Market Highlights
- Bitcoin almost surpassed its January ATH, reaching US$107,137 on May 19.
- Bitcoin ETFs reached a record high of US$41 billion in collective inflows.
- The Ethereum Foundation announced a new security initiative.
- The GENIUS Act was redrafted with new language to address Democrats’ concerns.
- A U.S. judge rejected Ripple and the SEC’s proposed US$50 million settlement.
Markets Overview
Macro Market Updates:
Markets rallied on U.S. core PPI declining by 0.4% in April and CPI coming in at 2.3% for the 12 months to 30 April 2025. Consumer sentiment came in below forecast at 50.8, signalling that uncertainty persists.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of supply shocks due to President Trump’s tariffs. Walmart added to concerns, saying tariff-induced price rises will start over the summer.
Easing trade tensions also spurred upward momentum across TradFi.
Weekly gains: S&P 500 +2.7%, Nasdaq +4.4%, Dow Jones +1.8%
Looking ahead:
- RBA expected to cut rates by 25 basis points on May 20.
- Flash manufacturing and services PMI updates across Europe, the UK and the U.S. on May 22.
Crypto Market Sector Performance
All sectors declined this week, presumably due to persistent uncertainty and declining consumer sentiment.
- Data availability: Celestia (TIA) (-17%) - Declined after last week’s bull run. Mammoth NYC, a meetup for Celestia developers, happened on May 16.
- Bridging services: Across Protocol (ACX) (-16.1%) - Appears to be pulling back after upward momentum last week.
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Almost broke ATH on May 19, reaching a weekly high of US$107,137.
- Opened the week at US$104,137, traded flat then gained over the weekend. (+4%)
- The week’s gains are likely due to easing trade tensions, April PPI and CPI declines and increasing appetite for risk assets like BTC.
- US$557 million inflows to bitcoin asset investment products this week.
Ukraine is reportedly finalising legislation to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve, having already amassed US$4.8 billion in BTC, primarily from citizen donations to support the country’s war efforts.
Wisconsin’s pension board sold its US$300 million stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust in Q1. The investment was absent from its Q1 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Hut 8, a subsidiary of American Bitcoin, which has links to Eric Trump, is set to go public via a stock-for-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. Expected to close in Q3, American Bitcoin holders will own 98% of the merged company.
Nakamoto and KindlyMD will merge to form a new bitcoin treasury, raising US$710 million in the largest public crypto deal to date. David Bailey, Bitcoin Magazine CEO and Trump crypto advisor, will lead the new entity.
In other bitcoin buying news;
- TwentyOne, a bitcoin firm going public through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners, expanded its holdings with a 4,812 BTC purchase by partner Tether. The new company will launch with 42,000 Bitcoin, worth almost $4.4 billion at current prices.
- Metaplanet bought 1,004 BTC in its second-largest buy to date.
- Strategy added 13,390 BTC, raising its holdings to 568,840 BTC.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Ethereum (ETH)
- Opened the week at US$2,514. (+4%)
- Declined to US$2,345 throughout the week following last week’s rally on Pectra upgrade.
- US$205 million inflows to Ethereum investment products this week
The Ethereum Foundation announced a new initiative to improve the network’s security. The “Trillion Dollar Security Initiative” is designed to make Ethereum robust and reliable enough for billions of people to hold US$1,000 or more on-chain. The initiative, which is currently out for community input, is set to roll out across three phases: security assessment, improvement implementation and communication.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Altcoins
This week’s biggest winners
- Frax (FRAX) gained 43.6%. The crypto collateralised stablecoin has seen gains since the North Star Upgrade went live on April 29.
- Energy Web (EWT) gained 35.7%. The native utility token for the Energy Web Chain has seen significant gains in recent weeks, presumably due to its work for Alaska Airlines and website updates, which make node set-up easier.
Biggest losses
- Pyth Network (PYTH) lost 26.7%. The financial oracle network has seen declines, presumably due to the US$313 million token unlock that happened on May 19.
- Aleph Zero (AZERO) declined by 22%. The privacy-first network saw declines when it announced its new vision on May 15, perhaps as investors and traders understand what’s ahead.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Crypto ETF News
Digital asset investment products saw US$785 million inflows this week, bringing year-to-date inflows to US$7.5 billion, recovering the outflows that occurred across February and March.
Bitcoin ETFs hit a peak of US$41 billion of collective inflows. The recent turnaround in sentiment has seen inflows return as trade tensions ease and investors allocate more capital to risk assets.
Solana was the only altcoin to see outflows, with US$0.89 million leaving funds.
Other crypto news
- Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed two crypto-related bills. Senate Bill 1373 would have established a Digital Assets Strategic Reserve, while Senate Bill 1024 would have allowed agencies to accept crypto payments for fines, taxes and fees. It follows Hobbs vetoing Senate Bill 1025 (the state’s bitcoin reserve bill) in recent weeks.
- The Senate’s stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, has been redrafted with new language to address Democrats’ concerns around national security, ethics, big tech, and foreign issuers. The bill still doesn’t address rules on barring the president and vice president from issuing stablecoins. A vote on the Senate floor could occur in the coming days.
- Democrats in Congress continued investigating President Trump’s crypto ties. Senator Blumenthal called Trump’s response to a Senate inquiry “seriously inadequate.” House Democrats are seeking a Treasury report into his crypto dealings in relation to political fundraising and foreign influence-seeking. Attendees of Trump’s recent VIP crypto dinner held an average of $4.8 million in TRUMP tokens to gain an invite.
- A U.S. judge rejected Ripple and the SEC’s proposed US$50 million settlement, citing procedural flaws and a lack of legal justification. The joint motion, meant to reduce Ripple’s US$125 million penalty, was deemed “procedurally improper” and failed to meet the necessary conditions for an indicative ruling.
- Coinbase (COIN) joined the S&P 500 on May 19, with COIN shares gaining 18% last week, despite a US$400 million cybersecurity breach and an ongoing U.S. SEC probe into its user numbers. And Galaxy Digital (GLXY) and eToro (ETOR) both listed on the Nasdaq on May 14. ETOR shares gained 29% upon listing, while GLXY shares were up over 14% before retracing.
- FTX will distribute over $5 billion to creditors on May 30 as part of its bankruptcy recovery. Four creditor groups will receive between 54% and 120% of their claims. This marks the second phase of the plan, with BitGo and Kraken facilitating payments within days of the distribution date.
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Disclaimer: This assessment does not consider your personal circumstances, and should not be construed as financial, legal or investment advice. These thoughts are ours only and should only be taken as educational by the reader. Under no circumstances do we make recommendation or assurance towards the views expressed in the blog-post. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The Company disclaims all duties and liabilities, including liability for negligence, for any loss or damage which is suffered or incurred by any person acting on any information provided.
from Caleb & Brown Cryptocurrency Brokerage.
