Morning Minute: Bitcoin Erases Trump Pump, Falls to $60k

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 crash on Thursday as BTC hits $60k before rebounding
• HYPE / BTC hits new ATH as Hyperliquid’s token holds strong
• JPMorgan says BTC could be a stronger play than Gold now post-selloff
• Polymarket’s parent company filed a trademark for $POLY, outlines token plans
• Rainbow Wallet’s RNBW token debuts at $34M fdv

📉 Bitcoin Erases Trump Pump

Bitcoin crashed to $60,000 on Thursday.

Erasing every gain since Trump’s election and completing a full 50% drawdown from October’s $126,000 all-time high.

📌 What Happened

Bitcoin plunged 14% in a single day, triggering over $2B in crypto liquidations and sending the Fear & Greed Index to 5 “extreme fear” territory, a level not seen in several years.

The selling accelerated through the session, with BTC briefly touching $60,000 before a modest bounce ($66,000 this morning).

The carnage wasn’t contained to spot. Over $1.1B in Bitcoin derivatives alone were liquidated.

XRP led altcoin losses, down 20%+, while Ethereum fell 15% to $1,750 and Solana cratered to $69.

This all played out while Strategy reported a $12.4 billion Q4 loss Thursday afternoon, with MSTR shares hitting an 18-month low at $107 – down 76% from last year’s peak.

Bitcoin dipped below Strategy’s $76,000 average cost basis earlier this week, putting the company’s 713,502 BTC holdings ($45B) underwater for the first time since 2023.

Meanwhile, Stifel analysts warned that BTC could fall as low as $38,000 if headwinds persist. On Myriad, traders are putting a 65% chance on Bitcoin hitting $55K before $84K.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“It’s clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode,” said Nic Puckrin of Coin Bureau. “This is no longer a short-term correction, but a transition from distribution to reset – and these typically take months, not weeks.”

Strategy CFO Andrew Kang tried to steady nerves on the earnings call: “Our strategy is built for the long term. It’s built to withstand short-term price volatility, even extreme conditions like we’re seeing today.”

🧠 Why It Matters

There’s no sugar coating it—this is a rough stretch for crypto.

Here are some of the leading takes and narratives on why crypto has been underperforming:

• Gold won. It was supposed to be Bitcoin’s moment (dollar doubt, sovereign stress) but capital fled to gold instead. Makes it much harder to believe the “digital gold” narrative.
• AI is eating crypto’s lunch. Mindshare, talent, and capital are all flowing to AI. If you have cheap power, why mine BTC when you could build a data center?
• The Trump bet imploded. Crypto traded as a Trump proxy and his approval rating is at lows. Regulatory progress could reverse.
• Institutional adoption isn’t helping tokens. Wall Street loves stablecoins, RWAs and tokenization – but value isn’t accruing to ETH, SOL, or existing networks.
• DATs are now a liability. Treasury companies below NAV invite activists to liquidate underlying BTC / DAT tokens.
• No excuses left. The double-edged sword of the crypto-positive Trump admin – now we can’t blame hostile regulators for the pain.
• We’re not early anymore. ETFs exist. Zero barriers. Fully mainstream. And prices are still down.

There are plenty of other reasons to help cope with pain and describe why price action is bad, but that’s enough for today.

So where does this leave us?

In the “stress zone” where long-term holders historically accumulate and short-term holders panic.

I’m personally getting texts from “What’s going on with crypto?” – typically a sign that we’re near a bottom (local at least).

It’s hard to predict near-term price action and I certainly don’t have a crystal ball. But $60k seems much more likely to be closer to the bottom than the top.

We will find out soon enough.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Crypto majors are very red another 5-8% after another brutal selloff that saw BTC go to $60k; BTC -5% at $66.3K; ETH -7% at $1,920; SOL -9% at $82; XRP +1% at ~$1.37
• QNT (+5%), HYPE (+4%) and FLR (+7%) led top movers
• The HYPE / BTC ratio hit a new ATH as Hyperliquid held strong during the Bitcoin crash
• JPMorgan said Bitcoin could be “more attractive” than gold over time as a store of value, despite the current rout
• Bitcoin mining stocks are approaching crisis as BTC trades near the $60K-$80K production cost range; mining difficulty expected to drop 13% Saturday.
• Gemini is cutting 25% of staff and exiting UK, EU, and Australia; accounts close Apr 6

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

• The BTC ETFs saw $434M in net outflows while the ETH ETFs saw $80M
• Strategy reported a $12.4B Q4 loss as BTC fell below its $76K average cost; MSTR down 76% from November peak
• Tom Lee’s BitMine hit a 7-month stock low with $8B in unrealized losses on its Ethereum holdings

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme majors were mostly red down 3-5%; DOGE -5%, SHIB -4%, PEPE -5%, TRUMP -17%, FARTCOIN -3%
• BigTrout (+88%), arc (+23%), Buttcoin (+43%) and WhiteWhale (+30%) were notable movers

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

• Polymarket’s parent company filed a trademark for POLY and $POLY, including plans for a token
• Rainbow’s RNBW token opened at a $34M fdv in its first day of trading ($7M market cap)

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders rallied in ETH terms despite ETH falling; Punks +11% at 29.9 ETH, Pudgy even at 4.17 ETH, BAYC +8% at 5.8 ETH; Hypurr’s -2% at 476 HYPE
• MAYC (+8%) and Moonbirds (+7%) led notable movers
• CryptoPunks saw 30+ sales yesterday amidst the carnage, showing strong support at the $50k level