Australian Dollar gains ground against Japanese Yen, intervention risk looms

The AUD/JPY cross gains ground to near 113.55 during the early European session on Monday. The Australian Dollar (AUD) edges higher against the Japanese Yen (JPY) due to the interest rate differential between the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ). However, fears of possible intervention from Japanese officials might cap the upside for the cross.  After delivering three consecutive 25 basis points (bps) hikes earlier this year, the RBA decided to hold the Official Cash Rate (OCR) steady at 4.35% at its June policy meeting. The Australian central bank is currently in a “wait-and-see” mode to evaluate how its tightening cycle is impacting sticky core inflation and a cooling domestic economy.  The ASX 30-Day Interbank Cash Rate Futures implied a 16% odds of an RBA rate hike in August, with a roughly 50% to 60% chance of one more hike by December 2026.  Traders remain on alert for potential intervention from Japanese authorities. Japans Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that “if it becomes necessary, we will take decisive action at any time.”  The Japanese central bank will meet later this month after hiking interest rates to the highest level in three decades in June. The BoJ is

07-20انڈسٹری

Upbit parent Dunamu faces sanction process nearly eight months after $30 million hack: report

Quick TakeThe Financial Supervisory Service sent an inspection report to Dunamu over the 44.5 billion won ($30 million) hack of Upbit last November, the first formal step in the regulators sanction process, according to local broadcaster SBS.The severity of any sanctions remains unclear because South Koreas current crypto law contains no direct sanction provisions for hacking or IT failures.  South Koreas Financial Supervisory Service has begun sanction procedures against Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit, over the roughly $30 million hack the platform suffered last November, local broadcaster SBS reported Sunday.  The FSS recently sent Dunamu an inspection report covering the incident, according to the report, which cited financial authorities and industry sources. The step comes about seven months after the regulator opened its inspection of the exchange.  Upbit, South Koreas largest crypto exchange by trading volume, was hacked for 44.5 billion won (about $30 million) in Solana-based assets on Nov. 27 last year. The funds were drained to an external wallet over roughly 54 minutes starting at 4:42 a.m. local time, per SBS.  Dunamu covered the 38.6 billion won ($26 million) in affected customer assets using Upbits own reserves. The company has frozen 2.6 billion won ($1.7 million) of the stolen funds

07-20انڈسٹری

The Man Who Threw Away $900 Million and Spent 12 Years Trying to Dig It Back Up

Key TakeawaysJames Howells lost access to 8,000 Bitcoin after a hard drive was discarded in 2013.UK courts rejected Howells case in 2025, reinforcing that possession depends on private keys.Ceiniog is Howells next move as Newports landfill closes in the 2025/26 financial year.  For more than a decade, a missing hard drive has turned a landfill in Newport, Wales into one of Bitcoin‘s most stubborn cliffhangers. Welsh IT engineer James Howells mined 8,000 Bitcoin in the early days and locked the keys on an encrypted drive that his then-girlfriend tossed during a 2013 cleanup, sending it to the Docksway landfill. The wallet’s balance is still there for anyone to verify on the blockchain, but the courts in Cardiff and London shut down his bid to force Newport City Councils hand in 2025. With the site set to close in the 2025/26 financial year and permitted for a solar farm, Howells has stopped trying to excavate and is now pitching Ceiniog, a Bitcoin layer 2 he says is “backed” by coins he cannot access.  Every so often, a tech story sticks because its painfully human: a password lost, a backup missed, a cleanup that moved too fast. For more than a decade, one forgotten

07-20انڈسٹری

AUD/USD Price Forecast: Recovers to near 0.7000 amid US Dollars weakness

The Australian Dollar (AUD) trades 0.12% higher to near 0.6995 against the US Dollar (USD) during the Asian trading session on Monday. The AUD/USD pair bounces back after a weak opening, as the US Dollar faces selling pressure amid intensified expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will not hike interest rates in the policy meeting later this month.  At press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges the Greenbacks value against six major currencies, trades marginally lower around 100.70. The USD Index fell sharply after a strong opening move.  According to the CME FedWatch tool, the odds of the Fed leaving interest rates unchanged in the July meeting are 85.6%, up from 65.8% recorded last week. Market participants turned confident that the Fed will maintain the status quo in the July meeting after the release of the United States (US) Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June, which showed that inflationary pressures cooled down.  On the Australian Dollar front, the currency outperforms its major peers, following the People‘s Bank of China’s (PBOC) monetary policy announcement, in which it left Prime Lending Rates (PLRs) unchanged.  AUD/USD technical analysis  AUD/USD trades higher at around 0.6990 at press time, holding a modestly bullish near-term bias as it

07-20انڈسٹری

Gold Price Holds Above $4,000: Will Oil Surge Push It Lower?

Gold managed to capture $4,000 an ounce Monday after spending the weekend just under that key psychological price point. Brent crude surged past $90 a barrel, and Federal Reserve officials pushed for a July rate hike.  The metal posted a 2.5% weekly loss last week. Gold briefly broke below $4,000, a level it first breached in late June for the first time since November 2025.  Oil Shock Reignites Inflation Fears  The US carried out a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran. Two American personnel died in Jordan, and allies reported fresh Iranian attacks Sunday.  The fighting pushed oil prices past $90 a barrel, reviving inflation fears just as Junes data showed cooling prices.  Meanwhile, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack joined a growing chorus of officials that argued interest rates may need to rise again. The comments set up a contentious debate at Kevin Warshs next meeting, with Warsh already signaling little patience for backsliding.  He told the House Financial Services Committee the Fed has  “no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation”  A Bear Market for Metals  COMEX speculators raised net long gold positions to 119,147 contracts in the week to July 14, CFTC data showed. That build suggests traders still expect further upside.  Gold has managed to recapture the $4,000

07-20انڈسٹری

KOSPI Falls Over 4% as Trading Resumes After Holiday, Deepening Bear Market

South Korea‘s KOSPI index reopened lower on July 20, its first session since Friday’s Constitution Day holiday. The index slid as low as 6,498 points before paring some losses.  The drop pushed the index more than 25% below its June peak, meeting the threshold for a technical bear market. Chip-sector jitters compounded with an escalating US-Iran conflict to drive the slide.  Chip Stocks Swing Hard on Reopening  Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix stock both opened down more than 5% before foreign investors moved in. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index shed 4.3% while Korean markets stayed shut for the holiday last Friday. Rising competition from Chinese AI models added further pressure on the memory chip trade.  After not trading last Friday, the Kospi returned today, dropping sharply from its last close. Image Source: Trading View  Foreign investors net bought 278.4 billion won ($187.1 million) in early trading, concentrated in electronics stocks. Retail investors net sold 300.8 billion won over the same window. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said the decline reflects how far leading stocks have fallen.  “Since July, the KOSPI has dropped by about 25% from its peak, entering a technical bear market. A sharp decline of 30–40% in leading stocks such as Samsung Electronics,

07-20انڈسٹری

Why is Silver gaining despite rising Fed rate hike bets?

Silver price (XAG/USD) gains ground for the second successive day, trading around $56.80 per troy ounce during the Asian hours on Monday. However, the non-interest-bearing white metal could face tough sledding ahead as United States (US)-Iran clashes drive oil prices higher, and resurfacing inflation risks are fueling expectations for Fed rate hikes.  The US has launched its ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iranian targets. In response, Iranian officials declared that the ceasefire between the two nations has been effectively abandoned, opening the door for deepening disruptions to crucial energy pathways through the regions narrow waterways.  The conflict has rapidly intensified across the region, triggering air raid sirens in Bahrain after Iran launched a fresh wave of ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones targeting sites across Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Iraq. Meanwhile, the US military reported the death of a third service member within the span of two days amid the ongoing exchanges.  The violence has also expanded beyond strictly military targets to hit critical infrastructure, with bridges, utilities, and port facilities coming under fire. Over the weekend, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. confirmed that an Iranian strike struck one of its oil facilities on Saturday.  While the central bank is widely expected to hold interest

07-20انڈسٹری

Record U.S. Margin Debt and Bitcoin Risks

U.S. margin debt hit a record $1.42T, raising leverage concerns as investors assess potential risks for Bitcoin and crypto markets.  Record levels of U.S. margin debt have renewed attention on market leverage as investors monitor Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.  Fresh data shows borrowing against stock portfolios climbed to new highs in May, while investor cash buffers continued to shrink.  The trend has sparked discussion across financial and crypto communities about potential risks if markets reverse.  U.S. Margin Debt Hits New High as Investor Leverage Climbs  FINRA data shows U.S. margin debt reached $1.42 trillion in May 2026. That marked a 53.7% increase from the same month last year.  It also represented one of the fastest yearly increases on record. The latest figures place margin debt at roughly 4.44% of U.S. GDP.  Some market researchers view that as the highest reading in the historical dataset. Others dispute that comparison, arguing GDP is not the right benchmark for measuring borrowed investment capital.  The debate has created two competing views of the same data. One group sees the record as evidence of elevated market leverage.  Another argues adjusted measures paint a less extreme picture than previous market peaks. Bitcoin News highlighted the discussion in a post on X.  MARGIN DEBT HITS

07-20انڈسٹری

Allbridge Core Pauses Protocol After Attacker Drains More Than $1 Million

Allbridge Core paused its protocol after an attacker exploited its stablecoin liquidity pools, with blockchain tracker Onchain Lens estimating losses exceeding $1 million.   The incident adds to a growing number of attacks targeting crypto protocols, with exploits resulting in $57.8 million in losses in July 2026.  How the Allbridge Exploit Unfolded  Onchain Lens reported that Allbridge Core suffered an exploit on Solana, resulting in losses of more than $1.1 million.  According to the firm, the attacker used a $1.12 million USDC flash loan from Kamino to manipulate the protocol‘s USDC/USDT stablecoin pool through a series of rapid swaps, distorting the pool’s ratios before withdrawing liquidity at inflated values.  The attacker repaid the flash loan within the same transaction. That move extracted roughly $1.1 million.  Onchain Lens added that the stolen funds were later routed through privacy protocols to obscure their movement. The post also identified the largest single withdrawal at $2.24 million USDC.  Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens  Allbridge Seeks Recovery of Funds After Exploit  Allbridge paused the protocol as a precaution and opened an investigation. It said the imbalance briefly opened an arbitrage window for some traders. Allbridge asked traders who profited from the imbalance to return funds.  The team said

07-20انڈسٹری

Bitcoin Covered-Call Strategy Could Deliver 22% Yield in Range-Bound Market

Bitcoin News  Bitcoin (BTC) investors weathering a sideways market may be able to harvest an annualized yield above 22% by selling covered calls against their spot holdings, according to fresh research from asset manager Grayscale. Research head Zach Pandl, writing on 15 July 2026, argued that if Bitcoin has already found a durable bottom but drifts before its next leg higher, option premium income can generate returns while cushioning downside. Grayscale modelled a $65,000 spot price and 40% implied volatility through end-2026, producing roughly 22% annualized, a breakeven near $58,500, and outperformance versus spot up to about $72,500. Its BTCC covered-call ETF last traded at $13.04. See our Bitcoin hub for context.  Spot Bitcoin traded in a tight band near $64,564 on Monday, slipping about 0.35% over 24 hours as the market awaited a directional catalyst. The Fear the measure is symbolic and cannot block a presidential decision. Separately, the FTX Recovery Trust said it would distribute roughly $900 million to creditors in its fifth repayment round, bringing total payouts to about $10 billion since the 2022 collapse. Tokenized-stock market capitalization climbed to a record $2.3 billion as investors sought blockchain-based equity exposure, underscoring steady structural growth even amid a cautious bear

07-20انڈسٹری
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