Ethereum nears US$5K, Japan readies first yen stablecoin, Solana speeds up. Meanwhile, AI faces safety debates, GPT-5 flops, NVIDIA steps up.
What’s up, Pasar Crew?
Markets are heating up while AI sparks fresh debates. 🚀
Ethereum edges towards US$5K with major institutions buying in, Japan is on the cusp of approving its first yen-backed stablecoin, and Solana is trialling its Alpenglow upgrade that could rival Nasdaq’s speeds. Meanwhile, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund quietly doubled down on Bitcoin, and Thailand is opening doors to crypto tourism.
On the AI front, researchers are rolling out culturally tuned models to tackle global language bias, Anthropic has tightened safety rules for Claude, and NVIDIA is pushing multilingual speech AI to new heights. But it isn’t all rosy news though. Grok faces scrutiny for explicit deepfake concerns, and OpenAI’s GPT-5 has left many underwhelmed.
From crypto milestones to AI breakthroughs, here’s everything you need to know this week.
Web3
Ethereum Targets $5,000 Amidst Bullish Signals
1️⃣ Ethereum is trading near $4,477 and pushing towards $5,000. Exchange balances are at a 9-year low of 14.88M ETH in total, pointing to strong accumulation. Despite muted investor sentiment, 470,000 ETH have recently been bought.
Institutions Buy Ethereum Dip for Long-Term Strategy
2️⃣ Major investors including BitMine and Trump’s World Liberty Finance are acquiring Ethereum, with over $900M in new purchases. Many of these involve withdrawals from exchanges, signalling a disciplined, long-term accumulation approach.
Japan to Approve First Yen-Backed Stablecoin JPYC
3️⃣ Japan’s Financial Services Agency is preparing to approve JPYC as the country’s first yen-pegged stablecoin this autumn. Backed by bank deposits and Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs), JPYC is expected to lead the rollout.
Kraken Pauses Monero Deposits Amid Disputed 51% Attack
4️⃣ Kraken has suspended Monero deposits following Qubic’s claim of a 51% attack, although trading and withdrawals remain unaffected. The Monero community disputes the claim, stating hashrate control never exceeded 35%.
Norway’s Sovereign Fund Boosts Bitcoin Exposure by 83%
5️⃣ Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global increased its Bitcoin-equivalent exposure by 83% in Q2, rising from 6,200 BTC to 11,400 BTC. The majority is held via MicroStrategy (MSTR) shares, with a smaller position in Metaplanet.
Solana Eyes Nasdaq Scale with Alpenglow Upgrade
6️⃣ Solana is trialling the Alpenglow Consensus upgrade, which aims to cut block finality from 12.8 seconds to just 100–150 milliseconds. This would ease congestion while improving validator incentives.
Thailand Launches TouristDigiPay for Crypto Tourism
7️⃣ Thailand has launched TouristDigiPay, a new initiative allowing foreign visitors to convert crypto into Thai baht for QR-code payments. Tourists must open accounts with approved providers and use a dedicated Tourist Wallet.
US Treasury Weighs Digital ID to Combat Illicit Finance
8️⃣ The US Treasury is consulting on embedding digital identity checks into DeFi smart contracts under the GENIUS Act. The proposal could automate KYC/AML, reduce compliance costs, and improve privacy.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Culturally Aligned AI Models Tackle Global Language Biases
1️⃣ Researchers are now developing specialised generative AI models tuned to specific cultures, groups, and languages, improving accuracy and usefulness of local nuances while promoting data sovereignty.
Anthropic Updates Claude Policy to Enhance AI Safety
2️⃣ Anthropic has updated its Claude AI chatbot usage policy banning the use of Claude to develop biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) weapons and high-yield explosives, while also preventing its use in malware creation or cyberattacks.
Grok’s New Mode Prompts FTC Investigation Demand
3️⃣ Consumer safety groups are urging the FTC to investigate Elon Musk’s Grok AI following reports of it generating explicit deepfakes of public figures without being prompted. The letter highlights concern over the tool’s ability to create nude videos resembling real people.
OpenAI’s GPT-5 Debuts to Underwhelming Public Reception
4️⃣ OpenAI’s highly anticipated GPT-5 has disappointed many users and experts, with improvements viewed as incremental rather than groundbreaking. Critics noted reduced eloquence and accuracy in general tasks, prompting OpenAI to temporarily reinstate an older version.
Human-in-the-Loop AI Powers Alibaba’s New Glasses
5️⃣ Alibaba is preparing to launch its Quark AI Glasses, powered by its Qwen LLM and Quark AI assistant. They feature real-time translation and payments and depend heavily on ‘human-in-the-loop’ (HITL) systems for data labelling.
NHS Trials AI Tool to Streamline Hospital Patient Discharges
6️⃣ The NHS is trialling an AI tool at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust to accelerate patient discharges by automating paperwork, freeing up doctors’ time for direct care. The system extracts data from medical records to draft discharge summaries, replacing a slower, manual process.
NVIDIA Boosts Multilingual AI with New Open-Source Tools
7️⃣ NVIDIA is addressing AI’s limited language support with the release of new open-source tools for high-quality speech AI across 25 European languages. These resources aim to help developers build multilingual chatbots and translation services that reflect local nuances.
AI Powers Personalised Transition Plans for Disabled Students
8️⃣ University Startups partnered with AWS to launch Trinity, a generative AI assistant that creates personalised transition plans for secondary school students with disabilities. The tool identifies student interests, recommends tailored pathways, and safeguards data.
That’s all for this week’s Pasar Pulse. Want more insights? Stay tuned to our site or subscribe via email!
