02:04KeyThis week's macro highlights review: Rising risk of U.S.-Iran conflict escalation, AI financing concerns trigger a U.S. stock market selloff, gold falls below $4,000.BlockBeats news, October 24 — This week global markets focused on the escalation of the US-Iran conflict, AI capital expenditure and financing risks, and the US midterm elections. Trump threatened a possible second small-scale "Epic Fury" operation against Iran, and Middle East supply risks pushed Brent crude to around a five-month high. Meanwhile, Meta's massive AI spending triggered market concerns over capital returns and financing pressure, the US tech sector suffered a sell-off, US Treasury yields fell, and capital shifted to bonds as a safe haven. This week's macro highlights are as follows: Trump threatens another strike on Iran, risk of Middle East escalation rises Trump said he would not rule out launching another small-scale "Epic Fury" operation, while saying the war could end soon and claiming the US could seize all of Iran's oil. According to Axios, a US intelligence memo warned that Iran's assassination plots against US officials overseas have reached an advanced stage. Iran warned that if the US and Israel resume attacks, retaliation could expand to US military bases in the Gulf region, energy facilities, and undersea communications cables. The US and Iran still have significant differences on lifting the blockade, the nuclear issue, and arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz, and the Middle East situation continues to affect the crude oil market. Meta's free cash flow turns negative, AI cash burn triggers US stock sell-off Meta's third-quarter revenue rose 26% year-on-year to $64.6 billion, but free cash flow turned negative at $2.12 billion, marking its first quarterly cash burn in more than a decade. The company adjusted its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $135 billion to $145 billion and established a new class of non-voting stock to provide more channels for financing, employee compensation, and M&A. After the earnings release, Meta's shares fell as much as 8%, and AI-related stocks such as Nvidia and CoreWeave came under pressure in tandem, as investors began to reassess the return cycle and financing costs of AI infrastructure investment. SpaceX revenue surges 161%, expectations of merger with Tesla heat up SpaceX's third-quarter revenue reached $14.6 billion, up 161% year-on-year, with net profit of $4.4 billion, of which AI infrastructure business revenue was about $7.56 billion, making it the company's largest business segment. The company expects first-quarter 2027 revenue to reach $33 billion to $37 billion. Meanwhile, SpaceX and Tesla are said to have set up a special committee to study a merger plan, with the potential transaction size at about $3.5 trillion. Musk publicly said the merger has multiple advantages, but related-party transactions, shareholder review, and corporate governance remain major obstacles. Trump increases midterm election spending, economic approval rating falls to 34% Trump's camp is courting voters through policies such as agricultural aid and healthcare refunds, while ramping up funding for Republican candidates. According to reports, MAGA Inc. has invested nearly $277 million in Republican candidates since September. Meanwhile, a CNBC survey shows that approval for Trump's economic policies has fallen to 34%, with 65% of respondents expressing disapproval, and the cost of living remains voters' primary concern. Republican candidates face a dilemma: they need Trump to mobilize the base while distancing themselves from some controversial policies. South Korean Stock Market Swings Sharply as AI Trade Enters Valuation Reassessment Period The KOSPI index plunged sharply this week before rebounding quickly, with semiconductor heavyweights such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix at the center of the volatility. AI cloud infrastructure company Elice plummeted 32% on its first day of trading, then surged nearly 30% the next day to hit the daily limit, reflecting rapid shifts in market sentiment. AI demand continues to support chip industry fundamentals, but high valuations, financing costs, and potential supply competition are prompting investors to reassess related assets. PHP Exposes Severe Security Vulnerabilities, Global Websites Rush to Patch PHP has exposed two high-risk vulnerabilities that could lead to sensitive data leaks, command execution, and even server takeover. Because PHP is widely used by numerous websites and content management systems, the vulnerabilities have a broad impact. Security agencies are requiring affected systems to install patches as soon as possible, and some government and corporate websites have proactively gone offline for repairs. Researchers have observed early signs of attacks, and enterprises need to investigate anomalous access, backdoors, and third-party component risks. Jensen Huang Says AI Computing Demand Remains Strong, Capital Becomes the Bottleneck NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said at the GTC conference in Berlin that Europe needs to expand AI computing infrastructure, and announced cooperation with multiple European companies on data centers, robotics, and industrial AI. He also said demand remains strong from "neocloud" companies that specialize in providing AI computing power, with the main constraint currently being capital supply. Regarding market concerns about future oversupply of memory chips, Huang said there are no signs of significant oversupply around 2029, and emphasized that memory products such as HBM will continue to be used in large quantities in the future. Anthropic Sprinting Toward IPO, Computing Commitments Could Reach as High as $750 Billion According to a draft IPO prospectus seen by The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic generated about $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, far above $1.1 billion in the same period last year, but computing and infrastructure spending during the same period approached $9 billion. The company has already committed to approximately $450 billion in cloud computing contracts with terms of seven to ten years, and total future infrastructure commitments exceed $600 billion; if all projects under negotiation materialize, the figure could reach approximately $750 billion. The combination of rapid growth and massive computing investment makes its IPO an important case for the market to test AI business models and returns on capital. AI Bubble Debate Heats Up as Hedge Funds Accelerate Tech Stock Selloff Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel Securities, warned that the current AI market may be in a bubble; Goldman Sachs noted that hedge funds are cutting tech holdings at the fastest pace in at least a decade. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley believes the U.S. stock market pullback may be nearing its end, while JPMorgan stated that if bond yields stabilize, it would provide support for equities. Long-term AI demand remains favored, but investors are shifting from chasing growth to focusing on cash flow, debt costs, and return on capital. The core market shift this week: geopolitical risks are driving energy prices higher, while AI capital expenditure and financing pressures are weakening risk appetite for tech stocks. Before the U.S.-Iran situation, U.S. midterm elections, and AI company financing progress become clear, crude oil, bond yields, and major tech earnings will remain key variables affecting global markets.Full flash
01:36KeyA Chinese national has been extradited to the United States on suspicion of involvement in a crypto scam targeting Americans, with over $36.9 million in involved funds.BlockBeats news, October 24 — According to an official statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said on October 23 that 44-year-old Chinese national Zheng Zhao was extradited from the Netherlands to the United States for allegedly participating in a transnational crypto investment fraud scheme targeting U.S. citizens, and made his initial court appearance the same day. Zhao has been ordered detained and is scheduled to appear in court again on November 30. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. According to court documents, the fraud network was based at scam centers in Cambodia and contacted U.S. victims through social media, phone calls, text messages, and dating platforms, using websites impersonating legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms to induce victims to invest and falsely claiming that the investments were continuously increasing in value. The funds involved were subsequently laundered through U.S. shell companies, international bank accounts, and digital asset wallets. The investigation showed that more than $36.9 million in victim funds were transferred from U.S. bank accounts controlled by the network to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas. Zhao and other co-conspirators arranged for the funds to be converted into USDT and then transferred to digital asset wallets controlled in Cambodia, ultimately distributed to heads of scam centers in Cambodia and surrounding regions. The scheme involved at least 174 identified U.S. victims. Currently, 8 co-conspirators have pleaded guilty. The U.S. Department of Justice emphasized that criminal charges do not imply the defendant is guilty, and Zhao is presumed innocent until a guilty verdict is rendered by the court.Full flash
01:31A trader liquidated 20.06 million AI tokens for a profit of $2.14 million, causing the token price to plummet 15% instantly after the sale.BlockBeats news, October 24 - According to EmberCN monitoring, trader "Salem1299534" liquidated 20.06 million AI tokens about 2 hours ago, converting them to 461 ETH, valued at approximately $1.09 million. This sell-off caused the AI price to instantly drop by 15%. The trader previously invested about $980,000 to buy AI, and ultimately sold for about $3.12 million, with a cumulative profit of approximately $2.14 million.Full flash
01:26KeyBitcoin's consolidation range persists as the market focuses on the Federal Reserve's decision, Strategy's earnings report, and the U.S. midterm elections.BlockBeats news, October 24 — Bitcoin has recently continued to trade in a range, with investors watching the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on October 28, Strategy's earnings report on October 29, and the U.S. midterm elections on November 3 to gauge the subsequent trend. Analysts noted that factors such as U.S. inflation, tariffs, and the U.S.-Iran conflict continue to weigh on risk assets, and that spot Bitcoin ETF fund flows also remain divergent. In Binance's perpetual futures market, bulls and bears are still locked in a fierce battle. The liquidation heatmap shows about $8 billion in short positions above the spot price and about $7.6 billion in long positions below it. Bitcoin's earlier rebound near $84,890 consumed some short-side liquidity, but profit-taking near $85,000 capped the rally; the $80,000 level below is seen as key support, with about $3.57 billion in long positions near that price and another roughly $3.6 billion near $79,000. Analysts believe that until Bitcoin effectively breaks out of its current trading range, short-term trading is likely to remain dominated by repeated fluctuations.Full flash
01:06KeySK Hynix Abandons Solidigm US IPO, Micron and SanDisk Poised to Benefit from Eased NAND Supply PressureBlockBeats news, October 24 — According to a report by LYNX Equity Strategies analysts, SK Hynix has abandoned the U.S. IPO plan for its subsidiary Solidigm, meaning its original path to raise funds through a listing to expand U.S. NAND flash production capacity has been blocked. The analysts believe that if the related capacity expansion plan had materialized, it could have increased global supply and suppressed industry pricing after three years or more; now that this potential risk has faded, it constitutes a substantial positive for Micron and SanDisk. The analysts also noted that this change mainly affects medium- to long-term supply expectations and does not immediately alter the current market supply-demand landscape, and that the stock performance of the relevant companies is still affected by the overall market environment. Intel, meanwhile, faces a slight negative impact, as its Ohio campus may lose a potential manufacturing project. On Friday, Micron closed up 2.46%, while SanDisk closed down 1.82%.Full flash
01:02KeyTrump threatens further military action against Iran; Iran plans to expand countermeasures to undersea cablesBlockBeats news, October 24: U.S. President Trump stated that the United States may launch another small-scale "Epic Fury" operation against Iran, but also said the U.S. could end the war quickly, with the key being whether to choose to thoroughly end the conflict or let the fighting gradually subside. Previously, The New York Times reported that U.S. and Israeli militaries had drawn up plans to strike Iran again after the U.S. midterm elections, but it remains uncertain whether Trump will approve them. Meanwhile, the naval force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that two supertankers attempting to cross the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz struck mines on Friday, carrying a combined total of more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil, and the crew abandoned ship and escaped; the claim has yet to be independently verified. According to Reuters, two senior Iranian security officials revealed that if the United States and Israel attack Iran again, Iran has drawn up plans to strike undersea communications cables in the Gulf region and may expand its retaliation targets to covert military bases. There is currently no information that any such strikes have been carried out. The U.S.-Iran military standoff continues to intensify, and risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and to energy and communications infrastructure in the Gulf region are rising further.Full flash
00:59KeyOpinion: AI storage demand shows no signs of slowing, and a cooldown would instead help bridge the supply gap.BlockBeats news, October 24: Western Digital CFO Kris Sennesael stated that the momentum of hyperscale cloud service provider customers expanding capital expenditures remains unwavering, and the company has already discussed storage supply demand for 2030 to 2031 with them. He noted that even if AI development momentum slows, it could help the company close the current supply-demand gap. Western Digital's latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, and the company raised its earnings guidance, forecasting adjusted earnings per share of up to $6 in the second fiscal quarter, above the analyst average estimate of $4.80, while also raising its quarterly dividend by 17%. However, the company's capital expenditures more than tripled year-over-year, putting pressure on free cash flow margins and sparking market concerns about the sustainability of AI data center investment. Western Digital's stock closed down about 3% on Friday.Full flash
00:49An institution that invested in Aave and Worldcoin has transferred a cumulative $33.18 million worth of ETH, WLD, and AAVE to multiple CEXs.BlockBeats news, October 24, according to EmberCN monitoring, an institution that invests in both Aave and Worldcoin transferred tokens worth approximately $33.18 million to multiple centralized trading platforms about 1 hour ago, including 6,000 ETH (about $14.4 million), 19 million WLD (about $9.67 million), and 62,000 AAVE (about $9.11 million).Full flash
00:46US media: US intelligence warns of escalating Iranian assassination plot, demands risk notifications to more US personnel.BlockBeats news, October 24 - According to Axios, a memorandum submitted to U.S. Secretary of State Rubio on October 23 local time shows that U.S. intelligence agencies have found that Iran's operations against U.S. diplomats and officials in the Middle East and other regions have increased significantly, and some lethal attack plots have entered an "advanced stage." U.S. officials said that this intelligence is one of the reasons why the U.S. State Department has reduced personnel at multiple U.S. embassies in the Middle East. According to the one-page, unclassified memorandum obtained by Axios, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton reminded Rubio that intelligence regarding Iran's planned assassination operations needs to be conveyed to more U.S. government personnel who currently are not authorized to receive such information. The memorandum did not identify specific attack targets, the countries involved outside the Middle East, or disclose the specific nature of the relevant plots, but stated that the underlying intelligence has been shared with senior U.S. State Department officials. Clayton proposed lowering the classification level of the relevant sensitive intelligence as much as possible so that Rubio can convey the information to more people who may be at risk.Full flash
00:45U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday with all three major indexes down; SK Hynix rose 4.05% and Micron gained 2.46%.BlockBeats news, October 24 - US stocks closed lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average initially down 1.24%, the S&P 500 Index down 0.52%, and the Nasdaq down 0.21%. Western Digital (WDC.O) fell 2.97%, Google (GOOG.O) fell 1.24%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) fell 1.82%, Meta Platforms (META.O) fell 0.96%, and Apple (AAPL.O) fell 0.14%; SK Hynix (SKHY.O) rose 4.05%, and Micron Technology (MU.O) rose 2.46%. In cryptocurrency-related stocks, MSTR rose 0.14%; COIN fell 2.74%, CRCL fell 0.82%; SBET fell 0.44%; BMNR fell 2.93%; HOOD fell 1.56%, and HYPE treasury company PURR rose 1.15%.Full flash
