According to BlockBeats, on July 29, the total value locked (TVL) of the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem has fallen back to approximately $5 billion, the lowest level since 2023, essentially wiping out the amount of funds accumulated during the rapid growth of the L2 ecosystem in 2024.

Data shows that the combined TVL of the three major networks, Optimism, Base, and Arbitrum, is approximately US$4.8 billion, accounting for 96% of the entire L2 ecosystem.

The report points out that the cooling of the L2 ecosystem coincides with the challenges facing Ethereum as a whole. This year, several senior executives have left the Ethereum Foundation, and personnel adjustments have been made. Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions are increasingly looking at alternatives outside of Ethereum when exploring blockchain infrastructure.

For example, DTCC is promoting the tokenization of government bonds based on a multi-chain environment, and JPMorgan Chase has also expanded JPM Coin to multiple public chains. However, stablecoins remain an important support for the Ethereum ecosystem. Currently, USDC and USDT are still mainly settled through Ethereum and its L2 network, allowing Ethereum to continue to play an important bridging role for traditional finance entering the crypto market.

According to BlockBeats, on July 29th, AI voice company Fish Audio announced the completion of a $52 million seed round of financing. The specific investors have not yet been disclosed. At the same time, the company officially launched its new generation voice generation model, S2.1 Pro.

Fish Audio states that the S2.1 Pro can clone a voice using only 5 seconds of audio samples, generating it approximately twice as fast as Cartesia, at about one-sixth the cost of ElevenLabs. Furthermore, the model supports fine-grained control over word-level emotion, intonation, and speech rate, and is considered one of the most expressive speech models currently available.

According to reports, several AI companies, including HeyGen, LiveKit, Retell, Sanas, and OpenArt, are already using the Fish Audio model in production environments. The company states that if a company adopts its voice AI service and fails to reduce costs by at least 50%, it will provide a free year of Fish Audio service.

To celebrate its first anniversary, Fish Audio also announced that it will offer users a free one-month trial of the S2.1 Pro.

According to BlockBeats, on July 29, The New York Times reported that since the outbreak of the war with Iran triggered energy supply shortages and drove up oil and gas prices, executives of several large U.S. oil and gas companies have profited hundreds of millions of dollars by selling company stock.

An analysis of SEC filings by the environmental organization Friends of the Earth revealed that since the start of the war, insiders at U.S. fossil fuel companies have sold nearly $400 million worth of stock. Executives at ConocoPhillips sold the most, approximately $96 million, followed by executives at natural gas exporters Cheniere Energy and Venture Global.

The report states that the recent stock sales by executives of the three companies have all exceeded the total amount sold in 2025. Specifically, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance sold nearly $80 million worth of stock in two transactions this March; Cheniere Energy executives also sold shares around the time the company's stock price reached a new high.

Analysts point out that the rise in oil and gas company stock prices is directly related to soaring energy prices, and executives cashing out at high stock prices aligns with market incentive logic. However, critics argue that part of the profit growth comes from increased energy costs due to geopolitical conflicts, with the benefits ultimately borne by consumers, thus calling for a "windfall profits tax" on energy companies.

Currently, the proposal to impose a windfall profits tax on the energy sector in the United States has not yet received support from the Republican Party.

According to BlockBeats, on July 29, Israeli and UAE officials recently held multiple rounds of secret meetings in an unnamed third country to discuss coordinating their positions on Iran and taking joint action in the international arena. The report states that the UAE strongly opposed the US-Iran memorandum of understanding, believing that while the agreement might buy Iran time to improve its economic situation, it did not bring about substantial concessions. The two sides also discussed coordinating measures against Iran within international organizations and agreed that any action would require prior consultation with the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had an "excellent meeting" with US President Donald Trump on the 28th local time. Netanyahu said that both sides were aligned on the common goal of "ensuring Iran does not possess nuclear weapons," and described the meeting as "one of the most profound and best conversations" he had ever had with the US president.