MAYHEM MEL NEWS

Gold edges lower below $4,450 as Middle East tensions add inflation pressure - Gold price drifts lower to around $4,445 in Tuesday’s early Asian session.  - Renewed Middle East tensions have fueled inflation concerns and bets the Fed could raise interest rates in September. - Traders are pricing in nearly a 65.4% chance of a September hike after Fed’s Warsh vowed to fight inflation.  Gold price (XAU/USD) declines to near $4,445 during the early Asian trading hours on Tuesday. The precious metal loses momentum as ongoing tensions in the Middle East stoked concerns about inflationary pressures that could make the Federal Reserve hike interest rates.  US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to forcefully strike Iran after Washington and Tehran exchanged fire for the first time in a month. Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted US military bases in the two Middle Eastern countries in response to the first US strikes on Iran in weeks. The US military announced an attack Sunday on what it said were Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, in the Strait of Hormuz... https://www.fxstreet.com/news/gold-edges-lower-below-4-450-as-middle-east-tensions-add-inflation-pressure-202608312330

Regulating stablecoin issuance: permissible entities and activities Regulatory approaches for stablecoin issuance differ significantly, particularly in terms of the types of entities allowed to issue them and the scope of activities permitted beyond core issuance. These differences are important since additional activities such as lending, staking or providing custody services can alter an entity's risk profile and influence the safeguards needed for its core issuance operations. Stablecoin frameworks generally limit issuers to a core set of functions such as issuance, redemption and reserve management, but they differ in how far issuers may stray from them. Frameworks that allow banks to issue under existing prudential regimes tend to permit a broader range of activities, as their regulatory framework already mitigates associated risks. In constrast, bespoke regimes for stablecoin issuers impose stricter limits. These activity restrictions apply to the issuing entity rather than the group. For banks, consolidated supervision already constrains the relocation of activities to affiliates; for non-banks, no equivalent group-wide framework applies, and restrictions can be circumvented with corporate structuring. This suggests stablecoin frameworks, or related regimes, may need to extend group-level oversight to non-bank issuers, especially for larger groups. Such oversight would be particularly important unless other measures, proportionate to the level of risk, are in place to effectively mitigate risks arising from other group activities. https://www.bis.org/publications/fsi-brief-33-regulating-stablecoin-issuance--permissible-entities-and-activities

Speech by Mr Pablo Hernández de Cos, General Manager of the BIS, at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, 28 August 2026. Stablecoins versus tokenized deposits I will first assess whether stablecoins and tokenized deposits uphold the monetary properties that anchor trust – singleness, interoperability and integrity. I will then explore the macro financial implications of their broader adoption. Monetary properties Both stablecoins and tokenized deposits use tokenization to transfer value on programmable rails. But their differences are of first-order importance for the monetary system. Take singleness first. Assume Ben wants to transfer a dollar’s worth of stablecoins to Marie. Ben owns USDT (Tether), but Marie only accepts USDC (Circle). In order to make the transfer, Ben needs to sell USDT in the secondary market and use the proceeds to buy USDC, which he can then send to Marie. Since deviations from par in secondary markets are the norm – and sizeable under stress – this transaction may not go through at par. There is no mechanism that enforces singleness. By contrast, tokenized deposits are account-based bank liabilities recorded on a programmable platform; payments debit the payer’s balance and credit the payee’s balance, with interbank settlement though central bank accounts in the background. Hence in the tokenized deposit model, settlement in central bank money preserves singleness, under which claims denominated in that unit are redeemable at par with central bank money with finality. https://www.bis.org/speeches/20260828-pushing-monetary-frontier-stablecoins-and-tokenised-deposits

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Just Thought I Drop This Off: JP Morgan has been quietly reclassifying specific branch locations not all of them, targeted ones in markets with statistically insignificant foreign-currency-holding demographics. Translation: They're not adding Wealth Management desks in branches serving high-net-zero expat communities. They're adding them in places like suburban Ohio, middle Tennessee, the Florida panhandle regions where the average account holder is a middle-class American who has been holding physical IQD in desk drawers for years. These aren't wealth management additions for existing millionaires. They're intake stations. Which means they are not doing this for existing clients. They are preparing for "YOU". Reportedly this was also shared. That these sections are being staffed with personnel who have received accelerated training in exotic currency redemption procedures specifically, the documentation chain required for large-volume foreign note exchanges that exceed standard Treasury reporting thresholds. The training materials reference "anticipated high-denomination foreign currency events" without naming the IQD explicitly. But the denomination ranges cited in the internal protocols match IQD note values exactly 25,000; 10,000; 5,000; 1,000; 500; 250. Wells Fargo has initiated a series of what they're calling scheduled system maintenance windows multi-hour lockdowns of specific currency exchange modules within their core banking platform. These windows are occurring on weekends, which is standard, but the frequency has increased dramatically since Q2 2026. The modules being updated aren't the standard FX rails used for everyday currency exchanges. They're the ISO 20022-compliant corridors the same messaging standard that XRP, QFS, and the post-Basel III settlement frameworks all use. https://x.com/Prolotario1/status/2094534570544644280?s=20

Prime Minister: Discussions to complete the government lineup will be finalized this week, in preparation for submitting it to Parliament next week. https://x.com/INA__NEWS/status/2094532691378983278?s=20

BREAKING: Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll just RESIGNED, submitting his resignation to President Trump — WSJ This comes after he reportedly had differences and "friction" with SecWar Pete Hegseth. https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2094545766714954031?s=20

IMF COFER Data Puts Dollar at 57.13% of Reserves, Framing Bitcoin (BTC) Macro IMF COFER data shows the dollar at 57.13% of global reserves while debt and Fed friction shape Bitcoin (BTC)'s macro backdrop into the September FOMC. IMF COFER data puts the dollar at 57.13% of allocated global reserves in Q1 2026, up from 56.42%. US Treasury widened nominal bond buybacks to a minimum $4 billion per operation from September 9. Gold fell 3.2% in one session, closing below its 200-day moving average of $4,526.24. Goldman Sachs Research projects gold at $4,900 per troy ounce by end-2026 on central-bank buying. https://en.coinotag.com/dollar-holds-57-13-percent-of-global-reserves-imf-data

Multi-currency wallet, cashback or miles? How to choose the best way to pay overseas From prepaid cards for children to complimentary travel insurance, banks and fintech firms have moved past offering zero foreign currency fees as the sole selling point for their overseas digital payments services. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/travel-foreign-exchange-currency-spending-overseas-6351966

Vietnam targets AI economy to reach 6% of GDP by 2030 The Government has approved a national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy through 2030, with a vision to 2045, targeting an AI-driven economy equivalent to around 6% of GDP by 2030, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The strategy sets out a shift from AI research, development and application towards comprehensive national transformation powered by AI. By 2030, Vietnam aims to become one of ASEAN and Asia’s leading centers for AI research, development, application and value co-creation. It targets a position among the top three Southeast Asian countries in AI research and development, while AI-related exports of products, services and solutions are expected to reach around $5 billion. https://t.co/AYFh0vyJ6O

Quality the selling point Vietnam’s economy continued its positive recovery throughout the first half of 2026, and alongside it consumer behavior and digital adoption shifted noticeably. E-commerce continued to confirm its role as a core distribution channel for modern retail, but the numbers behind that growth tell a more interesting story than the headline figure alone suggests. According to Metric.vn’s “Vietnam’s First-Half 2026 E-commerce Overview and Third-Quarter Forecast” report, Vietnam’s online retail market kept expanding through the first half of 2026. Combined sales across Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Tiki reached VND291.6 trillion ($11 billion), up 44.11 per cent year-on-year, with the market expected to keep growing into the third quarter, when sales are forecast to reach VND146.3 trillion ($5.5 billion). https://en.vneconomy.vn/quality-the-selling-point.htm

New policies take effect from September 2026 Among new policies is a decree regulating penalties for violations involving foreign workers in Vietnam. Several new policies regarding pension and social security payments via VNeID, identification codes for land plots, ID cards for children under six, and penalties for violations involving foreign workers shall take effect in September 2026, according to the Government News. https://en.vneconomy.vn/new-policies-take-effect-from-september-2026.htm

US dollar exchange rate increases against Iraqi dinar The exchange rate for the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar experienced an increase on Monday in both Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The US dollar exchange rate rose in Baghdad’s al-Kifah and al-Harithiya stock exchanges, reaching 1,541.5 Iraqi dinars compared to 1,540 Iraqi dinars on Sunday morning. The exchange rate in currency exchange shops in Baghdad ranged between 1,545 Iraqi dinars and 1,535 Iraqi dinars, Shafaq News reported. In Erbil, the US dollar exchange rate increased, fluctuating between 1,541.5 and 1,541 Iraqi dinars. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) said in February 2023 that it has begun using the new US dollar exchange rate of 1,300 dinars to every US dollar. The previous official exchange rate was 1,450 dinars to one US dollar, which was being exchanged in the parallel market at a rate of 1,550 dinars. While the official exchange rate was 1,450 dinars per dollar in January 2023, the US currency was being exchanged at 1,610 dinars during the same month in the parallel market in Iraq. This variation indicated a difference of over 10 percent in the exchange rates. https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/us-dollar-exchange-rate-increases-against-iraqi-dinar/

Iraq exports 21 million barrels of fuel oil through Syria Iraq’s fuel oil exports through Syria have seen a significant increase since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28. Iraqi oil flows via neighboring Syria are part of alternative routes for the country’s oil shipments to global markets following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Total Iraqi fuel oil exports transported via Syria reached 21.4 million barrels between March and the end of August 2026. This step is part of Baghdad’s continuous efforts to establish alternate export channels amid shipping disruptions via the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s primary maritime trade artery, which led to unprecedented challenges to the oil industry. Iraqi fuel oil began flowing overland through Syrian territory after the Iraqi state-owned oil marketing company (SOMO) reached deals to transport approximately 650,000 tons per month (approximately 4.7 million barrels) to be stored at the Baniyas port before being shipped to global markets. https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraq-exports-21-million-barrels-of-fuel-oil-through-syria/

Iraq discusses oil and gas development with BP, ConocoPhillips Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Khudair and representatives from British Petroleum (BP) and Texas-based ConocoPhillips discussed on Monday the development of Iraq’s oil and gas industry. The meeting held in Baghdad included BP’s Iraq director Zaid al-Yasiri, Nader Zaki, Ariel Flores, and ConocoPhillips representative William Arnold, as well as senior Iraqi officials in the oil sector. The discussions addressed strategic advancements to maximize the utilization of Iraq’s hydrocarbon resources, optimize field development, and upgrade extraction technologies, according to a statement cited by the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA). The Iraqi Oil Ministry activated in early August its Kirkuk oilfield contract with BP, a project aiming to elevate crude oil production from its current capacity of 320,000 barrels per day to a peak target of 420,000 barrels per day. The deal expands crude extraction while capturing associated gas to eliminate gas flaring and provide fuel for power plants. https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraq-discusses-oil-and-gas-development-with-bp-conocophillips/

🔥19 MILLION OUNCES OF SILVER STAND FOR COMEX DELIVERY ON SEPTEMBER FIRST NOTICE DAY⚠️ 🏦COMEX SILVER DELIVERIES REPORT🏦 🔥3,830 Silver Deliveries Issued on First Notice Day! 3,830 Silver Deliveries Issued on First Notice Day! JP Morgan Issued 1,454 Notices Standard Chartered's HOUSE Account Issued 864!HSBC Issued 412 BNP Paribas Issued 389 Macquarie's HOUSE Account Stopped 386 JP Morgan Stopped 1600 STONEX'S HOUSE Account Stopped 679 Citigroup's HOUSE Account Stopped 63 RBC Capital's HOUSE Account Stopped 648 🚨TOTAL COMEX SEPTEMBER SILVER DELIVERIES 3,830 CONTRACTS - 19.15 MILLION OUNCES⚠️ https://x.com/silvertrade/status/2094431263209763111?s=20