According to BlockBeats, on July 18, Bank of America appointed Sonali Theisen as Global Head of Digital Asset Platform and Kevin Milsom as Head of AI Transformation to drive the development of its digital asset and artificial intelligence strategies.

Sonali Theisen will be responsible for the design, development, expansion, and governance of the bank's digital asset platform, while continuing to serve as Head of Electronic Trading and Strategic Investments for Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange, and Commodities (FICC). His responsibilities include integrating blockchain products into Bank of America's existing financial market infrastructure and collaborating with Adam Dixon, Head of Digital Asset Transformation, to advance tokenized deposits, stablecoins, digital collateral circulation, crypto transaction settlement, and custody.

Kevin Milsom will be responsible for driving the application of AI on Bank of America's global market platform.

The report states that this move continues the trend of Wall Street financial institutions accelerating their deployment of digital assets and AI. Previously, Vanguard had already begun recruiting its first head of digital assets, and Morgan Stanley appointed Amy Oldenburg earlier this year to lead digital asset strategy, aiming to promote the integration of crypto assets and asset tokenization with traditional financial infrastructure.

According to BlockBeats, on July 18, analyst Serenity stated that Goldman Sachs has raised its target price for InnoLight Technology to RMB 2,581, representing an upside of approximately 163.6% from the current share price.

Serenity points out that, more noteworthy than the target price is Goldman Sachs' significant upward revision of InnoLight Technology's earnings forecasts for 2026-2028, by 65%, 108%, and 119%, respectively. Goldman Sachs believes this is primarily due to a substantial increase in silicon photonics module shipments, continued expansion of AI infrastructure, improved average selling price and profit margins from 1.6T/3.2T optical modules, and continued increases in AI capital expenditure.

Serenity believes that InnoLight Technology can be seen as an important indicator of the prosperity of the optical communication industry chain, similar to TSMC's role in semiconductor capital expenditure. If the penetration rate of silicon photonics continues to increase, it will further expand the demand for niche markets such as continuous wave (CW) lasers and SOI silicon substrates. At the same time, the increase in the ASP of next-generation high-speed optical modules will also benefit the entire optical communication industry chain.

In addition, Serenity mentioned that InnoLight Technology previously stated in an exchange that the demand for 800G optical modules has exceeded expectations, which means that the subsequent financial performance of optical communication companies, including Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) and Lumentum (LITE), is also worth paying attention to.

Serenity concludes that Goldman Sachs' significant upward revision of earnings forecasts despite a major industry correction reflects the continued strength of the AI optical communication industry chain, with the entire photonics ecosystem poised to benefit from a new wave of AI infrastructure development.

According to BlockBeats, on July 18, Onchain Lens monitoring revealed that a whale address that purchased over $290 million worth of Bitcoin through Galaxy Digital last year has increased its holdings again, receiving 1,001 BTC, worth approximately $64 million.

The relevant addresses include the main wallet bc1qexplq4mlp7umxavr2qceaqzc2w8fzc9enpty55 and the associated address 39aNzneDLY6oHifvRpxwXaeCPkP9gcZxNx.

According to BlockBeats, on July 18, GMGN market data showed that the market capitalization of Base chain Meme token Brain (Coinbase Man) briefly exceeded $35 million yesterday, but has now plummeted to $1.4 million, a drop of over 93% in 24 hours, with a 24-hour trading volume of $21 million.

Brain uses the native B20 token standard launched by the Base Chain Beryl upgrade, and the token name is taken from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Brian Armstrong recently changed his profile picture to an X, which is highly consistent with the Brain token icon, sparking community association and driving a rapid increase in trading activity. Following Brian Armstrong's subsequent change of his profile picture to an X, the meme experienced a sharp sell-off and gradually approached zero.

BlockBeats reminds users that the price of Meme coin fluctuates greatly, mainly depending on market sentiment, community enthusiasm, and narrative, and lacks stable fundamental support. Investors should be aware of the risks.

According to BlockBeats, on July 18, FTX Recovery Trust and FTX announced that they will launch the fifth round of creditor payouts on July 31, planning to distribute approximately $900 million to creditors in the "Convenience" and "Non-Convenience" categories of the recovery plan.

Eligible creditors can receive their compensation payments within 1 to 3 business days starting July 31st through their BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer accounts. Creditors with claims under $50,000 will receive 120% of their claim amount, while other creditors are expected to receive 103% to 105%.

With the commencement of this distribution, the total payouts of the FTX Recovery Trust will reach approximately $10 billion since FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.