Morning Minute: The New York Stock Exchange Just Bought a Major Crypto Exchange

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analyzes and opinions expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the morning minute in substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Major Cryptocurrency Companies Red as Oil Soars and Stocks Sell Off; BTC falls below $70,000
• NYSE parent company invests in OKX at $25 billion valuation, OKB jumps
• STRC moves another 1.3 million shares, raising 700 BTC
• Situational Awareness Fund Reveals $1 Billion in Bitcoin Miner Positions
• Pudgy Penguins faces trademark infringement lawsuit over Penguin brand

🏛️ The New York Stock Exchange Just Purchased a Major Crypto Exchange

The world’s most famous stock exchange is no longer watching cryptocurrencies from the sidelines.

📌 What happened

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the publicly traded parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has invested in OKX at a valuation of $25 billion and will take a seat on the board of directors.

The amount of ICE’s investment has not yet been revealed.

As part of the deal:

• OKX to provide ICE with live cryptocurrency price information
• OKX users will have the ability to trade tokenized stocks and derivatives listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with that feature expected to launch in the second half of 2026.

ICE is simultaneously building its own independent blockchain-based trading platform using stablecoins for on-chain settlement and 24/7 trading.

OKB, OKX’s native token, surged more than 38% on the news, extending what was already a massive rally in 2025 fueled by a $7.6 billion token burn (50% of circulating supply).

Notably, Haider Rafique (managing partner of OKX) also said that he plans to relocate up to 2,000 of OKX’s 5,000 employees to the United States.

🗣️ What they are saying

“There was great chemistry in the way we saw the world and the future of tokenized securities, how derivatives should come to the global stage, how TradFi and digital assets should merge.” – Haider Rafique, global managing partner of corporate affairs at OKX, via Fortune

🧠 Why it is important

Two major TradFi moves for cryptocurrencies in the last two days.

First, Kraken obtains a master account from the Federal Reserve. Now, NYSE’s parent company holds a seat on OKX’s board of directors.

The pieces of a crypto-native financial system are coming together faster than most people believe and it is being overshadowed by the bear market.

For OKX users, the deal is unlocking a genuine product. They now gain access to tokenized stocks and derivatives from the New York Stock Exchange, which can be accessed directly from their crypto wallet.

From a symbolic perspective, the market spoke clearly with OKB’s 38% rise.

For OKX specifically, the IPO math has become much more interesting. The company has already launched a listing in the United States, but it was always theoretical. It now has a $25 billion valuation anchor, a board seat held by the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, and a deal structure that places tokenized shares on its platform.

That’s a much stronger story than what they had last week.

But perhaps the most important takeaway from this announcement came from ICE’s vice president, who said that the real competition is not CME or Nasdaq, but DeFi protocols and super apps. That confirms the “apps over infrastructure” thesis that some sharp objects (like my co-host Mando) have touted for the next leg of the crypto market.

Institutions are joining in and want access to crypto applications. Very interesting indeed…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

• Major Cryptocurrency Companies In the Red as Oil Soars to $85; BTC -4% to $70,000; ETH -4% to $2,040; SOL -6% to $87
• Comet (+10%), WBT (+5%) and M (+4%) led the top companies
• The FDIC, FRB, and OCC issued joint guidance stating that tokenized securities should be treated the same as non-tokenized ones
• OKB surged more than 38% following ICE investment news, extending its run into 2025 that was kicked off by OKX’s $7.6 billion token burn in August, before retreating
• Cardano went live for payments at Spar grocery stores in Switzerland, adding ADA to the list of cryptoassets accepted in physical retail
• Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple endorsed Trump and the CLARITY Act, signaling continued industry alignment behind the crypto market structure bill advancing in Congress.
• ZeroHash applied for a national trust bank charter from the OCC, seeking federal authorization for the issuance, custody and settlement of stablecoins
• revolution applied for a US national banking charter, seeking comprehensive banking services for US customers with checking and savings accounts
• John Daghita was arrested for allegedly stealing $46 million in cryptocurrency from the US Marshals Service, first identified by ZachXBT
• Filler blocks A judge froze Bitcoin amid a dispute with Dominion Capital, marking another legal tangle for the institutional cryptocurrency trading firm.
• LP Situational AwarenessThe $5.5 billion hedge fund led by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, disclosed ~$1 billion in Bitcoin miner positions (converted into AI energy infrastructure plays) in its Q4 2025 13F, with stakes in Core Scientific, IREN, Riot Platforms, Cipher Mining, and Bitdeer.

Corporate Treasurys and ETFs

• Bitcoin ETFs posted net outflows of $228 million on Thursday, reversing a 3-day inflow streak with over $1.1 billion in inflows
• STRC moved another 1.28 million shares on Thursday, giving Saylor capital to purchase another 701 BTC
• Publicly Traded Bitcoin Miners They have sold more than 15,000 BTC since October
• Scientific core secured up to $1 billion in funding from Morgan Stanley through a $500 million seed loan with an accordion feature as it converts its 10 BTC mining sites into AI data centers.
• The central bank of Kazakhstan plans to allocate up to $350 million of its foreign exchange and gold reserves to cryptocurrency-linked assets, starting in April or May

Coin tracker meme

• The meme specialties were mostly red in line with the specialties; DOGE -3%, SHIB -2%, PEPE -3%, TRUMP -6%, PENGU -5%, SPX -8%, FARTCOIN -8%
• WAR (+66%)Lobstar (+20%) and WhiteWhale (+24%) led chain movers

💰 Token, airdrop and protocol tracker

• OpenAI released its newest model, GPT-5.4, ranked better than Claude in almost every area
• Backpack exchange announced that they have hired former CFTC commissioner Mark Wetjen as president of Backpack US
• xstocks announced xChange enabling cross-chain stock trading

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT Leaders They were slightly red; Punks even at 29.9 ETH, Pudgy -3% at 4.32 ETH, BAYC -2% at 5.9 ETH; Hypurr is even at 450 HYPE
• Of the World (+30%) and Beeple – Spring/Summer (+19%) led the most popular
• Chubby penguins faces a trademark infringement lawsuit from brand owner Penguin Apparel, adding legal exposure to the collection’s rapid brand expansion push.