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 mostly green, SOL leads; BTC at $112,000
Forward Industries announces $1.65B SOL DAT led by Galaxy, Multicoin & Jump
BMNR discloses 2.069M in ETH, first $20M âMoonshotâ investment in WLD DAT
HOOD stock soars 9% pre-market after S&P 500 inclusion; MSTR left out
Hyperliquid soars to ATH on back of USDH stablecoin announcement
đ Robinhood Makes the S&P 500, MicroStrategy Gets Skipped
Friday was a big day for those companies entering the S&P 500.
While a major crypto favorite was once again left out.
đ What Happened
S&P Dow Jones Indices said Robinhood (HOOD) will join the S&P 500 at the upcoming quarterly rebalance, replacing a departing constituent.
HOOD shares immediately popped 7% on the news.
Meanwhile, MicroStrategy (MSTR), despite checking all the requirement boxes, was not selected this cycle.
Why HOOD fits:Â Size, liquidity, and a more diversified fintech model (brokerage, options, cash, card, crypto) make it a comfortable add for an operating-company index
Why MSTR didnât: Meeting basic requirements isnât a guarantee; the committee uses discretion. MSTR still screens like a Bitcoin proxy more than a diversified operator and clearly has more to prove its merits as an actual company.
MSTRâs recent price action certainly isnât helping its case, down 16% this month while Bitcoin is only down 3%.
đŁď¸ What Theyâre Saying
Itâs an exciting milestone to have Robinhood join the storied S&P 500 Index. Iâll share what I told the team today â we donât stop to celebrate, our single focus remains building exceptional products for our customers. – Vlad Tenev, Robinhood CEO
âDo you know which two companies didnât make it into the S&P 500 last quarter despite meeting all the criteria? AppLovin and Robinhood. They were passed in June and both got in today on their second try. Same story with Uber and Tesla. Be patient. $MSTR will get thereâ – X user Angarlo
đ§ Why It Matters
First, the reason companies and their shareholders want to join the S&P is clear – huge rebalancing and ongoing inflows.
Getting added to the S&P is almost a lock guarantee for near-term stock price increases (barring other macro factors).
So itâs a big deal to be added.
As for HOOD making it in over MSTR, the decision signals the committeeâs preference for platform exposure over asset proxies.
Robinhoodâs inclusion validates a maturing, retail-first fintech that happens to have crypto in its product mix; it pulls another crypto-adjacent revenue stream directly into Americaâs most-tracked benchmark without making a call on any single token.
By contrast, MicroStrategyâs pass suggests the S&P still wants operating cash flows and business diversification when it chooses members.
For investors, the implication is straightforward: if you want crypto exposure inside the index, build a real business that uses it, donât just warehouse it.
đ Macro Crypto and Memes
A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Crypto majors are mostly green with SOL leading; BTC +0.5% at $111,800, ETH even at $4,300, XRP +4% at $2.94, SOL +5% at $214
MYXÂ (+235%), WLD (+17%), PENGU (+12%) and SPX (+12%) led top movers
The ETH ETFs saw one of their biggest outflow days ever on Friday with $444M in net outflows
Robinhood joined the S&P 500 on Friday, while Strategy was left out of the index
The Senate Banking Committee finalized an updated market-structure bill draft, targeting late-September consideration
Chainlinkâs CEO said tokenization is accelerating after meeting SEC Chair Atkins, highlighting policy focus on on-chain assets
The SEC and CFTC are weighing 24/7 financial markets to align with cryptoâs round-the-clock trading
In Corporate Treasuries
Forward Industries announced $1.65B for a Solana TreasuryCo, led by Galaxy, Jump and Multicoin
Tom Leeâs BitMine now holds 2.069M ETH along with $266M in cash ($9.2B in total), along with a $20M strategic investment in a WLD DAT
Saylorâs Strategy bought another 1,955 BTC for ~$217.4M at ~$111,196 average
SharpLink Gaming is exploring staking on Ethereumâs Linea to diversify yield, expanding beyond its current ETH strategies
Trump Media bought $105M in CRO from Crypto.com, building its planned Cronos treasury and deepening the partnership
SOL Strategies was added to the Nasdaq on Friday, advancing its public-markets listing plans
Sora Ventures targets $1B to seed Bitcoin treasuries in Asia, pitching BTC as a balance-sheet asset for institutions
In Memes
Memecoin leaders are very green on the day; DOGE +7%, Shiba +3%, PEPE +3%, PENGU +13%, BONK +7%, TRUMP +1%, SPX +12%, and FARTCOIN +8%
IRYNAÂ ran 1,700% to $7M leading onchain movers; 67 (+28%) and CARS (+30%) were other notable movers
đ° Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:
Pump Fun gave out $12.3M in creator fees over the past week
Hyperliquid teased a USDH stablecoin launch amid debate between Paxos, Frag and Agora
Ethena announced a $530M StablecoinX investment along with an investment in BasedOne
đ¤ AI x Crypto
Section dedicated to headlines in the AI sector of crypto:
Overall market cap up 2% at $13.2B, leaders were mostly green
FARTCOINÂ (+8%), VIRTUAL (+3%), TIBBIR (-4%), aixbt (+1%) & ai16z (+1%)
BUZZ (+37%) and nuit (+13%) led top movers
đ What is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
ETH NFT leaders were mixed; Punks even at 48.9 ETH, Pudgy +3% at 10.25, BAYC -1% at 9 ETH
Hytopia Worlds up 70% were a notable top mover
Bitcoin NFTÂ leaders were mostly flat / down on the week
Abstract NFTs were mostly green on the week, led by Gigaverse ROMs (+30%) and OCH Heroes (+30%)
A new PunkStrategy token from Rhynotic (PNKSTR) has already accumulated 39.9 ETH in fees after reaching a $2.5M market cap, just 9 ETH away from buying a Punk (which it will then relist at 1.2x the floor)