Morning Minute is a daily newsletter authored by Tyler Warner. The views and insights shared are his own and do not necessarily represent those of Decrypt.

Good morning!

Here are today's highlights:

  • Major cryptocurrencies see significant gains, with BTC reaching $78.5k, up 20-30% over the week.
  • Ten altcoins surged by 50% or more this week, including those in the meme, DeFi, and perpetual categories.
  • A golden cross has formed in the ETH/BTC chart.
  • Zcash (ZEC) has risen by 65% this week, fueled by anticipation of a Grayscale spot ETF.
  • Tokens from Robinhood's Chain have rebounded strongly following remarks by CEO Vlad Tenev on a podcast.

🏛️ For the first time since July, Saylor's strategy is back in the positive territory with Bitcoin.

The strategy currently holds 840,447 BTC, acquired at an average price of $75,385. Previously, this position struggled as Bitcoin traded lower throughout the summer. However, Bitcoin's recent surge past $78,000 has restored the company's position to profitability.

At the latest price of $78,400, the holdings are valued at approximately $65.89 billion against the initial investment of $63.36 billion, yielding an unrealized profit of around $2.53 billion, equating to a 4.0% gain. This marks a turnaround of nearly $15.5 billion over the past six weeks. Back in July, when Bitcoin was around $58,000, the position was approximately $13 billion in the negative. MSTR shares closed at $119.25 on Friday, reflecting a monthly increase of 27.4%, although this is still 67% lower than its 52-week peak of $365.21.

Interestingly, this recovery comes after Michael Saylor, who had consistently claimed that Strategy would never sell Bitcoin, did just that. Since May, the company has divested 6,948 BTC for around $432.5 million, including 1,690 BTC for $109 million in the week ending August 9, with the funds being used to repurchase STRC, its variable-rate preferred stock. The following week, rather than purchasing Bitcoin, the company raised $334 million by selling MSTR shares to cover preferred dividends, additional STRC buybacks, and bolstering a cash reserve that now totals $6.7 billion after a week of extensive fundraising. During the period when Bitcoin hovered in the low to mid $60,000s, significantly below the company's average cost, Strategy was a net seller of both Bitcoin and its own stock, opting not to capitalize on the dip.

It appears that Michael Saylor did not trigger the Bitcoin rebound; instead, it seems to be largely attributed to Scott Bessent's introduction of yield curve control last week, which led to a surge of capital into Bitcoin ETFs. Saylor is merely benefiting from this momentum alongside other investors.

Currently, Saylor possesses approximately $6.7 billion in cash, and STRC is nearing the $100 mark, trading at $95.60 this morning. It remains to be seen if he plans to resume buying Bitcoin soon. However, it is increasingly evident that Bitcoin's rally does not depend on his buying activity.

🌎 Broader Market and Crypto Trends

  • Major cryptocurrencies are thriving, with Bitcoin closing its most significant weekly candle ever; BTC up 23% at $78.9k (weekly % gain); ETH up 31% at $2,500; SOL up 26% at $96; HYPE up 34% at $80.66 (new all-time high)
  • Top altcoin performers this week include ENA (+93%), TRUMP (+79%), PUMP (+73%), and ZEC (+65%)
  • Oil prices decreased by 2% to $85.20; Gold increased by 2% to $4,710
  • Stock futures are positive; DOW up 1%, Nasdaq up 0.4%
  • ETH/BTC formed a new golden cross during this rally; historically, this has led to new all-time highs for ETH within a few months.
  • Zcash jumped 48% past $800 to its highest point since January 2018, following Grayscale's fourth amendment to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF under the ticker ZCSH.
  • Ledger addressed a vulnerability in certain signing processes of its Ethereum app two weeks ago, with CTO Charles Guillemet assuring that users on the latest firmware are secure.
  • Coldcard released new firmware after a flaw allowed attackers to steal over $114 million, with an AI-assisted audit revealing additional issues in transaction approval, USB handling, and firmware validation.
  • The Crypto Council for Innovation and Blockchain Association filed a lawsuit against Illinois over its 0.2% digital asset tax, claiming it breaches the US Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, and the Internet Tax Freedom Act.
  • BitMart is considering a partial restart and creditor payouts less than a month after announcing a complete shutdown, with White & Case engaged and a recovery plan expected by September 9.
  • Crypto card transactions surged to $1.04 billion in July, with stablecoins accounting for 70% of over 10 million transactions, and the average purchase reaching $86.
  • Stablecoin neobank Fasset secured $68 million from Japan's SBI Group at a valuation of $1 billion, raising its total funding for the year to $119 million.

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

  • Bitcoin ETFs saw $307 million in net inflows on Friday, concluding a week with $1.92 billion total; ETH ETFs recorded $184 million in inflows on Friday and $693 million for the week.

Meme Coin Overview

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Highlights

🚚 NFT Developments

  • NFT leaders mostly saw gains; Punks down 2% at 32 ETH, BAYC up 3% at 8.23 ETH, Pudgy up 8% at 4.34 ETH; Stonkbrokers increased by 20% to 5.4 ETH.
  • Stackers (+50%), Cash Cats (+37%) and Quotrons (+13%) were the top movers.
  • FWA’s drops page went live ahead of the first mint of FWAIR PFPs scheduled for today at 12 PM ET.

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