According to Sina Finance, British AI startup Emulate, founded last month by a team of former DeepMind scientists, is launching a new funding round worth hundreds of millions of dollars at a post-money valuation close to $4 billion. The company was incorporated in August 2026, and its founders include former Google DeepMind researchers Jack Parker-Holder and Matthew McGill. Emulate is in advanced talks with potential investors and plans to raise up to $700 million, which would value the company at $3.7 billion. The round is expected to be co-led by Index Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

According to RTHK, Sina Finance and Reuters, Asian equities were mixed at midday on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate increase in more than three years overnight, a quarter-point move whose hawkish tilt signaled one further hike this year and pushed the dollar to a seven-week high; the Bank of Japan is widely expected to raise rates on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 held modest gains, trading at 64,233.46, up 0.49% or 310.46 points as of 04:31 UTC, after opening more than 700 points higher and giving back most of the advance before noon. Chip-related names were mixed, with Tokyo Electron down 1.64% at 50,840 yen and Advantest off 0.75%, while Sony added 0.81%. Seoul's KOSPI advanced 0.73% to 6,767.15 as of 04:31 UTC. Samsung Electronics rose 0.49% to 254,750 won and SK Hynix edged up 0.11% to 1,761,000 won. Hong Kong stocks eased, with the Hang Seng Index at 24,533.46, down 0.73% or 180.32 points as of 04:31 UTC; the Hang Seng Tech Index shed 0.76% at the half-day, weighed by utility, property and technology shares. Tencent fell 1.29% to HK$427.80, Meituan lost 2.35% to HK$72.70, Alibaba slipped 1.04% to HK$105.10 and Xiaomi eased 0.84% to HK$25.96. Taiwan's TAIEX outperformed, rising 1.30% to 46,446.10 as of 04:31 UTC. TSMC gained 2.10% to NT$2,430.00, MediaTek added 0.99% and Hon Hai rose 1.61%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite eased 0.36% to 3,877.46 and the CSI 300 fell 0.36% to 4,463.99 as of 04:31 UTC, with both Shanghai and Shenzhen gauges lower at the half-day close.

Shares of Hong Kong developers fell after the city raised interest rates following the Federal Reserve, according to Bloomberg. The move stoked concern that higher borrowing costs could derail a nascent recovery in the housing market.

Gasoline is poised to extend gains as tightness in global fuel markets spreads, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The bank shifted its trading call to gasoline from diesel, Bloomberg reported.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the city plans to almost double spending on innovation in coming years and increase financial support for new parents, according to Bloomberg. Lee announced the measures Wednesday as he unveiled Hong Kong’s first five-year development plan, with the government seeking new growth engines and trying to slow a decline in births.

Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Thursday that she expects the Bank of Japan to manage monetary policy properly in a stable and sustainable manner to achieve its 2% inflation target. According to Sina Finance, Katayama said she hopes the Bank of Japan will maintain close communication with the government. After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday, the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, and Katayama declined to comment on exchange-rate moves.

CoinShares PLC said shareholders approved all resolutions at a special general meeting on September 15, 2026, including authorization for the company to repurchase up to 25% of its outstanding ordinary shares. According to ChainCatcher, shareholders also approved the CoinShares PLC 2026 equity incentive plan, which is intended to implement a previously approved equity pool across operating jurisdictions without increasing the number of reserved shares.

China’s Ministry of State Security warned that some foreign crypto projects are collecting citizens’ iris data in exchange for digital tokens, raising concerns over privacy and national security. The advisory closely aligns with Worldcoin, which is under increasing global scrutiny for its biometric data practices.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has led a team of six senators to repeal Trump's decision to dissolve the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET).

Singapore is cracking down on illegal trading of Worldcoin accounts and tokens, with seven individuals under investigation and five already arrested. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has clarified that Worldcoin itself isn't regulated under their Payment Services Act, but trading activities may violate the law, leading to severe penalties.

由于隐私问题，世界币面临着全球性的制裁，包括法国、印度、香港和巴西在内的多个国家都禁止使用世界币。尽管该公司雄心勃勃地要提供普遍的金融服务，但其方法和监管合规性仍然存在问题。

由于涉嫌操纵货币和洗钱，尼日利亚 EFCC 冻结了 1100 多个加密货币交易商的账户，这加剧了人们对加密货币监管的担忧。虽然尼日利亚中央银行否认了加密货币禁令，但 EFCC 的行动和监管的不确定性为尼日利亚加密货币的未来蒙上了一层阴影。

随着虹膜扫描技术的需求激增，Worldcoin 面临着原料短缺的问题。尽管面临挑战，但世界币的目标是通过生物识别认证和区块链创新彻底改变金融业。