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Former senior foreign exchange diplomat from Japan, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, stated that the yen is currently too weak, which may lead to a joint intervention in the foreign exchange market by Japan and the United States again.He expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in September and to raise them again in December or January next year, with a target rate of 1.5% to 1.75%.

According to the Nikkei News, individual investors in the Japanese stock market are accelerating their use of leverage to bet on AI trends. As of July, the amount of credit trading by individual investors in the Japanese stock market reached 123 trillion yen (approximately 1.09 trillion yuan), doubling since the beginning of the year and reaching the highest level since related statistics began in 2016.Data shows that in June, the scale of credit trading by Japanese individual investors hit a historical high, and in July it continued to maintain a high level. At the same time, the proportion of credit trading in the overall trading amount of individual investors rose to 83%, also setting a new record.AI concept stocks have become the main driving force behind the surge in credit trading, among which the credit buy balance of AI storage concept stock Kioxia reached 13.23 million shares as of August 7, making it one of the popular targets.Benefiting from the recent rise in the Japanese stock market, the overall performance of leveraged investors has been decent. The floating yield of credit trading investors briefly turned positive in June, although it fell back to a loss of 8.4% by the end of July, it is still better than the average loss level of the past 10 years (-10.2%).

According to Gate market data, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 784.53 points on August 13, an increase of 1.16%, reporting at 68,308.59 points.The South Korean KOSPI index also closed up 210.97 points on the same day, an increase of 3.21%, reporting at 6,790.01 points, with SK Hynix rising 5.9% and Samsung Electronics rising 3.9%.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi supports the Bank of Japan's recent interest rate hike, with the next action possibly in September or October. Due to concerns about the weak yen driving up prices, both sides are increasingly aligned on the necessity of raising interest rates. The Prime Minister's Office believes that specific monetary policy measures should be decided by the Bank of Japan, but both sides should work closely together to "stabilize" the achievement of the 2% inflation target.

Japan's largest banking group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), plans to utilize blockchain technology to provide instant settlement services for certain Japanese Government Bonds (JGB) transactions.According to reports, MUFG plans to conduct blockchain-based Japanese Government Bond repurchase transactions using tokenized money market funds and stablecoins to shorten the settlement process of traditional securities transactions.

According to official news, the AI Agent platform X-Agent has confirmed its participation in the WeWork AI Foundation Community Lightning Pitch to be held on August 25 in Tokyo, where it will share its latest progress in AI Agents, AI application generation, and commercialization infrastructure.The AI Foundation Community is driven by WeWork and collaborates with well-known companies in related fields such as SoftBank and NVIDIA, aiming to connect Japanese AI startups, technology teams, and enterprises with AI implementation needs.X-Agent is currently building its product system around "Natural Language Generation AI Applications + Agent Autonomous Execution." Users can describe their needs in natural language, and the platform will handle application architecture, front-end and back-end, database, and deployment processes. Meanwhile, X-Agent has recently completed deep integration with the OKX Agentic Wallet and has open-sourced the AI payment control plane xpense, providing Agents with capabilities for budget control, payment, delivery verification, and ledger recording.X-Agent stated that participating in this event is also an important step in its ongoing expansion into the Japanese market and connecting the local AI startup and enterprise innovation ecosystem.

According to Gate market data, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 553.84 points on August 12, an increase of 0.83%, reporting at 67,524.06 points.The South Korean KOSPI index also closed up 233.51 points on the same day, an increase of 3.68%, reporting at 6,579.04 points.Chip stocks surged significantly, with Samsung Electronics rising 6.68% and SK Hynix rising 5.54%.

Despite the rare coordination between the United States and Japan in promoting the strengthening of the yen, U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen and Japanese Prime Minister Kishi Sanae's fundamental disagreements regarding the Bank of Japan may undermine their efforts. Yellen believes that tightening monetary policy is crucial to addressing the yen's weakness, while Kishi is cautious about raising interest rates, fearing it may impact economic recovery. The Bank of Japan's benchmark interest rate remains at 1%.

Japanese government bond yields have risen, with the five-year bond yield reaching a record high, and the two-year bond yield also hitting its highest level since 1995. The rise in oil prices has triggered inflation concerns, and the market estimates the likelihood of the Bank of Japan raising interest rates in September at about two-thirds.Despite the rise in yields, there has not yet been a significant support for the yen, mainly influenced by external factors, including the increase in U.S. long-term bond yields and the strength of the dollar against the yen.

Nomura Securities stated that the scale of the intervention by the Japanese Ministry of Finance may exceed the levels seen from late April to early May, with an estimated intervention scale of approximately 14.1 trillion yen (equivalent to 88 billion USD) during the period from July 30 to August 3, surpassing the total intervention amount of 11.7349 trillion yen on April 30, May 4, and May 6.

According to a report by the Japan Times, informed sources say that the Bank of Japan may consider raising interest rates again at its next policy meeting scheduled for September 17 to 18, in response to the increasing risk of inflation.

The four major life insurance companies in Japan (Nippon Life, Dai-ichi Life, Sumitomo Life, Meiji Yasuda) reported a quarter-on-quarter increase of 7% in domestic bond holdings' unrealized losses for the second quarter of 2026, reaching a record $96 billion, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of increase, with total unrealized losses growing by more than twice during this period. Japanese life insurance companies typically hold government bonds and other securities to maturity to match long-term insurance liabilities. In May of this year, the yield on Japan's 30-year government bonds broke 4.0% for the first time since this bond was issued in 1999, raising market concerns that the Kishida government may increase fiscal spending. Analysts point out that if there is a surge in policy cancellations, insurance companies may be forced to sell their holdings prematurely to meet payouts, which would put pressure on their portfolios and earnings. The pressure facing Japanese financial institutions is intensifying.

The Financial Services Agency of Japan announced personnel appointments. As part of an organizational restructuring, the agency has established a new "Department of Crypto Assets and Stablecoins," specifically responsible for regulating crypto assets and stablecoins. Toshiaki Adomi has been appointed as the first section chief.Toshiaki Adomi graduated from Osaka University Faculty of Law in 2002 and then joined the Financial Services Agency. He later obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of Birmingham in the UK and a Master of Laws from the London School of Economics. He has held positions in bank supervision and policy coordination, and from July 2025, he will serve as a councilor in the Comprehensive Policy Bureau. Until August 1, 2026, he served as the councilor overseeing postal savings and insurance supervision.

According to CoinPost, the Financial Services Agency of Japan has announced a partial revision of the "Comprehensive Supervision Guidelines for Major Banks and Others," which will unify the reporting format for cybersecurity incidents across 17 regulatory areas, including cryptocurrency exchange operators.A new "Common Format for Other Cyber Attacks and Related Incidents" has been added, which, along with the existing formats for DDoS attacks and ransomware, constitutes a three-category reporting distinction system. As a transitional measure, non-specific social infrastructure operators may continue to use the old reporting format until the end of March 2027, with the deadline for public comments set for September 7, 2026.

According to CoinPost, the Financial Services Agency of Japan and the National Police Agency recently jointly sent a letter to the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), requesting exchanges to strengthen anti-fraud measures. This request includes 11 specific requirements, such as the need for withdrawal addresses to be registered in advance, enhanced transaction monitoring, strict verification of identification documents when opening accounts, and setting a withdrawal limit for a certain period after users deposit fiat currency or purchase crypto assets.The background of this action is the increasing prevalence of investment scams and "pig butchering" schemes on social media, where criminals frequently use crypto accounts to transfer illegal funds. The Financial Services Agency also suggested that exchanges flexibly set withdrawal limits based on customers' risk levels and transaction purposes, and that suspicious transactions should immediately result in account restrictions or freezes, while enhancing intelligence cooperation with the police. For system renovations that are difficult to implement in the short term, exchanges are allowed to proceed in phases. In addition, the Financial Services Agency has officially established the "Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division," responsible for related regulatory affairs.

According to Bloomberg, the UAE is considering investing up to 1 trillion yen (approximately 6.3 billion USD) in the construction of an artificial intelligence data center, led by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. The project is planned to be located in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan, with a planned installed capacity of 500 megawatts, and may involve other domestic and foreign investors participating together.Currently, this information has not been publicly disclosed, and relevant details are still in the evaluation stage.

According to CoinPost, the Financial Services Agency and the National Police Agency of Japan jointly issued a request to the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), asking all cryptocurrency traders to strengthen withdrawal restrictions to prevent fraud victims, proposing a total of 11 new measures.The main content includes: the introduction of a pre-registration system for withdrawal destinations, setting a certain period of withdrawal restrictions after depositing fiat currency or purchasing cryptocurrency, establishing withdrawal limits based on customer risk assessments, and enhancing transaction monitoring and information-sharing mechanisms with police in each prefecture. The background is that the damage from social media investment inducements and "pig butchering" scams continues to expand, with criminal methods becoming increasingly complex.

According to BBX data, yesterday global listed companies, large asset management institutions, and treasury agreements disclosed the latest developments in the purchase and reserve allocation of crypto assets, with the core information as follows:l Intesa Sanpaolo significantly reduced its holdings in Bitcoin spot ETF: Italy's largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo's 13F filing shows that as of June 30, its BlackRock Bitcoin spot ETF holdings decreased by 93.7% from the previous quarter to 40,700 shares; during the same period, Ethereum spot ETF holdings increased more than threefold to 349,600 shares.l Japan's Financial Services Agency establishes a dedicated department for crypto assets: The Japan FSA announced the establishment of the "Crypto Assets and Stablecoins Department," effective August 7, responsible for the regulation of crypto assets and stablecoins.l CleanSpark produced 586 BTC in July and sold 579: Mining company CleanSpark produced 586 BTC in July, with a total of 4,310 BTC for the year. In that month, it sold 579 BTC at an average price of $66,133; holding 13,931 BTC, with a peak hash rate of 50 EH/s.