Morning Minute: Crypto Holds Strong as War Escalates

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 or less, downloadable on Apple Pod or Spotify.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors are very green with ETH leading; BTC at $73,700 & ETH $2,275
• The Bitcoin ETFs posted a 5-day inflow streak with $763M in net inflows
• Tom Lee buys $10M in ETH OTC from the Foundation
• Stanley Druckenmiller says stablecoins could reshape the global payments system
• New LIBRA report shows $5M payment to Argentine President Milei

🌍 Crypto Holds Up Through a Weekend of War Headlines

The macro backdrop remains tense, but crypto is holding up surprisingly well.

As of this morning, Bitcoin is trading at $73,900, Ethereum at $2,280, and Solana at $93.80.

Over the last seven days, Bitcoin is up 9%, Ethereum up 13.9%, and Solana up 12.1%.

That’s a notable show of strength, especially with gold down and stocks flat.

In fact, many shared strong concerns that today would be a very red Monday.

After the U.S. struck Kharg Island, traders immediately focused on energy supply risk because Kharg handles roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports. Reuters reported that Brent climbed to about $105 a barrel in the aftermath, while U.S. crude briefly topped $100, as the market priced in the risk of deeper disruption across the Gulf.

Yet oil is down this morning, stock futures are slightly green and crypto majors are leading the way.

Key Details

• Reuters reported oil had surged more than 25% over the weekend
• Bitcoin is up 9% on the week with ETH leading up 14%, outperforming other markets
• HYPE is trading over $39, up 24% on the week

💰 Bitcoin ETFs Logged Inflows All Five Days Last Week

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows on all five trading days last week, according to CoinGlass data.

From March 9 through March 13, the group brought in about $763.4M in total net inflows. Notably, that’s the first 5-day inflow streak of 2026 and hasn’t happened since November 2025.

The ETH ETFs were also green on the last 4 trading days, with $117M in net inflows on the week.

Key Details

• Weekly net inflows totaled about $763.4M
• This was reported as the first five-day inflow streak of 2026
• IBIT was the largest contributor on several days, including $185.8M on March 10 and $143.6M on March 13

🟣 Tom Lee’s BitMine Bought ETH Directly From the Ethereum Foundation

The Ethereum Foundation sold 5,000 ETH directly to Tom Lee’s BitMine in an over-the-counter transaction worth about $10.2M, according to Decrypt.

The Foundation said the average sale price was $2,042.96 per ETH.

According to the Foundation, proceeds from the sale will support core operations, protocol research and development, ecosystem development, and grants. Decrypt also reported that BitMine held 4,534,563 ETH as of the prior Monday, with those holdings then valued at about $9.41 billion.

Key Details

• Sale size: 5,000 ETH for about $10.2M.
• Average sale price: $2,042.96 per coin.
• BitMine is the largest ETH treasury firm, holding 4.53M ETH (~4% of the ETH supply)

🏦 Druckenmiller Says Stablecoins Could Reshape Payments

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller said in a Morgan Stanley interview that he expects stablecoins to play a major role in future payments infrastructure.

Decrypt quoted him as saying, “I would assume our whole payments systems will be stablecoins in 10 or 15 years.”

In the same interview, Druckenmiller said he views stablecoins as efficient and cost-effective, while remaining skeptical of much of the broader crypto sector.

Key Details

• Druckenmiller said stablecoins could become central to payments in 10 to 15 years.
• He was positive on stablecoins specifically, while describing broader crypto as “a solution looking for a problem.”
• Decrypt cited stablecoin supply at around $315B, up more than $180B since early 2024.

🇦🇷 Probe Reveals Alleged $5M Deal Tied to Milei’s LIBRA Promotion

A new report says investigators recovered a document outlining an alleged $5M payment structure linked to Argentine President Javier Milei’s promotion of the LIBRA token.

The Block reported the document was recovered from the phone of lobbyist Mauricio Novelli as part of the ongoing judicial probe.

According to reporting on the document, the alleged arrangement was split into three payments totaling $5M. Other reports describing the same document say the draft included an upfront payment, a second payment tied to Milei publicly endorsing Hayden Davis, and a final payment tied to a formal blockchain or AI advisory agreement.

For context, the LIBRA token is infamous in Solana and meme coin circles, largely attributed to causing the downfall of the 2023-2025 meme coin cycle.

Key Details

• The document was reportedly recovered from Mauricio Novelli’s iPhone
• The alleged payment structure totaled $5 million across three installments.
• The LIBRA token briefly spiked above $7B in early trading, now at just $1M (down well over 99.9%)

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Crypto majors are very green and once again outperforming other markets; BTC +3% at $73.9k; ETH +8% at $2,279; SOL +6% at $94
• PEPE (+20%), FET (+13%), DOT (+11%) and TAO (+10%) led top movers
• Oil is at $96 but falling after briefly passing $100 over the weekend; GOLD flat at $5,010
• The ETH Foundation stressed decentralization and self-sovereignty in its latest 38-page document
• Kraken’s SPAC is looking for a crypto-native acquisition target worth up to $10B, eyeing stablecoins, DeFi, and payments
• Mizuho raised its price target for Circle as USDC surpassed USDT in adjusted transaction volume, the first time Circle’s stablecoin has led Tether
• The crypto lobby has already spent $271 million on the 2026 midterms and is planning more attack ads targeting lawmakers who opposed industry-friendly legislation
• Hyperliquid was featured by the Wall Street Journal, covering how traders are flocking their for 24/7 markets

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

• The Bitcoin ETFs saw $180M in net inflows on Friday, closing a $760M week; the ETH ETFs had $27M in inflows ($117M on the week)
• MetaPlanet announced $255M in a private placement raise to buy mroe Bitcoin

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme majors were very green; DOGE +4%, SHIB +5%, PEPE +20%, TRUMP -3%, PENGU +8%, SPX +7%, FARTCOIN +15%
• USELESS (+16%) led top onchain movers in a quiet weekend

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders were mostly flat over the weekend with ETH pumping; Punks -1% at 28.25 ETH, Pudgy +1% at 4.32 ETH, BAYC -1% at 5.35 ETH; Hypurr’s even at 436 HYPE
• Creepz (+37%) led notable movers