Morning Minute is a daily newsletter authored by Tyler Warner. The insights and views expressed are solely his and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Be sure to check out our new daily news show that covers the major stories in just 5 minutes, available on Apple Pod or Spotify.

Good morning!

Here are today’s highlights:

  • Major cryptocurrencies showed positive movement over the holiday weekend; BTC rose to $63k, while HYPE reached $71
  • LIT surged nearly 50% this week following its integration with Robinhood, leading alternative coins
  • BTC ETFs reported net inflows on Thursday, ending a streak of outflows
  • ANSEM's market cap climbed to $350M, placing it among the top 100 cryptocurrencies
  • Daniel Sundheim invested $2.2M to acquire 22 CryptoPunks, enhancing his collection

📈 Crypto Prices Surge During the Holiday Weekend as ETF Flows Turn Positive

During the July 4 holiday weekend, major cryptocurrencies experienced a notable rise, with US markets remaining closed.

Bitcoin rebounded to over $63,000, marking a 5% increase for the week, although alternative cryptocurrencies took the lead.

  • ETH rose 12% to $1,770
  • SOL increased 11% to $81
  • HYPE climbed 12% to $71
  • ZEC surged 16% to $450

LIT was a standout performer among alternative cryptocurrencies, soaring 44% to $2.50 after its integration with Robinhood.

Overall, the CMC20 index for the top 20 digital assets saw a rise of approximately 9%.

Two main factors contributed to this positive shift. The first was a weaker-than-expected June jobs report, which revealed only 57,000 payrolls compared to the anticipated 113,000, alleviating concerns about potential rate hikes and allowing risk assets to flourish. The second, and more significant factor, was the positive shift in ETF flows. After witnessing a record outflow exceeding $4B in June, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $223.5 million on July 2. Ethereum ETFs also experienced positive movement, gaining approximately $15 million on July 1 and $29 million on July 2. This marks the initial signs of reversing the institutional selling that characterized June's downturn.

This rally follows a 21-month low of $57,950 at the start of July, after Bitcoin faced its worst first half since 2018 and 2022. Whales had been absorbing the ETF selling throughout the month, acquiring about $16.7 billion of BTC over two weeks, a trend often seen near previous market bottoms. The green ETF flows are the signal that bulls were anticipating.

Saylor’s ecosystem also benefited from Bitcoin's upswing, with STRC jumping 21% to $87.87 after hitting lows around $70, while MSTR stock also rebounded 21%, reclaiming the $100 mark.

While a couple of positive days do not negate a month of record outflows, the outperformance of alternative cryptocurrencies against Bitcoin is a classic indicator of a risk-on sentiment. For the first time in weeks, the flow dynamics are looking positive. The focus now shifts to whether this trend will sustain as full liquidity returns.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

  • Major cryptocurrencies are stable, with HYPE leading; BTC steady at $62k; ETH stable at $1,747; SOL steady at $80; HYPE up 2% at $70
  • DEXE (+15%), LAB (+9%), and LIT (+8%) were among the top performers
  • Oil stayed at $68; Gold increased 1% to $4,170
  • Stock futures are up as chip stocks recover; DOW flat, Nasdaq up 1%
  • President Trump defended his cryptocurrency investments after disclosing over $1 billion in earnings for 2025, countering conflict-of-interest allegations as Democrats renew requests to prohibit politicians and their families from engaging in the sector
  • Chances of the CLARITY Act passing briefly climbed to 55% following a change in position from two significant law enforcement organizations, but has since dropped to 44%; with only one month remaining until the critical August 7 deadline marking the Senate's summer recess
  • Vitalik Buterin presented Ethereum's "Lean Ethereum" roadmap, a 3-4 year initiative aimed at developing recursive STARKs as a native verification layer, replacing remaining quantum-vulnerable cryptography with post-quantum options, creating a "scalable state" type expected to reach 100 TB by 2030 to reduce transaction costs significantly, and examining RISC-V or leanISA VMs for programmable privacy
  • Bitcoin miner stress reached a historically low level, with the Miner Cycle Stress Composite declining to a new low for 2026 and entering its "undervalued" range, a condition previously observed near significant market bottoms in 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

  • Bitcoin ETFs recorded $223M in net inflows on Thursday (despite $527M in net outflows for the week); ETH ETFs saw $29M in inflows on Thursday ($13M outflows for the week)
  • STRC rebounded to $89.17 on Thursday, a 21% increase for the week

Meme Coin Tracker

📈 Myriad Market of the Day

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

  • Summer Finance was exploited over the weekend, with $6M drained thus far
  • VVV has dropped 20% since its equity announcement last week, currently trading at $11.56

🚚 NFT Market Updates

  • NFT leaders generally saw gains over the weekend; Punks rose 4% to 32.4 ETH, BAYC increased 5% to 9.2 ETH, Pudgy stable at 4.5 ETH; Hypurr’s +2% at 220 HYPE
  • Murakami Flowers (+29%) and Masks of Luci (+17%) 
  • Daniel Sundheim invested $2.2M for 22 Punks this past week, assembling one of the finest collections available

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