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.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors closed a massive week up 20% to 30%; BTC traded at $78.5K
• Ten altcoins gained 50% or more on the week, spanning memes, DeFi, and perps
• ETH/BTC printed a fresh golden cross
• ZEC jumped 65% on the week ahead of an incoming Grayscale spot ETF
• Robinhood Chain tokens posted a major rebound after a Vlad Tenev podcast

Strategy Is Back in the Green on Bitcoin for the First Time Since July

Strategy holds 840,447 bitcoin bought at an average price of $75,385, a position that spent most of the summer deep underwater. Bitcoin’s five-day move above $78,000 pushed the company back into profit, underscoring how tightly the stock remains tied to bitcoin’s price action and to investor appetite for corporate treasury exposure.

At $78,400, the stack is worth about $65.89 billion versus $63.36 billion paid, leaving an unrealized gain of roughly $2.53 billion, or 4.0%. That marks a swing of about $15.5 billion in six weeks. In July, when bitcoin was near $58,000, the position was about $13 billion in the red. MSTR closed Friday at $119.25, up 27.4% on the month and at its highest level in two months, though still 67% below its 52-week high of $365.21.

The reversal comes after Michael Saylor did what he said he would not. For years, Saylor said Strategy would never sell bitcoin. Since May, the company has sold 6,948 BTC for about $432.5 million, including 1,690 BTC for $109 million during the week ending August 9, with proceeds used to buy back STRC, its variable-rate preferred stock. The following week, Strategy left bitcoin untouched and raised $334 million by selling MSTR shares instead, using the proceeds for preferred dividends, additional STRC buybacks, and a dollar reserve that now stands at $6.7 billion after another week of major fundraising.

Through the stretch when bitcoin traded in the low-to-mid $60,000s, well below the company’s own cost basis, Strategy was a net seller of bitcoin and a net seller of its own stock. It did not buy the dip, which makes the current profit turn notable in the context of how the company has been managing liquidity and capital returns over the last few months.

The move higher may not have been driven by Saylor at all. The newsletter suggested that Scott Bessent likely helped kick off yield curve control last week, which in turn sent capital into bitcoin ETFs. Saylor, it added, is riding the wave along with the rest of the market.

That said, Strategy still has about $6.7 billion in cash on hand, and STRC is closing in on the $100 level, trading at $95.60 this morning. It remains to be seen whether the company has resumed buying, or when it plans to do so.

Macro Crypto and Markets

Crypto majors were sharply higher as bitcoin closed its biggest weekly candle of all time. BTC rose 23% to $78.9K on the week; ETH gained 31% to $2,500; SOL advanced 26% to $96; and HYPE climbed 34% to $80.66, a new all-time high.

Top altcoin movers on the week included ENA (+93%), TRUMP (+79%), PUMP (+73%), and ZEC (+65%).

Oil fell 2% to $85.20, while gold rose 2% to $4,710. Stock futures were also higher, with the Dow up 1% and the Nasdaq up 0.4%.

ETH/BTC printed a fresh golden cross during the rally. The last time that happened, ETH reached a new all-time high within months.

Zcash jumped 48% past $800 to its highest level since January 2018, after Grayscale filed a fourth amendment to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF under the ticker ZCSH.

Ledger patched a vulnerability in certain clear-signing flows of its Ethereum app two weeks ago, and CTO Charles Guillemet said users on current firmware are protected.

Coldcard shipped new firmware after a randomness flaw allowed attackers to drain more than $114 million. An AI-assisted audit also found additional bugs in transaction approval, USB handling, and firmware validation.

The Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association sued Illinois over its 0.2% digital asset tax, arguing that it violates the US Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, and the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

BitMart is weighing a partial restart and creditor payouts less than four weeks after announcing a full shutdown. White & Case has been hired, and a roadmap is due September 9.

Crypto card spending tripled to $1.04 billion in July, with dollar stablecoins funding 70% of more than 10 million transactions and the average purchase rising to $86.

Stablecoin neobank Fasset raised $68 million, led by Japan’s SBI Group at a $1 billion valuation, bringing its total funding this year to $119 million.

Corporate Treasuries and ETFs

The bitcoin ETFs saw $307 million in net inflows on Friday, capping a $1.92 billion week. The ETH ETFs saw $184 million in inflows on Friday and $693 million for the week.

Meme Coin Tracker

Meme leaders were mixed but closed a very green week. DOGE rose 31%, SHIB gained 24%, PEPE added 57%, PENGU climbed 61%, TRUMP rose 79%, and BONK advanced 38%.

Robinhood Chain saw major rebounds after a podcast with Vlad Tenev discussing the ecosystem circulated. Cashcat rose 34%, PONS jumped 75%, AI gained 50%, and Stonkbroker added 33%.

Solana leaders included Cyberleek (+10x), Catalorian (+20x), Dopameme (+14x), and cc (+100%). Ansem fell 7% to $255 million.

Token, Airdrop, and Protocol Tracker

Solana validators began voting on three proposals, including a network constitution and a plan to double the disinflation rate to 30%. Results are due Thursday around 15:30 UTC.

Pump.fun generated $12.9 million in revenue last week, its highest level since January. PUMP rose 73% on the week.

Kalshi is now blocked in Washington, Michigan, and Nevada as CFTC Chair Michael Selig moves to write event-contract rules and add consumer protection requirements.

What Is Happening in NFTs?

NFT leaders were mostly green. Punks fell 2% to 32 ETH, BAYC rose 3% to 8.23 ETH, and Pudgy gained 8% to 4.34 ETH. Stonkbrokers rose 20% to 5.4 ETH.

Stackers (+50%), Cash Cats (+37%), and Quotrons (+13%) led the top movers.

FWA’s drops page went live ahead of the first mint, with FWAIR PFPs scheduled for today at 12 p.m. ET.