Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt.
Good morning!
Here are today’s key highlights:
- Major cryptocurrencies show slight gains as stock prices reach new all-time highs; BTC is up 0.5% to $64,100.
- Bitcoin ETF inflows have surged to $380 million over the first two trading sessions of the week.
- Justin Drake and a group of researchers have introduced EIP-8361, aimed at reducing inflation in Ethereum.
- Cloudflare has rolled out Cloudflare Wallets, designed for payments made by AI agents.
- CASHCAT has experienced a remarkable 40% increase, reaching a market cap of $96 million, leading a broader recovery on the Robinhood Chain.
🔮 Jim Cramer has decided to sell his Bitcoin holdings due to fears surrounding quantum computing.
During a recent broadcast on CNBC, Cramer discussed the potential threat of quantum computers to cryptocurrency security with IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. When asked about the risk of quantum technology breaking the cryptographic protections of Bitcoin, Krishna suggested a timeframe of three to four years for significant concern. Cramer, acknowledging Krishna’s expertise, stated, “I’m going to sell mine,” expressing that Ethereum could face even greater risks. Notably, Bitcoin's price rose approximately 1.6% on the day of his announcement.
Traders in the crypto space reacted positively to Cramer’s news, humorously referencing the “inverse Cramer” phenomenon, wherein the market tends to move opposite to his suggestions. One trader remarked, “Thank you, Jim!” It’s worth noting that Cramer has a history of selling at market lows; in December 2022, he sold all his crypto holdings when Bitcoin was priced around $16,800, just before it surged over 400% in the following years.
Despite Cramer’s spotty record, the threat posed by quantum computing remains a legitimate concern for the crypto market. Recent incidents, such as the Coldcard exploit, attributed to AI, have resulted in losses exceeding $100 million, following a series of DeFi hacks totaling more than $300 million. This situation may prompt crypto teams to take the quantum threat more seriously and implement necessary security measures, as evidenced by ZEC's proactive approach to identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in their cryptography.
Cramer’s apprehension is valid, but it remains to be seen if he will again sell at a low point in the market cycle.
🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets
- Major cryptocurrencies are showing slight gains while stocks achieve new all-time highs; BTC is up 0.5% at $64,100; ETH remains steady at $1,868; SOL is unchanged at $73.70; HYPE has risen by 3% to $57.
- Notable altcoin movements include PUMP (+13%), ZEC (+6%), and LIT (+3%).
- Oil prices have decreased by 5% to $76.20; Gold has risen by 1.9% to $4,230.
- Stock futures are trading positively after reaching new all-time highs on Tuesday; DOW is up 0.4%, Nasdaq is up 0.2%.
- SpaceX exceeded Wall Street revenue expectations despite reporting a $540 million markdown on its Bitcoin holdings, with the value of 18,712 BTC dropping from $1.64 billion to $1.10 billion.
- Justin Drake and a team of researchers have proposed EIP-8361, a “Tapered Issuance Burn” that aims to decrease validator rewards as staking increases, potentially reducing yields to around 1% at the current 33% staked and to zero when half of all ETH is staked.
- Cloudflare has introduced Cloudflare Wallets, enabling AI agents to autonomously make payments for APIs and content via x402 stablecoin micropayments within user-defined spending limits.
- Circle reported $701 million in revenue for Q2, with USDC circulation increasing by 19% to $73.3 billion, and adjusted EBITDA rising by 8% to $143 million, ahead of the Arc mainnet launch scheduled for September 16 (CRCL +5%).
- Ledger commented on the Coldcard exploit, highlighting how AI is changing wallet security and suggesting that the incident marks a pivotal moment where AI-driven vulnerability assessments compel hardware manufacturers to rethink their security protocols.
- Wells Fargo plans to offer tokenized deposits for around-the-clock corporate payments, joining rivals JPMorgan and Citi in the initiative to transition Wall Street’s settlement processes to blockchain technology.
- Samsung is expected to emerge as a leading distributor of stablecoins, with analysts noting its wallet’s extensive reach across numerous devices, positioning it as a significant facilitator for stablecoin transactions.
- BitGo’s WBTC has transitioned to Chainlink, bringing the LayerZero-to-Chainlink total close to $15 billion.
Corporate Treasuries & ETFs
- The Bitcoin ETFs recorded $211 million in net inflows on Tuesday, while ETH ETFs saw $53 million in inflows.
Meme Coin Tracker
- Meme coin leaders mostly declined; DOGE -1%, SHIB -3%, PEPE -2%, PENGU -1%, TRUMP -1%, BONK remained stable.
- The Robinhood chain performed well, led by Cashcat (+40% to $96 million), Tendies (+38%), and Frong (+78%); PONS held steady at $20 million following the release of V2.
- Solana projects saw significant gains including Cupsey (+58%), Stonk (+165%), and Kimchi (+90%); however, CATE dropped another 40% to $18 million, while ANSEM fell 7% to $170 million.
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
- Uniswap teased its new product "pools dot trade" set to launch today.
- A new launchpad on Solana, StonkFun, gained traction on Tuesday by pairing pre-IPO stocks with memecoins.
- Proof of Play is concluding as it struggles to establish a sustainable model, opting to open-source its code and release its Pirate Nation IP under CC0, while the PIRATE token continues to exist independently (currently valued at $1 million after exceeding $100 million).
- The Eliza project founded by Shaw Walters is officially shutting down and dissolving its foundation, transferring the token and remaining treasury to a group of holders.
🚚 NFT Developments
- NFT leaders showed slight declines; Punks down 1% at 31.7 ETH, BAYC down 1% at 8.33 ETH, Pudgy stable at 3.87 ETH; Stonkbrokers dropped 8% to 5.9 ETH.
- Merry Men (+550%), pyo (+50%), and Zaibatsu (+15%) were among the top gainers.
- TokenWorks announced a 30% buyback for FWA using historical platform fees, alongside an 80% buyback plan moving forward, as the token became available for trading at 3 PM ET yesterday (FWA down 20% to $7 million).