Morning Minute: Saylor Gains Access to Another $44B to Buy Bitcoin

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. And check out our new daily news show covering all of the top stories in 5 minutes or less, downloadable on Apple Pod or Spotify.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors grind higher, SOL leads; BTC +1% at $71k
• Saylor gets access to another $42B+ in MSTR and STRC ATM programs
• Congressmen introduce bipartisan bill banning sports betting in pred markets
• Polymarket introduces referral program and new fee structure
• Elizabeth Warren comes after Mr. Beast’s new banking app and potential crypto tie in

₿ Strategy Unveils a $44B Equity Plan to Buy More Bitcoin

Strategy said it can now issue $44 billion in additional equity to fund future Bitcoin purchases, split across $21 billion of common stock (MSTR), $21 billion of STRC, and $2.1 billion of STRK.

The move is designed to keep feeding Strategy’s Bitcoin-buying machine, even as the pace of purchases briefly slowed.

Notably, STRC accounts for nearly half of the total authorization. The company recently boosted STRC’s monthly dividend to 11.5%, leading to a spike in demand that helped fuel Saylor’s large buys earlier this month.

Bitcoin did not react to the news, holding at $70,500 on the day.

Key Details

• Strategy can issue $44B in fresh equity.
• The authorization includes $21B MSTR, $21B STRC, and $2.1B STRK.
• STRC has enabled Strategy to raise more than $1.5B this month.

🏛 Congress Moves to Ban Sports Bets on Prediction Markets

The Wall Street Journal reported that lawmakers are preparing a bipartisan bill to ban sports betting on prediction market platforms.

That would directly target one of the fastest-growing use cases for firms like Kalshi and Polymarket, both of which have pushed aggressively into sports-related markets.

For context of how big this is, Kalshi’s weekly sports volume makes up 70-85% of its total handle and Polymarket’s sports volume is 35-40% of its total.

And the timing is notable, with Kalshi fresh off the news of its latest $22B fundraise.

State gaming regulators argue these products are sports betting and should be treated like gambling. The platforms argue they are federally regulated event contracts and belong under derivatives oversight instead.

Congress now appears ready to test that question directly with legislation.

Key Details

• WSJ reported the bill would be bipartisan and would target sports bets on prediction markets, not the entire category.
• Kalshi’s sports volume makes up 70-85% of its total volume across platforms.
• The timing is notable because prediction markets have just had a major momentum streak, with large new partnerships, rising volumes, and fresh private-market funding.

🕵️ Polymarket and Kalshi Make Series of Announcements

It was a busy day for prediction markets, beyond the WSJ report of the new bipartisan bill.

Polymarket previously hyped a big announcement coming Monday, and it delivered…a new referral program. They also bundled in a new fee structure, varying by market sector and probability with a peak fee of 1.8% (for crypto markets).

Polymarket also updated its insider-trading rules and emphasized a “multi-layered monitoring system” for suspicious activity, while Kalshi has also been tightening controls as the sector faces more political and regulatory attention.

Kalshi is banning athletes, coaches and politicians from betting on their own markets in an effort to prevent insider trading.

And Polymarket recently said it is working with Palantir to build surveillance systems for sports-focused prediction markets.

Key Details

• Polymarket’s new referral program includes traders >$10k in volume and will include up to 30% rewards
• Polymarket’s new fee structure varies by market type and peaks at 1.8%
• Kalshi banned athletes, coaches and politicians from trading

🏀 Coinbase Users Blast March Madness Push Notifications

Coinbase users complained after receiving repeated March Madness push notifications encouraging them to make sports-related predictions. The backlash on X got large enough to become a trending topic, with multiple users arguing the notifications felt more like sports-gambling ads than a normal crypto exchange experience.

Coinbase’s app homepage was prominently featuring March Madness promotion at the top of the screen, while some users said they were getting several notifications a day.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong replied that the criticism was “a fair point” and said more customization options would be added.

Key Details

• Users complained about receiving multiple push notifications per day.
• Coinbase’s app homepage was also featuring a March Madness ad prominently.
• Armstrong responded publicly and promised more customization options.

🧒 Elizabeth Warren Presses MrBeast Over Crypto in a Teen Banking App

Senator Elizabeth Warren is pressing Beast Industries over whether crypto could be pushed through Step, the teen-focused banking app tied to MrBeast.

Warren sent a 12-page letter focused on Step’s previous crypto activity and raised concerns about how a large youth audience could be exposed if crypto features returned.

Step had previously marketed itself as the first U.S. platform to let teens, with parental consent, buy digital assets such as Bitcoin, and later expanded that access to dozens of crypto assets and NFTs.

Key Details

• Warren’s letter is 12 pages long and focuses heavily on Step’s prior crypto activity.
• Step previously let teens buy crypto with parental consent.
• Beast Industries recently received a $200M investment from BitMine.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Crypto majors are slightly green after yesterday’s major bounce; BTC +1% at $71k; ETH +2% at $2,165; SOL +3% at $92
• APT (+12%), TAO (+11%), and ZRO (+8%) led top movers
• Oil held steady at $90; Gold also flat at $4,410
• Nasdaq partnered with institutional crypto infra firm Talos to connect crypto trading and risk tools with its Calypso platform, the same system banks and funds use to manage collateral and surveillance across stocks and bonds
• Former Kalshi employees are raising $35M for a new prediction market venture fund, backed by both the Kalshi and Polymarket CEOs
• ParaFi Capital raised $125M for a new venture fund focused on stablecoins, tokenization, and institutional on-chain finance

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

Meme Coin Tracker

• Meme majors were mixed; DOGE +2%, SHIB +1%, PEPE +1%, TRUMP flat, PENGU flat, SPX -1%, FARTCOIN -3%
• 7 Wanderers (+75x), Punch (+50%), LOL (+40%) and testicle (+33%) led top movers

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

• Polymarket introduced a new referral program with 30% rewards for direct referrals and 10% for indirect and hinted at eligibility for “all future rewards” along with a new fee structure for its markets
• MoonPay released its OpenWallet Standard as open source, a unified protocol that lets AI agents handle keys, wallets, and transaction signing across all major blockchains
• The Backpack Exchange token launched yesterday, opening at $400M FDV before falling to $200M; Mad Lads received a BP token airdrop
• Balancer Labs is winding down six months after a November exploit drained $128M across six blockchains in 30 minutes from its V2 Vault contract

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders were mostly mixed; Punks -3% at 28.5 ETH, Pudgy +1% at 4.15 ETH, BAYC +4% at 5.35 ETH; Hypurr’s +1% at 405 HYPE
• Normies (+60%) led notable movers
• Pudgy World officially lau