JOON HYOUNG LEE

Nasdaq-listed U.S. company DeFi Technologies has launched a Bitcoin (BTC) staking ETP in the UK. DeFi Technologies said on the 18th (local time) that it launched the Bitcoin staking ETP '1VBS' on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). This is the first time a Bitcoin staking investment product has been launched on the London Stock Exchange. DeFi Technologies is the parent company of Valour, a Swiss cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) operator. The ETP is fully collateralized by physical Bitcoin held in institutional-grade cold wallets. The staking yield offered to investors is 1.4% per year. Olivier Newton, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DeFi Technologies, said, "This ETP launch is a demonstration of our intent to provide institutional-grade (crypto) solutions to the UK market," and added, "Listing the first Bitcoin staking product on the London Stock Exchange is a milestone linking traditional capital markets and decentralized finance."

Dogecoin (DOGE) prices are rising sharply amid expectations of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) launch. Observers predict that billions of dollars could flow in if an ETF is launched. According to crypto market aggregator CoinMarketCap, as of 7:41 PM that day Dogecoin was trading at $0.279, up 5.17% from the previous day. It is up 11.22% compared with a week earlier. The price increase is due to expectations for an ETF launch. The Dogecoin-based ETF 'DOJE' from asset managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange that day (local time). DOJE is the first-ever meme coin-based ETF. Rex Shares described DOJE as "a product that provides spot investment exposure to Dogecoin." If the ETF is launched, there is a high possibility of large institutional inflows. Crypto asset analyst Bitcoinsensus said, "This week is a huge week for Dogecoin," adding, "(With the ETF launch) new capital could flow into Dogecoin in large amounts, like with Bitcoin and Ethereum." Cointelegraph reported, "DOJE will move Dogecoin into a maturation phase," and said, "It could trigger billions of dollars of inflows, similar to the launches of the Bitcoin spot ETF and the Ethereum spot ETF."

Changpeng Zhao, who founded Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said, "Binance Coin (BNB) rising to $1,000 is an experience difficult to put into words." On the 18th (local time), he said on X, "(Binance Coin) was $0.1 at the time of the initial coin offering (ICO) 8 years ago." He added, "I am simply a member of the community and a Binance Coin holder, not representing any institution or title, and I express my thanks to everyone in the Binance Coin and cryptocurrency ecosystem." Changpeng Zhao emphasized, "Let's move toward the next 10,000-fold growth." He said, "There have been many challenges, but we have worked hard to build and maintain it," and "(Binance Coin) is just the beginning."

Hong Kong-listed game company Boya Interactive has purchased an additional $47.5 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC). Boya Interactive said on the 18th (local time) that it bought about 411 Bitcoins. The amount Boya Interactive spent on this Bitcoin purchase is about $47.5 million. Boya Interactive said, "The average purchase price per Bitcoin was $115,420," and added, "(The average purchase price) also includes the 245 Bitcoins purchased from the 15th to the 16th of this month." Boya Interactive's total Bitcoin holdings were counted at 4,091 as of that day. At current value, it amounts to $280 million (about KRW 390 billion). The overall average purchase price for Bitcoin is $68,114 per coin.

Binance Coin (BNB) has surpassed 1000 dollars for the first time ever. According to CoinMarketCap on the 18th, Binance Coin is trading at 1002.53 dollars as of 5:27 p.m., up 5.19% from the previous day. Compared with a week ago, it rose 11.87%. Binance Coin's price crossed 1000 dollars at around 5:15 p.m. that day. This is the first time Binance Coin's price has exceeded 1000 dollars.

A recent analysis suggested that Bitcoin (BTC) futures price trends indicate a bullish phase. Axel Adler Jr., a CryptoQuant contributor, said on the 18th (local time) on X, "Bitcoin futures are trading at a premium to spot and the basis has remained steadily positive," adding, "this indicates a bullish regime." He said, "Ahead of the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a short-term overheating occurred as the basis rose amid light trading volume," and "this movement means the later stage of the (bull market) has been reached." Axel Adler Jr. forecasted that over the next two weeks there is approximately a 70% chance that (Bitcoin's price) will rise gradually or trade sideways. He analyzed, "If price, basis, and open interest (OI) show an upward trend over the next few days, it would mean new long positions are increasing," adding, "this could be a signal that raises the possibility of a new high being set."

U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Bullish posted a net profit of $110 million (about KRW 150 billion) for the second quarter of this year. Bullish said on the 17th (local time) that second-quarter net profit was $108.3 million. Considering that a year earlier there was a net loss of $116.4 million (about KRW 160 billion), performance has improved significantly. Over the same period, digital asset revenue rose from $49.6 billion to $58.6 billion, an increase of 18.15%. Trading volume also rose sharply. Bullish's Q2 trading volume this year was $179.6 billion, up about 35% from $133.0 billion a year earlier. Over the same period, average daily trading volume increased from $1.462 billion to $1.974 billion. Earlier, Bullish listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month. Tom Farley, Bullish's chief executive officer (CEO), said, "We are satisfied with the Q2 results," adding, "The achievements in Q2 are directly contributing to strong business momentum after Q3."

Pakistan appears to be loosening restrictions on global virtual asset companies. On the 14th (local time), Cointelegraph reported that the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) on the previous day (13th) requested that major global virtual asset companies submit a Pakistan market entry letter of intent (Eol). Bilal bin Saqib, PVARA chief and State Minister for Virtual Assets and Blockchain, described the request for letters of intent as "an invitation sent to global virtual asset operators to build Pakistan's digital financial future." Specifically, Pakistan is said to have requested letters of intent from operators approved by major national regulators such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Pakistan asked that the letters of intent include jurisdiction, existing licenses, and virtual asset business models tailored to Pakistan.

Crypto Now U.S. rate-cut expectations priced in Bitcoin, up 4% to 115,000 dollars If a big cut comes this month, further rally likely Bitcoin is facing a 'crucial week' ahead of the U.S. decision on cutting the policy rate. Attention is focused on whether the U.S. central bank (Fed) will carry out a big cut (0.5% point reduction in the policy rate) at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the 16~17th. It is also being watched whether it will show a coupling (synchronization) with the recently surging gold price. According to cryptocurrency market tracker CoinMarketCap on the 14th, the price of Bitcoin recently rose by about 4% from the previous 111,000 dollars range to the 115,000 dollars range. Earlier this month it had traded sideways around the 110,000 dollars level before rebounding. What stimulated investor sentiment was expectations of a U.S. rate cut. This week, after the August producer price index (PPI), the August consumer price index (CPI), seen as the final variable ahead of the FOMC, were released in succession. Based on current macroeconomic indicators such as inflation and employment, analysis suggests the Fed is effectively expected to leave rates unchanged at this month's FOMC. The key is whether there will be a big cut. The market judges that expectations of a rate cut have already been partially priced into markets such as Bitcoin. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch tool, the probability that the Fed will cut the policy rate in September has recorded 80~90% since last month. The probability of a big cut in September only rose into the 10% range this month. There is analysis that this rate decision could determine Bitcoin's price in Q4 this year. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode explained, "Bitcoin is trapped in a box range of 110,000~116,000 dollars," adding, "this is because profit-taking and a slowdown in inflows to exchange-traded funds (ETF) have weakened the upside momentum." Bitcoin has shown a high correlation with gold. A representative example is that when gold surpassed 3,500 dollars for the first time in April, Bitcoin's price rose in earnest one to two months later. U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase analyzed, "Considering solid liquidity, there is plenty of room for the crypto bull market to continue into early Q4."

Last week, the won·dollar exchange rate approached the 1,400-won level due to concerns about France's finances, despite foreign investors' buying of domestic stocks. Experts expect the U.S. central bank (Fed) to cut its policy rate this week, but because external uncertainty persists, they believe the downward effect on the won·dollar exchange rate will be limited. According to foreign exchange authorities on the 14th, the won·dollar exchange rate remained in the upper 1,380-won range on the 9~10th and closed at 1,390.70 won in night trading on the 12th. Observations that global credit rating agency Fitch could downgrade France's credit rating triggered a weaker euro, a stronger dollar, and a weaker won in succession. On the 13th, Fitch lowered France's sovereign credit rating by one notch from "AA-" to "A+." Experts forecast that the won·dollar exchange rate will show a gradual downward trend this week and move around the 1,380-won level. Lee Jin-kyung, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "If the policy rate is cut at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held on the 16~17th (local time), downward pressure on the dollar will increase, making it highly likely that the won·dollar rate will fall," but added, "However, political uncertainty stemming from France remains, so the pace of the decline is expected to be gradual." Although the likelihood of a U.S. policy rate cut has increased, in Seoul's bond market on the 12th the yield on 3-year government bonds showed mixed movements, rising to an annual 2.431%, up 0.011% percentage points from the previous trading day. Lim Jae-gyun, a researcher at KB Securities, analyzed, "Expectations that rates will be cut at the three remaining FOMC meetings in September, October, and December have already been reflected in the bond market," adding, "If this month's FOMC meeting concludes with an actual rate cut, it is positive in that bond demand could rise again." Nam Jeong-min, reporter peux@hankyung.com

U.S. Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Bitmain has purchased $1.3 billion (about KRW 1.8 trillion) worth of Ethereum (ETH) so far this month. On the 14th, according to Strategic Ethereum Reserve, Bitmain's Ethereum holdings were estimated at about 2.07 million as of that day. Compared with the 31st of last month (about 1.793 million), it increased by about 277,000. Over the past two weeks, it effectively purchased an additional 280,000 Ethereum. At current value, the Ethereum Bitmain holds amounts to $9.62 billion (about KRW 13.4 trillion). It increased by $1.29 billion over the past two weeks. Earlier, Bitmain began aggressively buying Ethereum in July. Currently, Bitmain ranks first among publicly listed companies worldwide by Ethereum holdings.

<Next week's major economic schedule> ▶15 (Mon) : △South Korea August trade balance (Korea time 11:00, US time 22:00) △EU July trade balance (Korea time 18:00, US time 5:00) ▶16 (Tue) : △EU European Central Bank (ECB) President speech (Korea time 3:30, US time 14:30) △EU July industrial production (Korea time 18:00, US time 5:00) △US August retail sales (Korea time 21:30, US time 8:30) △US August industrial production (Korea time 22:15, US time 9:15) ▶17 (Wed) : △US Atlanta Fed Q3 GDPNow (Korea time 1:30, US time 12:30) △Japan August trade balance (Korea time 8:50, US time 19:50) △EU European Central Bank (ECB) President speech (Korea time 16:30, US time 3:30) △EU August Consumer Price Index (Korea time 18:00, US time 5:00) △US crude oil inventories (Korea time 23:30, US time 10:30) ▶18 (Thu) : △US interest rate decision (Korea time 3:00, US time 14:00) △US FOMC press conference (Korea time 3:30, US time 14:30) △EU European Central Bank (ECB) President speech (Korea time 16:10, US time 3:10) △US initial jobless claims (Korea time 21:30, US time 8:30) △US Philadelphia Fed September manufacturing activity index (Korea time 21:30, US time 8:30) ▶19 (Fri) : △US 10-year TIPS Treasury auction (Korea time 1:00, US time 12:00) △US Fed balance sheet (Korea time 5:30, US time 16:30) △Japan interest rate decision (Korea time 12:00, US time 23:00) △EU Eurozone finance ministers meeting (Korea time 19:00, US time 6:00) <Next week's major cryptocurrency schedule> ▶15 (Mon) : △Sei (SEI) tokens 55,560,000 unlocked ▶16 (Tue) : △ZetaChain (ZETA) update announcement ▶17 (Wed) : △Mantle (MNT) MIP-33 budget vote △Fast Token (FTN) tokens 20,000,000 unlocked ▶18 (Thu) : △UXLink (UXLINK) community vote ▶19 (Fri) : △Velo (VELO) tokens 3,000,000,000 unlocked △Kaito (KAITO) tokens 8,350,000 unlocked

If the price of Bitcoin (BTC) rises to $120,000, short (sell) positions totaling $2.4 billion (about 3.3 trillion won) would be liquidated. Cointelegraph said on the 13th (local time) via its official X account, "If Bitcoin reaches $120,000, more than $2.4 billion in short positions could be liquidated." The $2.4 billion figure cites data from on-chain analytics firm Coinglass. Bitcoin is trading at the $158,000 level on CoinMarketCap as of that day. Compared to a week ago, it is about 4.5% higher.

A dollar stablecoin 'Yalla (YU)' experienced a collapse of its dollar peg. As a result of the peg collapse, Yalla's price briefly plunged to the $0.2 range. On the 14th, according to DEX Screener, Yalla's price fell as low as $0.2074 that day. Yalla's price has since recovered to the $0.93 range. Ublockchain said, "In the Yalla/Circle (USDC) liquidity pool on the decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap, only $1450 of Circle liquidity remains." Yalla is a stablecoin invested in by global venture capital Polychain Capital. Because it is a dollar-based stablecoin, there is analysis that its price briefly plunging to $0.2 could deal a significant blow to its credibility. The collapse of Yalla's dollar peg is believed to stem from a hacking incident. A Yalla spokesperson said, "There was a recent attempted attack that temporarily affected Yalla's pegging," and added, "We confirmed the issue through prompt cooperation with our security partner and are implementing remedial measures to strengthen the system." They also warned of partial service outages. Yalla said, "As part of security hardening work, conversion and bridge functions will be temporarily unavailable," calling it "a measure to ensure overall stability." It added, "All other protocol functions are unaffected and user assets are safe."

Bitcoin (BTC) 'Percent Supply in Profit' has been shown to exceed 90%. Crypto Avails, a CryptoQuant contributor, said through CryptoQuant on the 14th, "The Bitcoin supply profit ratio has reached 92%," adding, "This means there is considerable optimism and momentum in the market." The Percent Supply in Profit refers to the proportion of holders who are in profit relative to the Bitcoin supply. Crypto Avails noted, "In the past, whenever this ratio exceeded 90%, a bull market often followed." Crypto Avails said, "(The Percent Supply in Profit) long-term average is about 75%," and "the current figure greatly exceeds the average, showing that most investors are in profit." He added, "When the ratio falls below 90%, adjustments often occurred," and analyzed, "The current figure can be seen as the market being clearly in a bullish phase."

According to Kaito's Token Mindshare (an indicator that quantifies the influence of a specific token in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market) top gainer, as of the 14th the top five crypto-related keywords that people are most interested in are PumpDotPump (PUMP), Bitcoin (BTC), Aptos (APT), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Binance Coin (BNB). PumpDotPump drew investors' attention as its price surged to a record high today. According to CoinMarketCap, PumpDotPump is trading at about $0.0076, up about 20% from the previous day as of today. Compared with a week ago, it has risen more than 60%. PumpDotPump briefly exceeded $0.008 today, reaching an all-time high. Bitcoin is drawing attention ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the 16th–17th. Bitcoin's price has risen more than 4% this week, from the previous $111,000 range to the $115,000 range, on expectations of September rate cuts. The market sees this rate decision as potentially determining Bitcoin's price direction in Q4. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said, "Bitcoin has been trapped in the $110,000–$116,000 range after recording an all-time high last month," and explained, "profit-taking and a slowdown in ETF inflows have weakened the upward momentum." Aptos appears to have seen an increase in online mentions due to a large token unlock that took place this week. On the 11th, 11.31 million Aptos tokens were unlocked. It amounted to $48.2 million (about 67 billion won), equal to 2.2% of Aptos's total circulating supply. As of 1:30 p.m. today, Aptos is trading at $4.57 on CoinMarketCap, down about 1.3% from the previous day. Compared with a week ago, it is up about 7.7%. Dogecoin drew attention amid growing expectations for the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Dogecoin ETFs from U.S. asset managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds are set to launch in the U.S. as early as the 18th. The original launch date was the 11th but it was postponed once. The ETF would operate as an indirect exposure method investing in Dogecoin spot and derivatives. If Rex Shares' and Osprey Funds' Dogecoin ETFs launch, they would become the first meme-coin-based ETF in history. On this expectation, Dogecoin is trading at about $0.286 on CoinMarketCap, up about 32% compared with a week ago. Binance Coin attracted attention due to remarks by Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao. Earlier, on the 13th, Changpeng Zhao said on X, "Banks should adopt Binance Coin." He added, "I'm a member of a small community, but if any bank wants to adopt (Binance Coin), I'd be happy to help." Meanwhile, Binance Coin's market capitalization has surpassed that of Swiss investment bank UBS this week. Binance Coin is trading at about $932 on CoinMarketCap, up about 0.6% from the previous day as of today.

This week, U.S. Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw a net inflow of $2.34 billion (about 3.3 trillion won). On the 14th, cryptocurrency data analytics firm SosoValue reported that Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded five consecutive trading days of net inflows from the 8th to the 12th of this month. Net inflows to Bitcoin spot ETFs during that period amounted to about $2.34 billion. Compared with the previous week's net inflow ($246 million), it increased nearly tenfold. U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs recorded four consecutive trading days of net inflows from the 9th to the 12th of this month. Net inflows to Ethereum spot ETFs this week amounted to $638 million (about 900 billion won). In the previous week, Ethereum spot ETFs saw net outflows of $788 million (about 1.1 trillion won).

Global asset manager BlackRock bought $1 billion (about 1.4 trillion won) worth of Bitcoin(BTC) this week. On-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence said on the 14th (local time) via its official X account, "BlackRock bought more than $1 billion worth of Bitcoin this week," and "institutional investors are buying Bitcoin," it said. Spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are also continuing their streak of net inflows. According to SoSoValue, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded five consecutive trading days of net inflows as of the 12th. In the case of BlackRock's IBIT, $260 million (about 360 billion won) flowed in on the 12th alone.

PumpDotPump (PUMP), a Solana (SOL)-based meme coin issuance platform, hit a record high. According to CoinMarketCap on the 14th, PumpDotPump was trading at 0.008004 dollars at 11:32 AM, up 25.78% from the previous day. Compared with a week ago, it has surged about 73%, and this is the first time PumpDotPump's price has surpassed 0.008 dollars. The profit of a whale (large investor) also drew investors' attention. According to on-chain analytics firm OnChainLens, the whale, who held a PumpDotPump long (buy) position with 5x leverage, secured unrealized gains of 7.8 million dollars (about 11 billion won) on the day. OnChainLens said "The whale holds long positions in multiple assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Solana, and Pepe (PEPE)," and added, "Total gains exceed 36 million dollars (about 50 billion won)."

Bitcoin (BTC) price exceeded $116,000. According to crypto market relay site CoinMarketCap on the 14th, Bitcoin was trading at $116,106.79 as of 11:16 a.m. that day. It is a 0.1% increase from the previous day. The kimchi premium recorded a negative value. According to CryPrice, the kimchi premium was -0.73% as of 11:16 a.m. that day.

The amount of Bitcoin (BTC) miners are sending to exchanges to realize profits has recently surged. A CryptoQuant contributor to CryptoOnChain said on the 13th (local time), "Recently, the 'Realized Miner Inflow to Exchanges' indicator has shown an unprecedented surge," and "(the indicator) rose from $254 million on June 24 this year to an all-time high of $1.87 billion on the 13th of last month." CryptoOnChain explained, "This indicator measures the realized value of the cryptocurrency that miners send to exchanges, not simply miners' outflows," and "it means that miners are actually moving and disposing of Bitcoin, not merely large transfers of Bitcoin." CryptoOnChain emphasized, "The current realized inflow size is $1.54 billion." CryptoOnChain analyzed, "Rising mining costs and increased network difficulty may be forcing miners to sell even Bitcoin acquired at high costs," adding that historically such conditions have often coincided with a 'cycle bottom (cycle bottom).' It added, "Some miners may be realizing gains at short-term highs and securing cash in preparation for potential corrections." The analysis is that as miners' realized inflows increase, Bitcoin's upward momentum weakens. CryptoOnChain said, "A surge in miners' realized inflows can act as a strong resistance on the supply side," adding, "this can suppress (Bitcoin's) upward momentum and increase volatility."

The Ethereum Foundation is strengthening the privacy protection features of its blockchain network. The Ethereum Privacy Steward (PSE), a privacy-focused organization under the Ethereum Foundation, announced on the 13th (local time) a short-term roadmap to enhance the privacy protection features of the Ethereum network. The roadmap aims to provide improved privacy protection solutions for the Ethereum ecosystem. PSE stated, "Ethereum is becoming a global payments platform, but without strong privacy it risks becoming a hub of surveillance rather than freedom," adding, "A system without privacy would undermine the reason for Ethereum's existence." The roadmap includes measures to introduce new features such as private governance, confidential DeFi, client proofs, and privacy experience (DX). PSE described the roadmap as "the highest-priority initiatives" and said, "We plan to start or continue execution over the next 3 to 6 months." The organization also emphasized its vision. PSE said, "Our vision is to make privacy protection the standard on Ethereum, not the exception," and added, "(PSE's) privacy protection solutions will be widely adopted through core use cases." Meanwhile, as of 9:50 a.m. that day, Ethereum was trading at 4666.65 dollars on CoinMarketCap. This represents a 0.76% decline from the previous day.

Figure Technologies, a blockchain-based lending firm seeking a Nasdaq listing in the U.S., is expected to raise $790 million (about 1.1 trillion won) in this initial public offering (IPO). Bloomberg reported on the 11th that "Figure Technologies will raise $787.5 million through the listing," and "it is expected to trade at a price 36% higher than the offering price after the IPO." Bloomberg added that "Figure Technologies' market capitalization is about $5.3 billion based on the disclosed number of shares issued." Figure Technologies posted revenue of $190 million (about 260 billion won) in the first half of this year. Net income for the same period was $29.1 million, an increase of more than 86% from $15.6 million a year earlier.

An analysis found that institutional investors' purchases of Ethereum (ETH) are continuing. On the 11th (local time), on its official X account, Lookonchain said, "Over the past 3 hours, three newly created wallets received 46,347 Ethereum from FalconX." Those Ethereum are currently worth 204,000,000 dollars (approximately 280 billion won). Lookonchain explained, "Institutions continue to buy Ethereum." The U.S. spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), which reflects institutional inflows, also recorded net inflows for two consecutive trading days as of that day. According to TraderT, the spot Ethereum ETF saw net inflows of 170,000,000 dollars (approximately 240 billion won) in just one day.

A dormant whale (large investor) transferred Bitcoin (BTC) after 13 years. According to The Block on the 11th (local time), a dormant whale transferred 137 Bitcoin to a new address that day for the first time in 13 years. The Block said, "The reason for the transfer and the identity of the wallet owner are not yet known," and added, "A transfer of a not-large amount of cryptocurrency could lead to selling." The whale is reported to hold 445 Bitcoins. At current value, that's about $50.7 million (roughly 70 billion won). On-chain analytics firm OnchainLens said via X (X), "The last day the address was active was November 2012," and added, "At that time, the value of the 445 Bitcoins was only about $5,500."

The European Central Bank (ECB) has held the three main policy rates, including the deposit rate. On the 11th (local time), the European Central Bank held a monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, and kept the deposit rate at 2.00%. The main refinancing rate and the marginal lending rate were also kept at 2.15% and 2.40%, respectively. The European Central Bank bases its monetary policy on the deposit rate among policy rates. Since it changed its monetary policy direction in June last year, the ECB has cut policy rates by 2.00% percentage points in eight steps through last June. During this period, the deposit rate was lowered from 4.00% to 2.00%. With this rate hold decision, the gap between the ECB's benchmark deposit rate and the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) policy rate (4.25∼4.50％) was maintained at 2.25∼2.50％ percentage points. It is a 0.50％ percentage point difference from the Bank of Korea's policy rate (2.50％). The ECB raised its eurozone consumer price inflation forecast for this year from 2.0% to 2.1%, an upward revision of 0.1% percentage points. It also raised its economic growth forecast from 0.9% to 1.2%, an upward revision of 0.3% percentage points. Markets expect the ECB to keep policy rates unchanged at next month's meeting and to cut policy rates by 0.25％ percentage points at the last meeting of the year in December.

Bit Mining, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has made a large additional purchase of Solana (SOL). On the 11th (local time), Bit Mining said it purchased an additional 17,221 Solana. Bit Mining's Solana holdings were tallied at 44,412 as of that day. They're valued at $9.95 million (about 14 billion KRW). Bit Mining, a Bitcoin mining company, declared in July that it would stockpile Solana. Bo Yu, Bit Mining's chairman and chief operating officer (COO), said, "We believe it is valuable to increase Bit Mining's presence in the Solana ecosystem," adding, "Adding Solana to the company's strategic assets will further strengthen (Bit Mining's) position within the ecosystem."

Last week, U.S. initial jobless claims far exceeded market expectations. The U.S. Department of Labor said on the 11th (local time) that last week's initial jobless claims totaled 263,000. This figure is 28,000 above the experts' forecast (235,000). Compared with the previous week's revised figure (236,000), it is 27,000 more. Continuing jobless claims for two consecutive weeks were 1,939,000. This is the same as the previous week's revised figure (1,939,000). Compared with market expectations (1,950,000), it is 11,000 less. Initial jobless claims are an indicator that can gauge overheating in the U.S. labor market. An increase in jobless claims can be interpreted as the overheated labor market cooling. Experts are keeping an eye on employment indicators such as jobless claims to assess the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies on corporate decision-making.

The U.S. August consumer price index (CPI) increase was in line with market expectations. The U.S. Department of Labor said on the 11th (local time) that last month's CPI rose 2.9% year on year. This matched market expectations (2.9%). Compared with July this year (2.7%), the increase widened by 0.2 percentage points. Compared with the previous month, it rose 0.4%. That is 0.1 percentage point higher than experts' forecasts (0.3%). Compared with the July rate (0.2%), the increase widened by 0.2 percentage points. The core CPI, excluding the volatile food and energy components, rose 3.1% from a year earlier. That matched experts' forecasts (3.1%). The rate was the same as July's (3.1%). Month-on-month, it rose 0.3%.