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Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research Department's South Korea stock analyst Chris Cha stated in a report on September 23 that KOSPI has the conditions for a short-term tactical breakout, but the continuous flow of liquidity from South Korean retail investors into the cryptocurrency market will make the index's subsequent upward movement more reliant on foreign capital and local institutions reconfiguring. The report noted that concerns about the Federal Reserve's interest rates have been partially digested by the market, and risk appetite has shifted towards proxy AI themes.The report pointed out that South Korean memory chips provide fundamental support, with fourth-quarter DRAM contract prices expected to grow double digits quarter-on-quarter, and the ramp-up of HBM4 capacity will continue to limit the supply of standard server DRAM. Samsung Electronics' large shareholder returns, continuous buying by institutions, and foreign capital turning into net buying may drive KOSPI towards the resistance zone of 7000 to 7200 points.The report also indicated that the capacity of local South Korean retail investors to absorb has weakened. After Bitcoin returned to $85,000, cryptocurrency trading in South Korea has heated up. According to DefiLlama data cited in the report, Upbit's single-day spot trading volume on June 13 was approximately $770 million, which rose to $1.817 billion on September 22, an increase of about 136%. Based on the total trading volume of $3.27 billion on that day across South Korea's five major trading platforms, Upbit alone accounted for over half. Goldman Sachs believes this will make KOSPI more reliant on foreign and institutional buying in the future, and October is a critical window to test whether foreign capital will continue to increase its investment in South Korean semiconductor and AI assets.

According to CoinDesk, while Wall Street giants like JPMorgan and Citi have processed huge amounts of money through blockchain, tokenized payment services are still primarily aimed at institutional clients and licensed networks. JPMorgan's Kinexys blockchain platform has processed over $3 trillion, and Citi Token Services handles billions of dollars in cross-border payments daily, neither of which is open to regular savings users.The UK challenger bank Monument Bank is attempting to fill this gap. The bank has a balance sheet size of approximately $2.4 billion and plans to tokenize up to £250 million (about $335 million) of retail customer deposits on the privacy public chain Midnight. These deposits will still earn interest, be fully backed by the bank, can be exchanged 1:1 for pounds, and are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The project utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to protect customer data and meet regulatory requirements, allowing users to engage without needing to understand or directly use cryptocurrencies.Mintoo Bhandari, founder of Monument Bank, stated that most tokenization projects are currently internal bank projects and have not yet truly allowed retail users to participate directly in tokenization. In the long term, the bank plans to offer fractional private equity, tokenized structured products, and Lombard loans to customers through regular banking applications under compliance, and is considering licensing related infrastructure to other banks through its subsidiary Monument Technology.

In August, U.S. retail sales increased by 1.2% month-on-month, higher than the expected 0.8%. The previous value was revised from -0.6% to -0.5%.

On September 14, the Japanese stock market's real estate, retail, and IT service sectors performed actively. According to Gate platform's Japanese stock market data, Rand (8918) rose by 10.00%, currently reported at approximately 0.07 USD; Kobe Bussan (3038) increased by 6.35%, currently reported at approximately 21.00 USD; SHIFT (3697) saw an increase of 6.05%, currently reported at approximately 6.00 USD.

According to CoinDesk, London challenger bank Monument Bank has postponed its £250 million (approximately $330 million) project to tokenize UK retail bank deposits for several months, as the bank has been unable to find a local crypto custodian that meets the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards and can handle zero-knowledge privacy proofs.Mintoo Bhandari, founder of Monument Bank, stated that the bank originally planned to tokenize customer deposits on the privacy public chain Midnight, hoping to launch the world's first tokenized deposits two months ago, but it is now expected to take another two months, with a retail customer launch in November. To meet regulatory requirements, the bank expanded its search for custodial partners to overseas, ultimately finding a Canadian custodian approved by the FCA.Midnight is a privacy-first Layer 1 blockchain project funded by Charles Hoskinson, which keeps customer information within the Monument system through zero-knowledge proofs while allowing the bank to prove compliance on-chain and provide audit records to regulators. Monument Bank announced the project in March this year, planning to offer tokenized private equity, structured products, and automated Lombard loans to "mass affluent" customers with investable assets ranging from £50,000 to £5 million.Bhandari stated that customer deposits will continue to earn interest, fully backed by Monument, and can be exchanged at a 1:1 ratio for pounds, protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), with a limit of £120,000 per person or company.

The IDC report "China Retail Cloud Market Share, 2025" shows that Alibaba Cloud ranks first with a market share of 30.4%. Infrastructure is the largest component of the retail cloud market, with Alibaba Cloud maintaining the top position with a 37.5% share.Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive AI technology system covering "Chip---Cloud---Model---Application" to retail enterprises, offering products and services that include infrastructure, data platforms, large models, and industry applications. The integration of AI technology with retail business processes covers scenarios such as smart marketing, intelligent shopping guides, smart customer service, user insights, product operations, and supply chain management.Adidas has created a dedicated AI product design platform based on Alibaba Cloud's artificial intelligence platform PAI and the Qianwen large model. Anta, in collaboration with Alibaba Cloud, has developed the "AI Planning" intelligent agent platform based on the Lingyang AgentOne and the Qianwen large model. Coach, L'Oréal, LAWSON, China Duty Free Group, and Xiaopei Pets have also accessed related capabilities for intelligent upgrades.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) has proposed allowing intermediaries to provide certain digital asset derivatives traded overseas to retail investors. According to the proposal, eligible products must be similar to crypto derivatives traded domestically in Thailand, including aspects such as underlying assets, duration, leverage, and settlement methods. At the same time, these products must be traded on exchanges that adopt central counterparty clearing and are supervised by regulatory bodies belonging to specific international regulatory or exchange organizations.Crypto derivatives that do not meet the above conditions will only be available to institutional investors. The Thai SEC stated that institutional investors are better equipped to assess and manage complex and high-risk products. Current rules only allow intermediaries to provide relevant investment services to retail and high-net-worth clients when overseas derivatives are similar to domestic trading products, while overseas crypto derivatives, due to their varying structures and risk levels, require targeted regulations.This consultation is the latest initiative by Thailand to incorporate crypto-related products into the regulated capital market. The Thai SEC officially designated cryptocurrencies and digital tokens as permissible derivative underlying assets in a notice issued on March 5 and is discussing potential contract specifications with the Thailand Futures Exchange. The consultation will continue until September 30, and the Thai SEC has not yet announced the proposed implementation date for the revisions.

According to NADA NEWS, JPMorgan Chase is expanding its professional team responsible for cryptocurrency assets and blockchain business within its retail banking division Chase, which serves individuals and small to medium-sized enterprises. Previously, the bank's blockchain-related services were mainly aimed at corporate and institutional investors, and this expansion indicates that it is building a framework for the application of digital assets in the personal finance sector.According to the recruitment information, the new team will be responsible for formulating digital asset strategies, collaborating with cryptocurrency companies, and implementing new product development. In addition to independent research and development, commercialization methods will also include external cooperation or acquisitions.

On August 25, Galaxy launched the GalaxyOne Crypto Portfolio Line of Credit (PLOC) product for eligible U.S. customers. Users can pledge BTC, ETH, and SOL (including staked SOL) to borrow cash within a single revolving credit limit, without having to sell any crypto assets. The product has no initiation fees, features a variable annual interest rate of 8.99%, and a 50% initial loan-to-value ratio, meaning that $100,000 in pledged assets can borrow approximately $50,000.Galaxy stated that the value of the pledged assets will be continuously monitored, and warnings will be issued in advance if the assets decline; withdrawals are typically credited instantly, and funds can be used on the platform or withdrawn as USD and USDC stablecoins. The staked crypto assets will not be re-pledged or lent out, and staked SOL can continue to earn rewards while being used as collateral. Zac Prince, Managing Director of GalaxyOne, stated that with Galaxy's institutional infrastructure, they are able to launch this product with competitive rates, security, and flexibility.This product is offered by GalaxyOne Lending LLC in 40 states, excluding California, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and South Dakota. This move is seen as an attempt to restart retail crypto lending on a regulated track after the collapses of Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager in 2022, contrasting with the model of freezing customer funds and forced liquidations that year.

According to Forbes, Bitcoin recently rose from $62,900 to $79,500, with a 26% increase within 5 days, following the liquidation of over $3.1 billion in short positions. Trader MARMOT stated that this round of increase is not entirely driven by natural demand but is a typical short squeeze situation. He pointed out that approximately $3.1 billion in short positions were liquidated in the past few days, marking one of the largest liquidation events he has witnessed. At the same time, as Bitcoin rapidly rises, retail investors are chasing the price, leading to a noticeable FOMO sentiment in the market.Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, stated that his previous prediction of Bitcoin reaching $100,000 by the end of the year may be underestimated. He believes Bitcoin could retest its historical high of $126,000 and expects the market recovery to accelerate further after October 6.Meanwhile, some market participants believe that the current upward trend carries short-term overheating risks. Trader David Goldstein mentioned that Bitcoin's rise from $64,000 to nearly $80,000 is mainly driven by signals from the U.S. Treasury regarding bond repurchases and a short squeeze of unprecedented scale. He considers $80,000 to be the first significant resistance level, and this round of increase may peak in the $85,000 to $90,000 range, followed by a correction or fluctuations around $70,000 to $75,000.Forecasting platform data shows that market expectations for Bitcoin's future price are heating up. Meanwhile, inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have rebounded, with a cumulative inflow of $1.62 billion over four trading days as of August 21, reversing the previous week's trend of net outflows.However, several traders remind investors to avoid chasing prices due to rapid increases. Crypto Kit noted that just a week ago, the market was waiting for buying opportunities at $45,000 to $50,000, but now that Bitcoin has risen to $77,000, investors suddenly accept the current price, indicating a clear increase in market FOMO sentiment.

Galaxy Research Director Alex Thorn posted on the X platform, stating that today, the retail buying inclination for BlackRock's Bitcoin exchange-traded fund IBIT reached its highest level in two years.

Well-known crypto KOL Ansem posted that looking back at the third quarter of 2026, the market may find that there were actually clear signs of a bottom in the crypto market at that time.Ansem pointed out that retail activity has shown a significant upward turning point for the first time in years, but most people in the market interpreted this change as a bearish signal. He believes that this cognitive dissonance may ultimately prove to be an important characteristic of the market bottom formation.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost posted that retail demand for Bitcoin is increasing and is close to the highest level in the past two years. Historical data shows a clear correlation between the growth of retail demand and local peaks in Bitcoin prices.Currently, the rebound of Bitcoin is weak, but retail demand has surged sharply. The analyst believes this may reflect the "impatience" of this group— they have become more sensitive to small fluctuations in BTC.

In July, U.S. retail sales recorded a month-on-month decrease of -0.6%, the largest decline since May of last year, and lower than the market expectation of +0.1%.

Tonight at 20:30, we will once again welcome the U.S. July retail sales data, known for its "terrifying data" reputation. This data will directly reflect the consumption willingness and purchasing power of American residents, serving as a key barometer for determining whether the economy is experiencing a soft landing or a stall.If the data is significantly stronger than expected, it may reinforce the narrative that "the economy still has resilience," boosting the dollar and dampening interest rate cut expectations; if it is significantly weaker than expected, it may exacerbate recession concerns and further boost precious metals and risk-averse sentiment.

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%).

On May 13, 2026, the American financial services company Charles Schwab began to gradually open spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum to retail customers, with a transaction fee rate of 75 basis points. The company disclosed that customer assets reached $13.1 trillion, with 39.8 million brokerage accounts, and Paxos is responsible for execution and sub-custody.During the earnings call in July, Charles Schwab stated that the progress of the related business is on track and launched a pilot for cryptocurrency asset transfers, while also taking a stake in Paxos. Initially, only Bitcoin and Ethereum are supported, with no support for deposits and withdrawals, and no SIPC protection, except for New York and Louisiana. Charles Schwab customers hold approximately $25 billion in crypto ETP.Morgan Stanley's E*Trade launched Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana trading through Zerohash on July 16, with a fee rate of 50 basis points; Fidelity's rate is 1%, and Coinbase's consumer trading implied fee rate is about 1.75%.

According to bits.media, the Central Bank of Russia has included Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT in the list of cryptocurrencies approved for trading in the Russian market. This list is included in the draft guidelines for public consultation published by the Central Bank. The Central Bank briefly attributes the list to the standards set forth in the new Russian law: high market capitalization, high average daily trading volume, and at least five years of pricing history on overseas platforms.Non-professional investors can only purchase these three cryptocurrencies. The guidelines also set an annual purchase limit for non-professional investors: a maximum investment of 300,000 rubles per year through a single intermediary. Professional investors face fewer restrictions and can purchase any cryptocurrency offered on exchanges and over-the-counter markets without any limits. However, all investors, regardless of their status, must undergo mandatory testing before trading. Previously, Russian President Putin signed the "Digital Currency and Digital Rights Law" on August 4, establishing a regulatory framework for the circulation of cryptocurrencies, with relevant rules taking effect on September 1.