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  • Germany 3-1 Northern Ireland: Julian Nagelsmann comments analysed

    Germany 3-1 Northern Ireland: Julian Nagelsmann comments analysed

    “Hopefully he gets a warm welcome when he comes to Belfast.”

    When Julian Nagelsmann finished his post-match interview following Germany’s 3-1 win over Northern Ireland, former defender Stephen Craigan was a little taken aback.

    For 68 minutes, Northern Ireland had matched the European heavyweights in the World Cup qualifier and were level as Isaac Price’s excellent finish from a corner cancelled out Serge Gnabry’s early opener.

    Germany, who were on a run of three straight defeats, eventually won the game through substitute Nadiem Amiri and a superb Florian Wirtz free-kick, but it was hardly a vintage showing from the four-time World Cup winners.

    So, what did Nagelsmann say that irked Craigan and the BBC Sport punditry team in Cologne?

    “It’s not easy to defend a lot of long balls and not easy to defend a lot of second balls, so I’m happy with the result,” Nagelsmann told BBC Sport NI.

    “It’s not that easy when every set piece and ball that’s free on the pitch they play a long ball and attack with 10 players with the second ball.

    “There are always a lot of players in our own red zone. It’s not brilliant to watch, this way of soccer, but it’s effective and it’s not that easy to defend it.

    “I think we had 10 or 12 set-pieces to defend, and we only conceded one goal. It’s really a strength of the Northern Ireland team. It’s not that easy – we have better players but it’s not that easy to defend this way of playing soccer.”

    Germany captain Joshua Kimmich had also described Northern Ireland’s approach as “a special style of playing”.

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  • Japan’s economy grew at faster rate in fiscal Q1 than initially thought

    Japan’s economy grew at faster rate in fiscal Q1 than initially thought

    Japan’s economy expanded at a stronger rate in the fiscal first quarter than previously estimated, despite worries about U.S. tariffs and domestic political uncertainty, according to government data

    TOKYO — Japan’s economy expanded at a stronger rate in the fiscal first quarter than previously estimated, despite worries about U.S. tariffs and domestic political uncertainty, according to government data released Monday.

    The Cabinet Office said Japan’s real gross domestic product, the sum value of a nation’s goods and services, grew at a seasonally adjusted 2.2% annualized rate in the April-June quarter from the previous quarter.

    That was better than the preliminary estimate for 1.0% growth, which came out last month, as solid consumer spending and inventories lifted growth more than previously thought.

    Quarter-on-quarter, Japan’s GDP grew 0.5%, up from the initial estimate for a 0.3% rise, which was also what analysts projected, according to RaboResearch.

    That marked the fifth straight quarter of growth. The annualized number shows what the growth, or contraction, would have been if the quarterly rate continued for a year.

    U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to raise tariffs on Japanese imports is a major worry for the export-dependent economy, especially auto exports, which now face a 15% tariff, up from 2.5%.

    Another concern is the looming political uncertainty after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced Sunday he is stepping down as head of the ruling party. A party election will follow over the next weeks.

    Private consumption rose 0.4%, according to the latest government data, better than the initial estimate for 0.2% growth, raising domestic demand growth into positive territory at 0.2% growth, instead of contracting 0.1%, as in the earlier data.

    Japan’s benchmark Nikkei rose in morning trading, despite Ishiba’s announcement on resigning, as the move was somewhat expected, and the market appeared to welcome the action as a step forward.

    But analysts say uncertainty remains because it’s still unclear what parties might be brought in to form a coalition with the ruling party.

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    Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

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  • Ethereum Stablecoin Supply Hits Record $165B With Daily $1B

    Ethereum Stablecoin Supply Hits Record $165B With Daily $1B

    Ethereum added around $5 billion in new stablecoins over the past week, pushing the total supply of stablecoins on the network to an all-time high. 

    The stablecoin supply on Ethereum has more than doubled since January 2024 and has reached an all-time high of $165 billion, Token Terminal reported on Sunday. 

    Figures vary slightly depending on the data provider, as RWA.xyz reports a total of $158.5 billion in Ethereum-based stablecoins, which is also an all-time high, giving the network a commanding market share of 57%. 

    Ethereum has been the network of choice for stablecoins. Its next closest competitor, Tron, has a market share of 27%, while Solana, in third place, has less than 4%. 

    Stablecoin supply on Ethereum surges. Source: Token Terminal 

    Tokenized gold on Ethereum surges

    Stablecoins are not the only financial instruments tokenized on Ethereum, as the network has also seen an all-time high in the amount of tokenized gold. 

    There is currently around $2.4 billion worth of tokenized gold on Ethereum, according to Token Terminal. 

    Related: Ether party won’t stop as RWAs, TradFi cement it as the best institutional play

    The tokenized gold supply has doubled year-to-date and is currently at an all-time high, it reported on Saturday. 

    RWA.zyx reports that Ethereum has a 77% market dominance for tokenized commodities, and an even higher 97% share when the layer-2 Polygon network is included. 

    Ethereum also has more than 70% market share of tokenized US Treasurys, which is the second largest asset to move onto the blockchain behind private credit. 

    Tokenized gold on Ethereum is also at an all-time high Source: Token Terminal 

    Ethereum’s RWA tokenization advantage 

    This RWA tokenization narrative has driven Ether (ETH) prices over 200% since April to an all-time high just below $5,000 on Aug. 24. 

    It has also been bolstered by the rapid accumulation of Ether by treasury corporations, which have scooped up almost 4% of the entire supply in just five months. 

    Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano said over the weekend that this is due to “credible neutrality,” which is fundamental to Ethereum. 

    “The only way mass adoption of this technology happens is through actual, credibly neutral, and permissionless systems that are not owned by anyone and are not affiliated with any single entity.”

    New funds tokenized on Ethereum 

    Global financial institutions are also racing to tokenize their products, with many choosing Ethereum.

    “Fidelity, the third largest asset manager in the world, launched a tokenized US Treasurys fund on Ethereum,” said Sassano on Monday. 

    The Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT) appears to have launched onchain on Sept. 1 and currently has $203.6 million in total asset value, according to RWA.xyz. 

    Magazine: Bitcoin may sink ‘below $50K’ in bear, Justin Sun’s WLFI saga: Hodler’s Digest