Bitcoin Sustains Momentum While Wall Street Stalls

As U.S. equity markets trade sideways, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 flat and Nasdaq up just 0.28% on May 22, Bitcoin continues to show strength. Gold remains elevated at $3,298/ounce while oil drifts down to $60.72/barrel.

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Bitcoin briefly surged past $111,000 before stabilizing around $110,000, maintaining its all-time high levels. Altcoins followed suit with mild gains, pushing total crypto market capitalization to $3.63 trillion.

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Despite this resilience, sentiment remains cautious. Unlike previous euphoric bull cycles, this rally lacks the retail frenzy typically seen during major crypto surges. Yet, Bitcoin’s increasing correlation with global M2 money supply growth underscores its role as a macro-hedge asset.

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On May 22, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $934.8 million in net inflows, the strongest figure of the week. Ethereum ETFs also attracted $110.5 million in a sign of growing institutional confidence.

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Fed Governor Waller Projects Cautious Optimism

Christopher Waller, a Federal Reserve Governor, delivered a measured yet optimistic outlook regarding the U.S. economy and current tariff regimes. Speaking to Reuters, Waller emphasized that any inflationary effects from the new tariffs are likely to be transitory, and the Fed’s policy will not react to “one-time price shocks.” He reassured markets that hard economic data remains solid and that business investment delays are temporary, not permanent withdrawals.

Importantly, Waller hinted that if tariffs stabilize and economic momentum continues, rate cuts remain on the table by year-end. His remarks signal that the Fed is maintaining a data-driven but patient approach, avoiding overcorrection while leaving room to ease policy if necessary.

Bitcoin Pizza Day: From Meme to Monetary Milestone

May 22 also marks a historic anniversary in crypto: Bitcoin Pizza Day. In 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz used 10,000 BTC to purchase two pizzas, demonstrating Bitcoin's first real-world utility. At today’s price, that transaction is worth over $1.1 billion. Hanyecz later revealed he spent roughly 79,000 BTC between May and August 2010 just on pizza, amounting to $8.7 billion today.

Hanyecz is also known for pioneering GPU-based Bitcoin mining, a leap that prompted personal concerns from Satoshi Nakamoto himself. Satoshi feared rapid hardware escalation could centralize mining too early, and urged delaying the “GPU arms race” to maintain fairness. While Hanyecz faded from public life, his early experiments laid the foundation for Bitcoin’s economic legitimacy.

SEC Reform Under Paul Atkins Signals Regulatory Breakthrough

A new era is unfolding at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins recently announced a radical departure from prior enforcement-heavy approaches to crypto. Speaking at the SEC Speaks conference, Atkins emphasized transparency, innovation, and constructive dialogue with the digital asset industry. His vision includes new rules for asset custody, decentralized trading, and token issuance.

Atkins highlighted lessons from history: regulatory delays around SPDR ETFs, gold ETFs, and electronic trading platforms had cost the U.S. time and leadership. This time, he asserts, the SEC won’t repeat the mistake. The Commission has begun drafting practical guidance for broker-dealers and is exploring hybrid regulatory models to support both security and non-security tokens under one compliance framework.

Joining him, Commissioner Hester Peirce reiterated her stance that most crypto assets do not constitute securities, and called for a dedicated registration framework for token offerings, exemptions for airdrops, and a “safe harbor” to promote innovation. Both leaders agree: the SEC must guide—not punish—the future of finance.

The GENIUS Act: U.S. Stablecoin Legislation Gains Momentum

In parallel, the Senate has advanced the GENIUS Act, a landmark stablecoin regulation bill. With bipartisan support, including from over 15 Democratic senators, the bill proposes full cash or short-term Treasury backing for all stablecoins and integrates compliance via KYC/AML standards. Tech investor David Sacks praised it as a mechanism to solidify the dollar’s dominance in the digital age and forecast that it could catalyze trillions in new Treasury demand.

Robinhood has proposed a national legal framework for tokenized real-world assets (RWA), including the launch of RRE on Solana and Base blockchains. Their model aims for sub-10 microsecond latency, 30,000 TPS, and a federal licensing standard to replace state-level fragmentation—ushering in the era of on-chain capital markets.

Institutional Adoption and Political Tailwinds

Bitcoin adoption is expanding across both political and financial institutions. Senator Cynthia Lummis referenced new research from The Nakamoto Project showing that 80% of Americans support allocating a portion of U.S. gold reserves to Bitcoin, with a median preference of 10%. This generational shift aligns with a River Financial study indicating 50 million Americans now own Bitcoin—more than those who own gold.

Traditional financial giants are evolving. JPMorgan has partnered with Ondo Finance in a pilot to tokenize U.S. Treasuries using blockchain rails. The goal: make government bonds globally accessible, just like stablecoins expanded USD liquidity. While initially focused on emerging markets, Ondo is now working with the SEC to bring this infrastructure onshore.

Global Momentum for Crypto Policy and Adoption

Beyond the U.S., crypto legislation is gaining traction worldwide. Hong Kong passed a stablecoin licensing bill requiring fiat backing. Guatemala’s largest bank has launched blockchain-based remittances with fixed $0.99 fees. India’s Supreme Court has criticized the lack of clarity in crypto taxation and demanded swift regulatory action. Meanwhile, Russia is preparing criminal code amendments to enable asset seizure of digital currencies during investigations.

Meanwhile, tech platforms are expanding. Kraken’s xStocks on Solana tokenizes over 50 equities and ETFs for 24/7 trading outside U.S. borders. FIFA is launching its own layer-1 blockchain on Avalanche. BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF is now the eighth-largest fund in its portfolio of 1,131 ETFs.

In other headlines, Metaplanet is now the most-shorted stock in Japan following a 1,455% rally. Coinbase disclosed that over 69,000 user accounts were compromised in a December 2024 data breach. Decentralized exchange Cetus lost over $220 million in a smart contract exploit on Sui blockchain, with ripple effects still shaking the ecosystem. Worldcoin has raised $135 million to expand iris-scan-based digital identity infrastructure globally.

Outlook: From Volatility to Legitimacy

As regulatory clarity takes shape, ETF inflows accelerate, and major institutions signal support, the Bitcoin narrative is shifting from speculative asset to macroeconomic hedge and technological pillar. From pizza transactions to national reserve debates, the journey of crypto has never been more mainstream—or more consequential.

And with SEC reform, the GENIUS Act advancing, and a Fed signaling readiness to ease if needed, the infrastructure is being laid not just for Bitcoin to grow—but for the entire crypto ecosystem to mature.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.