The Blockchain Association has appointed CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger as its new Chief Executive Officer, signaling a shift in leadership as the crypto industry confronts growing regulatory scrutiny in Washington. Mersinger will step into the role on June 2, following…

CFTC’s Summer Mersinger named CEO of Blockchain Association

**Key takeaways:**
 * A longer-term ETH price rally is dependent on SEC approval of in-kind ETF creation and staking to attract more investors. 
 * AI adoption and Ethereum layer-2 growth must drive onchain activity to restore the network&#8217;s deflationary burn mechanism.
Ether (ETH) surged 43.6% between May 7 and May 14, but its current price of 
$2,600 still falls short of the 2021 peak of $4,868. Some analysts argue that 
the current bullish momentum is &#8220;just the beginning of a much larger and 
aggressive uptrend,&#8221; raising the likelihood of a near-term rally to $5,000.
However, the catalysts for a new ETH all-time high in 2025 remain uncertain, 
particularly in the face of intensifying competition.
_Source: X/__AdrianoFeria_
According to X user AdrianoFeria, ETH is &#8220;the best candidate for institutional 
diversification&#8221; since professional fund managers appreciate &#8220;similar levels 
of regulatory clarity and accessibility&#8221; through multiple spot exchange-traded 
funds (ETFs), although recent data hasn&#8217;t been especially encouraging.
## Ether remains the sole alternative to spot Bitcoin ETFs
Between May 12 and May 13, US-listed Ether ETFs saw net outflows of $4 
million. The size of the Ether ETF market is 92% smaller than Bitcoin&#8217;s $121.5 
billion, highlighting a clear lack of institutional appetite for ETH-based 
products. This has led some traders to question whether Ether can truly gain 
traction among professional investors.
_ETH/USDT vs. competitors XRP, TRX, BNB, ADA. Source: TradingView / 
Cointelegraph_
While competing cryptocurrencies have outperformed ETH in 2025, their chances 
of being included in US state-level digital asset reserves have plummeted. 
This follows President Trump&#8217;s decision on March 2 to distance himself from 
lobbyists supporting XRP, SOL, and ADA. The &#8220;Digital Asset Stockpile&#8221; 
executive order issued on March 6 was notably more cautious, drawing a clear 
line between Bitcoin (BTC) and other altcoins.
Ether&#8217;s best-case scenario may involve a lack of direct ETF competition, which 
would depend on the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejecting several 
pending applications. Analysts also suggest that Ether ETFs could gain 
momentum from in-kind creation and staking approvals&#8211;developments considered 
highly likely before year-end, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst 
James Seyffart.
## &#8216;Pectra&#8217; upgrade improved scalability, setting the stage for AI adoption
Previously hailed as the answer to Ether&#8217;s monetary policy, the built-in burn 
mechanism introduced in 2021 was designed to reduce supply growth based on 
network demand. However, the shift in focus toward scalability through rollups 
has largely offset its deflationary impact. As a result, a significant 
increase in onchain activity is now required for Ether to become deflationary 
once more.
_Ethereum rollups ranked by 30-day transactions. Source: L2Beat_
The recent &#8216;Pectra&#8217; upgrade has improved data transmission efficiency, setting 
the stage for enhanced scalability. Layer-2 network activity rose 23% compared 
to the previous month, with the Base network taking the lead at 244.2 million 
transactions in 30 days, according to L2beat. If this momentum holds, it could 
generate sustained demand for ETH and help further differentiate Ethereum from 
rival platforms.
_**Related:**__**Ethereum retakes 10% market share, but ETH bulls shouldn&#8217;t 
celebrate yet**_
 _Source: X/__econoar_
The path to a $5,000 ETH price remains uncertain, but artificial intelligence 
may serve as a powerful catalyst. Ethereum advocate Eric Conner observed that 
ChatGPT prefers Ethereum&#8217;s layer-2 infrastructure for managing funds via 
multisignature contracts, allowing autonomous agents to pay merchants, settle 
balances, and allocate surplus into decentralized finance applications.
Although it is difficult to predict whether the AI-driven trend will fully 
develop, the potential for smart contract activity to increase tenfold from 
current levels is within reach. This growth could make a new all-time high for 
ETH in 2025 achievable, especially if institutional interest accelerates 
following long-awaited regulatory changes.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and 
should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and 
opinions expressed here are the author&#8217;s alone and do not necessarily reflect 
or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

3 reasons why Ethereum price could rally to $5,000 in 2025

The Ethereum Foundation has launched a security initiative aimed at supporting 
the broader adoption of onchain technologies, according to a May 14 
announcement. The effort is part of an ongoing push to strengthen Ethereum&#8217;s 
role in programmable digital assets.
Fredrik Svantes, a protocol security research lead, and Josh Stark from the 
Ethereum Foundation management team will be the initial co-chairs of the 
initiative. Three contributors to the Ethereum ecosystem &#8212; samczsun, Medhi 
Zerouali, and Zach Obront &#8212; will help guide the project.
Called the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative, the effort seeks to analyze, 
improve, and communicate to Ethereum developers areas where security can be 
improved, including user experience, wallet security, smart contract security 
and infrastructure.
According to DefiLlama, Ethereum still is the leading ecosystem for 
decentralized finance (DeFi), having held between 50-60% of the total value 
locked across all blockchains since May 2022. The network&#8217;s TVL stands at 
nearly $80 billion as of May 14.
_Blockchains by total-value-locked. Source:__DefiLlama_
&#8220;Achieving Trillion Dollar Security is only possible with the support of the 
broad Ethereum ecosystem,&#8221; the Foundation said in a statement. &#8220;Billions of 
individuals are each comfortable storing more than $1,000 onchain, 
collectively amounting to trillions of dollars secured on Ethereum,&#8221; it added.
_**Related:**__**Vitalik Buterin outlines vision as Ethereum ecosystem 
addresses hit new high**_
## Ethereum rebounds with Pectra upgrade
Ethereum&#8217;s struggles during this bull market have been well-documented. It has 
suffered from low traffic and a lack of attention-grabbing use cases, and its 
layer-2 chains that make Ethereum faster have been plagued by bad UX. But then 
came the Pectra upgrade.
Pectra, Ethereum&#8217;s most significant upgrade since The Merge, has delivered 
three key improvements, including external accounts as smart contracts, 
increased staking limits and data blobs per block.
Ethereum&#8217;s native token (ETH) price has risen significantly since the upgrade, 
jumping over 43% since May 7.
_**Magazine:**__**Comeback 2025 &#8212; Is Ethereum poised to catch up with Bitcoin 
and Solana?**_

Ethereum Foundation unveils security initiative to supplant legacy systems

The Bitcoin bull market looks to be back following BTC’s surge above $100,000. 
With market participants again accumulating following this recent rally, 
crypto pundit Ardizor has revealed when to sell everything to avoid 
roundtripping on gains made in this bull market. When To Sell Everything In 
This Bitcoin Bull Market In an X post, Ardizor stated that he will sell nearly 
everything in this bull market when BTC’s “Profitability Index” rises above 
300% and crypto becomes more popular on TikTok or Instagram, and when market 
participants think they are the “smartest.” He further outlined three other 
events that could mark the top and act as a clue to sell everything. Related 
Reading: Why The US-China 90-Day Tariff Slash Can Push Bitcoin Price Above 
$110,000 The first is when crypto exchange Coinbase becomes the number one on 
the app store for two months, and every taxi driver starts speaking crypto. 
The other two clues are when the BTC Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) metric rises 
above 300 million and when old friends are inquiring about whether they should 
buy crypto now. He asserted that the Bitcoin bull market will reach its peak 
when these things begin to happen. Until then, Ardizor revealed that he will 
be accumulating more coins daily. The pundit also told crypto community 
members that he would announce publicly when it was time to sell everything. 
In another X post, Ardizor provided insights into how investors should 
allocate their capital in this Bitcoin bull market. He stated that 40% should 
be invested in BTC, 20% in ETH, 10% in “quality alts,” 5% in high-potential 
meme coins, 15% working capital, and 20% in USDT to buy dips. Market 
participants are actively accumulating more coins with the Bitcoin bull market 
in play following BTC’s rally above $100,000. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez 
cited Glassnode’s data while revealing that $35 billion has flowed into the 
crypto market in the past three weeks. A Possible Top For BTC In This Market 
Cycle Market experts have provided the price targets that could mark the BTC 
top in this Bitcoin bull market. Veteran trader Peter Brandt stated that the 
leading crypto is on target to reach the bull market cycle top in the $125,000 
to $150,000 level by August or September this year. Once that happens, he 
predicts that a 50% correction will follow. Related Reading: Analyst Predicts 
Bitcoin Price Surge To $120,000 And Then A 50% Crash To $60,000, Here’s When 
Crypto analyst CrediBULL Crypto also reaffirmed that his target for this 
Bitcoin market cycle is $150,000. However, he also raised the possibility of 
BTC reaching $200,000 based on Jim Cramer’s statement that the leading crypto 
cannot achieve that target in this bull run. Standard Chartered has also 
predicted that $200,000 is achievable for BTC by year-end. At the time of 
writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $103,600, up in the last 24 
hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Getty Images, 
chart from Tradingview.com

Bitcoin Bull Market: Pundit Reveals When To Sell Everything

Bitfarms clocked a first-quarter net loss of $36 million, widening from a $6 
million loss in the same period a year earlier, as the Bitcoin miner pivots 
from mining to high-performance computing for artificial intelligence 
applications.
The miner posted $67 million in sales for the quarter ended March 31, up 33% 
from the year prior. However, gross profit margin for Bitfarm&#8217;s mining 
operations declined to 43% from 63% year-over-year, the company said in its 
first quarter earnings release.
The lower margins reflect pressure from Bitcoin&#8217;s (BTC) April 2024 &#8220;halving&#8221; 
as well as volatility in Bitcoin&#8217;s price. Halvings occur every four years and 
cut the number of BTC mined per block in half, reducing Bitcoin miners&#8217; 
profitability.
In the first quarter of 2025, Bitcoin&#8217;s spot price swung from more than 
$100,000 in January to less than $80,000 in March, according to data from 
Google Finance. The cryptocurrency trades at more than $103,000 per coin as of 
March 14.
_Bitfarms &#8216; quarterly operating performance. Source: __Bitfarms_
 _**Related:**__**Bitcoin mining stocks down after Microsoft scraps data 
center plans**_
## Pivot to AI
Bitfarms has responded to the changing market conditions by investing in high- 
performance computing (HPC). It has also expanded its US presence as a hedge 
against looming trade wars.
&#8220;During the quarter, we executed across several key areas in our strategic 
pivot to the U.S. and HPC,&#8221; Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon said in a statement.
&#8220;The mining business now provides a stable, low-capex and free cash flow 
foundation for the Company that positions us very well to grow and develop our 
U.S. assets into HPC/AI data centers while still capitalizing on any potential 
Bitcoin upside in 2025 and 2026,&#8221; he added.
Miners are &#8220;diversifying into AI data-center hosting as a way to expand 
revenue and repurpose existing infrastructure for high-performance computing,&#8221; 
Coin Metrics said in a March report.
The computer hardware and electrical power supplies required for Bitcoin 
mining are also useful for applications requiring high-performance computing, 
including AI use cases.
In March, AI computing provider CoreWeave raised $1.5 billion in an initial 
public offering that valued the company at roughly $20 billion, reflecting 
strong demand among investors for companies servicing AI applications.
CoreWeave&#8217;s earnings for the past quarter are scheduled for May 14.
In April, Bitfarms secured a $300 million line of credit from investment bank 
Macquarie to finance the expansion of an HPC facility in Pennsylvania.
In January, the company sold a Bitcoin mining facility in Paraguay to Hive 
Digital, another miner, for $85 million.
_**Magazine: **__**Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it &#8216;s becoming them 
in stablecoin fight**_

Bitfarms clocks $36M net loss amid shift from Bitcoin mining to AI

GnosisDAO acquired financial platform HQ.xyz for $15 million, rebranding it as 
Gnosis HQ to expand enterprise-focused Web3 financial tools, the company 
announced this week. GnosisDAO Acquires HQ.xyz for $15M The acquisition 
positions Gnosis HQ as a dedicated platform for crypto-native and traditional 
businesses seeking self-custodial payment solutions. It will offer a Visa 
corporate card accepted […]