Bitcoin’s Blazing Rise: Is Crypto the New Gold? 🤔💰

What to know:

By James Van Straten (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Darling, have you heard? Bitcoin is on a charming ascent, darling! The darling digital darling has skyrocketed to a market cap of a staggering $2.2 trillion. Yes, you read that right—trillion with a ‘t’! Seems like everyone’s digging for digital gold, but with fewer pickaxes involved. Before you can say “cryptocurrency,” it’s overtaken Amazon and Google as if they were yesterday’s news, now the fifth-largest asset on the globe. Meanwhile, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia sit atop, sipping champagne at the $3 trillion club, while gold still reigns supreme at a colossal $22 trillion. Tantalizing, isn’t it? 😉

Bitcoin’s newfound reputation has investors — from the whale-sized to the guppy-sized — clamoring to get a piece of the pie. The price? Holding steady around a lofty $110,000, with nary a dramatic dip; just enough to keep us all biting our nails in anticipation. As the month folds up, options traders are betting big—the $110,000 call options are the toast of town, with visions of hitting $200,000 or even $300,000 someday. Oh, the optimism — it’s positively infectious!

On the corporate front, Strategy (MSTR) isn’t racing as fast as its Bitcoin-loving peers, but they’re throwing another $2.1 billion at the crypto fire, so perhaps they’re just pacing themselves for a grander sprint. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust continues raking in millions—an astonishing $877 million in just one day—to swell the total inflow to almost $48 billion. Poof! Just like that, the institutional crowd is more hooked than ever.

In the macro universe, Bitcoin is behaving like that rebellious teenager—rising 5% over five days while the stodgy old S&P 500 stumbles down by over 1%. It’s like watching a rebellious nephew outshine his sober relatives. Investors are snapping up Bitcoin as a macro hedge, eyes peeled for Fed Chair Powell’s Sunday speech—who knows what kind of fireworks that will bring? Stay tuned, darlings, it’s bound to be a show! 🎩💃

Token Events

Governance votes & calls
- Arbitrum DAO is pondering the launch of “The Watchdog,” a nifty bounty for community detectives sniffing out mischief. Voting ends May 23. Fancy, isn’t it?
- Lido DAO is flirting with Dual Governance—a novel idea to give stETH holders a say, with voting ending May 28. Democracy, crypto-style.
- Other DAO folks are busy upgrading Ethereum’s cousins to ArbOS 40 “Callisto,” with the upgrade slated for June 17. Mark your calendars—the future is calling.
- Save the date: June 10, when Ether.fi hosts an analyst call. Perhaps someone will explain all this in a manner we can understand?
Unlocks
- End of May and June sees some token treasures unlocking—millions worth, darling. Keep your eyes peeled for Sui, ZetaChain, Ethena, Aptos, and more. The crypto vaults are opening wide!
Token Launches
- May 23: Soon (SOON) will be landing on KuCoin and friends—because everyone loves a good debut.
- June 1: Staking rewards for ERC-20 OM end—bye-bye, staking, hello profits?
- June 16: Unstaking from Lido on Polygon edges closer. Must be time to pack bags and say goodbye?

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa

HYPE shot up 15%—because Hyperliquid Labs sent little love notes (two, actually) to the CFTC about crypto swaps. Smart move, darling!
They’re pleading U.S. regulators to embrace the DeFi revolution—making finance safer, faster, and perhaps more glamorous?
This could be the start of a beautiful régie between DeFi and Uncle Sam. Watch this space, loves.
And with whales like “James Wynn” making billion-dollar trades, HYPE might just become the next big thing—cue paparazzi!

Derivatives Positioning

Despite Bitcoin’s flirtation with $110K, the flags aren’t flying high—funding rates are a modest 0.005%. Compare that to November’s 0.04%! Looks like the market’s keeping its cool, or perhaps just temperamental.
The CME futures? Up 30K BTC since April but still shy of last year’s explosion. Institutional leverage? Just a gentle ripple, darling.

Market Movements:

BTC nudges up to $111,330.90—just a whisper higher. Really, the markets are just giving us a cheeky grin.
Ethereum? Up 1.67%, darling! At $2,685.47—well played, old chap.
It’s all very festive—CoinDesk 20 up 3.64%, and the Nasdaq a charming +0.28%.
Funding rates remain just tea-party moderate at 0.03%—well-behaved, for now.

DXY dips 0.61%, gold and silver keep their shiny demeanor—up 1.13% and 0.77%, respectively. Nippon’s Nikkei and Hang Seng? Little rises, darling, little rises.
Major indices—DJIA, S&P 500—well, they’re just hanging around, doing nothing, which is quite fashionable in its own way.

Bitcoin Stats:

Dominance? A regal 63.70%, slipping slightly, but still king of the castle.
Ethereum’s ratio to Bitcoin dances around 0.02410—bit of a sluggish waltz.
Hashes and fees—they’re just numbers, darling, but oh so vital.

Technical Analysis

Strategy (MSTR) and BlackRock’s IBIT? An ascending channel—like a staircase to crypto heaven. Or a gentle slide that might turn into a fall. Who can tell? The candles suggest a possible rebound or a not-so-graceful descent around $6.10–$6.20. Stay alert, darlings—this could be the dramatic act we’ve all been waiting for.

Crypto Equities

Strategy (MSTR): teasing us at $399.46—down a smidge but pre-market hints at a comeback.
Coinbase (COIN): sprightly at $271.95 with a 5% leap—perhaps the star of the show?
Others—Ripple, Galaxy, Riot—are lively; some up, some just dabbling. A true crypto cabaret.

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs:

Flow of $935 million daily—because who doesn’t like a generous donation?
Total holdings? Nearly 1.2 million BTC—enough to fill a small country’s vaults.

Spot ETH ETFs

Flow? About $111 million today—making ETH the belle of the ETF ball.
Total holdings? 3.5 million—the more, the merrier.

Overnight Flows

Chart of the Day

This gem from CoinGlass reveals that wallets linked to exchanges are shedding their Bitcoin like the last dance at a debauched soirée—demand is hot, and supply is cooling off, darling.