Universal Starch Chem reported its Q1FY26 results with a return to profitability, posting net profit of ₹325 lakh versus a net loss of ₹251 lakh in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 21.4% year-on-year to ₹147.46 crore, while total expenses increased 15.4%, pointing to improved operating leverage. Basic and diluted EPS came in at ₹7.75 compared with a loss per share of ₹5.97 a year ago. Despite higher material costs, the company's overall profitability strengthened materially during the quarter.

Marinade Finance reported 28.83% of staked SOL went offline after a routing failure at Teraswitch, nearing the 33.34% threshold where Solana would stop finalizing transactions. About 90 validators were affected, with traffic recovering in roughly 33 minutes and estimated reward losses of about 333 SOL.

Bitcoin miner transaction fees have fallen to 0.69% of revenue, near decade lows, according to Glassnode. Checkonchain estimates hash rate slid about 33% from an October 2025 peak of 1.3 ZH/s to 861 EH/s, while estimated production cost hit $78,254, adding pressure as some miners shift compute toward AI and HPC.

JPMorgan's trading desk said core CPI could steer near term S&P 500 moves tonight. It expects a 0.5% to 1% rise if core CPI prints 0.15% to 0.20%, a 0.25% to 0.75% gain if 0.20% to 0.25%, and a 0.5% to 1.25% drop if 0.25% to 0.30%.

Lookonchain data shows wallet 0xff84's 1,793 BTC short worth about 114.4 million dollars neared liquidation as Bitcoin rose. The wallet closed part of the position, leaving 1,543 BTC short worth about 98.97 million dollars, and the liquidation price moved up to 64,225.35.

The U.S. Senate has set September 15, 2026 for a vote on the CLARITY Act, putting a major crypto policy decision on the calendar alongside a closely watched September FOMC meeting. Market expectations have swung sharply in recent months, underscoring uncertainty around the bill's outlook and its potential impact on sentiment.

XRP futures activity rose to its highest level since October after the latest US Consumer Price Index report, highlighting increased use of leveraged positions. CPI data often drives short term moves in crypto by shaping expectations for Federal Reserve policy, and traders appear to be positioning for higher volatility in XRP following the inflation release.

The following is adapted from CoinDesk's "Daybook" newsletter. XRP, the payments-focused cryptocurrency, is in focus heading into the U.S. CPI report due later today. A bridge connected to the XRP Ledger was exploited earlier, and the token is trading around a pivotal technical level near $1. XRP briefly dipped to $0.99 on some exchanges Tuesday. The rebound was swift, but momentum appears to have faded around $1.02. Over recent sessions, XRP has underperformed bitcoin and the broader market recovery. Derivatives positioning has also intensified. Open interest in XRP futures has risen to 2.67 billion XRP (about $2.73 billion), the highest since October, up from 2.25 billion XRP at the start of the month. The leverage build as XRP sits on key support raises the odds of sharper price swings, leaving it more exposed than larger assets such as bitcoin (BTC) at $64,094.38, ether (ETH) at $1,909.05 and solana (SOL) to the CPI catalyst. Economists expect headline CPI to rise 0.1% month over month in July, following June's -0.4% reading. The year-over-year rate is forecast at 3.4%, down from 3.5%. Core CPI is seen easing to 2.5% from 2.6%. A hotter-than-expected print could reinforce expectations for tighter Fed policy, push already elevated Treasury yields higher and weigh on risk assets. ING says a softer reading could weaken the dollar, a backdrop that would typically support crypto. In bitcoin's case, traders are watching whether CPI can break BTC out of its recent $62,000 to $66,000 range. Options markets are not pricing in a major move. Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said the market implies only a 1.3% post-CPI swing. Laevitas flagged a similar setup, noting on X that 7-day at-the-money implied volatility has compressed to 29.1% for BTC and 41.2% for ETH even with the July CPI landing within the weekly window. Low expectations can also amplify surprise risk if inflation materially beats or misses forecasts. Technical picture: Weekly candlesticks since 2023 show XRP topping above $3.50 in July last year before trending lower. The token is now hovering near $1. A decisive break below would mark the first drop under that level since November 2024, when Donald Trump won the presidential election. If $1 fails, the July 2023 high near $0.92, where prior buying momentum faded, could become the next support. Below that, charts point to potential support around $0.50.

Aug. 12 — Swap market pricing shows traders assigning roughly a 50% probability to a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate increase in September, a view that has solidified after July's unexpectedly weak nonfarm payrolls report. With the Fed under Waugh scaling back forward guidance, investors are once again leaning heavily on incoming data to map the policy path. Markets are treating July CPI as a key catalyst with an asymmetric payoff: a softer print would further erode the case for another hike, while an upside surprise could quickly re-establish a roughly 9% probability of a September hike as the baseline scenario. In U.S. rates, the 10-year Treasury yield—often viewed as the anchor for global asset pricing—shows a risk-reward profile increasingly skewed toward a sharp decline if July CPI comes in benign. That tilt is being reinforced by the interplay between macro data and CTA positioning in Treasuries. (Zhitong Financial)