According to Fixygen, Ukrainian Investment and Analytical Company LLC (UIAK, TM PlanetAvto), a member of the non-bank financial group “PLANETGROUP,” began the initial offering of its debut Series A corporate bond issue totaling 50 million UAH on August 25.
Under the terms of the issue, investors are being offered 50,000 bonds with a par value of 1,000 UAH each. The interest rate for the first four interest periods—that is, the first year of circulation—is set at 25% per annum in UAH, with the coupon paid quarterly.
The initial offering will run from August 25 to September 8, 2026. The total term of the bonds is five years, with an annual offer allowing holders to present the securities to the issuer for redemption at par value.
After the first four interest periods, the rate will be determined in accordance with the terms of the prospectus and may range from 5% to 35% per annum.
The investment firm “UNIVER Capital” is acting as the organizer and underwriter of the offering. Individuals and legal entities may submit applications to purchase bonds via the UNIVER app or the investor’s account. Settlements during the initial offering are conducted on a DvP (“delivery versus payment”) basis.
Following the completion of the initial offering, “UNIVER Capital” plans to maintain two-way quotes for the bonds on the secondary market.
UIAC states that it plans to allocate 100% of the funds raised toward expanding its automotive financial leasing portfolio. The company has been operating in the market since 2013 and holds a license to provide financial leasing services.
As reported by Open4Business, in 2025, UIAK’s revenue grew nearly 2.9-fold—to 40.68 million UAH, with net income totaling approximately 3.02 million UAH. According to the offering prospectus, the company forecasts revenue of 50 million UAH and net income of approximately 5 million UAH for 2026.
According to data provided by the group, UIAK’s assets as of the end of 2025 totaled approximately 27.2 million UAH, and its equity was approximately 21 million UAH.
The company’s main areas of activity are financial leasing and automobile sales. UIAK is integrated into the infrastructure of the PlanetAvto automotive marketplace.
Andriy Kovtun and Tetiana Yagupova are co-owners of the company on an equal basis. Kovtun is also the controlling shareholder of the non-bank financial group “PLANETGROUP.”
The group is simultaneously developing its fundraising efforts through the corporate bond market and other participants in the ecosystem. In August, Avtokredit Plus LLC (PlanetAvto) began placing Series C bonds totaling 100 million UAH with an interest rate of 24% per annum for the first four interest periods. The proceeds from this issuance are also being directed toward the development of auto financial leasing.
Thus, the total volume of the two current bond programs of PlanetAvto Group companies amounts to 150 million UAH.
Open4Business previously reported on August 17, 2026, that UIAK had registered its debut five-year bond issue worth 50 million UAH.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the founders of the 2KOLYORY embroidered clothing brand—whose production facilities have repeatedly suffered damage as a result of enemy strikes—have decided to close their business, as reported on the brand’s Facebook page.
“We are closing 2KOLYORY. For over 10 years, we have been building 2KOLYORY—here in Ukraine. We sewed embroidered shirts, shared a part of our culture with the world, and worked with people we love and cherish. The war has changed more than just our lives. It has changed our business. Our production facility has survived three shelling attacks. They left behind damaged walls, windows, doors, utilities, and traces of destruction,” the post reads.
The post notes that 2KOLYORY was a brand of embroidery known in Ukraine, Europe, and America.
“We recovered. We kept working. We looked for opportunities. We fulfilled orders even when it seemed we had no strength left. But the time has come to be honest: we can no longer continue on this path in the format we’ve operated in all these years,” the founders wrote.
They assured that all orders currently in production will be fulfilled in full by the end of September.
“Perhaps this isn’t quite the end. Perhaps this is the end of 2KOLYORY as you knew it, and the beginning of something new,” the post reads.
The brand’s story began in 2015, when husband and wife Igor and Oksana Kovalenko founded their own production facility.
The brand has a store in Kyiv, and its online store offers a wide selection of linen and cotton embroidered clothing for women, men, and children, as well as home textiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, and Romanian President Nicușor Dan will hold a trilateral meeting in Chisinau on Thursday, August 27, as part of the events marking the 35th anniversary of Moldova’s independence.
According to the schedule released by the Romanian Presidential Administration, the trilateral meeting between Zelenskyy, Sandu, and Dan is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. at the Presidential Palace in Chisinau. Following the talks, the three heads of state will make joint statements to the press.
The official program from the Moldovan side states that Sandu will meet with the Romanian president at 2:35 p.m. After bilateral talks, Sandu and Dan will take part in a military parade on the Great National Assembly Square, dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the country’s independence. The presidents are scheduled to begin their participation in the parade at 4:45 p.m.
The Moldovan president will meet with Zelenskyy at 6:00 p.m., followed by a trilateral meeting of delegations from Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania.
In the evening, Zelenskyy, Sandu, and Dan will also take part in festive events on the Great National Assembly Square. After 9:00 p.m., the three presidents are scheduled to address the public.
On August 27, Moldova celebrates the 35th anniversary of the declaration of independence. The country’s parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence on August 27, 1991. This year’s events are taking place under the slogan “Independence Unites Us.”
Official source: Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova, statement dated August 26, 2026.
According to Fixygen, the standoff between traditional banks and cryptocurrencies is gradually changing in nature: the largest financial institutions are no longer trying to prove that they don’t need blockchain; instead, they are beginning to migrate bank deposits and payments to the very same technological infrastructure on which stablecoins operate.
One of the most significant developments in August was the creation of the BankChain Alliance in the U.S., which brought together banking associations from 39 states. The project aims to create a banking blockchain network by 2027 that will be capable of supporting tokenized deposits, stablecoins, automated settlements, and programmable payments.
In effect, small and regional U.S. banks are trying to develop their own alternative to cryptocurrency payment infrastructure, rather than ceding this market to Circle, Coinbase, and tech companies.
Major banks are moving in the same direction.
On August 4, Wells Fargo announced the launch of tokenized deposits for corporate clients. These funds are bank money recorded on the blockchain and enable round-the-clock settlements, including on weekends. The first phase involves transactions between the U.S. dollar and the British pound, and by 2027, the bank intends to expand its geographic reach and list of currencies.
The fundamental difference between a tokenized deposit and USDC or USDT lies in who the issuer is.
In the case of a traditional stablecoin, the customer holds a digital claim against a specialized issuer. In the case of a tokenized deposit, the customer still holds a bank deposit, but the infrastructure for managing it is blockchain-based.
Therefore, banks are essentially telling the crypto industry: we accept the technology, but we want to keep the money within the banking system.
Payment systems have gone even further.
Visa reported that its annual volume of transactions in stablecoins reached approximately $7 billion, and in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEE) region, the volume of such transactions increased nearly 60-fold over the year. The company is already developing more than 160 card programs linked to stablecoins.
In July, Visa launched a dedicated platform, the Visa Stablecoin Platform, through which banks, fintech companies, and payment providers will be able to work with stablecoins within a unified infrastructure. In August, the company also expanded Visa Direct to include the ability to make payments and provide pre-funding using stablecoins.
At the same time, the use of stablecoins directly by consumers is growing rapidly.
According to an estimate by the payment company RedotPay, cited by Reuters, spending via cards linked to stablecoins could rise to approximately $50 billion per year by 2028. As early as July 2026, the monthly volume of such card payments exceeded $1 billion for the first time.
The most important factor driving changes in the market is regulation in the U.S.
On August 17, the U.S. Department of the Treasury published a new draft rule for implementing the GENIUS Act. Starting January 18, 2027, the issuance of payment stablecoins in the U.S. will generally be permitted only to licensed issuers. Starting in July 2028, U.S. service providers will also face restrictions on offering users stablecoins issued without the appropriate license.
As a result, the market is entering a completely new phase.
Just a few years ago, the question went something like this: Will cryptocurrencies replace banks?
Now the question has changed: Who will control the digital dollar—crypto companies, banks, or payment systems?
This is precisely where one of the major financial competitive battles of the next few years may unfold.
Circle and Tether have created a model of dollar-backed money that can be transferred around the clock and almost instantly. Banks have realized that customers truly want this functionality, but they are unwilling to hand over the deposits—on which the traditional banking model is based—to tech companies.
As a result, the market is gradually moving toward the coexistence of three forms of the digital dollar.
The first is traditional bank money.
The second is tokenized bank deposits, which Wells Fargo and other banks are transferring to the blockchain.
The third is stablecoins, which exist outside the traditional deposit account system but are becoming increasingly integrated into the financial system under new regulatory conditions.
The winner here has not yet been determined. But one conclusion is already clear: the blockchain infrastructure itself is no longer just an experiment in the cryptocurrency sector.
If the largest banks and Visa begin to process payments 24/7 via blockchain, the major technological debate of the past decade will effectively come to an end.
Blockchain hasn’t destroyed banks—banks have begun to embrace blockchain.
Sources: U.S. Treasury, Wells Fargo, Visa, Reuters, publications from August 4–26, 2026.
In Nepal, 53 Ukrainian citizens are currently listed as missing following the natural disaster, including 46 tourists with whom contact was lost on Wednesday morning, the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters.
According to the Nepal Tourism Police, a total of 53 Ukrainian citizens are currently considered missing as a result of the natural disaster. Thus, the 46 tourists are included in the total number of missing persons.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a report regarding the loss of contact this morning with a group of 46 Ukrainian tourists in the disaster zone. Overall, according to the Nepal Tourism Police, 53 Ukrainian citizens are currently considered missing as a result of the disaster,” the statement reads.
The Ukrainian embassies in India and China are in contact with the relevant authorities in those countries regarding search operations that could help locate the Ukrainian citizens.
“At the same time, as of now, there is no information regarding the presence of Ukrainian citizens among the dead or injured,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.
According to information released by the ministry on Wednesday evening, at the personal instruction of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, the Ukrainian embassies in India and China are using the known personal data of the missing citizens to take steps to establish contact with them and carry out other necessary actions.
In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ “hotline” has received eight reports from relatives regarding the loss of contact with individuals on the aforementioned list. These reports are part of the total of 53 Ukrainian citizens who are currently considered missing.
The Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Nepal has also been involved on the ground.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Consular Service, and the Ukrainian embassies in India and China are working to gather additional information, coordinate with foreign authorities to locate the Ukrainians, and provide information and assistance to their relatives.
As previously reported, as of Wednesday evening, at least 16 people had died as a result of flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa District on the border with China, and at least 384 tourists are considered missing. Among them are 93 Nepalese residents and 291 foreigners, including citizens of the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and India. The citizenship of 111 people is still being determined.
Nine police officers who were on duty along the Nepal-China border are missing.
The nationalities of the deceased have not been specified.
During the search and rescue operations, security forces managed to rescue 25 people. Operations are ongoing.
The flooding was caused by rising water levels in the Bhote Koshi River, which originates in Tibet and flows through Nepal. The settlements located near the river were hit the hardest, particularly Timure and Syaaprubesi. The water flooded marketplaces and residential neighborhoods, caused serious damage to police stations and hydroelectric facilities, and destroyed bridges and roads.
According to preliminary data, the rise in the river’s water level may have been caused by a landslide in Tibet.
The Ukrainian embassies in India and China promptly contacted the relevant authorities to inquire whether any Ukrainian citizens were among those affected by the landslides on the border between Tibet and Nepal.
According to Fixygen, Bitcoin returned above the $80,000 mark in late August, posting one of its strongest weekly rallies in recent months, however, the current movement differs from typical cryptocurrency rallies—a significant portion of the demand is coming through regulated exchange-traded funds, and the U.S. government bond market has become one of the key macroeconomic factors.
On Tuesday, August 25, Bitcoin rose above $80,000 and reached a three-month high. According to Reuters, the leading cryptocurrency has gained about 28% since the beginning of August, which could be its best monthly performance since November 2024.
One of the triggers for the rally was action taken by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On August 19, the Treasury announced that, starting September 9, it would increase the volume of buyback operations for long-term Treasury bonds to support market liquidity. The decline in yields on long-term securities and the simultaneous weakening of the dollar boosted demand for alternative assets, primarily gold and Bitcoin.
But unlike previous cryptocurrency cycles, this demand is now clearly visible within the traditional financial system.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have shifted from a series of outflows to a steady inflow of capital. According to Farside Investors, the funds saw net inflows of $297.5 million on August 17, $189.3 million on August 18, $517.2 million on August 19, $606.3 million on August 20, and $307.5 million on August 21.
After the weekend, the trend continued: on August 24, the funds attracted another $337.6 million, and on August 25, $314.3 million. Thus, over seven consecutive trading days, net inflows totaled approximately $2.57 billion.
The BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust remains the primary recipient of these funds. On August 20 alone, the IBIT received approximately $503 million; on August 24, $208.9 million; and on August 25, another $284.4 million. According to Farside data, the fund’s cumulative net inflow since its launch has already exceeded $62.9 billion.
This strong momentum was further amplified by the closing of short positions. The market was approaching an August reversal after a prolonged decline from the 2025 all-time highs, so a significant portion of traders were bracing for a further drop. The sharp rally forced participants to close out short positions, which added mechanical demand for Bitcoin.
As a result, Bitcoin rose by approximately 23% over the week, while Ethereum gained nearly 29%. After reaching the $80,000 mark, Bitcoin pulled back to the $78,000–$79,000 range, indicating profit-taking following the rapid rally.
In our view, the most interesting development is not the $80,000 mark itself, but the nature of the current demand.
In previous cycles, Bitcoin rose primarily on expectations within the cryptocurrency market itself. Now, it is increasingly becoming part of the same macroeconomic narrative as gold: investors are buying assets whose supply cannot be increased by a decision from a central bank or government.
The difference lies in volatility. While gold remains a conservative safe-haven asset, Bitcoin is effectively becoming a high-risk, highly volatile bet on the weakening of the dollar’s purchasing power.
At the same time, ETFs have made this strategy much more accessible to institutional investors. To increase their exposure to Bitcoin, a fund or asset management firm no longer needs to deal with crypto exchanges or store digital assets on its own—it’s enough to purchase an exchange-traded instrument from BlackRock, Fidelity, or another major asset manager.
That is why capital flows into ETFs are becoming one of the most important indicators of the market’s future direction. If the inflow of several hundred million dollars per day continues, it could provide Bitcoin with fundamental demand even after the short squeeze ends.
If, however, ETFs return to outflows, the current movement risks turning out to be primarily a rapid recovery rally following a sharp decline.
Thus, the near future will show whether Bitcoin has established itself in a new role—not merely as a speculative cryptocurrency, but as an institutional instrument for betting on the dollar, liquidity, and U.S. monetary policy.
