☕️ Good morning, friends,

A little heartwarming story for the weekend:

A young salesman at a jewelry store in Suzhou accidentally knocked over a box of jade bracelets. More than 30 broke — total damage: about 140,000 USD.

The owner’s comment: “Young people make mistakes. What matters is that they learn from them.”

He kept the shattered pieces in the store as a reminder.

P.S. Our interns visited an Aldi in Shanghai. Spoiler: it has nothing in common with the ones in Europe or the U.S… 👀

📉 Break in Asia

After six straight record sessions, Asian markets finally took a pause.

Pop Mart plunged 9% — its steepest drop since April, even after reporting a staggering 1,200% jump in U.S. sales. Analysts are split on whether falling resale prices signal fading hype or simply more supply hitting the market.

TOP BIT

💰 Trump makes it happen: Crypto king walks free

Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. The crypto billionaire, convicted of money laundering in 2023, served four months in prison.
The White House called the move the end of the “war on crypto.” Critics, however, see it as open corruption — especially since Binance maintains close business ties with the Trump family.

The Details

🇺🇸 The president as savior: With the pardon, CZ is free of restrictions and could return to …