Key Market Developments: Midday Roundup for July 28
The morning session brought several pivotal updates across global finance and tech policy, spanning gold forecasts, monetary policy shifts, crypto regulation, and AI industry debates.
Regulatory Shift: Clarity Act Faces Delay
The progress of the US CLARITY Act took an unexpected turn. While asset management giant BlackRock publicly endorsed the bill, lending significant institutional weight to calls for clearer crypto regulation, the US Senate has decided to postpone its review. Legislative resources are being redirected to other priorities, further narrowing the already tight window for passage and casting uncertainty over the bill's immediate future.
Institutional Moves: Major Flows in Gold and Crypto
In traditional markets, Citigroup issued a bullish outlook for gold, setting a short-term target price of $4,500 per ounce, signaling strong confidence in the safe-haven asset.
The crypto space saw substantial activity. BlackRock transferred a significant sum—3,310 BTC and 28,370 ETH—to custodian Coinbase Prime. In contrast, asset manager Bitwise continued reducing its exposure to a certain meme coin, selling an additional portion worth approximately $7.05 million. Meanwhile, decentralized exchange trade.xyz reported record-breaking metrics, with cumulative trading volume surpassing $408.4 billion.
Tech Debate: Anthropic's Stance on Open-Source
In the AI sector, leading company Anthropic formally addressed the recent controversy surrounding open-sourcing its models. The firm stated its opposition to outright "banning" or closing off access but outlined protective measures. It intends to safeguard its models' security and commercial value by controlling access to critical chips and preventing technical "distillation."
Macro View: Japan Enters New Monetary Phase
Japan's Finance Minister delivered notable remarks, indicating that the country's monetary policy has moved beyond its old framework and entered a new stage primarily guided by interest rate adjustments. This statement hints at continued divergence in policy paths among major global economies.