Morning Minute is a daily newsletter authored by Tyler Warner. The views and analyses presented are his own and do not necessarily represent those of Decrypt. Additionally, don’t miss our new daily news show that summarizes the top stories in just 5 minutes, available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Good morning!
Here are today’s key updates:
- Major cryptocurrencies remain stable, reversing afternoon gains; BTC priced at $63,700
- Strategy has divested $216 million in BTC, now holding over $2.55 billion in cash
- Bernstein maintains its $150,000 BTC forecast for 2026
- BonkDAO governance attack results in a $20 million loss
- Tether announces intentions to integrate USDT with Bitcoin
🟠 Strategy Shifts to Net Seller
Strategy disclosed it sold 3,588 BTC in the past week for about $216 million, as per an SEC filing and its public treasury dashboard. The sales occurred in two parts: 1,363 BTC sold before June 30, followed by a larger sale of 2,225 BTC between July 1 and July 5 at an average price of $60,773.
Michael Saylor characterized these sales as standard treasury management, noting they were used to meet dividend obligations on the company's Digital Credit securities (STRF, STRC, STRK, and STRD) and to replenish fiat reserves, which now exceed $2.5 billion. The current BTC holdings stand at approximately 843,775, down from a peak of 847,363 on June 22.
This decision follows the June 29 announcement of the “Digital Credit Capital Framework,” which authorized sales of up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin.
Now, let’s analyze the implications of these actions. Strategy seemed to buy during the price dip in June, only to sell in July. To put it simply, they purchased about 3,657 BTC in June at an average price close to $64,600 and then sold around 3,620 BTC over the next two weeks at an average price of about $60,400. In layman's terms, Saylor bought ten cups of lemonade at a dollar each, then sold them back at 93 cents each to cover his expenses. Is this a sound strategy?
Some might argue that external pressures influenced his decisions. Others believe he is trying to alleviate concerns from creditors and enhance MSTR’s standing in indexes. However, it is difficult to view a month of buying at higher prices than the subsequent sales as part of a coherent strategy.
That being said, the market reacted positively to this news in the short term. BTC initially dropped to $61,800 upon the news but recovered to $64,200 overnight. It appears that the sale has alleviated concerns regarding Saylor's potential mismanagement.
Looking ahead, Saylor's selling could be interpreted as a bullish sign. However, short-term uncertainties remain regarding how much more he will sell and what prices the market will allow for those sales. If he begins to show net purchases in the coming weeks, it may indicate that the worst is behind us. Conversely, if he continues to sell, predicting a significant price increase becomes more challenging.
We will soon find out…
🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets
- Major cryptocurrencies are stable after a turbulent Monday; BTC +1% at $63,700; ETH +1% at $1,790; SOL +1% at $82; HYPE +2% at $72
- APX (+13%), LIT (+6%), and Morpho (+4%) were among the top gainers
- Oil +1% at $69; Gold -1% at $4,140
- Stock futures are down as oil prices rise and chip stocks falter; DOW +0.2%, Nasdaq -1%
- Bernstein reiterated its $150K Bitcoin target for this year as BTC reached a two-week high, asserting that the market conditions still indicate upward movement despite a challenging first half
- Ripple has become fully compliant with MiCA following Luxembourg's upgrade of its preliminary license, enabling it to offer crypto payment services across all 30 countries in the European Economic Area
- Ethereum developers supported Vitalik's "Lean Ethereum" initiative but emphasized the need for quicker execution, highlighting that speed, not vision, is the primary challenge
- Coinbase’s AI mistakenly published a World Cup result before the event, leading to backlash and prompting CEO Brian Armstrong to investigate and implement changes
- SK Hynix is preparing for one of the largest IPOs of 2026 valued at approximately $1.16 trillion, potentially diverting funds from crypto into the AI-memory sector
Corporate Treasuries & ETFs
- Bitcoin ETFs recorded $266 million in net inflows on Monday; ETH ETFs saw $20 million in inflows
- Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for ~$216 million this week (as noted earlier), marking its first instance as a net seller.
- Tom Lee’s BitMine acquired 42,197 ETH last week valued at about $74 million, raising its total holdings to around 5.74 million ETH, or 4.8% of the entire supply
- American Bitcoin Corp increased its BTC holdings to over $500 million, continuing to accumulate even as it executed a reverse stock split on the same day to maintain its Nasdaq listing
Meme Coin Tracker
- Meme coins showed little movement; DOGE -3%, SHIB stable, PEPE stable, PENGU stable, TRUMP stable, BONK -8%
- The Frog (+90x), BIF (+210%) and Kitty (+90%) were the top gainers on Solana
- No significant movements on Base
📈 Myriad Market of the Day
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
- BonkDAO suffered a loss of about $20 million due to a malicious governance attack, where an attacker acquired BONK to pass a proposal that transferred 4.4 trillion tokens to their own wallet
- Tether revealed plans to launch USDT on Bitcoin using its RGB protocol
🚚 What is happening in NFTs?
- Leading NFTs showed slight gains; Punks stable at 32.4 ETH, BAYC +1% at 9.29 ETH, Pudgy +2% at 4.6 ETH; Hypurr’s -1% at 217 HYPE
- Normies (+24%) and Azuki (+14%) were the top gainers
- Gondi launched off-market listings, allowing NFT owners to privately list their NFTs for sale and retain full proceeds if bids are received