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GM to all of you nutcases. It’s Crypto Nutshell #827 settin’ down anchor… ⚓🥜

We're the crypto newsletter that's more tense than a hostage negotiation where everybody's lying about the money… 💰🏦

What we’ve cooked up for you today…

What’s in the Crypto Nutshell Portfolio?

BREAKING: The most shorted stocks in America just ripped - and two of them are crypto

Strategy and Coinbase are the most heavily shorted large-cap stocks in the US right now.

According to Goldman Sachs data, short interest in Strategy sits at 14% of its market cap - the highest of any stock they track above $25 billion.

Coinbase ranks fourth at 11%.

Big money has been betting against crypto equities for months.

And on Wednesday… those bets blew up.

Bitcoin surged from below $63,000 to above $69,000. ETH jumped 12%. SOL popped 14%. Altcoins across the board posted double-digit gains.

Nearly $400 million in short positions were liquidated in 24 hours. The bears were squeezed hard.

Strategy rallied 9%. Coinbase jumped 13%. Circle surged 29% after an earnings beat. The entire crypto equity space lit up.

But here's the part most people are missing.

A lot of that short interest in Strategy may not be bearish at all.

Analysts say much of it comes from basis trades - where firms go long Bitcoin through ETFs like IBIT while shorting MSTR to play the gap between the two.

Jane Street, for example, recently built large positions in both IBIT and Strategy.

So the short interest numbers look scary on the surface. But the intent behind them is more nuanced than "everyone thinks crypto is going to zero."

Michael Saylor isn't worried either.

He recently said Strategy would be fine even if Bitcoin dropped to $8,000 and that the company will keep buying "forever."

Meanwhile, signs of real demand are showing up again.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $257.7 million on Tuesday and $506.3 million on Wednesday.

And the Coinbase Premium Index just turned positive for the first time in over 40 days. That means US buyers are coming back.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here…

One bounce doesn't confirm a bottom.

But when the most shorted names in the market start squeezing, it's worth paying attention. 🚀

So we want to hear from you.

Let us know your thoughts in the poll below. 👇

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Matt Hougan just put a timeline on the pain.

Hougan is the Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, which manages over $15 billion in crypto assets.

He advises institutions, consults with central banks, and has been one of the most measured, data-driven voices in the space throughout this entire downturn.

And in his latest interview on the Blockspace podcast, he said something that should have every investor paying attention.

He believes this bear market will end by Q2 or summer of 2026.

That's not "someday." That's not "eventually." That's just a few months away.

Hougan's reasoning comes down to pattern recognition. This downturn has now lasted roughly ~13 months, a duration that aligns closely with prior crypto winter cycles. And the current sentiment isn't panic. It's exhaustion.

People aren't scared anymore. They're tired.

That matters. Because as Hougan put it: crypto bear markets tend to end in exhaustion, not excitement.

He described the market as forming a "rounding bottom" during the first half of the year before a recovery takes hold.

So what could spark the turn?

Hougan pointed to a few potential catalysts. The passage of the CLARITY Act, which would finally give crypto a real regulatory framework. Renewed sovereign Bitcoin adoption. And a potentially dovish Fed under Kevin Warsh, which could be the bull catalyst nobody is pricing in right now.

Right now, any good news is being ignored. Regulatory progress, institutional hiring, infrastructure development - none of it is moving prices. And historically? That kind of apathy shows up right near the bottom.

Winter doesn't last forever.

And according to Hougan, spring is much closer than most people think. 🌱

Today we’ll be checking in on the amount of Ethereum available for sale on exchanges.

Here’s how to interpret this metric:

Only 16.07 million ETH are left on exchanges.

That's just 13.32% of the entire supply.

And since the start of 2026, another 713,345 ETH has been pulled off exchanges.

Here's what makes that interesting…

ETH has been bleeding and sentiment is still in the gutter.

And yet exchange balances keep dropping.

That disconnect tells you everything. Retail is shaken. Weak hands are folding. But underneath the noise, the veterans aren't selling into this - they're pulling supply off the market.

Less ETH available for sale during a fear-driven drawdown isn't bearish. It's a coil tightening. 🐳

Tether, issuer of USDT, invests $200 million in Whop to expand stablecoin payments. The online marketplace says it will embed Tether's crypto wallet tools and USDT, USAT tokens to power crypto payments for over 18 million users.

Bitcoin ETF Flows Hit $258M in Largest Daily Inflows in Weeks. US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $257.7 million in inflows on Tuesday, the largest since early February, led by Fidelity and BlackRock despite weak sentiment.

Vitalik Buterin sold 17,000 ETH this month as ether fell 37%. The Ethereum co-founder's tracked wallets dropped from 241,000 ETH to 224,000 ETH in February, with sales routed through CoW Protocol in small batches to limit market impact.

Circle stock pops 30% on earnings beat as Allaire says USDC transactions now near 50% share. William Blair analysts said investors “should be long” Circle, citing improving margins and growing on-platform USDC mix.

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Select your answer below and you’ll be redirected to the results page. (answer explanation can be found after “Meme Corner”)

Because what would the crypto world be without its share of memes?

Trivia Answer: No, it's permanently unspendable 🥳

The 50 BTC from Bitcoin's genesis block (mined January 3, 2009) is permanently unspendable due to how Satoshi coded it. Whether this was intentional or a bug remains debated. Dozens of people have sent small amounts of BTC to the genesis block address over the years as tributes - all permanently burned.

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DISCLAIMER: The content of this newsletter is not financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice. Please be careful and do your own research.