ECONOMY NEWS⚡️

🇨🇳 Apple Trains China-Specific AI Model With Alibaba Support Apple has reportedly trained its own large language model for China with support from Alibaba, as it prepares to bring Apple Intelligence to the country. ⚫ Reuters says this is the first time Apple trained an AI model specifically for Beijing’s regulatory environment ⚫ The model will complement local partner systems, not fully replace them ⚫ Alibaba’s Qwen is expected to be integrated into Apple Intelligence for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro in China ⚫ China’s cyberspace regulator registered Apple’s generative AI service in July, a required step before public launch The signal is clear: Apple cannot scale AI in China with US tools like ChatGPT or Claude, so it is building a hybrid local strategy to defend its iPhone market. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇺🇦 Ukraine Warns Crypto Rules Must Not Push Business Abroad Ukraine’s securities regulator says crypto regulation should protect users without making local companies move to friendlier jurisdictions. ⚫ Ukraine ranked 8th globally in Chainalysis crypto adoption and 1st after adjusting for population ⚫ From July 2024 to June 2025, Ukrainians received about $206.3B in digital assets, up 52% year over year ⚫ The reform aims to legalize authorized providers for buying, selling, exchange, custody and staking ⚫ Regulators also see tokenization and RWA as a bridge between virtual assets and traditional finance The message is clear: Ukraine wants crypto rules that bring business, taxes and user protection onshore, not regulation that forces the industry to leave. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

📉 Bitcoin Miner Fee Revenue Falls Near 10-Year Low Bitcoin miners are earning almost nothing from transaction fees, with fees making up just 0.69% of total miner revenue on August 11, according to Glassnode co-founder Rafael Schultze-Kraft. ⚫ Fee revenue has stayed below 1% for almost a year ⚫ The last time the share was this low, Bitcoin traded below $400 ⚫ Miner income is now funded almost entirely by the 3.125 BTC block subsidy ⚫ Estimated average mining cost sits around $78,254 per BTC, while Bitcoin trades near $64,100 ⚫ Hashrate has dropped 33% from its October 2025 peak, from 1.3 ZH/s to 898 EH/s The market read: Bitcoin’s security budget is leaning heavily on block rewards again, while weak fees, lower margins and AI/HPC migration are putting pressure on miners. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🤖 xAI Launches Grok Bot as AI Agents for Real Workflows xAI introduced Grok Bot, a messenger-style system of AI agents designed to complete complex work tasks across apps and browsers. ⚫ Users assign tasks in chat, and the bot returns with results or asks for approval before taking action ⚫ Each agent runs on its own cloud virtual machine and can keep working even when the user’s computer is off ⚫ Bots can log into services, operate directly inside interfaces and complete tasks without relying on APIs ⚫ Multiple agents can work in parallel, join group chats, divide roles and hand tasks to each other The bigger signal: AI agents are moving from “answering questions” to acting like virtual coworkers with memory, workflows and execution power. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇰🇵 North Korean Hackers Add Local AI to Crypto Attacks South Korean cybersecurity researchers say the North Korea-linked Kimsuky group is using local AI systems to target crypto and financial companies. ⚫ Researchers found local LLM setups based on Ollama, GPT4All and Msty ⚫ These tools can run offline and use RAG without sending sensitive data to cloud services ⚫ The group also used LLM libraries, Cursor, coding tools and speech recognition systems ⚫ Genians says Kimsuky is moving from AI testing to embedding open LLMs into real attack workflows The signal is clear: AI is becoming part of the attacker stack, not just for phishing texts, but for malware development, data analysis and automation. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🤖 Amazon Plans the Largest Gas Power Plant in the US for AI Amazon confirmed it bought land in Pecos County, Texas for a new data center campus that will be powered by its own 7.65 GW gas plant. If completed as planned, it would become one of the biggest dedicated power setups ever built for AI infrastructure. ⚫ The GW Ranch project includes 35 gas turbines and is being developed by Pacifico Energy ⚫ Amazon’s filings show three data center buildings with total planned investment of $900M ⚫ The company is using on-site generation to avoid long grid interconnection delays in Texas ⚫ The plant already has permission for up to 33 million tons of CO2 emissions per year The bigger signal: AI companies are no longer waiting for the grid to catch up. They’re securing land, energy, and infrastructure directly — even if that means much higher environmental costs. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇺🇸 US Senate Pushes CLARITY Act Vote to September The US Senate delayed procedural action on the CLARITY Act until after the August recess, slowing momentum for the crypto market structure bill. ⚫ The Senate leaves on August 7 and returns to Washington on September 14 ⚫ Republicans need 60 votes, meaning at least seven Democrats must support the bill ⚫ Internal GOP concerns remain, including banking deposit risks and other unresolved provisions ⚫ Polymarket now gives CLARITY only a 14% chance of being signed this year, down from 55% in early July The bigger fight is ethics: new amendments could force Trump to divest crypto business stakes, while also creating possible tax deferral benefits. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🤖 ChatGPT Becomes the Main AI Tool in the US House ChatGPT accounted for about 88% of all AI-service spending by the US House of Representatives, according to CNBC’s review of expense records. ⚫ House offices, committees and support units spent at least $113,740 on AI tools from April 2025 to March 2026 ⚫ ChatGPT took $100,580 across 798 transactions, or 96% of all AI-related payments ⚫ Claude ranked second with $13,160 across 37 transactions ⚫ At least 71 congressional offices paid for ChatGPT, using AI for bill summaries, memos, hearing materials and constituent replies The signal is clear: while Washington debates AI regulation, its own offices are already building daily workflows around the same tools. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇪🇺 MiCA Licensing Turns Into a Crypto Maze in Europe MiCA was supposed to create one clear crypto rulebook for the EU. Instead, the rollout left much of the market stuck between slow regulators, different national deadlines and missing licenses. ⚫ By late July, ESMA listed only 313 active CASP licenses, while Europe had more than 3,000 crypto firms before MiCA ⚫ Transition periods differed by country: some gave 18 months, others only five or six ⚫ Poland still has no working licensing system after repeated vetoes blocked local implementation ⚫ Binance withdrew its Greek license application before the deadline and limited EU user services ⚫ Tether skipped MiCA licensing, pushing USDT off regulated EU exchanges while Circle’s USDC and EURC gained ground The message is rough: Europe got the world’s first major crypto framework, but execution turned the “single market” into 27 separate bottlenecks. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇺🇸 US Lawmaker Moves Against Flock Surveillance Cameras US congressman Thomas Massie wants to cut federal funding for municipalities and police departments that use Flock cameras or similar automated surveillance systems. ⚫ Flock cameras scan passing cars, read license plates and identify vehicle details like make, model and color ⚫ The company says it does not use facial recognition and usually stores data for 30 days ⚫ Critics say the systems are being used beyond crime investigations, including alleged personal surveillance by officers ⚫ Several local governments are already rethinking contracts over privacy, data sharing and security concerns The signal is clear: automated surveillance is moving from local policing tool to national privacy fight. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🤖 Zuckerberg Pushes Back Against Blocking Chinese AI Models Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said blocking advanced Chinese AI models in the US would not be an effective way to win the AI race. ⚫ He argued US companies should focus on fixing their own bottlenecks instead of banning foreign models ⚫ The debate heated up after Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, an open model with 2.8T parameters and 1M-token context ⚫ US officials are also reviewing whether some Chinese models relied on distillation from American systems ⚫ Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, IBM, Cisco and others are backing open-weight models as important for transparency and security The signal is clear: the AI fight is shifting from model performance to access, openness and who gets to control the global stack. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

📊 Bitcoin Reclaims $65K as US-Iran Strike Pause Hits Oil Bitcoin moved back above $65,000 after a pause in US-Iran strikes cooled oil prices and eased risk pressure across markets. ⚫ BTC gained 1.2% over 24 hours, while Ethereum jumped 4.2% to $1,960 ⚫ WTI oil futures fell 7.2%, and Brent dropped 7.1% as supply fears eased ⚫ Traders say holding $65K is a sign of strength, but $65.7K and $67K remain key breakout zones ⚫ Onchain data still looks weak: CryptoQuant says demand across spot and futures remains negative The read: geopolitics gave Bitcoin a relief bounce, but a real trend reversal still needs stronger spot demand. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🤝 Nvidia Considers $250 Billion Financial Guarantee for OpenAI Data Center Nvidia is reportedly discussing a $250 billion financial guarantee to support OpenAI's 10-gigawatt AI data center project in Ohio. ⚫ Nvidia may provide a financial guarantee of approximately $250 billion for OpenAI's AI data center project in Ohio, according to The Wall Street Journal. ⚫ The project involves leasing a 10-gigawatt hub in the southern part of the state, overseen by SoftBank's energy division, SB Energy, with an estimated potential cost of $500 billion. ⚫ This guarantee is designed to mitigate risks for lenders financing the infrastructure, meaning Nvidia would assume part of the liability if OpenAI defaults. ⚫ The proposed $250 billion guarantee does not cover the cost of Nvidia chips inside the facility, while the parties are separately discussing OpenAI purchasing up to $350 billion in accelerators. ⚫ Access to the facility's capacity is effectively controlled by the US government, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick participating in its allocation. ⚫ The negotiations are in the early stages and could still collapse, and financing terms remain subject to change. ⚫ As of the quarter ending April 26, 2026, Nvidia reported total assets of $259.5 billion, making a guarantee of this size a significant contingent liability. ⚫ In September 2025, Nvidia and OpenAI signed a strategic partnership memorandum involving up to $100 billion in investments. The potential agreement highlights a growing trend of circular financing in the AI sector, where chipmakers, cloud providers, and developers mutually support demand through investments, guarantees, and long-term contracts. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

💰 Nvidia, Meta and Microsoft Push Back Against Open-Weight AI Restrictions Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft and 22 other companies urged the US government not to restrict open-weight AI models, warning that limits could weaken American AI leadership. ⚫ Open-weight models can be downloaded, run on private infrastructure and modified by users ⚫ The companies say restrictions would push the market toward a few closed-model providers ⚫ They also defended model distillation as a legitimate practice, not something that should face a blanket ban ⚫ OpenAI and Anthropic did not sign the letter The bigger signal: the AI regulation fight is no longer just about safety. It is also about who controls the infrastructure layer of the industry. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

📉 Market Mayhem: Oil Surges While Tech and Bitcoin Tumble Tanker strikes and rising rate-hike odds drove oil and the dollar higher, while Google sparked a broad sell-off in the technology sector and Bitcoin. ⚫ Tanker strikes and threats from Trump triggered a breakout in crude oil, real interest rates, and the USD/JPY pair. ⚫ Google (GOOGL) sparked a breakdown in hyperscalers and the broader technology sector. ⚫ Momentum stocks remained bid despite the broader market turmoil. ⚫ Rising rate-hike odds pushed Treasury yields and the US dollar higher, which in turn drove gold prices lower. ⚫ Bitcoin tumbled in tandem with the technology sector. Combined macroeconomic and microeconomic factors triggered widespread market turbulence today. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

💰 UN Puts Scam Network Losses at Up to $114B UNODC estimates scam operations across East and Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand caused $88.3B to $114.1B in losses in 2025. ⚫ The 2025 figure is roughly three times higher than 2023 estimates for East and Southeast Asia ⚫ UNODC says scam groups now operate like cross-border criminal franchises ⚫ Crypto, especially USDT on TRON, is described as a key payment and laundering rail ⚫ AI, deepfakes, encrypted apps, data markets, and satellite internet are helping networks scale faster The message is brutal: scam centers are no longer isolated fraud shops. They are turning into full criminal infrastructure with payments, recruitment, data, and tech stacked together. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇺🇸 US Med Students Turn to Kalshi and Polymarket to Pay for School A new Clasp survey says nearly 70% of US medical students are using betting apps and prediction markets to help cover education costs. ⚫ Students reported using DraftKings, Kalshi, FanDuel, and Polymarket ⚫ 73% open positions several times per week, while 15% do it daily ⚫ Around 67% see these platforms as a way to pay for school ⚫ But fewer than half reported making a profit, with many only breaking even The bigger signal: education costs are pushing even future healthcare workers toward high-risk financial shortcuts. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡

🇵🇰 Pakistan Creates Crypto Crime Investigation Unit Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency created a specialized unit to investigate crimes involving cryptocurrencies, with a focus on money laundering and terrorism financing. ⚫ The unit will operate inside the new National Command and Control Centre ⚫ FIA will investigate criminal use of digital assets, while PVARA will handle licensing, rules, and market supervision ⚫ NC3 will combine AML teams, virtual currency investigators, OSINT, cyber patrol, darknet monitoring, and Interpol coordination ⚫ Pakistan is also preparing a broader VASP licensing regime after allowing banks to open accounts for approved crypto firms The signal is clear: Pakistan is not just opening the door to crypto regulation — it is building the enforcement layer around it. ⚡ECONOMY NEWS⚡