Morning Minute: Stablecoins Are Eating Everything

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. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors rebound sharply, up 4-8%; BTC at $65.7k
• Meta confirms plans to re-enter stablecoins across Facebook, Whatsapp and IG
• Coinbase launches 24/5 stock trading with no fees & fractional shares
• Tether teased an upcoming product, with speculation of card or neobank
• Virtual rebounds 20% as Base continues to drive the onchain AI meta

💰 Stablecoins Are Eating Everything

Forget crypto winter.

The stablecoin market doesn’t care.

📌 What Happened

On the same day, Stripe announced a $159B valuation driven largely by its stablecoin infrastructure, Meta confirmed it is re-entering the payments space with a stablecoin strategy targeting 3B users.

Meta sent RFPs to crypto infrastructure firms seeking a third-party partner to administer stablecoin-based payments across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, targeting a launch early in H2 2026.

Stripe, which acquired stablecoin platform Bridge last year and whose CEO Patrick Collison sits on Meta’s board, is the leading candidate. This comes after Stripe processed $1.9 trillion in total payment volume last year, up 34%. Bridge volume quadrupled. Stripe also received a national bank trust charter from the OCC last week, letting it custody crypto and manage stablecoin reserves directly.

Meta is not issuing its own token, wanting a “stablecoin agnostic” integration and a new in-app wallet. Meta spokespeople clarified the project is about enabling payments, calling it “enabling people and businesses to pay using their preferred method.”

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“It may be a crypto winter, but it’s a stablecoin summer.”

“Stablecoin payments are advancing quietly and inexorably as real-world uptake continues apace.” – Patrick and John Collison, Stripe annual letter

“Nothing has changed; there is still no Meta stablecoin. This is about enabling people and businesses to make payments on our platforms using their preferred method.” – Andy Stone, Meta communications director

🧠 Why It Matters

A Meta stablecoin is a big deal.

Facebook has 3.2 billion monthly active users. WhatsApp has 3 billion, with an 84.1% daily open rate (the highest of any major app) and 100 billion messages sent every day. Instagram hits another 3 billion.

Meta’s full family of apps reaches 3.98 billion unique people per month. That’s roughly half the world’s population.

For those who don’t remember, Meta’s prior stablecoin attempt failed because regulators came down hard on a company trying to issue its own global currency. This time, Meta is doing none of that. They’re opting to be stablecoin agnostic, using third-party rails.

They learned the lesson and now the regulatory environment under the GENIUS Act has made it easier to execute.

If Meta gets this working across WhatsApp alone—remittances, creator payouts, cross-border transfers—that’s a stablecoin use case at a scale that could dwarf everything currently on-chain.

Stablecoin supply and volumes would soar.

For traders: the clearest beneficiaries are Circle (USDC issuer, likely integration candidate), Tether (always in the driver’s seat), Stripe itself, and any infrastructure layer that sits between the wallet and settlement. And Meta of course…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Crypto majors are very green after a big rebound; BTC +4% at $65.7K; ETH +6% at $1,940; SOL +8% at $83
• Virtual (+20%), Morpho (+16%), DOT (+13%) and ETHFI (+13%) led top movers; AVAX +10% as well
• Bitcoin is down 50% from its all-time high as trader sentiment turns increasingly bearish, per Decrypt reporting today.
• The Ethereum Foundation began staking 70,000 ETH from its treasury, with an initial 2,106 ETH deposit going live today; staking rewards will fund protocol R&D and ecosystem grants
• Vitalik has sold more than 10,700 ETH since early February, netting roughly $6.1M, with the proceeds used to help fund the Ethereum Foundation
• The Trump administration is publicly pressuring the crypto industry to revive the stalled market structure bill
• Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial is siding with Coinbase against the White House’s version of the market structure bill, creating a split between Trump’s administration and Trump’s own crypto business over stablecoin yield language
• Michigan lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow state employees to receive wages in Bitcoin
• Solana DeFi TVL has declined 52% from its September peak to $6.3B
• Tether teased an upcoming product announcement, with speculation of a neobank and/or payments card

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme majors were very green alongside majors; DOGE +4%, SHIB +2%, PEPE +4%, TRUMP +5%, PENGU +8%, SPX +10%, FARTCOIN +13%
• Punch (+22%) and ARC (+25%) led notable movers; AgenC (+110x) and Claw (+52x) led new movers
• Base AI tokens soared with Virtual (+20%), VVV (+27%), FELIX (+100%) and TIBBIR (+19%)

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

• Coinbase announced tokenized stock trading, available 24/5, with 0 commission fees and with fractional shares available
• Kraken launched tokenized equity perpetual futures via its xStocks framework, offering up to 20x leverage on assets including the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, and GLD
• Binance returned to tokenized stocks for the first time since its 2021 regulatory pullback, listing 10 Ondo Finance-issued U.S. stock, ETF, and commodity tokens on Binance Alpha
• Aave DAO published an audit of Aave Labs historical performance ahead of their $51M ask tomorrow
• EtherFi announced its Earn function available on its iOS app

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders were slightly red with ETH rebounding; Punks -1% at 29.7 ETH, Pudgy -1% at 4.45 ETH, BAYC even at 6 ETH; Hypurr’s +2% at 467 HYPE
• Doodles (+14%) and Moonbirds (+5%) led top movers
• Ether Rock sells for 69.9 ETH
• XCOPY’s ‘Last Selfie’ gets $1M loan