Odaily News: Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz is operating normally, with large amounts of oil flowing out, and he hinted that 22 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz last night. (Jin 10)

Odaily Planet Daily News: Saitama founder Manpreet Kohli lost his extradition case in the UK last week, and now faces the prospect of being extradited to the US to stand trial on charges of wire fraud and market manipulation. Kohli was arrested in London in 2024. US prosecutors allege that he and more than a dozen co-conspirators falsely inflated their holdings and purchases of Saitama tokens while secretly selling off their own positions for profits of approximately $20 million. The token once reached a market capitalization of $7.5 billion.

Judge Samuel Goozee dismissed Kohli's objection to extradition on August 19, referring the case to the UK Home Secretary to decide whether to order the extradition. Kohli is currently out on bail of £200,000 and retains the right to appeal. Previously, a federal judge in Boston had already rejected his motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Saitama tokens do not constitute securities. (Reuters)

Odaily News: The Central Bank of Uzbekistan plans to invite some of Wall Street’s top international asset management institutions to discuss potential options for investing the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Timur Ishmetov, Governor of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, said in an interview in Tashkent that the central bank plans to hold a roundtable in mid-September, inviting representatives from institutions including Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and JPMorgan to discuss potential investment channels. According to official data, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan’s reserves fell from $66.3 billion at the start of the year to $64.3 billion in July, with gold accounting for 87% of the total.

Data from the World Gold Council shows that in the first half of this year, Uzbekistan made net gold purchases of 41 tons, making it the world’s second-largest gold buyer during the period. “So far, gold has proven to be the best investment,” Ishmetov said. “In principle, we are satisfied with the current situation, but it won’t always be this way—gold prices won’t keep rising forever.” “Our primary goal is not simply to sell gold for profit,” Ishmetov said. However, he also noted that the central bank hopes to sell gold at favorable price levels. He added that the central bank has not yet decided to change its reserve structure, and the meeting with international asset management institutions will not necessarily lead to such a change. (Jin Shi)

Odaily News: According to Gate data, spot gold has dropped to $4,600 per ounce, down 1.26% on the day. Spot silver is down more than 1.00% intraday, currently trading at $67.97 per ounce.

Odaily News: When asked about Iran's Supreme Leader, U.S. President Trump stated, "I don't think he's dead; he may have been seriously injured." (Jin10)

Odaily News Cryptocurrency exchange OKX's latest survey this month shows that 90% of US college students and 87% of parents support universities offering cryptocurrency and blockchain courses, with 27% of students and 32% of parents believing such courses should be mandatory.

A 2025 review of 533 US universities with accredited business schools found that approximately 28% offer blockchain courses. Among surveyed students, 33% cited social media or influencers as their most important source of cryptocurrency information—nearly five times the number who chose schools, teachers, or professors; parents' primary source of information was cryptocurrency platforms and applications, accounting for 21%.

OKX surveyed 500 students and 500 parents via the online survey platform Pollfish, with respondents not recruited from OKX's customer base. OKX did not disclose the survey's weighting methodology, margin of error, or the proportion of respondents holding cryptocurrencies. (Cointelegraph)

Odaily News: Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad has written an article rebutting the American Bankers Association's concerns about stablecoin rewards, stating that existing data does not support the claim that stablecoin platforms paying rewards will lead to deposit outflows from community banks and weaken local credit. Current law already permits such rewards, and Coinbase has been paying rewards to USDC users for over four years. Faryar Shirzad noted that from June 2019 to March 2026, community bank deposits grew by 26%, an increase of approximately $482 billion; research by Charles River Associates and the Council of Economic Advisers similarly found no significant relationship between stablecoins and bank deposits. The modification the American Bankers Association is requesting does not concern technical details in the CLARITY Act. The current text prohibits users from receiving returns solely for holding idle funds, but allows rewards for genuine activity; the amendment proposed by the American Bankers Association could expand restrictions to ordinary stablecoin use cases, and leave questions such as whether merchant rebates constitute bank interest to be decided by regulators and litigation. Faryar Shirzad calls for maintaining the existing compromise and passing the CLARITY Act, stating that the bill would grant banks new authorities in custody, staking, lending, payments, clearing, and market making.

Odaily Blocknews: The U.S. July inflation report shows that while price growth met expectations, actual consumer spending has stalled. Market pricing for a September Fed rate hike has notably rebounded, putting the Fed's decision-making under stricter scrutiny.

The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.2% month-over-month in July, with a year-over-year increase of 3.7%, both exceeding market expectations. The core PCE price index, excluding food and energy, performed steadily, up 0.2% month-over-month and holding at 3.3% year-over-year, in line with market expectations. Following the data release, market expectations for a Fed rate hike next month have significantly rebounded. Interest rate futures data show the probability of a September hike jumped from 36% before the release to 42%.

As inflation enters its "long-tail phase," Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is set to speak at the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Symposium this Friday. For Warsh, Friday's speech presents a critical opportunity to strike a balance within a complex data landscape. He must chart a clear path for global investors between the determination to combat stubborn inflation and the need to avoid pushing the economy into a deep recession.

According to Odaily, based on MSX.COM data, Meta Platforms (META.O) shares rose over 4% in US pre-market trading.

Court documents show that Meta Platforms has agreed to settle allegations that its platform harmed children, with Meta agreeing to pay states up to $16.68 billion as part of the agreement.

Odaily News: Coinbase announced on the X platform that U.S. borrowers can now use Bitcoin as collateral for mortgage down payments, without needing to sell Bitcoin or face margin calls. Coinbase One members can receive up to $10,000 in rewards upon closing a transaction.

Odaily News: Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated that this transaction marks only the second acquisition in Vanguard's history. Vanguard has rarely pursued acquisitions in the past, and upon completion of the deal, it will become a custodian and expand its advisory business coverage. Vanguard's advisory fees are lower than the industry average, ranging from 5 to 25 basis points depending on the minimum asset threshold; the vast majority of its clients are existing Vanguard fund investors rather than new external clients. Salim Ramji noted that advisory services are a "luxury" and expressed a desire to broaden the scope of these services to make them accessible to more people.

Odaily News: Amazon has officially announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire data infrastructure company DuckLabs. The transaction is expected to close after satisfying customary closing conditions, and upon completion, the DuckLabs team will join Amazon Web Services (AWS).

DuckLabs is the development company behind the open-source analytical database DuckDB. AWS stated that the two parties have been collaborating since 2024, and this acquisition aims to combine DuckLabs' technical capabilities in database engineering to further enhance the speed, ease of use, and cost efficiency of AWS's data analytics services.

DuckDB co-founders Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt will continue to lead the team after joining AWS and will oversee the technical direction of the open-source project. Amazon emphasized that this transaction does not include the acquisition of the DuckDB open-source project itself; DuckDB will continue to be maintained by the independent DuckDB Foundation and will remain freely available under the MIT license. Amazon stated that DuckDB users will experience no changes before or after the transaction closes, and the project will continue to operate as open source. AWS will announce further details regarding the integration of DuckLabs with AWS's business in the future.

Odaily News: According to Gate data, spot gold has fallen below $4,610 per ounce, down 1.04% on the day.

Odaily reported that according to Gate data, U.S. and Brent crude oil prices briefly rose by about $0.5 in the short term, and have now partially pulled back, standing at $80.2 per barrel and $85.5 per barrel, respectively.

A senior Iranian source earlier stated that the agreement with Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been finalized.

Odaily News: The official website of the President of Ukraine published a presidential decree announcing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has awarded American billionaire Elon Musk the "Medal of Freedom." Market analysis generally suggests that Zelensky is seeking a favor from Musk as he bestows this honor. The Ukrainian government is reportedly seeking authorization to expand its military's use of SpaceX's "Starlink" satellite internet communications. Ukraine is currently seeking Musk's approval to use Starlink satellites over deep Russian territory to strike targets within Russia.

Odaily News: According to Reuters, a senior Iranian source stated that the agreement with Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz has not been finalized.