Morning Minute: Bitcoin Drops Back to $60k, Wiping Out Trump Rally

Morning Minute: Daily Crypto Insights

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter authored by Tyler Warner. The perspectives shared are his own and do not necessarily represent those of Decrypt. You can subscribe to Morning Minute on Substack.

Good Morning!

Here are today’s key headlines:

• Major cryptocurrencies tumbled Thursday, with Bitcoin dropping to $60,000 before partially recovering.
• HYPE/BTC reached a new all-time high as Hyperliquid’s token remained resilient.
• JPMorgan suggests Bitcoin may now be a stronger investment than gold following the recent selloff.
• Polymarket’s parent company has filed a trademark for $POLY and revealed plans for a new token.
• Rainbow Wallet launched its RNBW token, debuting with a $34 million fully diluted valuation.

📉 Bitcoin Wipes Out Trump Rally

On Thursday, Bitcoin plunged to $60,000, erasing all gains made since Trump’s election and marking a 50% decline from its October peak of $126,000.

📌 Breaking Down the Crash

Bitcoin fell by 14% in a single session, resulting in over $2 billion in crypto liquidations and pushing the Fear & Greed Index to 5—an “extreme fear” level not seen in years.

The selloff intensified throughout the day, with Bitcoin briefly touching $60,000 before rebounding to $66,000 by the following morning.

The downturn extended beyond spot markets, as more than $1.1 billion in Bitcoin derivatives were also liquidated.

Bitcoin Miners Could Face Crisis After BTC Price Falls 50% From Peak

XRP led the altcoin declines, dropping over 20%. Ethereum slid 15% to $1,750, and Solana fell to $69.

Meanwhile, Strategy reported a $12.4 billion loss for Q4, with MSTR shares hitting an 18-month low of $107—a 76% drop from last year’s high.

Bitcoin dipped below Strategy’s average purchase price of $76,000 earlier this week, putting its 713,502 BTC holdings (worth $45 billion) underwater for the first time since 2023.

At the same time, analysts at Stifel cautioned that Bitcoin could fall as low as $38,000 if negative trends persist. On Myriad, traders are giving a 65% probability that Bitcoin will reach $55,000 before climbing to $84,000.

🗣️ Market Reactions

“It’s clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode,” said Nic Puckrin of Coin Bureau. “This is no longer a short-term correction, but a transition from distribution to reset—and these phases usually last months, not weeks.”

Strategy CFO Andrew Kang sought to reassure investors during the earnings call: “Our approach is designed for the long haul. It’s built to weather short-term price swings, even the extreme volatility we’re experiencing now.”

🧠 Why This Matters

There’s no denying it—crypto is facing a challenging period. Here are some of the main narratives explaining the recent underperformance:

• Gold outperformed. Despite expectations that Bitcoin would shine amid economic uncertainty, capital shifted to gold, undermining the “digital gold” thesis.
• AI is attracting attention. Resources, talent, and investment are flowing into artificial intelligence. With cheap energy, building data centers is now more appealing than mining Bitcoin.
• The Trump trade collapsed. Crypto had been trading as a proxy for Trump, but with his approval ratings falling, regulatory progress may stall.
• Institutional interest isn’t boosting tokens. Wall Street favors stablecoins, real-world assets, and tokenization, but this hasn’t translated into gains for ETH, SOL, or similar networks.
• DATs have become a risk. Companies with treasuries below net asset value are under pressure to liquidate their BTC and DAT tokens.
• No more scapegoats. With a crypto-friendly Trump administration, regulatory hostility can no longer be blamed for the downturn.
• Crypto is mainstream now. ETFs are available, barriers are gone, and yet prices continue to fall.

Where Do We Stand?

There are plenty of other explanations for the current pain and poor price action, but these are the main ones for now.

So, what’s next?

We’re in a “stress zone” where long-term investors typically accumulate, while short-term holders tend to panic.

I’ve been getting messages asking, “What’s happening with crypto?”—often a sign that we’re approaching a local bottom.

Short-term price movements are tough to predict, and I don’t have a crystal ball. However, $60,000 seems much closer to a bottom than a top.

We’ll know more soon enough.

🌎 Macro Crypto and Market Overview

• Major cryptocurrencies dropped another 5-8% after a sharp selloff that took BTC to $60,000; BTC is down 5% at $66,300; ETH fell 7% to $1,920; SOL dropped 9% to $82; XRP rose 1% to around $1.37.
• QNT (+5%), HYPE (+4%), and FLR (+7%) were among the top gainers.
• The HYPE/BTC ratio reached a new all-time high as Hyperliquid remained strong during Bitcoin’s decline.
• JPMorgan suggested Bitcoin could become “more attractive” than gold as a store of value, despite the current downturn.
• Bitcoin mining stocks are nearing crisis levels as BTC trades close to the $60,000–$80,000 production cost range; mining difficulty is expected to decrease by 13% on Saturday.
• Gemini is laying off 25% of its workforce and withdrawing from the UK, EU, and Australia; accounts will close on April 6.

Crypto Exchange Gemini Slashes Jobs Amid Exit From Europe, Australia

Corporate Treasuries & ETFs

• BTC ETFs experienced $434 million in net outflows, while ETH ETFs saw $80 million withdrawn.
• Strategy reported a $12.4 billion loss for Q4 as BTC dropped below its $76,000 average cost; MSTR is down 76% from its November high.
• Tom Lee’s BitMine hit a seven-month stock low with $8 billion in unrealized losses on its Ethereum holdings.

Meme Coin Tracker

• Most major meme coins declined 3-5%: DOGE -5%, SHIB -4%, PEPE -5%, TRUMP -17%, FARTCOIN -3%.
• BigTrout (+88%), arc (+23%), Buttcoin (+43%), and WhiteWhale (+30%) were notable movers.

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Updates

• Polymarket’s parent company filed trademarks for POLY and $POLY, signaling plans for a new token.
• Rainbow’s RNBW token launched with a $34 million fully diluted valuation and a $7 million market cap on its first day.

🚚 NFT Market Highlights

• Leading NFT collections rallied in ETH terms despite Ethereum’s decline: CryptoPunks rose 11% to 29.9 ETH, Pudgy Penguins held steady at 4.17 ETH, BAYC climbed 8% to 5.8 ETH, while Hypurr’s dropped 2% to 476 HYPE.
• MAYC (+8%) and Moonbirds (+7%) were among the top performers.
• CryptoPunks saw over 30 sales yesterday, demonstrating strong support at the $50,000 level even amid market turmoil.