Morning Minute: Crypto Booms as US Government Reopening Looms

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 rally on back of US Gov’t reopening progress; BTC at $106,000
• ZEC cools off after parabolic run to $750, holds at $630
• UK to impose stablecoin cap at £20k
• Ledger considers an IPO or private fundraise
• Virtuals introduced a new AI content + token launchpad with Luna dot Fun

💥 Crypto Rallies as Washington Edges Toward a Deal

The government is on the brink of reopening and we are running back stimmy season.

And crypto markets like it.

📌 What Happened

After weeks of policy gridlock and fear-driven selling, Bitcoin ripped back above $106,000 and altcoins followed suit.

The rally came as Washington signaled progress on reopening the government, and President Trump floated $2,000 “tariff dividend” checks to offset consumer costs from his trade plan.

Bitcoin rose over 6% in 24 hours, briefly touching $107K, while ETH reclaimed $3,600 and SOL jumped 10%.

The move tracked a rebound in equities and metals, as traders reacted to two parallel developments:

1. Shutdown progress: Congressional leaders reportedly reached a framework deal to fund federal agencies through early 2026, easing fears of a prolonged freeze on spending and wages.
2. Tariff checks: Trump proposed sending Americans direct payments tied to tariff revenue, a twist that markets interpreted as another potential liquidity injection into the economy.

Together, those headlines flipped risk sentiment overnight.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“Markets were waiting for Washington to blink. The moment fiscal headlines turned positive, crypto snapped back.” – QCP Capital

🧠 Why It Matters

The four-year cycle believers are running out of time to be right.

This package of news from Washington sent Bitcoin back into the range and well above $100k (and the rest of crypto with it).

The weekly was saved.

Now, there are several more bullish catalysts ahead than bearish ones.

The government is reopening. Stimulus checks (or tax rebates) are coming. Interest rates will drop in 2026.

And all of that is on top of the progress made in 2025 with crypto opening for business in the US, the ETF boom, Tradfi’s embrace and crypto coming to 401k’s soon.

The primary bear case is—Bitcoin historically goes down after 4 years.

That’s pretty much it.

And that’s pretty weak.

Bulls are back in control—and bears are officially on notice…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes

A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs

In Memes

• Meme coin leaders are very green along with majors; DOGE +4%, Shiba +1%, PEPE +3%, PENGU +10%, BONK +5%, TRUMP +13%, SPX +5%, and FARTCOIN +10%
• USELESS rallied 27% to $211M and Troll jumped 25% to $60M

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

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

• NFT leaders were green across the board; Punks +4% at 35.5 ETH, Pudgy +4% at 6.1, BAYC +4% at 6.35 ETH; Hypurr’s +3% at 900 HYPE
• Beeple – Spring/Summer Collection (+23%) and CryptoDickButts (+33%) are notable movers
• The NFT Token Strategies were all green, with PNKSTR up 10% to $40M