Morning Minute: Bitcoin Makes Smashing New ATH Over $125k

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 are green after Bitcoin hits new ATH at $125,600 (now $124,300)
• BNB hits new ATH at $1,220; Binance lists spot ASTER (+10%)
• ASTER Stage 2 airdrop confirmed for Oct 14; users can get tokens for fees rebated
• MetaMask teases new rewards program with $30M in LINEA up for grabs
• Rhynotic shares new ‘north star’ vision for Punk Strategy to become launchpad; PNKSTR soars to $300M

🟠 Bitcoin Prints a New All-Time High Above $125K

Bitcoin ripped to a fresh record on Sunday.

Setting the tone for what could be a massive week.

📌 What Happened

After reclaiming $120K late week, BTC pushed through its August peak and set a new ATH during Sunday trade over $125,600.

The breakout was clearly driven by inflows: spot bitcoin ETFs notched ~$3.2B of net inflows last week (second-best on record), while futures open interest hit fresh highs into the weekend.

Macro also helped, as the government shutdown seems to have been the catalyst that finally pushed the bankers and advisors into Gold and its digital counterpart.

On that note –

Morgan Stanley began allowing its ~16,000 brokers to solicit spot BTC ETFs for eligible clients.

And they’re using fresh internal primers to discuss portfolio allocation to Bitcoin, explicitly calling for 0-4% allocation – ranging from 0 for wealth conservation (lol*) to 4% for “Opportunistic Growth.”

*Holding the dollar is one of the worst things an investor could do right now for wealth conservation. See below for more context.

So an army of wealth advisors who collectively manage $2T in assets are about to go pitch 2-4% portfolio allocations to Bitcoin.

I like that set up.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“The story is simple: Trump said America can “grow its way out of debt.” What it really means is debasement. Shutdowns highlight the erosion of trust in U.S. institutions — Bitcoin is the pressure valve. That’s not bearish S&P, it’s bearish dollar.” – Goldman

“The only trade is the debasement trade. Few.” – Haralabob, on X

🧠 Why It Matters

Everything is debasement.

Every macro trade right now is the debasement trade.

Expect to hear that term a lot more frequently in the coming months (JP Morgan is clearly leaning in).

It’s no coincidence that the same week the bankers coined and pitched “the debasement trade”, we saw a near-record setting $3.2B into the Bitcoin ETFs.

They’ve filled their bags, and now they’re pitching those bags to clients.

And they’re pitching gold and digital gold (Bitcoin).

I know, personally, because my financial advisor literally called me on Friday to pitch me gold (they have a $6,000 price target for 2026, a 50% return from here).

I can’t wait for the call in a few months when he pitches me Bitcoin.

It’s coming. It’s just a matter of time.

Oh, and my advice for anyone still clinging on to the “4-year cycle” for crypto and Bitcoin –

The debasement trade doesn’t care about your 4-year cycle…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes

A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

• Crypto majors are green after Bitcoin made a new ATH at $125,500 over the weekend; BTC +1% at $124,350, ETH +1% at $4,580, XRP -1% at $3.00, SOL +1% at $233
• BNB hit a new ATH at $1,220 (+20% on the week)
• ZEC (+17%), ASTER (+11%) and MYX (+10%) led top movers
• Gold hit a new ATH at $3,966, now up nearly 50% YTD
• The Bitcoin ETFs closed a massive week with $3.23B in net inflows; ETH ETFs saw $1.3B
• Morgan Stanley issued new guidance for its 16,000 advisors managing $2T to start pushing Bitcoin (ETFs) to their clients
• Galaxy debuted its new mobile app ‘GalaxyOne’ aimed at individual investors
• Coinbase applied for a U.S. national trust bank charter, signaling a deeper push into regulated fiat rails and custody
• Standard Chartered reiterated its near term price targets of $135,000 for Bitcoin and a year-end target near $200,000, citing accelerating ETF demand and supportive macro dynamics into the fourth quarter
• Samsung Wallet added in-app access to Coinbase One for US users

In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs

In Memes

• Memecoin leaders are mixed; DOGE +1%, Shiba -1%, PEPE +1%, PENGU -3%, BONK -1%, TRUMP even, SPX +2%, and FARTCOIN -5%
• WNTV (+60x) and PFP (+50%) led onchain Sol movers

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

• ETH NFT leaders were mostly even; Punks even at 48.8 ETH, Pudgy +1% at 10.06, BAYC +4% at 8.8 ETH; Hypurr’s -3% at 1,380 HYPE
• Max Pain (+14%) and Azuki (+10%) were notable top movers
• Punk Strategy soared to new ATH (now $290M) after founder Rhynotic shared a new “north star” vision for the app to effectively become a Strategy token launchpad, now also holding 23 Punks
• 5 new NFT Strategy tokens will launch this week, one per day, starting today with Goblins, then Checks, XCOPY Max Pain, Good Vibes Club and
• New “Punk Auction Strategy” launched as a PNKSTR derivative, buys its first Punk