Genius Terminal Co-Founder Responds to S2 Points Controversy: Rules Are Adjustable, Personal Tokens Will Not Be Unlocked Before Users’ Tokens

According to sources close to the US-Iran negotiations, US and Iranian negotiators are discussing a staged solution in New York, which includes Iran reopening shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and the US lifting economic sanctions on Iran. Insiders say the Strait of Hormuz has become a core bargaining chip in ending the nearly seven-month-long US-Iran conflict. Iran, which has recognized the economic pressure from prolonged confrontation, is considering a phased arrangement: the first step could be resuming shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, while the US eases economic sanctions, and Iran may get partial unfreezing of its frozen assets. However, neither side is willing to give up its bargaining chip first, which has become the biggest obstacle to the negotiations. Iranian officials said Tehran is more focused on lifting sanctions rather than insisting on collecting tolls for the Strait of Hormuz in the agreement. Regional sources said Iran may include the toll demand in an annex rather than as part of the main agreement, but this does not mean it is abandoning its position on the Strait's management rights. Analysts believe the US hopes to force Iran to make concessions through pressure, while Iran wants to have pressure lifted first before making commitments. Dennis Ross, a former US Iran negotiator, said the probability of reaching an agreement before the November midterm elections is limited, but both sides have incentives to push forward negotiations ahead of the elections, as reopening the Strait of Hormuz could ease tensions in the Gulf and reduce oil price pressures. Currently, Gulf countries hope to restore shipping freedom and prevent the strategic waterway from becoming a long-term tool for gamesmanship, while pushing the US and Iran to de-escalate through diplomacy.

Crypto venture firm Multicoin Capital’s co-head of venture investments, Spencer Applebaum, has published a lengthy article titled “DeFi 2.0”. In the piece, Applebaum notes that early DeFi primitives—automated market makers (AMMs), overcollateralized lending, variable-rate liquidity pools, and perpetual swaps—were designed for high-volatility crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). However, real-world assets (RWAs) such as government bonds, stocks, and commodities have lower volatility, generate cash flows, and feature identifiable borrowers. Institutional players prioritize execution quality, tenure, and credit, so the same set of primitives cannot be rigidly applied to RWA use cases. Applebaum argues that DeFi 2.0 needs to add capabilities including order books or Request for Quote (RFQ) systems, fixed-rate and term lending, interest rate derivatives, options and structured products, repos and dark pools, portfolio margin, and revenue splitting. Tokenization is only the first step; value will accrue to public blockchain block space, core primitive fees, brokerage aggregation layers, and application order flow. As RWA scales, these primitives—“long-existing but ill-suited for the asset types”—will finally gain genuine market traction.

According to HTX market data, Ethereum has surpassed $2,700, with a 24-hour gain of 1.45%.

The U.S. and Iran are studying a phased plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the three major U.S. stock indexes surged sharply, with the S&P 500 turning positive. International oil prices plummeted, spot gold and silver rose, U.S. Treasury price declines narrowed, and the 10-year Treasury yield fell back to 5.13%.

Russia’s Central Bank has finalized the market access procedures for crypto market participants, including digital custodians, crypto trading platforms, and digital rights information system operators. According to a statement from the central bank’s press office, all such participants must be included in the relevant register. The regulation outlines qualification requirements for members of the management bodies and specific officials of digital custodians, crypto trading platforms, and information system operators; specifies the list of documents required for access applications; and details the procedures for the central bank to include relevant information in the register. The document also includes simplified access rules for existing market participants, which will submit applications for digital custodian and crypto exchange licenses. The directive standardizes how the central bank maintains the register, updates its data, and publishes register information on its official website. The relevant regulations have been registered with Russia’s Ministry of Justice and will officially take effect on October 5, 2026.

Beating AI News Flash: Following the launch of Gemini 3.8 Live last week, Google today introduced Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar, a feature that pairs real-time voice conversations with low-latency streaming video generation. The tool enables intelligent agents for enterprise use cases such as customer service and guidance to "listen, see, and speak" with lip-sync, natural facial expressions, and smooth turn-taking. The feature is available on Gemini Enterprise starting immediately. Live Avatar handles both visual and audio streams simultaneously, keeping conversations uninterrupted when asynchronously calling backend tools (e.g., hotel check-in). It supports seamless switching between 97 languages, with lip movements and expressions adjusting accordingly. Enterprises can use pre-built avatars or customize brand avatars via reference images (customization is currently restricted to whitelisted enterprise accounts). All audio and video outputs include SynthID watermarks to help identify AI-generated content.