Morning Minute: Bitcoin Breaks $73K as Strategy's STRC Bid Grows

Morning Minute is simply a regular newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The investigation and opinions expressed are his ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of Decrypt. And check retired our new regular quality show covering each of the apical stories successful 5 minutes oregon less, downloadable connected Apple Pod oregon Spotify.

GM!

Today’s apical news:

• Crypto majors up 1%; BTC astatine $72K
• ZEC and MON rally 20% starring apical movers; HYPE +5%
• CZ and OKX laminitis Star publically dispute, CZ calls for $1B “divorce” bet
• Bessent and Brian Armstrong some accidental it’s clip to walk the Clarity Act
• WLFI falls 10% aft squad reveals utilizing 5B tokens to get $75M

🌎 Bitcoin breaks $73K connected ceasefire hopes, STRC

Bitcoin topped $73,000 concisely connected Thursday, per information from CoinMarketCap, reversing an aboriginal sell-off aft Netanyahu signaled Lebanon negotiations. It bounced disconnected that level and is holding conscionable supra $72K this morning.

The Bitcoin options marketplace is adjacent much bullish. Data shows that the $80,000 level is seeing the astir measurement successful June expiry contracts with implicit $1.6B successful unfastened interest, a afloat 10% determination from existent levels.

As for wherefore traders are bullish—well, it could beryllium Saylor-driven. Strategy's STRC had different monolithic time Thursday with implicit 3M preferred shares moved, generating superior to acquisition 2,000+ Bitcoin ($144M). Wednesday’s numbers were similar, and the totals historically emergence into the dividend cutoff day (next Wednesday). So expect 3 much days of expanding STRC flows.

It’s a beardown setup for Bitcoin near-term.

Key Details:

• Bitcoin topped $73,000 Thursday, up ~9% implicit the past period arsenic crypto decouples from bundle stocks, which are down 12% implicit the aforesaid stretch
• June $80K Bitcoin options showing $1.6B successful unfastened interest, astir concentrated target
• Saylor’s STRC moved 3M shares, capable to bargain $144M successful Bitcoin; connected gait for good implicit $300M successful purchases this week

📊 Galaxy nett rockets, banal jumps

The header fig from Galaxy’s 2025 yearly report, a $241M nett loss, buried the much important one: The firm’s Digital Assets conception generated $505M successful adjusted gross profit.

GLXY closed up 11.3% Thursday, second-best crypto equity connected the day.

The thesis Mike Novogratz is selling isn’t a crypto trading communicative anymore. It’s AI infrastructure. Galaxy’s Helios campus, erstwhile 1 of North America’s largest Bitcoin mines, is an 800-megawatt installation afloat leased to CoreWeave that's opening to make compute gross successful 2026. “The astir consequential displacement close present is the determination from communicative to infrastructure,” helium wrote.

That pivot from BTC mining to AI is intelligibly paying off…

Key Details:

• Galaxy posted a $241M 2025 nett loss driven by unrealized losses and one-time costs; halfway Digital Assets conception generated $505M successful adjusted gross profit
• GLXY closed up 11.3% at $21.15; full assets connected level deed $12B with $2B successful nett inflows during 2025
• The Helios play: 800MW Texas installation afloat leased to CoreWeave; AI compute gross begins 2026; Galaxy is pitching itself arsenic fractional crypto fiscal firm, fractional AI infrastructure company

🦅 Gemini is connected sale, but cipher wants the full thing

Potential buyers are circling Gemini, but not successful the mode the Winklevoss twins mightiness want.

Per CoinDesk, funny parties are evaluating an acquisition of Gemini’s shuttered EU and UK operations specifically to get MiCA and FCA regulatory licenses. Nobody is pursuing a afloat takeover.

The backdrop is stark. Gemini IPO’d astatine $28 successful September 2025 and present trades astir $4.70, down 83%. The institution cut 25% of its workforce successful February, exited the EU, UK, and Australia, mislaid 3 elder executives, and faces a shareholder class-action lawsuit filed successful March.

GEMI banal jumped 11% connected the acquisition reports, but has already shed immoderate of those gains.

Key Details:

• Potential buyers are circling Gemini’s shuttered EU and UK operations for MiCA and FCA licenses; nary afloat takeover interest
• The distress context: $28 IPO September 2025, present $4.70 (down 83%); 25% workforce cut; exited EU/UK/Australia; 3 executives departed; class-action suit filed March 2026
• MiCA wrinkle: license doesn’t transportation successful an acquisition; alteration of power triggers afloat regulatory reassessment; buyers look scrutiny equivalent to a caller applicant

⚖️ Bessent to the Senate: Pass the Clarity Act

Treasury Secretary Bessent made his astir nonstop propulsion yet Thursday, urging the Senate to walk the Clarity Act and resoluteness the stablecoin output quality inactive stalling the bill.

This comes conscionable 1 time aft the White House Council of Economic Advisors mathematically dismantled the banking lobby’s halfway argument, uncovering a output prohibition would boost lending by conscionable $2.1B, a 0.02% increase.

The lone remaining adaptable is whether Senate Democrats and holdout Republicans volition judge a stablecoin output model that Coinbase tin unrecorded with.

And we whitethorn person gotten a awesome from Brian Armstrong past night, who tweeted “It’s clip to walk the Clarity Act” successful national with Bessent.

Key Details:

• Bessent urged the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, calling for solution connected stablecoin output provisions; follows the White House CEA study that undercut the banking lobby’s deposit-flight argument
• What’s left: Senate Banking Committee markup; stablecoin output connection is the past unlock for the afloat US crypto regulatory stack
• Odds of the Clarity Act passing successful 2026 roseate 3% to 59% connected Thursday

🤖 Florida goes aft OpenAI

Florida AG James Uthmeier launched a ceremonial probe into OpenAI and ChatGPT Thursday, citing the chatbot’s alleged relation successful the April 2025 FSU wide shooting that killed 2 people, kid information concerns, and the hazard of OpenAI information reaching the Chinese government.

The punctuation Uthmeier posted to denote it is the week’s astir ironic AI headline: “AI should beforehand mankind, not destruct it.”

The probe arrives arsenic AI infrastructure, specifically information centers, are coming nether attack. Per Bloomberg and Sightline Climate, 30-50% of the information centers planned to travel online this twelvemonth are facing delays oregon outright cancellations. Of the 12 gigawatts of capableness announced for 2026, lone a 3rd is presently nether construction. Bernie Sanders and AOC introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act successful March to halt each caller operation until national safeguards are successful place. It’s not going anywhere, but it signals the governmental temper astir AI is shifting.

Key Details:

• Florida AG Uthmeier launched a ceremonial OpenAI investigation, citing ChatGPT’s alleged relation successful the 2025 FSU shooting, kid safety, and CCP information concerns; subpoenas forthcoming; arrives arsenic OpenAI eyes a $1T IPO
• 30-50% of US information centers planned for 2026 are facing delays oregon cancellations per Sightline Climate
• The governmental pressure: Sanders and AOC introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act successful March, calling for a afloat operation halt until national safeguards are successful place; fringe bill, existent signal

🌎 Macro crypto and markets

• Crypto majors are somewhat green; BTC +1% astatine $72.1k; ETH +1% astatine $2,210; SOL +2% astatine $84; HYPE +5% astatine $41
• DEXE (+30%), ZEC (+20%), and MON (+20%) led apical movers
• Oil -3% astatine $94; Gold adjacent astatine $4,764
• The Bitcoin options market is showing concentration at the $80,000 terms level for June expiry contracts with implicit $1.6B successful unfastened interest
• Treasury Secretary Bessent urged the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, pushing for solution connected stablecoin output provisions inactive stalling the bill
• The Treasury will stock cybersecurity intelligence with crypto firms, giving the manufacture entree to the aforesaid menace information distributed to accepted fiscal institutions
• Former SEC authoritative Brett Redfearn joined Securitize arsenic president ahead of the BlackRock-backed tokenization firm’s anticipated nationalist listing
• Binance laminitis CZ got into a nationalist dispute with OKX laminitis Star, escalating to the constituent that CZ stake Star $1B that helium is “officially divorced” from Binance

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

• Bitcoin ETFs saw $343M successful nett inflows on Thursday; the ETH ETFs had $85M successful nett inflows
• STRC traded capable measurement yesterday to rise superior for 2,000+ BTC successful bargain pressure
• TD Securities cut Strategy’s terms target on dilution concerns portion initiating a bargain connected Ethereum treasury steadfast SharpLink
• BitMine uplisted to the NYSE and expanded its buyback programme to $4B

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme leaders were slightly green; DOGE +1%, SHIB +1%, PEPE +1%, TRUMP -2%, PENGU +4%, SPX +5%, FARTCOIN +2%
• SBTI (25x), triplet (+102%), chillguy (+32%), and hodl (+38%) led notable onchain movers

💰 Token, airdrop & protocol Tracker

• Tether released its QVAC SDK, a toolkit enabling AI apps to tally locally connected devices without unreality servers, extending Tether’s propulsion into AI infrastructure
• Nunchuk released open-source tools letting AI agents interact with Bitcoin wallets via multi-sig, without giving agents unilateral power implicit funds
• DeFi lender Sky is restructuring its products to prosecute a ceremonial recognition rating, targeting organization superior arsenic DeFi protocols propulsion further into TradFi
• Binance enabled prediction marketplace trading in-app via Predict.fun, giving 240M+ users nonstop entree to lawsuit contracts arsenic the CFTC battles states implicit national jurisdiction
• WLFI fell 10% after the squad revealed that it borrowed $75M against 5B tokens

🚚 What is happening successful NFTs?

• NFT leaders were mostly level again; Punks -1% astatine 28 ETH, Pudgy -1 astatine 4.2 ETH, BAYC adjacent astatine 6.39 ETH; Hypurr’s +!% astatine 392 HYPE
• Nouns (+69%) and Kodas (+13%) led notable movers