anticipated CLARITY Act—set for a procedural vote on September 15—passes, the SEC and CFTC are expected to accelerate legislative processes in areas including native token issuance, equity tokenization, perpetual contracts, computing power derivatives, and prediction markets. (The Block)

Japan’s financial regulator has approved Laser Digital Japan’s registration as a crypto asset transaction service provider, making it the first new entrant to obtain such a license in Japan in nearly four years, marking the accelerated entry of institutional-grade digital asset services into the Japanese market. Laser Digital stated that it will initially provide liquidity services for local virtual asset service providers in Japan, with plans to further launch digital asset trading services for institutional investors in the future; specific launch timelines and business scopes have not yet been announced. Laser Digital is backed by Nomura Holdings, one of Japan’s largest investment banks. Jez Mohideen, co-founder and CEO of the company, noted that Japan’s digital asset market is entering a new stage of development, and with rising interest from institutional investors, the market needs more reliable counterparties and infrastructure. A prior institutional investor survey released by Nomura and Laser Digital showed that 79% of respondents plan to invest in crypto assets within the next three years. This regulatory approval comes as Japan advances crypto asset regulatory reforms. Japan has previously reclassified cryptocurrencies as financial assets, laying a legal foundation for the future launch of crypto asset ETFs and the implementation of a separate tax system, with the new rules expected to take effect in 2027. Steve Ashley, executive chairman of Laser Digital, said global institutional investors are increasingly focusing on the digital asset market and seeking professional infrastructure tailored to institutional needs.

According to the latest compiled data on current-earning products of major centralized exchanges (CEXs), stablecoin current yields on platforms like HTX, Binance, OKX, and Bitget still follow a structure of "high yields for small amounts, tiered reduction for excess amounts". Among these, yields for small tiers of USDT, USDC, and Binance U products are relatively prominent. For USDT: HTX’s 0–200 USDT tier offers an annualized yield of 10%, dropping to 1.95% for amounts over 200 USDT; Bitget’s 0–300 USDT tier is 6.66%, with excess amounts at 2.00%; Binance’s 0–200 USDT tier is 5.23%, excess amounts at 2.23%; OKX offers 2.34%. For USDC: HTX’s 0–200 USDC tier has an annualized yield of 8%, falling to 2.75% for amounts over 200 USDC; Binance’s 0–200 USDC tier is 7.22%, excess amounts at 2.22%; Bitget’s 0–300 USDC tier is 6.66%, excess amounts at 1.46%; OKX offers 2.24%. For other stablecoins: HTX’s USDT VIP tier has an annualized yield of 6%–9%, applicable for amounts between 50,000–100,000; Binance’s USDT VIP tier is 2%–2.7%; Bitget’s USDT VIP 0–300,000 tier is 2.06%, excess amounts at 1.80%. For USDE: HTX offers tiered yields of 5%/3%, Binance at 4.00%, Bitget at 1.00%; HTX’s USDD is 4.00%; Binance U products’ 0–5,000 tier has an annualized yield of 8.56%, excess amounts at 0.56%; Bitget U offers 1.50%. Overall, current high yields for stablecoin current accounts on major CEXs are still concentrated in small amounts, with yields for large capital generally declining. When comparing related products, users should pay attention not only to the nominal annualized yield but also to the quota cap, interest calculation rules, supported currencies on the platform, and real-time availability of products. The above data are displayed yields and do not constitute investment advice.

PUMP has been rallying steadily since hitting a low of $0.001 at the end of June. It gained roughly 19% in the past 24 hours, approaching $0.004; 36% over seven days, 98% in 30 days, and around 116% over 90 days. The broader crypto market has warmed up in recent days, with Bitcoin briefly breaking above $79,000. Some meme coins like PEOPLE, NEIRO, and BOME topped Binance’s gainers list, aligning with the common pattern of “market recovery first, meme coins leading.” However, PUMP’s rally started significantly earlier than the current market upswing, launching roughly two months ahead of this cycle. The strong price movement is driven by its fundamentals: Pump.fun is forming a positive feedback loop of “revenue – buybacks – traffic.” On-chain data shows the platform’s fees totaled around $38.15 million over the past 30 days, with revenue of $29.19 million—second only to Tether, Circle, and Canton, and surpassing protocols like Hyperliquid, Polymarket, GMGN, and Tron. The window where the golden cross appeared coincided with a reacceleration in revenue, ongoing PUMP buybacks and burns, and a return of trading users to the platform. Pump.fun allocates 50% of its revenue to buy and burn PUMP tokens. Recent weekly fee revenue has exceeded $10 million—one of the strongest levels since January—translating to potential buyback pressure of around $5 million. The platform recently launched Callout Rewards, cut Solana trading fees to 0% and cross-chain fees to 0.1%, using its revenue advantage to subsidize traffic and compete for users with entry products like GMGN and Fomo. If weekly and daily active trading users continue to hit new highs, PUMP’s market narrative could shift from a pure “meme platform token” to more of a “trading entry with strong cash flow.” Overall, this rally is driven by both technical signals and fundamental positive feedback, with revenue scale and the buyback mechanism serving as core supporting factors.