Morning Minute is a daily newsletter authored by Tyler Warner. The views presented are his own and may not reflect those of Decrypt. Also, check out our new daily news show for a quick recap of the top stories in just five minutes, available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Good morning!

Here are the main highlights for today:

  • Major cryptocurrencies show mixed results ahead of the Consumer Price Index; BTC priced at $62,700
  • Saylor's firm sells $467 million in MSTR shares, refraining from Bitcoin purchases
  • ETFs experience outflows, with Bitcoin ETFs seeing $425 million leave
  • Social media engagement for BTC and ETH drops to six-year lows
  • Jupiter unveils a new gacha platform powered by Collector Crypt (CARDS +20%)

🟠 $467M Raised but No Bitcoin Purchase for Three Weeks

Last week, Strategy's Bitcoin acquisition strategy remained inactive. The company generated $467 million through a common stock offering and allocated these funds entirely to cash, boosting its USD Reserve to an unprecedented $3 billion. This marks the third consecutive week without a Bitcoin acquisition.

This stock sale significantly increased Strategy's cash reserves by approximately 18%, providing over 20 months of coverage for its annual dividend and interest obligations totaling $1.76 billion. Therefore, the capital raised last week was solely focused on strengthening the company's cash position. Since its last Bitcoin purchase on June 22, the company has raised around $215 million from Bitcoin sales, which is less than half of the amount generated from this recent stock issuance. Consequently, stock sales are now yielding better results than Bitcoin sales.

Once again, Saylor has opted to issue common shares to cover dividend payments for his preferred stock. This has resulted in MSTR shareholders facing dilution to benefit STRC holders. MSTR shares fell by 4% on Monday, reaching approximately $90.80, an 18% decline for the month, though it has stabilized since hitting a 28-month low of $81.81 in late June. STRC is currently at $87.04, still below its $100 par value where it has remained since mid-May, while offering a 12% dividend. With Bitcoin priced at $62,600 and an average acquisition cost of $75,476, the 843,775-coin holding is roughly $11 billion in the red.

The pressing question now is—why is he not acquiring Bitcoin at these levels? Building cash reserves to address market uncertainties and to manage future debt payments was a reasonable strategy when funds were low, but Saylor currently has ample liquidity. He possesses a 20-month financial buffer and has shown he can liquidate MSTR shares whenever needed to raise cash. So, why not take advantage of the current Bitcoin prices, which are approximately 50% lower than their all-time highs? Certainly, buying Bitcoin in the low $60,000 range seems more prudent than purchasing at higher levels. The community is left wondering when the next acquisitions will be announced, or Saylor may face questions regarding his strategy


đŸ›ïž Growing Democratic Resistance to the CLARITY Act as Deadline Approaches

Senate Democrats are increasingly opposing the CLARITY Act, with discussions around Trump's significant crypto wealth playing a key role.

On Monday, Elizabeth Warren addressed Senate leaders, urging that the bill should prevent the president, vice president, senior officials, and members of Congress, along with their families, from profiting from the crypto sector. She argued that anything less would be an unjust benefit to the president and his family at taxpayers' expense. On Tuesday, other Senate Democrats, including Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen, are expected to hold a press conference opposing the bill, criticizing both Trump's crypto activities and the notion that the legislation undermines the financial safeguards established after the Great Depression.

The voting dynamics present a challenge. The CLARITY Act requires 60 votes, meaning at least seven Democrats must support it, and possibly more, given that the Republican side is less robust than anticipated (Mitch McConnell is hospitalized, and Lindsey Graham passed away unexpectedly over the weekend). Trump stated on Monday that the Senate should approve the CLARITY Act in Graham’s memory, labeling him a strong advocate for crypto legislation. However, Graham had minimal involvement in negotiations, rarely discussed the subject, and was the sole Senate Republican to co-sponsor a 2023 anti-money-laundering bill that was viewed as antagonistic to the crypto sector.

So, where do we stand? With less than four weeks to go before the August recess, all parties agree that missing this deadline could result in the bill’s demise amidst the November midterm elections. Industry analysts have already downgraded its chances, with Galaxy reducing its probability to 50% and prediction markets estimating it in the low 40s. The fundamental issue is that as Democrats push harder for ethical provisions, they inadvertently compel Republicans to choose between advancing the bill and safeguarding the president’s business interests. This is a difficult decision to navigate with a looming deadline.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

  • Major cryptocurrencies are mixed ahead of CPI; BTC stable at $62.7k; ETH up 1% at $1,795; SOL down 1% at $75; HYPE down 2% at $64
  • HASH (+11%), INJ (+5%) and ENA (+5%) were the top gainers
  • Oil up 10% at $81; Gold down 1% at $4,020
  • Stock futures show mixed results as oil prices surge and June CPI data is released this morning; DOW down 0.7%, Nasdaq up 0.3%
  • June CEX volumes decreased by 5% compared to May, whereas derivatives trading increased by 4%
  • BTC and ETH social media mentions have dropped to their lowest levels since 2020
  • Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong acknowledged Base "messed up" regarding content coins, stating they were ineffective and that Base pivoted away from this strategy earlier this year, now focusing on trading, payments, and AI agents.
  • BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan have joined a UK tokenization taskforce supported by the government, starting with tokenized repo, with a Treasury report forecasting up to ÂŁ33 billion in yearly economic output by 2035.
  • TeraWulf’s CEO remarked, “not all megawatts are created equally” in the AI sector, clarifying that “we’re not involved in Bitcoin” anymore as its $19 billion Anthropic hosting deal transitions its focus from mining to AI infrastructure.
  • SBI Holdings’ blockchain initiative has shifted to Solana for tokenization and stablecoin issuance, moving away from R3’s Corda and integrating the Solana Foundation into its joint venture, with plans including payment infrastructure for AI agents.

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

  • Meme leaders showed a mostly negative trend, down 1-2%; DOGE remained stable, SHIB down 2%, PEPE down 1%, PENGU down 4%, TRUMP down 1%, BONK down 2%
  • Robinhood chain memes were led by Cashcat rising 8% to $180 million, WOOD up 70% to $15 million, Wishbone up 45% to $9 million
  • Febu (+60%), three (+100%) and Cards up 20% were notable movers on Solana

📈 Myriad Market of the Day

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

🚚 NFT Developments

  • Top NFT projects showed mixed results; Punks stable at 32.4 ETH, BAYC up 1% at 8.94 ETH, Pudgy down 1% at 4.33 ETH; Hypurr decreased by 4% to 179 HYPE
  • PXL NET (+60%) and Squiggles (+10%) were the leading gainers
  • New Robinhood NFT collections saw significant jumps, including RH Miners (+1350%) and 8skullz (+340%)

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