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According to Cointelegraph, Morgan Stanley's latest 13F filing submitted to the U.S. SEC shows that as of June 30, it held approximately 16.5 million shares of BlackRock IBIT, an increase of 23% from 13.4 million shares in the first quarter. However, due to the decline in Bitcoin prices during the quarter, the market value of this holding dropped from $667 million to $549 million, a decrease of about 18%.During the same period, Morgan Stanley also held 2.57 million shares of MSBT, valued at approximately $43.3 million, and increased its holdings in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, and Fidelity FBTC, with FBTC holdings increasing by nearly 38%.In terms of Ethereum, its ETHA holdings increased by about 202% to 4.6 million shares, and the Grayscale Ethereum Staked Mini ETF holdings increased by about 26% to 5.1 million shares. Additionally, Morgan Stanley also established new positions in the Grayscale Solana Staked ETF and Fidelity Solana Fund, with market values of approximately $4.25 million and $2.26 million, respectively.On the individual stock front, Morgan Stanley's holdings in Circle (CRCL) surged from about 1.46 million shares to 8.32 million shares, while also increasing positions in mining companies and infrastructure firms such as Cipher Digital, Core Scientific, Hut 8, and Bitdeer; on the other hand, it reduced its holdings by about 550,000 shares in Coinbase, reduced over 3.1 million shares in CleanSpark, and completely exited approximately 8 million shares in Bitfarms.

ChianCatcher news, Circle's Senior Director of Strategy and Policy for the EU, Patrick Hansen, pointed out in a tweet that among the approximately 23 authorized electronic money token (EMT) issuers in the EU, only 9 have been granted permission to provide crypto asset services (CASP). This means that only these 9 can offer custody and transfer services for the stablecoins they issue, while the remaining 14 can only mint or burn tokens directly to customer wallets and cannot hold or send stablecoins on behalf of customers. This greatly limits the range of services that issuers can provide.Hansen stated that Circle has obtained the necessary CASP approval through the MiCA Article 60 notification procedure to provide custody or payment services related to USDC and EURC for institutional clients. He expressed surprise that more EMT issuers have not taken this step. The 9 that can currently offer some crypto asset services include Circle, Société Générale - Forge, CACEIS Bank, Banking Circle, Bridge, Fiat Republic, Newrails, Blue EMI, and Stable Mint.

The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) established a position in Circle stocks in the second quarter, holding 65,443 shares valued at approximately $4.09 million.In addition, during the same period, it reduced its holdings in Strategy, Coinbase, and Riot Platforms, while increasing its holdings in Block and Robinhood stocks.

According to The Defiant, Circle's wrapped Bitcoin product cirBTC has been live on Ethereum since June 8, but its circulation is currently only about 40 coins. According to Etherscan, its maximum supply is approximately 40.02 cirBTC, with only 11 holding addresses. Circle's reserve dashboard (data as of August 11) shows that there are about 40.02 cirBTC in circulation, corresponding to reserves of approximately 42.51 BTC.cirBTC is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, backed by a 1:1 BTC collateral, with the underlying assets held in trust by Circle National Trust and isolated from company assets, supporting Chainlink reserve proofs for on-chain real-time verification. Qualified institutions can mint and redeem through Circle Mint. Currently, it is only deployed on Ethereum, with Arc as the next target chain, and plans to expand to multi-chain.In comparison, WBTC has a circulation of over 116,000 coins, and cbBTC has about 97,000 coins. CoinGecko currently marks cirBTC as "preview" status, and it has not yet been listed for trading on mainstream centralized and decentralized exchanges.

During the US stock market, Circle (CRCL) stock price rose over 6%, reaching a high of $73.35 during the session, with a market capitalization of approximately $18 billion.Recently, Bitwise Research Director Ryan Rasmussen stated that as the stablecoin market expands to trillions of dollars, Circle's value is underestimated by the market, and it will not only become a stablecoin giant but also a payment giant.

According to CoinDesk, Bitwise Research Director Ryan Rasmussen stated that as the stablecoin market expands to a scale of trillions of dollars, Circle's value is underestimated by the market. Rasmussen expects the stablecoin market to grow from about $300 billion to $3 to $5 trillion, with Circle having a first-mover advantage due to its existing market share as U.S. stablecoin regulations take shape.He believes that Circle will not only become a stablecoin giant but also a payment giant—its payment infrastructure under construction will play a key role in a stablecoin-driven financial system, yet investors are still too focused on its reserve business. Rasmussen compared Circle's potential development trajectory to that of Visa and Mastercard, arguing that the entry of banks and other giants is not a major threat, as the pace of market expansion is sufficient for Circle to maintain growth. He mentioned that Circle's Arc blockchain will test whether it can expand from stablecoin issuance to the payment infrastructure sector, with the key in the coming year being how its economic model changes with the adoption of stablecoins and the development of infrastructure.

Data shows that the amount of Ethereum (ETH) staked has risen to a historic high, with approximately 41.7 million ETH currently in a staked state, accounting for about one-third of the total supply of Ethereum.Meanwhile, the price of ETH has performed weakly, falling from around $3,400 in January this year to about $1,900, but the scale of staking continues to grow. Market analysts believe that as the amount of Ethereum staked increases, the staking reward mechanism will not stop generating returns, with validators continuously receiving rewards and reinvesting part of their earnings into staking, further driving the expansion of staked ETH.The staking ratio of ETH continues to rise, indicating that the confidence of long-term holders and institutions in the security of the Ethereum network and the future development of its ecosystem is still strengthening, but a large amount of ETH entering a staked state may also affect market liquidity.

Recently, the decentralized stablecoin USDD officially released its monthly transparency report for July 2026. The report shows that several core data points continue to improve month-on-month, demonstrating robust growth and ecological vitality. Among them, the new circulation of USDD in July reached $221 million, with a total circulation of $1.58 billion at the end of the month, and the collateralization rate maintained at 142.98%; the circulation of USDD on the TRON blockchain increased by 18.7%; Smart Allocator's cumulative earnings reached $23.72 million; the treasury data for Q2 2026 was disclosed in the same month, with a treasury surplus of $21.54097 million.The report comprehensively disclosed reserves, earnings, treasury, and ecological progress, confirming USDD's continuous optimization in over-collateralization, on-chain verifiability, and multi-scenario applications. Various data indicators showed a continuous increase month-on-month, with normalized incentives being consistently implemented, providing stable support for users and ecological partners.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest announced its trading records on August 7, purchasing 313,764 shares of Circle (CRCL) stock at a price of $66.67, with a total value of approximately $20.92 million; purchasing 114,815 shares of SpaceX (SPCX) stock at a price of $133.1, with a total value of approximately $15.28 million; purchasing 59,668 shares of Coinbase (COIN) stock at a price of $153.6, with a total value of approximately $9.16 million.

Circle's Senior Director of Strategy and Policy, Patrick Hansen, stated that after the comprehensive implementation of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), licenses have been issued for 35 electronic currency tokens from 21 issuers, and local issuers are making good progress. Patrick Hansen pointed out that the strict regulations of MiCA have made it impossible for most major stablecoin issuers, including Tether, to meet operational requirements. Currently, only USDG, USDC, and EURC comply with the framework requirements, while other stablecoins fall outside the regulatory scope of MiCA, leaving EU users unprotected or unable to access services.He believes that the upcoming review of MiCA should address this issue and provide a more pragmatic operational pathway for foreign issuers. The EU's Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets Union launched a public consultation on May 20 to assess whether the current framework is still applicable, with the consultation continuing until September 30.

According to The Block, research firm Bernstein reaffirmed its "Outperform" rating and maintained a target price of $140 after Circle announced its Q2 2026 financial results, believing that the company's latest performance constitutes a "reverse validation" of the market's bearish views. Bernstein analysts stated that the market currently underestimates USDC's long-term growth potential and Circle's advantages in distribution channels, liquidity, and regulatory compliance, due to two major core concerns regarding Circle—intensifying competition in stablecoins and changes in the interest rate environment that may affect reserve income.Investors may not have fully accounted for the future revenue opportunities from transaction fees, partner ecosystems, and the Arc blockchain that Circle could generate. The firm specifically pointed out that several infrastructure initiatives recently advanced by Circle, including obtaining a national trust bank license in the U.S., expanding the Circle Payments Network, and the planned launch of the Arc public chain mainnet on September 16, could all become future growth drivers. Additionally, Bernstein noted that Circle has raised its guidance for other revenues and profit margins after deducting distribution costs for 2026, expecting to confirm approximately $180 million in Arc token presale revenue.Analysts believe that future staking yields, gas fees, and ecosystem partnership revenues from Arc have not been fully reflected in current valuation expectations. As of the end of Q2, the circulating supply of USDC was $73.3 billion, a decrease of 5% from the previous quarter but an increase of 19% year-over-year. Bernstein believes that Circle is shifting from a purely crypto trading infrastructure to payments, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and broader financial infrastructure, which will drive USDC into the next phase of growth. Circle's stock closed at $63.28 on Wednesday, and Bernstein's target price of $140 implies a potential upside of about 121%.

The Optimism Foundation released its fifth annual budget update and outlook (from May 2026 to April 2027). According to the foundation's forecast, the circulating supply of OP will increase from the current approximately 2.161 billion to about 2.504 billion, accounting for 58.3% of the total supply, meaning that approximately 343 million OP will enter circulation during this period.By category, it is expected that the ecological fund will add 200 million in circulation, early core contributors 47.6 million, investors 15.3 million, governance fund 10 million, and both airdrops and Retro Funding will be zero. The foundation stated that the relevant tokens all come from the initial allocation framework and no new token allocation has been requested; this update is solely for the purpose of increasing transparency.Token deployment will continue to focus on the two strategic goals of OP mainnet growth and acquiring OP Enterprise corporate clients. Looking back at the fourth year, Optimism committed approximately 150 million OP in new expenditures, a decrease of about one-third compared to the third year; OP Enterprise went live in January 2026, with early clients including Bitpanda, Ink, Dunamu, and Ether.fi; the monthly transaction volume on the OP mainnet grew by over 60% during this period; the governance layer has approved a 12-month buyback plan that will use up to 50% of Superchain revenue for monthly OP buybacks, and over 9 million have been repurchased so far.

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest purchased $17.3 million worth of shares in Circle Internet Group and $19.7 million worth of shares in SpaceX on Wednesday.On that day, Circle-related stocks rose by 0.05%, closing at $63.28; SpaceX-related stocks fell by 13.61%, closing at $108.27.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Circle minted 500 million USDC on the Solana chain. By 2026, a total of 76.05 billion USDC will have been minted on the Solana chain.

During the Circle Q2 earnings call, Citigroup analyst Pete Christensen asked about the competitive landscape following the launch of the Open USD Alliance, inquiring how Circle would compete for distribution channels given that reserve revenue sharing is gradually becoming an industry standard and Circle is constrained by its existing economic arrangements with Coinbase.Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire responded that Circle has signed distribution cooperation agreements with over 150 companies and often collaborates with Coinbase on distribution efforts. An example of this is the revenue-sharing arrangement that Circle and Coinbase have jointly established with Hyperliquid. He added that about 70% of the companies expressing interest in participating in such alliance projects are already partners in the Circle network. On the day of the earnings report, Circle also announced that Visa and Mastercard would expand their cooperation as key infrastructure partners for Arc.

Circle founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire stated during tonight's earnings call: "Our agreement with Coinbase has been renewed under the existing terms, ensuring that USDC continues to play a central role in all of Coinbase's product offerings.At the same time, we look forward to expanding our USDC network through distribution agreements with strategically aligned partners."

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated during the earnings call that the market is shifting from speculative cryptocurrencies to supporting an open global digital asset market for tokenized stocks, tokenized commodities, and other tokenized assets.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) announced its Q2 2026 financial report, with total revenue and reserve income of $701 million, a year-on-year increase of 7%; adjusted EBITDA of $143 million, a year-on-year increase of 8%; and net profit of $48 million, a year-on-year increase of $530 million (mainly affected by last year's IPO equity incentives). The circulation of USDC reached $73.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19%, with on-chain transaction volume of $14.8 trillion for the quarter, a year-on-year increase of 151%.In terms of business, Circle received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Circle National Trust, a federal trust bank, becoming one of the first stablecoin issuers to hold a federal banking license. The Arc public blockchain will launch its mainnet on September 16, with more than ten institutions including BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, and Standard Chartered serving as founding third-party verification nodes. BlackRock plans to deploy the BUIDL fund on Arc, while DTCC will promote the tokenization of DTC custodial assets. The Circle Payment Network (CPN) achieved an annualized transaction volume of $14.7 billion in the past 30 days, a quarterly increase of 76%, with 175 institutions onboarded, a quarterly increase of 29%. The Agent Stack now offers over 900 paid services.

Circle announced that its open blockchain network Arc, aimed at the global financial market, will officially launch on the public mainnet on September 16. It is currently operating on a private mainnet and has attracted over 100 institutional and ecosystem participants. BlackRock, DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Corporation, and Visa will participate as genesis validators for network security and governance.BlackRock plans to deploy its dollar institutional digital liquidity fund BUIDL on Arc, while DTCC is advancing the tokenization and settlement integration with Arc, supporting the tokenization of assets held at DTC to Arc for on-chain settlement based on stablecoins. Circle also plans to launch a supporting application framework, AI tools, and tokenized asset issuance management capabilities on Arc.