Morning Minute: Bitcoin Falls Below $67k as MSTR Plummets

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. And check out our new daily news show covering all of the top stories in 5 minutes, downloadable on Apple Pod or Spotify.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors continue fall, down another 3-5%; BTC at $66,800
• Alts post big day led by LIT, WLD, ENA, NEAR and ZEC
• Coinbase market buys ENA token as the two prepare for new partnership
• WSJ features Hyperliquid as primary place for weekend and after-hours markets
• Senators Sanders and Warren push for crypto to be blocked from 401ks

📉 Bitcoin Falls Below $67k as MSTR Plummets

It appears the fallout from Saylor’s Bitcoin sales isn’t over yet.

Bitcoin crashed below $67,000 on Tuesday with over $1.4B in longs liquidated across crypto. ETH fell below $1,900 and SOL fell sub-$74.

The sell-off is now being driven by a 10-day Bitcoin ETF outflow streak now exceeding $3 billion, and Strategy’s first Bitcoin sale in four years destabilizing the market’s most reliable narrative.

Strategy shares closed down more than 9% on Tuesday, now more than 70% off their 52-week high of $457.22, trading at $136.08. It’s down nearly 15% in the last five trading days and more than 23% on the month. Bitcoin itself has fallen roughly 46% off its all-time high of $126,080.

Meanwhile, STRC, the product Saylor is apparently trying to prioritize, fell to $96.90. That’s nowhere near its $100 par value, and with just 9 trading sessions left until this month’s dividend date, it’s unclear STRC will get back to par. When STRC trades below par, Strategy cannot issue new shares at $100 efficiently, and new issuances are the primary mechanism funding both Bitcoin purchases and dividend obligations.

Following the $1.5 billion repurchase of convertible debt, Strategy’s cash reserves have fallen to roughly $871 million, covering only about six months of its estimated $1.7 billion annual preferred dividend obligations. So their primary method of raising cash will be by selling MSTR—which likely will drive MSTR down unless big buyers step in.

As a result, the near-term future for Bitcoin just became much murkier…

🚫 Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Want Crypto Out of Your 401(k)

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren urged the Labor Department to drop a proposal to make it easier to offer crypto in 401(k) plans, arguing the rule weakens fiduciary standards and could expose retirees to greater risk.

The lawmakers also said the policy could enrich President Donald Trump and his family by expanding access to crypto products tied to them.

The proposal in question originated from a Trump executive order directing the Labor Department to pave the way for alternative assets in retirement accounts. The March rule creates a safe harbor for fiduciaries who offer alternative investments, including digital assets, private equity, private credit, real estate, and annuities, inside 401(k) plans, so long as fiduciaries can demonstrate they weighed relevant factors.

Sanders and Warren’s argument is that “safe harbor” language waters down fiduciary oversight into a “check-the-box exercise” that removes accountability without improving outcomes for retirees. In a 14-page letter to Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, the senators cited FBI data showing crypto-linked fraud losses topped $11 billion in 2025, and referenced Trump’s namesake meme coin, which once hit an all-time high above $73 before collapsing near $2.

The letter warns that the proposal would place an estimated $14.2 trillion in 401(k) savings at risk, citing a GAO study finding Bitcoin’s volatility was approximately four times higher than the S&P 500 benchmark and Solana’s was roughly twelve times greater.

💰 Coinbase Backs Ethena

Coinbase Ventures bought Ethena’s ENA token on the open market on Tuesday, as the two firms prepare to launch a new onchain savings product for the exchange’s more than 100 million users.

Ethena’s products will become available to Coinbase’s user base through a new service launching next week. The protocol also expanded its partnership with Anchorage Digital to support institutional lending activity. USDe, Ethena’s stablecoin, will be distributed on the Base network and the wider Coinbase ecosystem. ENA surged 20% following the news.

Coinbase Ventures typically invests in projects through traditional venture rounds at negotiated prices. The open-market purchase stands out because it demonstrates conviction without typical VC discounts or lockups, sending a strong signal to institutional allocators. Coinbase is already Ethena’s primary custodian, wallet provider, and perpetuals venue.

The ENA token is down over 90% from 2025 highs. Will this be enough to turn it around?

🚩 US Sanctioned Iran’s Four Largest Crypto Exchanges

The US Treasury Department blacklisted four Iranian crypto exchanges Tuesday, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex, as well as some of these exchanges’ executives.

Nobitex is the central target. It is the largest crypto exchange in Iran and was responsible for half of Iran’s crypto transactions in 2025. The State Department simultaneously announced a $15 million reward for information that would help dismantle IRGC financial networks.

The action escalates the US financial warfare campaign against Iran’s digital asset infrastructure significantly. Tether had previously frozen $344.2 million held across two wallets attributed to the Central Bank of Iran, the largest onchain freeze of Iranian sovereign crypto reserves on record. Bessent said the US has now seized approximately $1 billion in Iranian crypto.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Crypto majors are red again down 3-5%; BTC -3% at $66.8k; ETH -5% at $1,870; SOL -5% at $74.89; HYPE even at $72.87
• LIT (+31%), ENA (+21%), and WLD (+20%) led top movers; NEAR and VVV +10% as well
• Oil +5% at $96; Gold -1% at $4,490
• Stock futures are mixed with the Nasdaq up 0.1% and DOW down 0.4%
• Bitmine’s Tom Lee predicted Ethereum will reach $250,000 as corporate treasury firms, institutional stakers, and sovereign wealth funds increasingly take over network validator control
• Andrew Yang’s Noble Mobile acquired Helium Mobile Tuesday; Noble will use the Helium Network’s 137,000 community-operated hotspots for expanded coverage (HNT -9%)
• MoneyGram launched a USDC stablecoin payment service on the Stellar network Tuesday, letting consumers send dollar-pegged transfers across borders using Stellar’s rails
• Franklin Templeton partnered with MoonPay to let institutional investors swap stablecoins for yield-bearing assets around the clock, pairing Franklin Templeton’s $1.74 trillion in AUM and tokenized money market funds with MoonPay’s institutional settlement infrastructure
• Galaxy Research entered the institutional prediction markets space by facilitating a $10 million Arca trade Tuesday, the first nine-figure institutional prediction market position brokered by a major crypto research firm
• NewLimit, the anti-aging biotech co-founded by Brian Armstrong, closed a new $435M Series C funding round backed by Founders Fund, Thrive, Greenoaks, and others, while also announcing it has developed a prototype drug that reverses the biological age of human cells by restoring function they had when younger

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme leaders were red; DOGE -5%, SHIB -3%, PEPE -4%, PENGU -2%, TRUMP -3%, BONK -4%, SPX +5%, FARTCOIN -3%
• SPCZ (+23%), Troll (+17%) and Worldcup (+30%) led notable movers on Solana
• Base movers included BV7X (+32%), ODAI (+15%) and Zora (+15%)

📈 Myriad Market of the Day

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

• Hyperliquid was featured by the WSJ in an article highlights its use for weekend and after-hours trading
• Movement Labs announced it is pivoting from an Ethereum Layer-2 to stablecoin infrastructure for emerging markets, reorienting its Move-language blockchain to power cross-border payments and dollar access in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders were mixed; Punks -3% at 31 ETH, BAYC +1% at 8.1 ETH, Pudgy +1% at 4.11 ETH; Hypurr’s -4% at 297 HYPE
• Captainz (+15%) and mfers (+11%) led top movers
• A Skull of Luci sold for $350,000 on Tuesday