spending

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, a certain whale has completed a cross-chain purchase of BTC. Over the past 4 days, this whale has spent 85.42 million USDC to buy 1075.6 BTC, with an average cost of 79,412 dollars, which includes approximately 170,000 dollars in exchange fees paid to THORChain.

According to monitoring by Lookonchain, a certain whale has heavily purchased the Solana token issuance platform StonkFun's token STONK. A newly created wallet BmKrss withdrew 22,686 SOL from Binance, worth 2.25 million dollars, and has currently spent 17,106 SOL (1.7 million dollars) to buy 5.41 million STONK.

Peach Bitcoin stated that Swiss regulators are seeking to re-examine the compliance framework of its KYC-exempt peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform, which has been authorized to operate since 2022. Peach Bitcoin will temporarily exit the custodial process starting from September 1, 2026, and will adopt a non-custodial model during the appeal period.In the temporary model, only users who have completed KYC, been manually whitelisted, or meet transaction record requirements can create sell orders. Sellers who have not completed KYC can only participate in one ongoing transaction at a time. The buying function remains open to all users, with a single transaction limit of 500 Swiss francs and a maximum premium of 6%. The in-app dispute resolution system will still be available, but Peach Bitcoin will no longer sign in custody and will continue to charge a 2% fee from released transactions.Peach Bitcoin founder @proofofsteph stated that the company will not immediately abandon the KYC-exempt model and will communicate with regulators regarding its position; if the final appeal fails, the company will comply with regulatory decisions.

Research institution Digitimes stated that with the surge in AI-driven infrastructure spending, major cloud service providers are expected to place greater emphasis on operational efficiency and financial discipline in the second half of 2026. Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft reported a combined cloud business revenue of $106.3 billion in the second quarter, with an annual growth rate accelerating to 43%. These companies are expected to increase their total capital expenditures to $74.5 billion.

FundaAI released a research report on enterprise AI applications, indicating that enterprise AI budgets are still expanding, but there is a divergence in trajectories in the second half of 2026 and 2027. The AI spending guidance from large U.S. telecom operator A shows an increase from a baseline of 100 in January to about 190 in December, with an expected year-on-year increase of 40%--50% in 2027; large European automaker A has only increased by 10%--15% so far this year, with guidance for next year remaining roughly flat.Incremental spending is shifting from paid seats to API/Token consumption and production workflows. The aforementioned telecom operator's subscription and API ratio has changed from about 50%/50% to 40%/60%, and it may trend towards 35%/65%; mid-to-large biopharmaceutical company A has adjusted from 80%/20% to about 70%/30%. Open-source adoption is uneven, with active scenario usage accounting for 30%--40%, as the unit price is lower, leading to a smaller spending proportion; experts estimate that open-source inference can be about 40%--70% cheaper than closed-source cutting-edge models, with the gap narrowing to 20%--40% under full cost metrics, and model routing, caching, and context compression could further reduce API spending by about 20%--30%.On the production side, AI budgets are increasingly built from the bottom up based on workflow ROI. The typical production ROI for this telecom operator is about 1.5--2 times, with a payback period of 6--18 months, and mature use cases can reach 3--5 times. The next wave of spending is related to agents, software modernization, network operations, commoditized workflows, and longer-cycle business processes, but engineering capacity, process reengineering, governance, and data readiness are becoming tighter constraints than funding.

On August 24, according to the Financial Times, Anthropic's U.S. corporate clients are reducing their use of its most powerful model, Fable5, opting instead for lower-priced alternative models, raising concerns about its high-investment business model. Anthropic is currently preparing for an IPO, with the market expecting its valuation to reach $2 trillion or more, potentially listing as early as September.Data from Ramp on spending by 70,000 companies shows that two months after the release of Fable5, corporate spending on this model accounted for only about 11% of Anthropic's total tool spending, and has recently stabilized. Analysts believe the main reason is that Fable5 is expensive, while older models can meet the needs of most companies; the Opus5 launched at the end of July is smaller and cheaper, with corporate spending already exceeding that of Fable5. Fable5 was withdrawn shortly after its release in early June due to intervention by the Trump administration on national security grounds, and was allowed to go back online on July 1, but demand and adoption rates remain lower than those of previous cutting-edge models.Anthropic's annualized revenue reached $65 billion last month, up from $47 billion in May, growing nearly sevenfold since the beginning of the year; the company achieved adjusted operating profit for the first time in the second quarter and has 6,000 clients with annual spending exceeding $100,000. Companies are controlling AI spending by choosing models with better cost-performance ratios, while OpenAI has seen a rebound, with annualized revenue growing 35% this quarter after the release of GPT5.6, exceeding $40 billion. The market is shifting from "chasing the strongest model" to placing greater emphasis on a comprehensive balance of model capability, price, and actual ROI.

According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency card spending reached $1.04 billion in July, more than doubling compared to the same period last year. Dollar stablecoins (USDC and USDT) funded 70% of over 10 million transactions, with the average payment amount rising from $59 last year to $86, indicating that users are shifting from large-scale cash-outs to everyday spending, such as groceries, rideshares, and takeout.Emerging markets have become the main growth driver. Data from Visa partner StraitsX shows that total transaction volume in low GDP markets grew by about 600% from March 2025 to February 2026, while high GDP markets only grew by 150%. In Latin America, active users of Oobit in Brazil spend about $400 per month, with grocery stores accounting for 35% of their regional activity; in Argentina, 72% of payments use USDT, with food making up 41% of transactions.Market concentration remains high, with the three platforms RedotPay, EtherFi, and KAST collectively accounting for about 77% of the total tracked volume in July. Visa stated that there are currently over 160 card projects associated with stablecoins launched or in development worldwide. The number of Binance card users in Brazil has increased by 53% since its launch quarter, and Kraken's Krak Card payment frequency has doubled over the past year to 8.3 times per user per week.

According to a report by Reuters, American companies have invested a record $517 million in the congressional elections for the House and Senate in 2026 over the 15 months ending in the first quarter of 2026, surpassing the previous high of $461 million during the two-year 2024 election cycle. The cryptocurrency, technology, and online betting industries contributed at least $294 million, becoming a major force in shaping the midterm elections.The Fairshake super PAC, primarily funded by Coinbase, Ripple, and a16z, had $193 million in funding at the beginning of the year and currently has about $130 million remaining; a16z has donated over $81 million to cryptocurrency and AI-related PACs. Elon Musk has invested over $90 million, and Meta has donated $65 million to four super PACs. The AI-related organization Leading the Future has raised $140 million, and Anthropic has donated at least $40 million through dark money non-profit organizations. Online betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel have donated over $72 million.AdImpact expects total political ad spending for this round of midterm elections to reach a record $11.6 billion. Related industries are making unlimited expenditures through super PACs, affiliated PACs, and dark money non-profit organizations for advertising, voter mobilization, and more, with critics arguing that this amplifies the influence of niche issues such as cryptocurrency regulation, data center energy, and betting regulation.

a16z crypto posted on platform X that monthly spending on crypto payment cards reached approximately $759 million in July this year, an increase of about 2.5 times compared to approximately $306 million a year ago, and a significant rise from less than $1 million in October 2023, with an average transaction amount of about $86.The report states that users can hold stablecoins through custodial or self-custodial methods and spend globally using traditional card networks like Visa, with merchants settling in local fiat currencies. Currently, about 58% of spending is settled in USDC, approximately 26% in USDT, and the share of the euro stablecoin EURe has dropped from about 88% to around 2%.In terms of chain distribution, Optimism, Solana, and Base each account for over 20%, while Gnosis's share has significantly declined.

According to Bloomberg, Google's parent company Alphabet launched its first Australian dollar bond issuance on August 18, planning to raise approximately 5 billion Australian dollars (about 3.6 billion US dollars). The funds raised will be used to address the ongoing rise in AI infrastructure spending.This issuance is underwritten by institutions such as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), offering Australian dollar notes with four different maturities, with the longest term reaching 20 years.

According to Cointelegraph, U.S. companies' spending in the field of artificial intelligence is rapidly increasing. Data shows that the top 1% of companies are currently spending a record $7,400 per employee per month on AI-related expenses, which is 600 times higher than the median company spending level.Related statistics reflect a significant divergence in AI investment between leading companies and average companies, with top firms significantly increasing their investment in AI applications and infrastructure at a rate far above the industry average.

Berkshire Hathaway submitted its 13F holdings report for the second quarter of 2026 to the U.S. SEC. The data shows that in the second quarter after Warren Buffett stepped down, the company's investment portfolio underwent significant adjustments, with a large purchase of Google’s parent company Alphabet, while reducing positions in the financial and consumer sectors.As of June 30, 2026, the total market value of Berkshire's stock holdings rose to $29.9 billion, up from $26.3 billion in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, the company added one new position, increased holdings in seven stocks, reduced holdings in six stocks, and completely sold out of one target, with the top ten holdings accounting for as much as 88.74%.Among them, Alphabet became the biggest highlight. In the second quarter, Berkshire cumulatively increased its holdings of Alphabet Class A and Class C shares by approximately 48.1 million shares, with the new holdings valued at over $17 billion, pushing Google to replace Bank of America as Berkshire's fourth-largest holding. Currently, its top five holdings are Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Alphabet, and Bank of America. In addition to Google, Berkshire also slightly increased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Lennar, and Macy's. The increase in Delta Air Lines has attracted attention, as the market believes this move may reflect the company's optimism about the recovery of air travel demand and improvement in corporate operations.On the reduction side, Berkshire focused on cutting positions in the financial and consumer sectors in the second quarter. Among them, Bank of America saw a reduction of about 30.2 million shares, with the holding ratio decreasing by 5.89%, corresponding to a market value of about $1.72 billion, making it the largest reduction target; First Capital Financial reduced about 4.2 million shares, with the holding ratio decreasing by about 58%; at the same time, it reduced about 11 million shares of Kroger, with the holding size decreasing by about 22%.The market believes that Berkshire ended a streak of 14 consecutive quarters of net stock selling in the second quarter and net bought nearly $20 billion in stocks, indicating that the new leader Greg Abel is pushing the portfolio towards a technology growth direction, marking a shift in asset allocation in the "post-Buffett era."

According to a16z crypto, the monthly spending on crypto payment cards has grown from a niche scale to $759 million. These cards allow users to pay with cryptocurrency in all scenarios that support traditional card organizations, with stablecoins converted to local currency at the point of sale, making it no different for merchants than regular card transactions.As of July 31, looking at the spending composition from various card programs, RedotPay has long held the majority share, while EtherFi, KAST, Karta, and others have gradually increased their share since the end of 2025. a16z crypto states that crypto cardholders do not need traditional bank accounts and can deposit stablecoins with the issuer or hold them directly through self-custody. These cards have expanded global users' access to dollar accounts and provided a convenient spending method for stablecoin holders.

Bitcoin developer Kevin Loaec warned that if a Bitcoin fork related to the controversial proposal BIP-110 occurs this weekend, holders may face the risk of real BTC being transferred when selling forked chain tokens.The proposed Bitcoin fork is associated with the controversial BIP-110 proposal and may generate duplicate balances on two chains, leading holders to attempt to sell seemingly free forked coins.Since both chains initially accept the same transactions, selling forked coins could trigger a replay attack, simultaneously spending real Bitcoin from the seller's main chain. Developers stated that there is a lack of built-in replay protection at least until early September, and non-professional users should avoid transferring Bitcoin during the potential fork.

According to a report by Jinshi, the economic bulletin released by the European Central Bank on Monday pointed out that after the outbreak of the Iran war, household consumption in the Eurozone has significantly declined, mainly due to a sharp deterioration in consumer confidence. In April of this year, the decline in Eurozone consumption reached twice the historical trend forecast level, with the scale of impact comparable to the household consumption response after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022.Data shows that since mid-2024, the nominal consumption growth rate in the Eurozone has averaged around 3% to 4%, but in April of this year, it dropped to about 2.5% year-on-year. The slowdown in consumption is mainly driven by higher-income households reducing non-essential spending.

According to Jinshi reports, the Korea Exchange has launched a sidecar mechanism for the KOSDAQ, suspending programmatic trading for 5 minutes.

According to Coin Bureau, the consumption amount of cryptocurrency payment cards reached $705.5 million in July, an increase of 12.2% compared to June, setting a new historical high and achieving growth for the fifth consecutive month.

According to Jinshi reports, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that spending on memory in the third fiscal quarter was "significantly higher" than in the second fiscal quarter.

According to Jinshi reports, the Amazon CEO stated that there is a clear and strong financial return outlook in terms of artificial intelligence and AWS spending.