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More →South Korea crypto exchange profits fall 78% in H1 amid trading slump
South Korean crypto exchange operating profits fell 78% in the first half of 2026 as trading volumes, market capitalization and customer deposits declined. South Korean crypto exchanges saw operating profits fall 78% in the first half of 2026 as trading activity, market valuations and customer deposits declined, according to new government data. On Thursday, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) <a href="https://www.fsc.go.kr/eng/pr010101/87833" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">>said</a> average daily trading volume at domestic virtual asset exchanges fell 44% from the previous six months, while market capitalization dropped 33% and won-denominated deposits fell 35%. Exchange sales declined 41% over the same period, even as the number of accounts eligible to trade rose slightly by 0.4%. KoFIU’s survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchange operators and nine custody and wallet providers, and covered activity from Jan. 1 through June 30. The figures come amid signs that South Korean retail investors have been shifting attention from crypto to the country’s stock market. In May, the value of crypto held by South Korean investors fell 50.2% to 60.6 trillion won ($41.4 billion) over roughly a year. Korean outlet ChosunBiz <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-crypto-holdings-halve-in-a-year-as-investors-turn-to-stock-market" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">linked the decline</a> to capital moving toward stocks. A Cointelegraph analysis in July also <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-crypto-volume-decline-kospi-retail-stocks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">found that combined average daily volume</a> across Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax had fallen about 89% year over year during comparable seven-day periods, while the KOSPI, South Korea’s benchmark stock index, had more than doubled over the 12 months to July 22. Cointelegraph contacted Bithumb and Upbit operator Dunamu for comment. <em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-travel-rule-threshold-crypto-transfers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><strong>South Korea drops Travel Rule threshold for crypto transfers</strong></em></a>
Nvidia approves record $150 billion buyback plan as AI cash flow continues to grow
CoinWorld data: Nvidia announced that it is increasing its buyback program by $150 billion, bringing the total remaining authorization to $235 billion. The company said this buyback is the largest increase in share repurchase authorization in history and is expected to be used up before fiscal year 2028. Nvidia said that with the continued growth of AI revenue and cash generation, the company is actively investing in AI infrastructure while returning billions of dollars to shareholders. Nvidia's Q2 financial report shows revenue reached $96.2 billion, up 106% year over year, with data center revenue rising 117% to $89 billion. Nvidia is also working with major financial institutions and plans to raise more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure.
The rise of AI has led to the loss of 200,000 jobs in the creative industry.
According to news from Bijie, with the rise of artificial intelligence, the U.S. creative industry has lost about 200,000 jobs. Urbanist Richard Florida, who proposed the concept of the "creative class," said that artificial intelligence is replacing "repetitive work." Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman predicted that most professional jobs will be automated within 18 months. Ford CEO Jim Farley said that artificial intelligence will replace half of white-collar jobs, while Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that artificial intelligence could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three creative industries—film and audio recording, broadcasting and streaming, and newspaper, magazine, and book publishing—lost about 189,000 jobs in total. Nevertheless, the performing arts and spectator sports industries added about 67,000 jobs during the same period. Florida believes that artificial intelligence will make certain types of creative work more valuable.
Tether USDT will return to Bitcoin this month through Utexo.
CoinWorld data: According to Cointelegraph, Tether's USDT plans to return to Bitcoin this month through Utexo, specifically including plans for private transfers, direct BTC-USDT swaps, and Bitcoin-backed loans.
Unknown wallet transferred 739 BTC to Coinbase Institutional.
According to CoinWorld data: Whale Alert monitoring shows that an unknown wallet just transferred 739 BTC to Coinbase Institutional, worth approximately $62.5678 million at current prices.
El Salvador holds $618 million in Bitcoin and continues to buy more.
According to CoinWorld news, El Salvador holds approximately $618 million worth of Bitcoin on-chain. Since 2021, the country has purchased 1 Bitcoin every day and has continued to buy Bitcoin even under the condition of a $1.4 billion loan provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its government wallet has been labeled on Arkham.
Federal Reserve's Goolsbee: Both a rate hike and a pause are possible this month.
CoinWorld news, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee said the latest employment data shows the U.S. labor market remains stable, and that inflation being too high remains the Fed's more important current policy focus. On whether the Fed should continue raising rates this month or pause, Goolsbee said, "There are strong arguments on the table for any option," and expressed hope to see more evidence that inflation is falling back toward the 2% target.
On-chain data: Bitcoin whales have accumulated 75,000 BTC over the past 30 days.
CryptoQuant, an on-chain data analysis platform, shows that Bitcoin whales have accumulated 75,000 BTC over the past 30 days.
Nvidia's market capitalization reached $5.7 trillion, a record high.
According to CoinWorld news, Nvidia shares reached $237.88 in early trading on Friday, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $5.7 trillion, a record high. This is the first record since May. Nvidia is currently the world's most valuable company, a sharp increase from $1.18 trillion in August 2023. Nvidia also plans to deploy about 1 million GPUs to Amazon's cloud business by 2027. In its quarterly report for the period ending July 26, the company reported revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% year-over-year. Nvidia also announced it would increase its buyback authorization by $150 billion to $235 billion, making it the largest buyback program in history.
Bitcoin has outperformed gold this year, with gains reaching 66%.
Bitcoin has officially outperformed gold in year-to-date performance, rising 66% since March. Market sentiment is bullish.