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 dip after Monday’s rally; BTC at $114,300
SEC gives green light to liquid staking, says not securities
SBET adds 83,561 ETH in past week, now holds $1.9B
Pump Fun re-flips LetsBonk in volume, market share; Pump coins jump
Ape CryptoPunk sells for 720 ETH ($2.58M)
🏛️ SEC Gives Crypto Staking The Green Light
The SEC is going on offense right now with respect to crypto.
In a very good way.
📌 What Happened
The SEC has formally exempted major Ethereum and Solana staking protocols, Lido and Jito, from securities laws.
This ruling means that their staking services, and the liquid staking tokens they issue (stETH, mSOL, jitoSOL, etc.), will not be treated as securities under U.S. regulations.
The decision came after months of speculation that liquid staking might be in the crosshairs following the Commission’s lawsuits against other staking-as-a-service offerings.
And it’s likely the final clarification needed to give the greenlight to the staking ETFs.
🗣️ What They’re Saying
“SEC says certain liquid staking tokens are NOT securities... Think last hurdle in order for SEC to approve staking in spot eth ETFs. The reason? Liquid staking tokens will be used to help manage liquidity w/in spot eth ETFs, something that was a concern for SEC.” - Nate Geraci, on X
“The SEC continues to provide clarity––today, it's liquid staking. In a detailed statement, they carefully demonstrate why ordinary liquid staking activities should not be regulated under securities laws. Huge win.” - Miles Jennings, on X
🧠 Why It Matters
This is a major win for Ethereum and Solana, and for the broader crypto DeFi sector.
For months and years, crypto staking was in a gray zone.
That’s no longer the case.
The SEC’s move does more than remove legal risk for Lido and Jito; it clears the path for non-custodial, protocol-level staking.
For ETH: Lido’s dominance (over 30% of all staked ETH) means this effectively safeguards a huge slice of Ethereum’s economy
For SOL: Jito is central to Solana’s staking and MEV infrastructure, so regulatory clarity could accelerate institutional interest
For DeFi: This could set a precedent for other decentralized protocols that operate without a central operator, especially in areas like restaking, liquid restaking, and cross-chain staking derivatives.
For ETFs: Staking is very likely to be approved for both ETH and SOL
But perhaps the biggest takeaway of all - the SEC is making good on their promises and guidance laid out in Project Crypto.
And they’re accelerating.
Expect more clarity like this to keep on coming…
Despite the bullish news, ETH was still down 1% on the day
🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes
A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Solanabegan shipping its second generation of Seeker smartphones
In Corporate Treasuries
SharpLink Gamingincreased its Ethereum holdings to 521,939 ETH (~$1.9B), adding 83,561 ETH ($307M) in the past week
StrategyandTrump Mediaabsorbed much of Galaxy Digital’s ~80,000 BTC ($9B) sale, boosting their corporate bitcoin treasuries and alleviating broader market pain
Upexiannounced it now holds over 2M SOL ($335M), trading at 1.6x mNAV
CEA Industries raised $500M for its BNB treasury, while MEI Pharma purchased $100M of LTC for its treasury
In Memes
Memecoin leadersare mostly red on the day; DOGE -3%, Shiba -2%, PEPE -3%, BONK -7%, PENGU -7%, TRUMP -2%, SPX -2%, and FARTCOIN -7%
Pump Funreflipped LetsBonk in volume, traders and tokens bonded according to Jupiter’s data (now 55% market share)
TROLL jumped another 60% to $190M and a new ATH; HOUSE (+70%), SPARK (+450%), BUCKY (+30%) and CHILLHOUSE (+20%) led notable movers
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here's a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day: