Wall Street Is Selling AI. I'm Buying Crypto.
568: Trump's China Address, Wall Street Crypto Purchases
Good morning and happy Friday.
Hope everyone’s week is going well.
Today we’re talking on two important items:
Bullish crypto developments while equities sell off (assets I am watching very closely)
President Trump’s address last night on election fraud and Chinese interference in the US
We’re going to start with crypto, despite the election story being pretty jarring.
I am not going to mince words here, I can feel some serious momentum building beneath the surface of this bear market. You make it through enough cycles and you can just tell when things are close to shifting.
While crypto has quietly and consistently strengthened fundamentally beneath the surface, the same can’t be said for equities. After a powerful run through the first half of the year, cracks are beginning to emerge across parts of the stock market.
Over the past week, investors have aggressively rotated out of many of the highest-flying AI and semiconductor names as concerns around lofty valuations, crowded positioning, and slowing momentum have triggered a sharp pullback in some of the market’s biggest winners:
MU 0.00%↑ is now down almost 20% this month
AMD 0.00%↑ is down 10% this month
Several AI infrastructure names have shed hundreds of billions of dollars in combined market value
INTC 0.00%↑ is dumping, now down 21% in the last month
The S&P and Nasdaq are losing steam
None of this necessarily signals the end of the equity bull market.
However, after a prolonged period of outperformance, it does suggest that investors and degenerates globally may need to broaden their search for opportunities. As we've discussed previously, events like the highly anticipated SpaceX SPCX 0.00%↑ IPO often coincide with periods of peak investor enthusiasm and abundant liquidity.
While no single event marks a market top, these moments have historically served as reminders that leadership can rotate quickly as capital searches for the next opportunity like hungry hyenas on the savannah.
Crypto has quietly been telling a very different story in my humble opinion.
Rather than deteriorating fundamentals, the asset class has continued to benefit from improving regulation, institutional capital inflows, tokenization initiatives, and accelerating adoption by some of the world's largest financial institutions.
Time to pay closer attention if you want to reap the benefits.
The CLARITY Act is still alive, but it has entered the difficult final stretch in the Senate. The House passed its version in July 2025 by a bipartisan 294-134 vote. On May 14, 2026, the Senate Banking Committee advanced its version by a 15–9 bipartisan vote, and the bill was subsequently placed on the Senate legislative calendar, making it eligible for floor consideration.
Lawmakers are now working to combine competing committee proposals into a final bill that would establish clear rules for digital assets, divide oversight between the SEC and CFTC, and create a formal regulatory framework for crypto exchanges and token issuers.
The legislation still faces political obstacles and will likely require bipartisan support to reach the 60 votes needed in the Senate, but it has progressed further than any previous attempt to establish comprehensive crypto market structure in the United States.
Polymarket odds are creeping lower, with the chances of the Act being signed into law at 32% in 2026 right now. Remember though, bull markets aren't built on one headline, they're built on hundreds of small developments that gradually change the investment landscape.
Looking across the past month, it's becoming increasingly difficult to argue that institutional adoption is slowing.
If anything, the pace appears to be accelerating:
Crypto.com announced they had raised $400 million from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation
Japan officially passed a law recognizing crypto as “financial assets”
Roughly 38.0% of the total Bitcoin supply remains unmoved for 4+ years (BitcoinMagazine)
Tradable plans to bring up to $1B in private credit assets to Stellar (CoinTelegraph)
US spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $368M over 3 straight sessions ending July 16, flipping July's flows back to positive after nearly $7B in outflows across May and June (CoinMarketCap)
JPMorgan turned more constructive on Strategy MSTR 0.00%↑ this week, citing its expanded $3 billion cash reserve as a meaningful improvement to the company's financial position.
Analysts also noted that institutional demand for Bitcoin futures has remained pretty resilient, viewing it as another sign that size lords continue accumulating despite recent volatility.
Let’s look at some specific projects/assets.
I will die on this hill. Chainlink (LINK) continued to build institutional momentum after Robinhood selected the protocol as the core oracle and cross chain infrastructure provider for Robinhood Chain, its new Ethereum based blockchain that has seen some insane engagement and use in the last week, with big initial runners like CashCat (that have since rugged).
Chainlink's technology will secure and deliver pricing data for Robinhood's tokenized stocks while enabling interoperability across multiple blockchains. This announcement further reinforces Chainlink's position as one of the foundational infrastructure providers powering the tokenization of real world assets, a trend embraced by several major financial institutions throughout this down period.
I spend a lot of time talking about Chainlink but Ondo Finance (ONDO) has also emerged as one of the leading companies driving the tokenization of real world assets.
On the 15th Ondo Finance announced the launch of tokenized U.S. equities built on infrastructure connected to the existing U.S. securities settlement system.
The move represents another step toward bringing traditional financial assets on-chain while maintaining compatibility with the rails that underpin today's capital markets and institutional infrastructure.
Then on the 16th (yesterday) the company followed up by announcing a strategic partnership with Japan's SBI Group, one of the country's largest financial institutions. The collaboration aims to expand tokenized equities into the Japanese market, highlighting the growing international momentum behind blockchain based financial infrastructure.
Aave continued expanding beyond its crypto native roots this week, extending its V4 protocol to Avalanche as it pushes further into the rapidly growing real world asset (RWA) market.
Basically the expansion is designed to support lending against tokenized financial assets, including U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, private credit, and other traditional securities, rather than relying exclusively on cryptocurrencies as collateral.
It's another example of decentralized finance evolving from a niche crypto ecosystem into infrastructure capable of supporting mainstream financial markets. The “lack of use cases” critics are always citing for crypto are gaining pretty significant traction while normies look purely at price.
If there’s one paid post you should be sure to read during this down period in crypto it’s the one below (and part II in our archive).
The Next Generational Wealth Opportunity
Good morning — hope you guys didn’t overdo it on the tequila and queso last night.
Once the sentiment turns and we start to rally again, things will move very quickly.
Next week I am happy to do a full review of my portfolio across asset classes, but for now here is my crypto watchlist. Keep in mind this is just my opinion and it is not formal financial advice, do your own research.
I have started adding more of all of this: