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Donald Trump’s kids just became crypto’s newest billionaires—on paper, anyway. Meanwhile, your ETH bag is about as exciting as a houseplant. But what if I told you there’s a way to earn yield on that snoozing stack without selling a single sat? This week, we’re unpacking the rise of covered calls (aka the patient degen’s payday) and the Trump family’s full-send into crypto empire-building. Political power, public markets, and passive income—yeah, it's that kind of week.
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Editors Corner
The Covered Call Strategy
You know that feeling when you’re holding ETH or BTC and it just… does nothing? Not crashing, not mooning, just drifting sideways while you keep refreshing the chart like that’ll make it move. That’s where covered calls come in.
Here’s the basic idea: you already own the asset (say, 1 ETH), and you sell someone else the right to buy it from you at a higher price in the future. They pay you for that right (that’s your premium). If ETH never hits that higher price, you keep both your ETH and the premium. Free money while you wait.
Example time:
You own 1 ETH at $4,000.
You sell a call option with a strike price of $4,300 expiring in a month.
Someone pays you, say, $150 in premium for that option.
Now two things can happen:
ETH stays below $4,300 → The option expires worthless. You keep your ETH and the $150 premium. Congrats, you just got paid to hold.
ETH rockets past $4,300 → The option buyer exercises, and you’re forced to sell your ETH for $4,300. You miss out on gains above that, but you still pocketed the $150 premium plus the profit from $4,000 → $46,300. Not bad.
That’s it. You’re either collecting yield in a boring market or getting taken out at a profit in an exciting one. The only real “downside” is capping your upside—so don’t use this strategy if you’re convinced ETH is about to 10x next week.
Platforms like Deribit, OKX, or even some structured-yield products make this easy. Just know what you’re signing up for: covered calls are steady income, not lottery tickets.
Bottom line: if you’re tired of watching your crypto sit there like a lazy roommate, covered calls let you put it to work.
Crypto Trivia: The SegWit Wars
Today’s Report
The Trump Bros Just Mined $1.5 Billion
Our Report
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump now own roughly 20% of American Bitcoin — and with the company making its stock market debut, that stake briefly shot up as high as $2.6 billion, though by the close of the day it settled to around $1.5 billion. The stock is trading on Nasdaq, and American Bitcoin plans to raise $2.1 billion via its offering, with proceeds earmarked for buying more bitcoins and expanding mining capacity. The Trump family is doubling down on crypto: they also run World Liberty Financial (with its digital token $WLFI) and other ventures. Critics warn this growing crypto empire risks conflicts of interest given the proximity to political power; the Trump sons respond by saying their business is completely separate from the President’s official role.
Key Points
American Bitcoin shares rose to $14.52 at peak on day one, then pulled back, ending up ~16.5% higher than IPO pricing.
The Trump brothers’ ~20% ownership is based on ~908.6 million shares outstanding.
The IPO raised (or plans to raise) $2.1 billion, to fund bitcoin purchases and mining equipment.
Alongside this, World Liberty Financial—a different Trump‑affiliated crypto project—launched the $WLFI token, which from reporting appears to have generated ~$500 million for the family since its launch.
The Trump family is being criticized by some ethics watchers for potential conflicts, especially given Donald Trump’s public support for easing crypto regulation. The sons deny the President is involved in their ventures.
Relevance
This move is more than just capitalizing on crypto’s popularity—it shows a strategic pivot, transforming part of the Trump brand into a crypto‑heavy portfolio. For the Trumps, this isn’t just moonshots; it’s about anchoring in infrastructure (mining, tokens, shares) rather than just speculative trading. For investors and market-watchers, some implications:
Policy risks are magnified. When people with close ties to power build sizable positions in a lightly regulated sector, regulatory shifts (favourable or adverse) are going to matter a lot.
Valuation volatility is baked in. Bitcoin and mining are subject to energy prices, hardware costs, regulatory pressure, and macroeconomic swings. That $2.6B high‑water mark is a reminder that first days are often frothy.
Perception matters. Questions about conflicts of interest won’t go away easily, especially with a sitting President who has been vocal in support of crypto. The optics of “business + politics + crypto” are a risky mix.
If Washington leans harder into crypto regulation (as seems increasingly likely), or if macroeconomic headwinds drag on miners/energy cost, there could be large downside. But for now, the Trump family is signaling they believe crypto isn’t a fringe play—it’s core to their next act.
Today’s Top News
HEADLINES
UK and US to smooth capital markets access and crypto cooperation — The UK and U.S. have created a joint task force aimed at reducing regulatory hurdles for digital‑asset and capital market businesses and improving regulatory alignment. Recommendations are due within 180 days and may include ways to ease cross‑border raise of capital and harmonize supervision of wholesale digital markets. This signals an evolution toward international collaboration in crypto regulation.
SEC paves way for crypto spot ETFs with new listing rules — The U.S. SEC approved generic listing standards for exchange‑traded products holding spot commodities, including crypto, allowing certain spot crypto ETFs to list without bespoke approvals. The change cuts maximum approval time from ~240 days to ~75 days. This is likely to speed up availability of crypto‑ETFs and expand investment options.
Crypto sell‑off wipes out $1.5 billion as investors liquidate positions — A large market drop triggered ~$1.5B in liquidations after speculative and leveraged positions unwound. Assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana saw significant percentage losses as market sentiment turned. Observers point to this correction as a stress test of liquidity and risk in the crypto sector.
Senate Democrats say a new crypto bill raises the risk of ‘financial meltdown’ — Democratic lawmakers warned the Responsible Financial Innovation Act could weaken the SEC’s oversight in favor of the CFTC, potentially leaving gaps in consumer protections. One area of concern is that some token issuers could sell assets without traditional securities oversight. The debate underscores challenges in crafting crypto legislation that ensures market integrity.
Market Trendline
PRICE ACTION
The market finally blinked. After weeks of risk-on momentum, crypto took a sharp leg down as leverage-heavy positioning collided with a wave of liquidations. Over $1.5 billion in longs were wiped out in under 24 hours. BTC and ETH led the slide, with the broader altcoin complex following closely behind.
Market Overview
Total crypto market cap dropped ~4%, breaking below $4 trillion.
Bitcoin dipped below $115K, briefly tagging $111K before bouncing. The uptrend isn’t broken yet—but the mood has shifted.
Ethereum fell harder, sliding nearly 9% to test the $4,100 level. High funding rates and overextended longs made ETH especially vulnerable.
Altcoins bled out across the board. Meme coins cratered. Speculative L1s, DeFi tokens, and high-beta names took double-digit hits.
Notable Movers
Bitcoin (BTC): Down ~3% on the day. Breached key support and triggered forced selling. Derivatives traders got caught leaning too hard into upside.
Ethereum (ETH): Dropped 7–9% intraday. ETH perp funding had been flashing red for days—leverage got flushed.
Solana, Dogecoin, FLOKI: All down 6–10%. Retail-heavy tokens hit hardest, as usual, when sentiment turns risk-off.
XRP: Rolled over and printed multi-week lows. No new catalysts, just gravity.
Macro View
The Fed’s recent rate cut sparked bullish positioning—but the follow-through narrative fell flat. Traders were front-running liquidity that hasn’t materialized.
Treasury yields are still sticky. Inflation isn’t gone. And without a clean macro tailwind, crypto’s momentum looks increasingly fragile.
Historically, Q4 favors crypto flows. But right now, buyers are cautious and rotation is defensive.
Bottom Line
This looks and smells like a leverage washout—not a structural trend break. But the risk-on froth has been skimmed off. Until ETH and BTC reclaim higher support levels, expect chop, spikes in vol, and a cautious tone. Seasonality could offer a tailwind… but not without a narrative to match.
Today’s Top Tweet
TWITTER NEVER SLEEPS
More food for thought. A short one for your weekend reading list…
This is from the August 27th MIT report:
The last chart I want to leave you with this week is this one…
As you know, we were one of the very few who were contrarian at the lows, citing this chart (excluding— #Julien Bittel, CFA (#@BittelJulien)
8:27 AM • Sep 19, 2025
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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.