a16z: 94% of Argentine peso-denominated crypto transactions flow to stablecoins

Beating AI News Flash: Apple will officially announce a leadership change tomorrow. John Ternus, set to take over as Apple’s CEO, has long been skeptical of the Vision Pro, arguing the headset is too heavy, too expensive, and unlikely to become a mass-market product. By contrast, he favors Apple’s continued focus on lightweight smart glasses, and this shift is already underway. Apple recently laid off a number of employees working on Vision Pro, with cuts extending beyond gaming and immersive video to roles in device security, audio, Siri integration, testing, and operating systems. AppleInsider previously reported that at least 60 staff on the Vision project were affected. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in June that Ternus had personally approved a major revision to the headset roadmap. Multiple original Vision and smart glass projects have been scaled back, with only two smart glasses models visible to supply chain partners now: a display-less AI glasses set to launch in 2027, and a display-equipped model expected in 2029. However, the Vision Pro has not been entirely scrapped. Apple is still developing a new Vision Pro under the codename N224, with a possible launch as early as late 2028, and some within the company are urging Ternus to maintain investment in the product.

South Korea’s LS Securities has significantly adjusted its target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix: it raised Samsung Electronics’ target price from 400,000 won to 450,000 won, a 12.5% increase; it maintained its "Buy" rating for SK Hynix, but cut the target price from 3.3 million won to 2.4 million won, a roughly 27.3% decrease. LS Securities noted that the adjustment does not signal weakening demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), but rather a shift in the HBM4 supply landscape. Data shows Samsung’s HBM4 shipments as a share of its total HBM shipments rose from around 5% in Q1 this year to roughly 35% in Q2, alongside sustained improvements in production yield, as Samsung recovers its HBM4 mass production competitiveness at a faster pace. Meanwhile, as Samsung expands its supply, the high "supplier premium" SK Hynix previously enjoyed due to supply concentration may gradually narrow. LS Securities cut its 2027 HBM operating margin forecast for SK Hynix from around 80% to roughly 60%, leading to the target price adjustment. The firm emphasized that this revision is not a bearish view on the HBM cycle, but rather a belief that supplier competition is returning to normalization. The key focus of the future HBM market will shift from pure demand growth to whether Samsung can continue expanding its market share, and whether SK Hynix can maintain its technological leadership and core customer supply share.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted two AI-generated videos on Truth Social late Sunday, with the caption "Khark Island was blown to smithereens". The videos show oil fields, storage tanks and docks being hit by missile strikes and exploding. However, there is currently no evidence that the U.S. military actually attacked Khark Island. U.S. Central Command stated that the U.S. military carried out "limited and precise" strikes on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) mine-laying unit on Sunday, targeting the area near Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, aimed at eliminating an imminent threat to commercial shipping and civilian vessels. Notably, Khark Island and Larak Island are far apart; the former, located deep in the Persian Gulf, is Iran’s main oil export hub. It remains unclear whether the AI videos posted by Trump were produced by his team, or whether he confused Larak Island with Khark Island. The IRGC subsequently claimed it had launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. military bases in Jordan. Jordan’s authorities said its air defense systems intercepted 8 missiles, with no casualties reported. Hamid Bovard, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, said Monday that oil operations at Iran’s Khark Island have not stopped, denying Trump’s earlier post claiming the island’s key oil hub was destroyed.

Blockchain security firm Blockaid said it has detected an exploit targeting More Markets (operated by More Labs) on the Flow EVM. Attackers exploited Ankr’s bonded LST (liquid staking token) and E-Mode mechanism to successfully drain More Markets’ WFLOW lending reserves. According to Blockaid’s monitoring, the attackers transferred approximately 15.5 million WFLOW tokens from the mFlowWFLOW reserve, with the detected impact amounting to around $9.3 million. The relevant attack transaction cluster also includes post-exploit fund transfers. The exact losses from the incident and the attackers’ fund destinations are still under further confirmation.

Wall Street's so-called "Fed Whisperer" Nick Timiraos said that Fed Chair Walsh delivered clear hawkish signals at last week's annual global central bank conference, noting that current financial conditions are hardly restrictive, and recent improvements in inflation are insufficient to prove underlying price pressures have materially eased. As a result, markets have lifted their expectations for a September rate hike by the Fed, with some institutions even forecasting one rate hike each in September and December this year. Timiraos pointed out that the August CPI data, set to be released on September 11, will be a key determinant of the Fed's September policy path. If inflation continues to cool, the Fed may have reason to hold interest rates steady; however, if CPI rebounds sharply, Walsh will face greater policy pressure, and keeping rates unchanged would be hard to justify. Meanwhile, the hawk-dove divide within the Fed has intensified. Three officials dissented at the last FOMC meeting, while other officials openly supported rate hikes. Markets are currently closely monitoring inflation data, as well as whether tariffs, Middle East tensions and the AI investment boom will further fuel price pressures.

Official announcement from Pons: Its cumulative trading volume has surpassed $4 billion. The platform’s native token, PONS, has reached a market capitalization of $331 million, with a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $66 million. Pons has now emerged as one of the most active trading and launch platforms in the Robinhood Chain ecosystem, with market interest continuing to grow.