In the latest Morning Minute newsletter by Tyler Warner, Bitcoin breached the $80,000 mark overnight following President Trump’s announcement of ‘Project Freedom’. This military initiative aims to escort neutral ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump described it as a humanitarian effort in response to requests from nations with vessels stranded in the Gulf, cautioning that any Iranian interference would be met with force. Oil prices dipped as markets anticipated a partial reopening of Hormuz since February 28. Consequently, Bitcoin hit its highest point since early February.
The surge occurred despite lower ETF inflows ($160M for BTC ETFs this week) and no recent purchases by Saylor. Analysts predict STRC will likely reach parity before the week’s end. However, this morning, reports of Iran launching missiles at a U.S. warship triggered a reversal: oil prices jumped 4% to $105, Bitcoin dipped from $80,400 to below $79K, and stock futures turned negative.
Meanwhile, the Clarity Act advanced significantly with Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks releasing updated stablecoin yield language. This change prohibits yield or returns for merely holding a stablecoin but allows rewards linked to transactions and platform engagement. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong praised the update as “Mark it up,” and Paul Grewal noted that activity-based rewards remain intact.
Polymarket odds of passing the Clarity Act by 2026 increased by approximately 20 points to 65%. The main obstacle now appears to be ethical concerns related to Trump family crypto businesses. Clearing this could lead to its passage in 2026.
Tether reported a Q1 profit of $1.04 billion, with reserves reaching an all-time high of $8.23 billion. The company holds total assets worth $191.77 billion against liabilities of $183.54 billion. With $141 billion in U.S. Treasury bills, Tether ranks as the 17th-largest holder of such debt globally. Other reserves include roughly $20 billion in gold and $7 billion in Bitcoin.
Tether has initiated a comprehensive independent audit with a ‘Big Four’ accounting firm for the first time since its $18.5 million CFTC settlement, marking a significant transparency step.
MoonPay introduced the MoonAgents Card, enabling AI agents to spend stablecoins via Mastercard at over 150 million merchants worldwide. This product builds on Gemini’s Model Context Protocol and follows MoonPay’s acquisition of Sodot for $100 million to expand institutional services.