The Genius Act just cleared cloture in the Senate, but does this really mark the start of coherent U.S. crypto regulation? Senate pushes through cloture, jumpstarting the stalled Genius Act vote After months of political back-and- forth, the Guiding and Establishing…

With the Genius Act vote nearing final passage — who wins, and who loses?

Trump-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial purchased 636,961 BUILDon 
tokens in support of the project. After the purchase, the token shot up by 
nearly 530%. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the B token has jumped by 
more than 533% in…

B rises 530% after World Liberty Financial purchased 636k BUILDon tokens

Bitcoin pierced the $111,000 threshold for the first time in history on May 
22, printing an intraday high of $111,867 on Binance, giving the asset a 
market capitalization of roughly $2.22 trillion, or two-thirds of the entire 
crypto market. The latest leg of the rally is being propelled by a tight 
confluence of catalysts that span institutional flows, corporate balance-sheet 
accumulation, and mounting macro-economic stress. #1 Spot Bitcoin ETF Inflows 
From Wall Street to BlackRock’s vaults, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have turned into 
a one-way conduit of fresh capital. Farside Investors tallied $607.1 million 
of net subscriptions on 21 May, of which a blockbuster $530.6 million flowed 
into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). That pushed the 11-day haul to 
more than $2.7 billion and lifted cumulative net inflows across the complex 
past $42 billion—an unprecedented pace for a six-month-old asset class. 
Related Reading: Bitcoin Breakout Narrative Explodes As Japan’s Bond Market 
Collapses “Over $500mil into iShares Bitcoin ETF…Nearly $2 bil just over past 
week or so. Inflows 26 of past 27 days. *$7+bil* in new $$$ overall. Given 
trading volume today, expect these inflow numbers to increase,” ETF Store 
president Nate Geraci posted on X. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas added that IBIT 
is posting “its 2nd biggest volume day ever today. Classic feeding frenzy in 
effect, new ATHs will do that, e.g. last time traded this much was 1/23 (last 
ATH). All the btc ETFs are elevated, most gonna see 2x their average. Flows 
incoming.” #2 Bitcoin Treasury Companies Parallel to the ETF torrent, a new 
cohort of listed companies is adopting Bitcoin as a primary treasury asset. 
Besides Strategy and Metaplanet, these companies bought billions of dollars in 
Bitcoin in recent weeks. Cantor Fitzgerald’s $3.6 billion SPAC deal will take 
Twenty One Capital public with more than 42,000 BTC on its books, backed by 
Tether, Bitfinex and SoftBank. Strive Asset Management is merging with Asset 
Entities on Nasdaq to create what it calls the first publicly traded asset- 
manager-led Bitcoin treasury company, equipped with a live $1 billion shelf to 
keep buying coin. Battery-tech firm KULR Technology Group lifted its stack to 
800 BTC this week after a fresh $9 million purchase. Elsewhere, India’s 
Jetking Infotrain, Indonesia’s DigiAsia Corp, Brazil’s fintech Méliuz, 
France’s state lender Bpifrance and David Bailey’s Nakamoto Holdings, now 
merging with KindlyMD to build “the first decentralised Bitcoin treasury 
network,” among others, all unveiled accumulation strategies within the past 
month. Collectively these firms represent billions of dollars in spot, largely 
price-insensitive demand. #3 The New Narrative: A Brewing Macro Storm The 
macro backdrop is pouring fuel on the fire. Japanese super-long government 
bonds—once synonymous with near-zero yields—have gone bid-less, sending the 
30-year JGB yield to a record 3.14 %. The move tightens the feedback loop 
linking Tokyo and Washington: Japanese institutions have been among the 
largest foreign holders of US Treasuries, and analysts warn that disorderly 
JGB liquidations could force sales of US debt just as the Treasury must 
refinance roughly $8 trillion this year. Related Reading: Bitcoin All-Time 
High Propels It Past Amazon, Google To 5th Place Among Global Assets With the 
WSJ Dollar Index down more than 10% from its January peak and CFTC data 
showing the biggest speculative short position since mid-2023, investors are 
casting around for alternatives to sovereign paper. Macro guru Raoul Pal said: 
“Bond yields are going up. Normally that’s not a good thing… But inflation is 
falling all the time. The story is liquidity. There’s a lack of liquidity in 
the bond market, and when yields get too high the government’s reaction 
function is always and in every case to print more money.” Global liquidity 
dynamics add to the case. Global M2—aggregating the money stock in the US, 
euro-area, China and Japan—bottomed late last year and has risen 3–4 % year- 
to-date, according to multiple trackers. Bitcoin price inflections typically 
lag global-M2 turns by about three months; the current rally arrived almost on 
schedule. As crypto analyst Kevin (@Kev_Capital_TA) observed on X, “Dollar 
goes down, global liquidity rises, BTC goes higher.” For some market veterans, 
the price action signals a deeper behavioural shift. “We are watching BTC 
transform from a risk-on asset to a risk-off asset,” Multicoin Capital co- 
founder Tushar Jain wrote after Wednesday’s bond rout and dollar sell-off. 
“Today we saw further proof that the government cannot cut the budget deficit. 
The market reacted by selling US treasuries, selling USD, selling equities, 
and buying BTC. The transformation is not yet complete. It will take more days 
like this to convince the market that BTC is a risk off asset. Like most big 
changes, this will happen slowly and then suddenly,” Jain added. At press 
time, BTC traded at $ Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from 
TradingView.com

Bitcoin Blasts To $111,867 All-Time High—Here’s What’s Driving The Surge

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has selected 
Avalanche to power its dedicated blockchain network for non-fungible tokens 
and digital fan engagement, the organization announced May 22.
FIFA&#8217;s layer-1 (L1) blockchain will be powered by the Avalanche network&#8217;s 
scalability-focused infrastructure for the association&#8217;s over five billion 
fans worldwide.
The move comes nearly a month after FIFA announced its initial plans to launch 
a new blockchain network for its blockchain-based collectibles. AvaCloud&#8217;s 
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility will enable smoother integration 
with decentralized wallets and applications.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin hits new all-time high of $109K as trade war tensions 
ease**_
The move will enable FIFA to deliver &#8220;unique digital collectibles and 
immersive fan experiences, powered by the speed, scalability, and EVM 
compatibility,&#8221; according to Francesco Abbate, CEO of Modex and FIFA Collect.
&#8220;The decision was based on a rigorous analysis of key factors including 
performance, security, transaction fees, customizability, and scalability,&#8221; 
Abbate stated in a May 22 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin volatility lowest in 563 days, Hayes predicts $1M BTC 
by 2028**_
## FIFA Collect begins migration to Avalanche
As part of the rollout, FIFA will migrate its NFT marketplace and NFT 
collection, FIFA Collect, to the new Avalanche-powered FIFA Blockchain.
FIFA added that &#8220;future plans and business cases are planned but not yet 
publicly disclosed.&#8221;
Following the migration, external Algorand-based wallets such as Pera and 
Defly will no longer be supported. Instead, users will be able to connect to 
FIFA Collect via MetaMask or other EVM wallets that support WalletConnect.
FIFA launched its NFT collection ahead of the 2023 Club World Cup in Saudi 
Arabia in collaboration with blockchain firm Modex.
_Source:__EntertheMythos_
In November 2024, FIFA partnered with blockchain gaming studio Mythical Games 
to launch FIFA Rivals, a free-to-play soccer game for iOS and Android.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF &#8216;s mysterious prison move: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest, April 20 &#8211; 26**_

FIFA taps Avalanche to launch dedicated blockchain for NFT platform

The market cap of the world&#8217;s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has surpassed 
that of retail and tech behemoth Amazon on &#8220;Bitcoin Pizza Day.&#8221;
Market data shows that Bitcoin (BTC) had a market cap of $2.205 trillion at 
the time of writing, $70 billion more than the $2.135 trillion Amazon 
valuation.
&#8220;By surpassing Amazon in terms of capitalization, Bitcoin has attracted even 
more attention from the non-crypto audience,&#8221; said Alex Obchakevich, founder 
of Obchakevich Research.
Obchakevich believes the latest rally &#8220;will strengthen confidence in Bitcoin 
and lead to new injections into the crypto market.&#8221; The surge came as Bitcoin 
set a new all-time high and now trades above $110,000, which Obchavich said 
will &#8220;attract new investors to large funds.&#8221;
Obchakevich noted that institutional players continue to play a growing role 
in the digital asset space:
&gt; &#8220;In May, BlackRock became the second largest bitcoin holder after Satoshi 
&gt; Nakamoto, surpassing Binance in this indicator.&#8221;
Hassan Khan, the CEO of Bitcoin liquidity platform Ordeez, told Cointelegraph 
that &#8220;this is a structural change.&#8221; He explained that &#8220;Bitcoin is no longer 
simply a hedge, it&#8217;s in the process of becoming a benchmark currency.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin &#8216;looks exhausted&#8217; as next bear market yields $69K 
target**_
## The crypto market approaches new highs
According to CoinMarketCap data, the total cryptocurrency market cap stood at 
$3.49 trillion at the time of writing. While high, this is still nearly 6% 
lower than the all-time high of $3.71 trillion reported at the end of 2024.
_Total crypto market cap one-year chart. Source:__CoinMarketCap_
More CoinMarketCap data shows that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw 
nearly $604 million of net inflows on May 21. The current open interest on 
crypto derivatives is $756.16 billion for perpetual swaps and $3.24 billion 
for futures. Looking into the future, Obchakevich shared his view on Bitcoin&#8217;s 
direction:
&gt; &#8220;We are moving gradually towards $200,000, with gradual adjustments. I am 
&gt; sure that this year we will see Bitcoin at $150,000 and $90,000.&#8221;
Khan said that &#8220;large net inflows to ETFs and increasing open interest 
demonstrate that institutional confidence is growing.&#8221; Looking forward, he 
said:
&gt; &#8220;Short term profit taking and macro rate uncertainty are tempering momentum. 
&gt; But below-the-surface metrics […] point to continued high conviction. The 
&gt; foundation is more solid than in any other cycle before it.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**BlackRock &#8216;s Bitcoin ETF notches 2-week high inflow as BTC 
nears $112K**_
## Today is a special day for Bitcoin
Today, May 22, is &#8220;Bitcoin Pizza Day,&#8221; a recurrence commemorating May 22, 
2010, when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz made the first documented purchase of 
goods using Bitcoin, paying 10,000 BTC for two Papa John&#8217;s pizzas.
&#8220;What was once considered a highly speculative risk has evolved into a serious 
asset class,&#8221; said Ulli Spankowski, chief digital officer at Boerse Stuttgart 
Group.
Spankowski added that, nowadays, Bitcoin &#8220;boasts a market capitalization of 
over 2 trillion US dollars, ranking it as the fifth-largest asset globally, 
behind gold and the three largest publicly traded companies.&#8221;
_**Magazine:**__**NBA star Tristan Thompson misses $32B in Bitcoin by taking 
$82M contract in cash**_

Bitcoin tops Amazon market cap on ‘Pizza Day’ as price sets new highs

Binance announced that its customers in Brazil will be able to make payments 
using their cryptocurrency balances at millions of businesses through the Pix 
system. This development increases the usability of crypto in the country, 
allowing users to save and spend directly in crypto. Binance Revolutionizes 
Crypto Payments in Brazil With Pix Integration Binance has […]