Crypto markets climbed after a softer June CPI report, with Bitcoin trading at $64,600 in Decrypt’s latest Morning Minute newsletter. The daily note is written by Tyler Warner, and Decrypt said the analysis and opinions in it are the author’s own.
The newsletter’s lead items were straightforward: major cryptocurrencies gained 3% to 6% after the CPI print, BTC stood at $64.6K, HYPE rose 7% to $68 as the SEC Crypto Task Force met with the HPC team, Mizuho cut Circle to a $50 target over OpenUSD competition, Pump.fun reached its first major unlock with $86 million in PUMP entering the market, and Robinhood Chain saw money rotate from meme tokens into protocols.
June CPI comes in cool and crypto reacts fast
The inflation reading that crypto traders had been waiting for finally arrived, according to the report. June CPI fell 0.4% month over month, the biggest monthly decline since April 2020. The annual rate dropped to 3.5% from May’s 4.2%, below the 3.8% expected. Core CPI cooled to 2.6%, also below forecasts, and was flat on the month.
Crypto moved almost immediately. Bitcoin jumped from around $62,000 to reclaim $64,900. ETH climbed 7% to $1,884. Roughly $300 million in short positions were liquidated as the move caught bearish traders on the wrong side.
Decrypt noted that this was the final major inflation print before the Federal Reserve’s July 28-29 meeting. The newsletter said the data weakens the case for rate hikes that had capped the market through the summer. On Polymarket, the odds of a July rate cut fell from 35% to 6% after the CPI release and Warsh’s comments. Even so, the odds of at least one hike by year-end were still around 80%, down from 90%.
Warsh tells Congress inflation fight is not finished
Within hours of the CPI release, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh testified before Congress in his first appearance since succeeding Powell. Decrypt said one key line from his testimony was that if the Fed gets policy right, the inflation surge of the past five years “will be a thing of the past.”
Warsh also spent time on artificial intelligence, describing business investment as the most striking feature of the economy. He said what is currently called “AI investment” may soon simply be called “investment,” reflecting his view that AI is fundamentally disinflationary.
Still, when lawmakers asked him directly about the morning’s CPI data, he did not endorse the optimistic read. Decrypt wrote that Warsh said some people might look at the report and declare “mission accomplished,” then added, “that is not my view.” He offered no forward guidance and no signal on the next policy move, while reminding lawmakers that the committee has “no tolerance” for persistently elevated inflation.
The newsletter added that the hawkish reading of those remarks, as well as the suggestion that a rate hike could still arrive in 2026, reflected the author’s own interpretation. It said the next FOMC meeting in two weeks may provide more clarity.
Major tokens rise, with HYPE among the leaders
In its macro and market rundown, Decrypt listed broad gains across large-cap crypto assets:
- BTC +3% at $64,600
- ETH +5% at $1,880
- SOL +3% at $77
- HYPE +7% at $68
Among the day’s biggest movers were PI, up 15%, PUMP, up 14%, and ZEC, up 13%.
Traditional markets were more subdued. Oil was down 1% at $80, gold fell 1% to $4,035, stock futures were slightly positive, the Dow was flat, and the Nasdaq was up 0.4%.
SEC meets Hyperliquid as opposition to the CLARITY Act grows
The SEC’s Crypto Task Force met Hyperliquid’s Policy Center on Tuesday to discuss crypto regulation and how Hyperliquid fits into that framework, the newsletter said.
At the same time, several Senate Democrats publicly opposed the CLARITY Act during a press conference, calling it a “corrupt bill.” Their criticism focused on the bill’s failure to stop Trump and his family from profiting from crypto, an issue that has intensified the political fight around the legislation.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also moved to stop Kalshi from canceling trades as ordered by a Michigan court, siding with the prediction-market company in a jurisdictional dispute between the federal regulator and the state.
On the international side, the U.S. and the U.K. moved to align rules for tokenized finance. Decrypt described that effort as a coordinated push linking the world’s two largest financial markets as tokenization expands.
JPMorgan and Mizuho raise concerns around Circle
JPMorgan said Hyperliquid’s rise threatens the economics behind Circle’s USDC business, creating what it described as a “prisoner’s dilemma” between Circle and Coinbase over distribution.
Mizuho took a more direct market call. It downgraded Circle to underperform and cut its price target to $50, pointing to the threat from Open USD. The bank warned that the 140-backer consortium could undermine the core reserve-yield economics behind USDC.
At the same time, Circle signed an MOU with JCB, Japan’s largest card network, to explore stablecoin payments across roughly 40 million merchants.
Coinbase, ETFs and treasury activity
Coinbase’s Head of Platform said that 95% to 100% of the company’s code is now written by AI or with AI assistance.
On fund flows, Bitcoin ETFs recorded $181 million in net inflows on Tuesday, while Ethereum ETFs took in $58 million.
Tom Lee’s Bitmine generated $45 million from ETH staking in the second quarter, according to its latest filing.
Meme coin action and Robinhood Chain rotation
Meme coin leaders were mostly higher by 2% to 3%. DOGE rose 2%, SHIB gained 3%, PEPE added 2%, PENGU jumped 7%, TRUMP rose 2%, and BONK fell 3%.
Robinhood Chain was far more volatile. Previous leaders sold off sharply, with Cashcat down 30%, Juggernaut down 38%, and Hoodrat down 47%. At the same time, new launchpad token PONS surged 13x and a new RWA protocol, INDEX, rose 400%.
Decrypt said there was no notable action on Solana.
Pump.fun unlocks $86 million in PUMP as Binance eyes a broader app model
In its token and protocol tracker, the newsletter said Pump.fun completed its first major unlock at the one-year mark. That event brought $86 million worth of team and investor PUMP tokens to market.
Decrypt also said Binance is betting on becoming a crypto “super-app” as stablecoins reshape its growth strategy, expanding beyond trading into payments and financial services.
NFT market stays mostly flat, but some Robinhood sets jump
NFT leaders were mostly unchanged. CryptoPunks held at 32.4 ETH, BAYC rose 1% to 8.94 ETH, Pudgy added 1% to 4.37 ETH, and Hypurr’s fell 2% to 175 HYPE.
Among the stronger movers, Cryptoadz gained 22% and Trolls rose 26%. New Robinhood NFT collections also jumped, including RDEGEN Hood, up 450%, and Post Mortem, up 60%.