📰 Important Updates
Central Bank and Hong Kong Monetary Authority Sign Cross-border Payment Agreement: The People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority signed a memorandum of understanding on August 2 (Mainland-Hong Kong Cross-border Payment Connectivity), promoting the connection of rapid payment systems in both regions, with plans to achieve real-time cross-border transfers within the year. This move will provide infrastructure support for the compliance of stablecoins in Hong Kong, with expectations that the first batch of USDT, HUSD, and other stablecoins will see incremental demand in cross-border trade scenarios.
Application Surge on the Day After Hong Kong Stablecoin Regulations Take Effect: According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's official website, 15 institutions, including Ant International and JD Technology, have submitted pre-application materials for licenses, focusing on offshore RMB settlement and digital asset custody. The market expects the first licenses to be issued in Q4, and licensed institutions must complete 100% high liquidity reserve verification within 12 months, facing dual pressures of technical and funding thresholds for small and medium projects.
August Token Unlocking Wave Officially Starts: According to Token Unlocks data, on August 2, Galxe (GAL) unlocked 4 million tokens (accounting for 3.5% of the circulating supply, valued at $13 million), and Ethena (ENA) unlocked 40.63 million tokens (accounting for 0.64% of the circulating supply, valued at $27.16 million). Solana (SOL) will see $747 million in token unlocks this week, necessitating caution against short-term price impacts from selling pressure.
US Stock Market Crypto Sector Struggles to Rebound: Coinbase fell by 1.2% amid market concerns over the delayed review process by the US SEC for spot Bitcoin ETFs. MicroStrategy announced an additional purchase of 1,250 Bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 189,150 Bitcoins, but its stock price still declined by 0.8%, reflecting traditional capital's cautious attitude towards crypto assets.

🔍 Potential Impact
US July Non-Farm Payroll Data Exceeds Expectations (Adding 209,000 Jobs), Strengthening High Interest Rate Expectations, with the Dollar Index Rising to 105.2, Pressuring Risk Asset Valuations. Following the implementation of the Hong Kong cross-border payment agreement, the penetration rate of stablecoins in trade settlements is expected to increase, but attention must be paid to the liquidity contraction risks brought by the narrowing of regulatory arbitrage space.