2026.07.31 · FRIDAY · ASIA/SHANGHAI

HiBlock AI & Web3 Industry Daily Briefing

Daily coverage of product launches, funding and M&A, technical breakthroughs, regulation, market structure, and blockchain security. Today's edition includes 13 key stories from official and authoritative sources. RMB-denominated figures use the July 31, 2026 central parity rate: 1 USD = 6.7894 CNY.

8 AI stories5 Web3 storiesMoonshot $3.5B F-roundMIM -74% depeg
BTC Price
64,636USD
+1.25% / 24h
ETH Price
1,915USD
+0.70% / 24h
China AI Growth
30%+
H1 YoY
UNI Gain
+13%
/ 24h
PART 01 — ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

AI Industry Highlights

Funding · Product releases · Regulation · Open weights · Infrastructure

01

China's NDRC: AI maintains 30%+ growth, AI law acceleratedPOLICY

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) disclosed on July 31 that the AI industry maintained 30%+ high growth in H1. The first 100% domestic 100K-card AI supercluster is now operational; national intelligent computing capacity reached 2.8x year-over-year; domestic large model global downloads exceeded 10 billion. Next steps include accelerating AI law legislation and building the World AI Cooperation Organization.[1]

02

OpenAI slashes GPT-5.6 prices, free access for 100K researchersPRODUCT

OpenAI announced 20% price cut for GPT-5.6 Terra and 80% for GPT-5.6 Luna, directly responding to enterprise cost sensitivity. The "Science Acceleration Program" grants free GPT-5.6 API access to 100,000 researchers worldwide. The CFO revealed July ARR already exceeded Q2 total; company valuation tops $80 billion with IPO expectations rising.[2]

03

1100+ AI workers sign open letter urging US to pace AI developmentREGULATION

Over 1,134 AI workers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta signed the "Pacing the Frontier" open letter, urging the US government to support international cooperation and slow AI development when necessary. Core concern is "recursive self-improvement" risk. Signatories include Dario Amodei, Yakub Peharzki, Mark Chen; Sam Altman notably shifted his stance to support.[3]

04

Moonshot AI raises $3.5B Series F at $35B valuationFUNDING

Beijing-based LLM unicorn Moonshot AI confirmed $3.5 billion Series F funding at a $35 billion post-money valuation, with Pre-IPO already underway. The valuation approaches Anthropic's last round, marking significantly enhanced global primary market influence for China's top large model companies.[2]

05

Google DeepMind launches Gemini Robotics 2, enters embodied AIPRODUCT

Google DeepMind released Gemini Robotics 2 and Gemini Robotics ER 2, emphasizing whole-body motion control, dexterous manipulation, environment understanding, tool use, multi-robot collaboration, and on-device deployment. This marks the extension of multimodal LLM competition into embodied intelligence—AI's penetration into the physical world is accelerating.[2]

06

Anthropic launches Claude Science platform for researchersPRODUCT

Anthropic launched Claude Science in beta, an AI workbench for scientists with literature analysis, multi-step research execution, and result generation. It supports RNA sequencing, CRISPR selection, and other frontier fields, with 60+ built-in skills and connectors and auditable generation history. Funding for up to 50 research projects will be provided.[4]

07

Microsoft Azure grows 43%, market cap adds ~$450B in one dayEARNINGS

Microsoft's FY2026 Q4 Azure cloud business grew 43% YoY, beating the 40% consensus. Shares surged ~14-15% after earnings, adding approximately $450 billion in market capitalization in a single day—the only mega-cap tech stock to rally this earnings season. CEO Satya Nadella warned enterprises not to "outsource thinking."[2]

08

Zoox gets first NHTSA exemption for steering-wheel-less RobotaxiAUTONOMY

US NHTSA granted Amazon-owned self-driving company Zoox a temporary exemption allowing commercial deployment of up to 2,500 purpose-built Robotaxis per year without traditional manual controls—the first such permit for US autonomous ride-hailing. Zoox has served over 500,000 passenger trips and will switch to paid mode next month.[2]

Chart 1 · Global AI Platform & Model Market Forecast 2026 (Gartner, USD B)

Source: Gartner, published July 28, 2026. Overall market +63.4% YoY; DSLM/specialized gen AI fastest-growing at +210%.

PART 02 — WEB3 & BLOCKCHAIN

Web3 and Blockchain Highlights

Market moves · Protocol upgrades · Regulation · DeFi/NFT · Tokenization

09

BTC approaches $65K, Uniswap surges 13% leading DeFi rallyMARKET

Global crypto market cap stands at approximately $2.3 trillion, up ~1.4% in 24h. BTC trades at $64,636 (+1.25%), approaching the 50-day MA resistance. ETH at $1,915 (+0.70%). UNI surged 12-14% to a six-month high, fueled by v4 permissioned pools, expanded fee switch, and market maker Cumberland accumulation. Fear & Greed index at 24 (Extreme Fear).[5]

10

Solana SIMD-0286 activates, throughput scaled 66%PROTOCOL

Solana successfully activated SIMD-0286, raising per-block compute units from 60M to 100M—a 66% throughput expansion, one of the largest in Solana's history. The Alpenglow consensus upgrade enters final preparation with BLS public key registration live on mainnet. On-chain governance (SGPs) launched, giving validators formal voting power on protocol direction.[5]

11

MIM stablecoin crashes 74%, Abracadabra emergency responseSECURITY

Algorithmic stablecoin Magic Internet Money (MIM) depegged from $1 to $0.48, plummeting 74%. Abracadabra.money activated emergency stabilization measures: raising interest rates, halting direct incentives, and pausing Curve bribes. Depeg caused by shrinking borrowing demand and Curve liquidity drain—not a new exploit. Algorithmic stablecoin risks resurface.[5]

12

US CLARITY Act advances, Coinbase CEO publicly urges passageREGULATION

The US CLARITY Act substitute amendment is accelerating. It includes an ETP grandfather clause permanently classifying tokens tied to qualified exchange-traded products before Jan 1, 2026 as non-securities, immediately covering BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and DOGE. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly urged lawmakers to pass it. SEC Chair said SEC can write its own crypto rules if Congress fails to legislate.[5]

13

Tokenization boom: Binance bStocks AUM surpasses $500MTOKENIZATION

Binance's tokenized stock platform bStocks exceeded $500 million AUM within seven weeks of launch, with 46 tokenized products. Tokenized stock products surged 50-70% on US and Korean equity rallies. Meanwhile OpenUSD will launch on Ethereum with 140+ participating enterprises including Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock. Asset tokenization enters mainstream finance view.[5]

Chart 2 · Major crypto asset 24h moves on July 31 (%)

Source: CoinGabbar / CoinStats. UNI leads gains; MIM crash leads losses.

Chart 3 · Crypto market cap structure (USD trillions)

Source: CoinGabbar. BTC dominance ~56.5%, stablecoin total market cap ~$301B.

Chart 4 · H1 2026 crypto venture funding trend (USD billions)

Source: Industry research. H1 funding $13.3B across only 435 rounds—capital concentrating at the top.

Crypto Market Snapshot · 2026-07-31

Data sources: CoinGabbar / CoinStats / CoinCodex.

Asset / MetricValue24h ChangeNotes
BTC$64,636+1.25%Approaching $65K
ETH$1,915+0.70%$1,900 support holds
SOL$73.40-0.10%SIMD-0286 activated
UNI$4.45+13.14%v4 pools + fee switch
BNB$592.58+3.00%Leading blue-chips
ADA$0.1688+3.72%Top major gainer
Global mkt cap$2.30T+1.4%Oscillating higher
Fear & Greed24Extreme FearDeclining from yesterday
BTC dominance56.5%FlatMaintaining high
DeFi mkt cap$62.7B+2.6%UNI-led rebound
Stablecoin mkt cap$301.0BFlatMIM depeg impact limited
BTC ETF net inflow+$233MDailyIBIT contributed $183.4M
Today's Trend

AI side: Price wars and research ecosystem define the new frontier model competition. OpenAI's deep cuts (80% on Luna) signal the shift from "capability leadership" to "unit intelligence cost" competition; simultaneously granting free access to 100K researchers aims to lock in academic ecosystem. China's NDRC confirming 30%+ AI growth, combined with Moonshot's $35B valuation, clarifies the global AI bipolar landscape.

Web3 side: Protocol upgrades and regulatory clarity are dual drivers. Solana's 66% throughput scaling and approaching Alpenglow consensus show continued infrastructure evolution; CLARITY Act advancement and GENIUS Act stablecoin rules gradually reduce regulatory uncertainty. Asset tokenization emerges as a new hotspot, with Binance bStocks hitting $500M AUM in seven weeks—the boundary between traditional finance and crypto is blurring fast.