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Asian bonds declined and the dollar stayed under pressure after a rally in Treasuries faded, with investors betting that US efforts to contain long-term borrowing costs through buybacks may offer only a temporary reprieve, according to Bloomberg. Bonds fell in Japan, Australia and New Zealand after their US peers turned lower on Thursday, giving up much of the previous day's gains that had been triggered by the Treasury's decision to increase buybacks.Treasuries stabilized Friday, with the 30-year yield holding at 5.25% after rising six basis points in the prior session, while the 10-year yield was at 4.70%, roughly where it stood before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's surprise move. A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar fell 0.1%, set for its third weekly loss in four weeks. MSCI's Asia Pacific equities edged up 0.4%, with early focus on Samsung Electronics, expected to announce a shareholder return package worth as much as 110 trillion won ($79 billion).Wide fiscal deficits remain a top concern, alongside inflation worries amid the war in Iran and supply pressure from surging borrowing in the AI industry. Bessent played down Thursday's moves, saying anything within a 24-hour period is noise, and indicated the expanded buyback operations could exceed the $4 billion size planned to start next month.Bitcoin surpassed $70,000 for the first time in over two months, trading near $75,000 Friday after President Donald Trump met with crypto industry leaders. The yen was little changed near 159 per dollar, Brent crude edged up 0.2% to almost $94 a barrel, and gold rose toward $4,525 an ounce, on track for a third weekly gain. Focus now shifts to Nvidia's earnings and the Jackson Hole symposium next week.

DeepSeek released the first Agent benchmark results for V4-Flash-Vision-Exp, showing a 2-2 split against Opus 4.8 across four multimodal Agent evaluations. According to ChainCatcher, the model scored 27.3 versus 25.7 on Agents' Last Exam and 35.0 versus 34.0 on ZeroBench, while Opus 4.8 led on ApexBench at 39.4 versus 36.5 and on Chartography at 65.0 versus 64.3.
Compared with the text-only V4-Flash-0731, the vision version improved on ApexBench from 26.2 to 36.5 and on Agents' Last Exam from 25.2 to 27.3. DeepSeek said the text-only version ignores multimodal content, so the gains mainly reflect the addition of visual input.
DeepSeek also said text-based Agent performance did not materially decline after adding vision. In seven text benchmarks, six were higher than V4-Flash-0731, including DeepSWE rising from 54.4 to 59.3, above Opus 4.8's 58.0, and Toolathlon reaching 75.9, close to Opus 4.8's 76.2. The results came from DeepSeek's own testing, not an independent third-party ranking, and public Code Agent text tasks used DeepSeek Harness in minimal mode with the max reasoning setting.

Strategy's Bitcoin holding cost basis is $75,385, and its unrealized loss has narrowed to $685 million from $9.904 billion a few days ago, recovering $9.219 billion. According to Foresight News, BitMine's Ethereum unrealized loss also fell to $5.879 billion from $8.513 billion a few days ago, recovering $2.634 billion.

According to Jin10, China gold concept shares opened higher, with Shenzhonghua A hitting two straight limit-up moves, and Shengda Resources, Nankuang Group, and Xingye Silver & Tin also opening higher.

According to the announcement from Binance, Binance has launched Binance Agent OS, a developer platform built as part of Binance Intelligence to connect compatible AI applications and agents to supported Binance capabilities through user-controlled permissions. The company said the platform is designed to bring together Binance APIs, Binance Wallet Agentic Hub, Binance x402, Binance Skill Hub, and support for the Model Context Protocol, or MCP, into a more coherent ecosystem for developers, users, and the broader industry. Binance said the launch formalizes its commitment to building infrastructure for agentic crypto experiences and creates a foundation for expanding agentic skills, wallet capabilities, and developer tools over time. The platform is intended to reduce fragmentation across agentic crypto integrations by replacing one-off connections with a controlled set of discoverable capabilities. These include programmatic access to supported trading, market, wallet, and on-chain features through Binance APIs, wallet functions for agent-driven interactions through Binance Wallet Agentic Hub, payment and settlement primitives through Binance x402, and modular capabilities through Binance Skill Hub. Binance also said MCP serves as a standardized connection layer for compatible AI applications to discover and use supported Binance tools, while Agent OS remains the broader platform and toolkit.
Binance also introduced the Binance MCP Server as part of the launch. The company said MCP is an open standard that helps standardize how AI applications connect to external tools, and that the Binance MCP Server gives compatible AI applications a standardized way to connect to supported Binance tools and liquidity without requiring users to manage API keys locally. According to the announcement, once connected and subject to user authorization, account eligibility, and regional availability, users can grant agents scopes to read market data, check balances, trade supported Spot, Margin, Convert, USDⓈ-M Futures, and COIN-M Futures functions, and transfer funds between wallets inside an Agentic sub-account. Binance said the MCP Server does not provide a withdrawal scope and does not authorize agents to withdraw funds to external addresses. Access must be authorized through a dedicated Agentic sub-account isolated from the main account. Binance listed Claude Code, Claude, Codex, ChatGPT, and VS Code as compatible AI agents. The company said users can connect an AI agent via MCP, open and fund an Agentic sub-account, and join the Binance Developer Community for questions and discussion.

An Iranian senior official said Tehran is planning an economic war that would include attacks on Gulf oil diversion export facilities to push up U.S. gasoline prices and hurt support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s party before the November midterm elections. According to Odaily, the plan would target two major alternative routes used by shippers to avoid the Strait of Hormuz: Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu pipeline and the Fujairah oil terminal in the United Arab Emirates.
The two facilities handle about 5.5 million barrels of oil per day combined. The official also said that if Iran simultaneously cut off about 5 million barrels per day of oil supply currently moving through the Strait of Hormuz by the U.S.-backed shadow fleet, it would weaken a large share of alternative transport capacity that has helped maintain some Gulf oil exports during broader disruption. Brent crude is already near $93 a barrel amid current tensions, and traders could view any credible action against Yanbu or Fujairah as a larger shock than previous supply interruptions.

Asian share indices are headed for weekly losses as bond market stress persists, while Bitcoin and gold rallied as investors sought safe havens. According to BeInCrypto, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8% at the open Friday and was down 4.4% for the week, while the MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan gained 0.5%. Bitcoin traded near $74,300 after an intraday high of $75,500, and gold held near $4,513 an ounce, up 3.1% for the week.

According to Jin10, gold call options have seen a sharp retreat as the contract nears expiry, and the move may have been affected by rollover activity, while new bets still show divergence, with large additions to out-of-the-money positions suggesting funds are still positioning for higher volatility.

On Aug 21, 2026, 07:16 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Bitcoin has crossed the 76,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 76,362.328125 USDT, with a narrowed 9.42% increase in 24 hours.

On-chain analyst Yu Jin said the whale or institution known as "7 Siblings" bought Ether after short-term drops of more than 10% and sold after short-term gains of more than 10%. According to Odaily, the entity sold 9,000 ETH in the past six hours and received 21.04 million USDT at an average price of $2,338 after Ether rose more than 20% over the past day and a half.

The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.43T, up by 10.64% over the last day, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading between $71,132 and $79,500 over the past 24 hours. As of 09:30 AM (UTC) today, BTC is trading at $77,720, up by 8.22%.
Most major cryptocurrencies by market cap are trading mixed. Market outperformers include BB, PEOPLE, and ENA, up by 53%, 45%, and 40%, respectively.
Market movers:
NVDAB: $216.5 (-1.01%)
AAPLB: $311.79 (-1.34%)
MSFTB: $482.26 (-0.25%)
AMZNB: $261.97 (-1.69%)
TSMB: $421.12 (+1.86%)
GOOGLB: $343.2 (-0.24%)
SPCXB: $135.03 (-2.14%)
AVGOB: $368 (+0.45%)
METAB: $551.95 (+0.43%)
MUB: $978.53 (+3.40%)
Top gainers on Binance:
BB/USDT (+53%)
PEOPLE/USDT (+45%)
ENA/USDT (+40%)

On Aug 21, 2026, 08:14 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Bitcoin has crossed the 77,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 77,054.890625 USDT, with a narrowed 8.06% increase in 24 hours.

According to Jin10, the dollar weakened even as yields and oil prices rose, while precious metals were supported by defensive demand and stock valuations faced borrowing-cost and energy pressure.

Shanghai Futures Exchange said on August 21 that it will adjust the automatic conversion standards for hedging position quotas in silver and copper, according to Jiemian News. For silver, from the last trading day of August 2026, automatic conversion of hedging position quotas will resume for the nearby delivery month. For non-futures company members, overseas special non-clearing participants, or clients that have not obtained nearby delivery-month hedging quotas, their general-month hedging quotas will, when entering the nearby delivery month period, be automatically converted into nearby delivery-month buy and sell hedging quotas based on the lower of the general-month quota already obtained and the position limit under the contract’s position-limit rules. For copper, from the last trading day of August 2026, the automatically converted nearby delivery-month buy and sell hedging quotas for the same group of market participants will be temporarily set at zero lots when they enter the nearby delivery month period.

ByteTree founder and chief investment officer Charlie Morris said international gold prices have continued to rise and may see even larger gains ahead. According to Sina Finance, he said the U.S. Treasury is effectively carrying out multiple large-scale quantitative easing operations.
Morris said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's latest move was to double purchases of long-term Treasuries in an effort to keep government borrowing costs low. He said U.S. government debt has reached $40 trillion, and that over the past century the global above-ground gold stock has moved in step with total outstanding U.S. debt.
Morris said the problem with this strategy is that long-term bonds are relatively scarce compared with short-term bonds. He said debt buybacks financed by money printing may lower long-term yields in the short term, but sustaining those yields would require continuing the process.
He also said this is one of the main reasons central banks around the world are buying gold. If central banks reject U.S. Treasuries, he asked, what other options are large, liquid, have long-term store-of-value characteristics, and remain in limited supply? He said all paths ultimately lead to gold.

On Aug 21, 2026, 08:38 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Ethereum has crossed the 2,400 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 2,400.570068 USDT, with a narrowed 5.64% increase in 24 hours.

On Aug 20, 2026, 23:20 PM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Bitcoin has crossed the 73,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 73,003.039063 USDT, with a narrowed 5.21% increase in 24 hours.

On Aug 21, 2026, 08:59 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Bitcoin has crossed the 79,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 79,270.351563 USDT, with a narrowed 10.61% increase in 24 hours.

Micron rose 3.97% to rank second in U.S. stock trading volume on Thursday, with turnover of $23.777 billion. According to Sina Finance, Micron announced Micron Research Labs and said it plans to invest $10 billion over the next decade to build the United States' first long-term innovation center focused on memory technology in Boise, Idaho. The company said the research will cover next-generation memory, computing architecture, advanced packaging, and semiconductor manufacturing, and that the investment is separate from its previously announced more than $250 billion U.S. manufacturing and R&D plan.
Sandisk rose 2.02% to rank fifth, with turnover of $17.575 billion. According to Sina Finance, the company outlined a fiscal 2028 to 2030 financial framework at its recent investor day, including mid- to high-teens revenue growth, a non-GAAP gross margin target of about 80%, and an operating margin target of about 75%. It also said it will return 100% of excess cash to shareholders after completing investments.
SpaceX fell 4.05% to rank sixth, with turnover of $15.87 billion. According to Sina Finance, another batch of about 319 million shares held by early employees and investors came out of lockup and entered circulation, pulling the stock back to around its $135 IPO price.
Moderna plunged 23.55% to rank seventh, with turnover of $13.647 billion. According to Sina Finance, the company and Merck announced Wednesday phase 3 results for the personalized mRNA cancer vaccine intismeran autogene combined with pembrolizumab, saying it significantly reduced the risk of postoperative recurrence and suppressed distant metastasis in melanoma patients compared with standard immunotherapy alone.
Apple fell 1.75% to rank eighth, with turnover of $12.031 billion. According to Sina Finance, some research said the stock's correlation with the broader market and other Magnificent Seven names is relatively low, and Tim Cook expressed support for Micron's increased memory R&D investment in the United States.
Tesla fell 1.71% to rank ninth, with turnover of $10.339 billion. According to Sina Finance, the company is moving ahead with employee test rides of Cybercab in Austin and plans to later include the vehicle in Robotaxi service.

On Aug 21, 2026, 01:48 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Bitcoin has crossed the 75,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 75,523.117188 USDT, with a narrowed 8.23% increase in 24 hours.

On Aug 21, 2026, 01:30 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, BNB has crossed the 660 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 660.22998 USDT, with a narrowed 5.71% increase in 24 hours.

On Aug 21, 2026, 08:08 AM(UTC). according to Binance Market Data, MSTRB has achieved a new all-time high, trading at 122.99 USDT. The 24-hour increase of 11.30%

Samsung Electronics will announce a new shareholder return plan on Friday that could be worth as much as 110 trillion won, or $79 billion, according to Ming Pao.
Bloomberg cited sources as saying the plan would be unveiled by the South Korean company on Friday.

On Aug 21, 2026, 06:39 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, BNB has crossed the 670 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 671.580017 USDT, with a narrowed 7.14% increase in 24 hours.

China’s refiners are keeping crude purchases below the levels seen before the Iran war as oil prices remain above $90, according to Bloomberg.
Analysts and industry consultancies estimate China’s imports are edging back toward 10 million barrels a day.

According to the Korea Herald, HKET and RTHK, Asian equities opened mixed on Friday as rising US Treasury yields and higher oil prices pressured sentiment, while chip and internet names offered pockets of support.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 opened lower, trading at 65,713.86, down 502.93 points or 0.76%, as overnight Wall Street losses and a renewed US bond sell-off weighed on risk appetite. Japan's core consumer price index rose 1.8% year-on-year in July, matching expectations and keeping alive the case for a Bank of Japan rate hike. SK Hynix is reportedly planning a semiconductor fab in Japan.
Seoul's KOSPI opened 1.35% lower before trimming losses to 6,831.53, down 21.05 points or 0.31%, as of 9:15 a.m. Chipmakers bucked the weakness on continued expectations for shareholder returns, with Samsung Electronics up 0.65% and SK hynix rising 1.83% after its recent buyback announcement. LG Energy Solution fell 2.65% and Hyundai Motor lost 1.2%.
Hong Kong stocks opened firmer, with the Hang Seng Index rising 109 points to 25,807 and the Hang Seng Tech Index up 0.2% at 4,710. Alibaba climbed more than 2% after its results, having posted quarterly revenue of nearly 269 billion yuan, up 9% year-on-year, though net profit fell 76% to 10.5 billion yuan. NetEase slipped more than 1%, while Pop Mart dropped 8%.
Taiwan's TAIEX opened slightly lower, down 10.4 points at 44,923.34, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) trading in a narrow range near the 45,000 level.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite opened down 0.32%, the Shenzhen Component eased 0.27%, the ChiNext dipped 0.01% and the STAR Market composite fell 0.52%, as pharmaceutical, CRO and innovative-drug names led declines while gold and digital-currency themes gained.

According to Jin10, southbound funds recorded a net sale of 7.63 billion yuan today, with Alibaba-W and Xiaomi Group-W seeing net sales of HK$1.118 billion and HK$590 million, respectively, via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, while Pop Mart ranked first in net buying at HK$209 million; via the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Tencent Holdings and Meituan-W saw net sales of HK$570 million and HK$341 million, respectively, while the top net buyer took in HK$496 million.

Unprecedented shareholder-return plans by South Korea’s two chipmaking giants are emerging as a key swing factor for the won, according to Bloomberg.
If the companies tap local currency markets to fund the payouts, the won’s recent rally could extend further.

According to RTHK, Hong Kong Economic Times and Yonhap, Asian equities closed mixed on Friday, with Hong Kong leading gains as gold and property names rallied while Tokyo eased.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 ended lower, closing at 66,016.36, down 200.43 points or 0.30%, and finished the week down nearly 4%.
Seoul's KOSPI rose 60.37 points, or 0.88%, to close at 6,912.95, though it still logged a weekly loss of about 1%. Chip heavyweights advanced, with Samsung Electronics up 3.87% at 281,500 won and SK Hynix up 2.31% at 1,730,000 won.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 310.97 points, or 1.21%, to close at 26,009.46, reclaiming the 26,000 mark at the day's high, with turnover of HK$257.28 billion; the Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.40% to 4,766. Gold and property stocks led, with Laopu Gold up 7.51% at HK$398.00 and Henderson Land up 6.60% at HK$30.04. Xiaomi rose 4.54% and Tencent added 1.24%, while Alibaba fell 2.54% to HK$123.00 after its quarterly profit dropped about 76%, and Pop Mart declined 3.06%.
Taiwan's TAIEX rose 290.55 points, or 0.65%, to close at 45,224.29, paring its weekly loss to about 1%, as TSMC gained 1.47% to NT$2,410.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite edged up 1.48 points, or 0.04%, to 3,905.20; the Shenzhen Component rose 0.87% to 14,094.17 and the ChiNext advanced 1.43% to 3,545.58. Combined turnover fell to about 1.88 trillion yuan, the lowest since early April.

According to Jin10, Europe is regaining investor favor because its economy has weathered the impact of the Iran war better than expected, its monetary policy outlook is clearer than other regions, and it is less affected by AI-driven market volatility. The STOXX Europe 600 is nearing a record high, the euro is at a three-month high, and LSEG/Lipper data showed $2.44 billion flowed into European equities in the week to August 12, the largest inflow since the week to February 25, just before the U.S.-Iran war broke out. Morgan Stanley chief European equity strategist Marina Zavolock said inflation is positive for stocks as long as it does not trigger a recession, and that this is the current environment, which is why European stocks, especially bank shares, have been rising gradually.

On Aug 21, 2026, 08:50 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Bitcoin has crossed the 78,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 78,082.6875 USDT, with a narrowed 9.01% increase in 24 hours.

Ethereum has climbed back above $2,300 for the first time in three months and gained 25% over the past week, outperforming Bitcoin. According to PANews, the move came as spot Ethereum ETFs recorded consecutive net inflows, institutions added positions, and staking volume reached a record high.

Estée Lauder Companies reported fiscal 2026 net sales of $15.049 billion, up 5% year on year on an organic basis, and returned to operating profit with $780 million in operating income, according to Jiemian News. The company said China revenue reached $3.058 billion, up 9% organically, with market share gains in China for six straight quarters.
Chief Executive Stéphane de La Faverie said the results exceeded the company's expectations and that organic sales growth resumed across brands. Jiemian News reported that the company also said its China mainland business was now reported as a separate operating region, and that online sales accounted for more than 50% of its China business. In the fourth quarter, China net sales rose 12% to $824 million, while organic growth was 7%.
The company said Jo Malone London and TOM FORD joined its billion-dollar brand club, bringing the total to six brands, alongside La Mer, Estée Lauder, Clinique and The Ordinary. It also said fragrance was the fastest-growing category in fiscal 2026, up 12%, and that TOM FORD sales in mainland China rose 40%.
Estée Lauder said its Beauty Reimagined restructuring plan is progressing ahead of schedule, with $1.2 billion in pre-tax benefits for the year, $1.4 billion in restructuring charges and a net reduction of 10,000 employees. It forecast organic net sales growth of 3% to 5% in fiscal 2027.

According to Jin10, UBS expects the copper market shortfall to widen to 379,000 tons in 2027, up from 219,000 tons in 2026.

On Aug 21, 2026, 08:43 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, BNB has crossed the 680 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 680.5 USDT, with a narrowed 6.18% increase in 24 hours.

According to Jin10, after central banks sold U.S. Treasuries, gold became the highest-quality reserve target, as the imbalance between the flood of U.S. Treasury supply and gold's scarcity gives gold prices stronger upside potential and makes a sharp rise in gold prices still inevitable.

According to Jin10, UBS maintained a positive view on copper and said copper prices are expected to reach its target of $15,500 per ton in the coming quarters.

Shipowners including Sinokor Group are helping Saudi Arabian crude leave the Red Sea through the safer northern route as Iran-backed militants target the kingdom’s exports at the Bab el Mandeb chokepoint in the south, according to Bloomberg.

Food prices are surging as Russia and Ukraine continue striking infrastructure in the Black Sea region, adding pressure to wheat prices and deepening global food security concerns. According to Sina Finance, analysts warned that farmers may plant fewer crops this winter because of pressure on profits and financing, which could threaten next year's food supply.
Extreme weather is also adding uncertainty, including extreme heat, unusually heavy rain, and the approaching El Nino weather event. Russia and Ukraine have continued attacking each other's port infrastructure, disrupting grain exports from the so-called breadbasket of Europe and weighing on global food supplies.
According to estimates, the two countries account for about one-quarter of global grain exports. Customs data showed that their combined grain exports totaled nearly 100 million tons in the 12 months through June. Since Russia's full-scale conflict began in 2022, grain shipments have largely continued thanks to diplomatic agreements aimed at safeguarding global food supplies.
Recent attacks on grain export facilities, tankers, and other vessels in the Black Sea have made it difficult for shipping companies to insure related business, prompting many to avoid Black Sea ports. Ukraine's overland export alternatives are also constrained, with low water levels on the Danube and rail maintenance in Eastern Europe slowing transport.
Disruptions are not limited to the Black Sea conflict. Shipping bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as low water levels on the Rhine and Danube rivers, are also weighing on transport. These persistent shipping constraints are pushing up prices for fertilizers and other agriculture-related commodities, adding to pressure on farm production.
According to Sina Finance, CoBank chief economist Jacqui Fatka wrote in a report last week that fertilizer prices have become a structural problem and may persist for a long time because of tight supplies of key chemical inputs linked to the Middle East conflict. She said U.S. farmers know that cutting fertilizer use to reduce input costs could hurt crop yields and ultimately cause losses greater than the fertilizer price increases themselves, but other yield-preserving measures have already been exhausted. Fatka added that farm cash flow is tight and some growers cannot lock in production supplies for the next crop cycle until they secure additional loans or working capital.
Trade and agriculture analyst Noel Fryer said European farmers also face concerns, with profitability worries and financing difficulties likely to sharply reduce planting intentions this winter in Russia, Ukraine, and other regions. He said multiple problems are piling up and will severely hit crop output next year. Fryer also said crops in Europe and the United States have already been badly damaged by extreme weather, while Europe's scorching summer has degraded grasslands and left cattle and sheep short of hay and pasture, which could trigger large-scale livestock slaughter.
He added that the Black Sea crisis shows no sign of resolution, fertilizer supply problems since the Iran conflict began remain unresolved and are worsening, and a wet U.S. spring combined with reduced fertilizer application has clouded the outlook for corn output and could lift corn prices. Fryer said a strong El Nino is also approaching and will add major uncertainty, increasing market volatility in the Southern Hemisphere. He concluded that the overlapping problems create a highly uncertain outcome and amount to a perfect storm.

According to Jin10, UBS Global Wealth Management raised its 2026 year-end S&P 500 target to 8,100 from 7,900.