Morning Minute is a daily newsletter created by Tyler Warner. The views and analyses presented are his own and may not reflect those of Decrypt.
Good morning!
Here are the key highlights for today:
- Major cryptocurrencies remain stable despite declining stocks and increasing oil prices; BTC is currently at $65.5k
- Senate Republicans have released a new draft of the Clarity Act, facing opposition from Democratic leaders
- SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce cautions that some DeFi vaults and onchain lending may be classified under securities law
- Bitcoin ETFs have recorded inflows for seven consecutive days; Ethereum's validator exit queue has dropped to zero
- Rhynotic’s new FWA protocol token surged to $11 million, boosting several NFT collections
🏦 According to Bitwise’s CIO, the shift of Wall Street towards onchain finance is poised to trigger the next bull market.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan argues that the forthcoming crypto bull market will differ significantly from previous iterations. In a recent memo, he suggests that the new cycle will be fueled by the integration of traditional finance with onchain finance, the rise of stablecoins, tokenization, around-the-clock trading, instantaneous settlement, and institutional involvement in DeFi, rather than the speculative frenzy that characterized past booms. He emphasizes that this upcoming cycle, grounded in genuine financial activities and revenues, has the potential to surpass its predecessors, even if its arrival is more gradual and less volatile.
Hougan describes this opportunity as operating in two distinct “lanes.”
- The first lane, termed the “Hyperliquid Lane,” consists of crypto-native protocols that generate significant revenue and funnel it back into their tokens. For context, Hyperliquid achieved over $1 billion in cumulative revenue by June and is projected to reach approximately $800 million this year, with 99% of that revenue being used to purchase HYPE on the open market.
- The second lane, referred to as the “Robinhood Lane,” includes established firms that are creating substantial financial services using blockchain technology rather than merely running pilot programs. Robinhood Chain, which launched on July 1, has already exceeded $3 billion in transaction volume.
The Hyperliquid Lane addresses a persistent issue in crypto, where applications generate fees and volume without fostering demand for their tokens. Hougan cites protocols like Uniswap, Aave, and Morpho as examples of this trend, alongside popular onchain projects like Pump.fun. He identifies the influx of traditional financial institutions—such as Citadel into Crypto.com and Morgan Stanley onto E*TRADE—as part of the Robinhood Lane.
In summary, a respected institutional voice asserts that the next cycle will be driven by revenue generation and crypto infrastructure rather than speculation. While this perspective is not entirely new, it gains significance when articulated formally by the CIO of Bitwise, emphasizing these two elements.
The narrative has shifted from “institutions are coming” to “institutions are here—and they will be the catalysts for the next bull market.” Time will tell if his predictions hold true…
🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets
- Major cryptocurrencies show little movement despite falling stock prices and rising oil; BTC down 0.3% to $65.5k; ETH steady at $1,925; SOL unchanged at $78; HYPE stable at $59.30
- Stable (+16%), WLFI (+13%), and ENA (+4%) were among the top gainers
- Oil prices increased by 4.5% to $90; Gold dropped by 1.5% at $4,090
- Stock futures are down following disappointing earnings from TSLA and Google; DOW off 0.4%, Nasdaq down 0.5%
- Senate Republicans released a new CLARITY draft which includes provisions affecting Trump’s crypto business and other updates
- Seven prominent Senate Democrats have criticized the draft as inadequate regarding ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, and market integrity
- SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has warned that certain DeFi vaults and onchain lending platforms might be subject to securities regulations, marking a significant caution from the agency's most crypto-friendly official
- Franklin Templeton's Sandy Kaul suggested blockchain could represent the next big AI investment, positing that as autonomous agents carry out transactions for fractions of a cent, traditional card networks will become less viable, favoring blockchains for machine-to-machine payments
- BitMEX (co-founded by Arthur Hayes) announced it will cease operations on September 23, 2026, and has stopped onboarding new users
- Ethereum’s validator exit queue has decreased from a high of 2.6 million ETH to zero, while the staking queue currently holds 2.48 million ETH with a waiting period of 43 days
Corporate Treasuries & ETFs
- Bitcoin ETFs reported $69 million in net inflows on Wednesday, marking seven consecutive days of positive inflows; ETH ETFs also experienced $73 million in inflows
- Japan is considering launching its first Bitcoin ETF as early as 2028 as it updates its crypto investment regulations
Meme Coin Tracker
- Meme coins mainly remained stable; DOGE down 1%, SHIB down 1%, PEPE unchanged, PENGU down 1%, TRUMP up 3%, BONK down 3%
- Robinhood chain was led by GME (+425%), AI (+80%), and SWOGE (+190%); Cashcat fell 25% to $48 million and PONS dropped 18% to $26 million as earlier winners saw significant sell-offs
- Solana projects included Jimothy (+5%), KET (+110%), and BOP (+170%); ANSEM dipped 10% to $175 million
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
- Kalshi introduced a US Midterms Hub providing live odds on Senate and House elections, along with polling and FEC data
- An Arbitrum USDC bridge lost approximately $24.15 million after attackers exploited its hot-validator signing pathway, allowing a withdrawal the contract mistakenly recognized as legitimate
- The Verus-Ethereum bridge was compromised for the second time in two months, with $7.54 million drained after attackers exploited the bridge’s import path
🚚 NFT Developments
- NFT leaders have remained stable while various other sets gained; Punks steady at 32 ETH, BAYC at 8.65 ETH, Pudgy at 4.18 ETH; Hypurr remains at 185 HYPE
- Cyberkongz (+53%), Memeland MVPs (+29%), TTT (+38%), Creepz (+77%), mfers (+16%), and CrypToadz (+16%) were among the top movers
- Robinhood NFTs were led by Hood Mundo (+39%) and Pepe Hood Town (+9%)
- Rhynotic’s new Fake World Assets (FWA) NFT gacha platform experienced its token rise to $11 million overnight before retracing
- One FWA user won a Cryptopunk from a 0.06 ETH gacha spin (yielding a 550x return), before reselling it for FWA tokens