Morning Minute is a daily newsletter authored by Tyler Warner. The insights and views presented are his own and do not necessarily represent those of Decrypt. Also, don’t forget to check out our new daily news show which covers the key stories in just 5 minutes, available on Apple Pod or Spotify.
Good morning!
Here are today’s main highlights:
- Major cryptocurrencies have seen a rebound of 2-3% from their recent lows, with BTC rising back to $63k.
- Citadel has issued a warning regarding a potential decline in AI token expenditures ahead of the SpaceX IPO.
- Tether has led a $1.4 billion investment round for the robotics firm Neura.
- Mastercard has introduced AI Agent payments in collaboration with Coinbase and Ripple.
- Solana is now a sponsor of the World Series of Poker.
📉 Citadel Highlights AI Spending Concerns as Major IPOs Approach
Citadel Securities released a macro report earlier this month indicating that the pace of AI adoption is slowing due to rising costs, with tangible evidence supporting this claim.
In the last month alone:
- Amazon discontinued its internal KiroRank token leaderboard after it was manipulated by engineers.
- Microsoft scrapped the Claude Code initiative for around 5,000 employees as token expenses exceeded budget limits.
- Meta eliminated a similar leaderboard in April.
- Uber's CTO revealed that the company exhausted its entire 2026 AI coding budget within four months.
Companies are shifting from viewing token consumption as an achievement to questioning the actual value derived from their expenditures.
Citadel, one of the largest hedge funds, has just raised concerns about tokenomics...
And it’s not what you might expect pic.twitter.com/JvA1xtV6Sp
— Mo Shaikh 🇺🇸 (@Moshaikh) June 10, 2026
This warning comes just as the largest IPO slate in history is set to begin, with SpaceX anticipated to trade at approximately $1.77 trillion after market close today. This valuation heavily relies on the xAI computing business acquired in February. Anthropic filed a confidential S-1 on June 1, shortly after a funding round that valued it at nearly $965 billion, despite losing one of its key clients over cost concerns. OpenAI is preparing its own filing as well. A significant aspect of the investment in these AI firms is the expectation of continuous growth in token demand.
Citadel predicts that advanced AI capabilities will become concentrated among a few firms with the financial capacity to absorb computing costs, while others may have to scale back. This could result in a turbulent transition period, particularly as these massive IPOs draw liquidity from the market.
For investors, the opening of SpaceX on Friday will serve as a sentiment indicator for the AI sector. A successful launch could indicate a healthy risk appetite, while a lackluster performance might raise alarms. The market's direction will soon become clear.
🤖 Tether Leads $1.4 Billion Investment in NEURA Robotics
Stablecoin leader Tether spearheaded a $1.4 billion Series C round for NEURA Robotics, a German company specializing in humanoid robots, with support from Nvidia and Amazon. As part of this investment, NEURA will integrate cryptocurrency payment solutions and edge AI technology into its robots.
This marks a significant move for Tether as it diversifies its portfolio into physical AI applications. Over the past year, Tether has been converting profits from USDT into investments across computing, energy, and media, with humanoid robotics being the latest venture. The integration of onboard payments and edge intelligence suggests a future where machines can independently handle transactions, making the Mastercard initiative mentioned below seem more plausible.
This development signals that cash flows from stablecoins are quietly transforming into venture capital for AI development, placing Tether alongside industry giants like Nvidia and Amazon. For those seeking the next big trend in AI investments, robotics appears to be a prime candidate.
💳 Mastercard Introduces AI Agent Payments with Coinbase and Ripple
Mastercard has launched Agent Pay for Machines, a system that enables AI agents to autonomously purchase services and make payments using cards, bank accounts, or stablecoins. The stablecoin component was developed in partnership with crypto firms including Coinbase, Ripple, and Solana.
By allowing stablecoins to operate alongside traditional cards and bank transfers for machine-to-machine transactions, Mastercard is validating the use of crypto payment systems. Autonomous agents require fast-moving funds, and stablecoins facilitate transactions within seconds, any time of day.
This follows the recent launch of a wallet by MetaMask specifically designed for AI agents, signaling a rapidly developing landscape for agent-based payments that includes both wallet and settlement solutions. Stablecoins are increasingly becoming the preferred method of payment in the agent economy.
♠️ Solana Becomes a Sponsor of the World Series of Poker
The Solana Foundation has taken on the role of sponsor for the World Series of Poker, allowing players to enter tournaments and receive payouts in SOL or stablecoins, with MoonPay facilitating the payment process and Solana branding prominently displayed during events.
This partnership aligns well with the shared audience between poker and crypto, particularly since the online poker boom, and positions Solana in front of a vast global gambling audience at a key event. This announcement comes just a day after Kraken’s World Cup sponsorship deal. The crypto industry is making strides to increase its presence in mainstream culture, banking on visibility to convert into user adoption in the future.
For Solana, this sponsorship serves as a branding initiative during a time when SOL prices are under pressure, highlighting the foundation's commitment to long-term adoption rather than short-term price movements.
🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets
- Major cryptocurrencies are performing well; BTC is up 3.5% at $63.1k; ETH up 3% at $1,670; SOL up 3.5% at $65.70; HYPE up 2% at $56.90.
- XMR (+13%), NIGHT (+12%), and DEXE (+11%) are among the top gainers.
- Oil is down 1% at $87; Gold has decreased by 0.6% at $4,107.
- Stock futures are showing positive movement as oil prices drop, with the DOW up 0.7% and Nasdaq up 1.1%.
- Raydium lost $1.34 million following an exploit of its deprecated liquidity pools on Solana.
- Hyperliquid advocates and Paradigm are contesting new regulations for stablecoin issuers, pushing back against the latest proposed draft.
- Fold Holdings sold Bitcoin to pay off its debts, resulting in its share price doubling.
- Delaware lawmakers have moved forward with a bill to prohibit Bitcoin and crypto ATMs across the state.
Corporate Treasuries & ETFs
- Bitcoin ETFs experienced $214 million in net outflows on Wednesday, while ETH ETFs saw $36 million in outflows.
- The HYPE ETFs recorded $2.8 million in net inflows on the same day.
Meme Coin Tracker
- Meme coins showed positive movement; DOGE up 2%, SHIB up 2%, PEPE up 2%, PENGU up 3%, TRUMP up 5%, BONK up 4%, SPX up 8%, FARTCOIN up 5%.
- Kins (+120%), Unc (+110%) and neet (+15%) were the top performers on Solana.
- Base movers included Velvet (+113%), Sairi (+60%) and LFI (+20%).
📈 Myriad Market of the Day
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
- The team from Light Protocol is joining Helius to enhance Solana's ZK privacy layer, focusing on private on-chain payments and finance, fully composable and open-source.
🚚 What is happening in NFTs?
- NFT leaders remained mostly stable; Punks steady at 32.95 ETH, BAYC down 1% at 8.98 ETH, Pudgy steady at 4.4 ETH; Hypurr’s down 1% at 269 HYPE.
- Normies (+15%) and Redacted Remilios (+34%) were notable top performers.