Cerebras Systems has launched its next-generation CS-4 AI accelerator, saying it can support models exceeding 50 trillion parameters and cut wafer-to-wafer latency to as little as two microseconds. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $180.1 million and a market capitalization of about $49.1 billion. CBRS began trading on May 14, 2026 after pricing its IPO at $185, and the stock closed its first session at $311.07, up 68.2% from the offering price.

All three major U.S. stock indexes finished higher, with the S&P 500 up 0.4%, the Dow rising 517 points and the Nasdaq gaining 0.4%. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed to its highest level since 2007, helping lift gold to a session high above $4,690 an ounce. Concerns over the rapid growth of U.S. government debt also pushed yields higher. The Australian dollar strengthened to US71.64¢.

Metallicus said it has received FedNow service certification, covering send, receive, liquidity management and Request for Payment (RFP) capabilities. The company said this infrastructure runs alongside the Metallicus blockchain ecosystem, including XPR Network, WebAuth Wallet, digital identity, stablecoins, DeFi and institutional digital-asset infrastructure. The move connects XPR Network to the Federal Reserve’s FedNow instant payments network through Metallicus, creating a compliant pathway for integrating crypto payments with traditional financial infrastructure.

NVIDIA will pay $6 billion to license AI startup Poolside’s technology and hire most of its engineers, and will invest another $1 billion for an equity stake at a $12 billion valuation. The company also plans to raise prices for its Grace Blackwell GPUs and Vera Rubin systems by about 15% early next year, with a single Vera Rubin NVL 72 rack potentially priced at around $8 million. The move could push the total cost of a 1GW data center in the US to nearly $60 billion.

Soros Fund Management opened a new position in Nebius in the second quarter, ending the period with 310,000 Class A shares valued at about $85.6 million. NBIS jumped nearly 9% on Aug. 14 after the stake became public, marking its best five-day performance. Nebius also reported Q2 revenue of $582.3 million, up 454% year over year and above analysts’ estimates, driven by demand for AI computing capacity. The company plans $20 billion to $25 billion in capital expenditures this year to expand its AI infrastructure, and NBIS was $223.90 as of Aug. 19, up 164% year to date.

Bitcoin perpetual contracts have gone live in the United States, while the SEC has yet to finalize a clear regulatory framework for crypto. The SEC proposed rules on the 18th that would create a path for token-network fundraising, and the CLARITY Act remains under consideration in Congress to split crypto market oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. Bitcoin traded around $77,000 that day, up about 22% over seven days.

Duolingo said at an Aug. 18 investor meeting that daily active users grew 27.4% year over year, helping push its shares up 4.6% that day. In fiscal 2026 Q2, adjusted EPS was $0.66, topping the $0.61 consensus estimate on cost discipline and lower costs tied to integrating generative AI. The platform reported 58.7 million daily active users and 12.7 million paid subscribers, while the stock is down 56.84% over the past year and 16.7% so far in 2026.

Solana hit several milestones this week, including its first slot-time reduction to 350ms. Shinhan Asset Management partnered with the Solana Foundation and other firms to build a KRW tokenized fund. Securitize and Neuberger Berman launched HINC on Solana, tapping Neuberger’s $230B+ asset-management platform. Solmate’s treasury reached ~1.25M SOL, while the $MRNA token posted more than $4.5M in onchain volume in its first 24 hours on Solana.