Crypto News - 23 May 2025 - Bitcoin Surges to $112K as Institutional Demand Grows and Wall Street eyes stablecoins

Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $112,000 this week, outpacing traditional markets amid growing institutional interest and favorable regulatory developments. Analysts attribute the rally to increased ETF inflows, state-level adoption initiatives, and the Trump administration's supportive stance on digital assets. Notably, states like Texas are moving to incorporate Bitcoin into their reserves, reflecting a broader trend of integrating cryptocurrencies into mainstream financial strategies.

Trump’s Crypto Engagement Raises Ethical Questions

President Trump hosted a black-tie dinner at his Virginia golf club for top holders of his $TRUMP meme coin, a move that has sparked some ethical concerns within the political circle. Critics argue that the event blurs the lines between public office and personal financial gain, especially since attendees secured invitations by purchasing a digital currency tied to Trump, resulting in substantial revenue for his affiliated businesses. Lawmakers are calling for investigations into potential violations of ethics laws and the emoluments clause.

Major Banks Explore Joint Stablecoin Initiative

In a significant shift, major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, are in early discussions about creating a joint stablecoin. The initiative aims to streamline transactions such as cross-border payments and reflects the banks' efforts to address increasing competition from the cryptocurrency sector. This move indicates a growing convergence between traditional financial institutions and crypto technologies. 

BTC ETF FLOW

This week brought a wave of strong inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, with total net flows reaching over $2.5 billion. BlackRock’s IBIT led the charge with daily inflows peaking at $877.2 million on May 22. While smaller outflows were recorded earlier in the week from Invesco these were easily offset by steady demand across issuers like Fidelity, Ark, and Grayscale’s GBTC. All ETF issuers were net positive, suggesting a broad return of institutional confidence as BTC continued hovering near all-time highs.

ETH ETF Flow

Ethereum ETFs showed a mixed but ultimately strong performance this week. After starting with light inflows and a brief midweek dip (including a $24.3 million outflow from Fidelity on May 21), Thursday saw a powerful recovery. May 22 closed with $110.5 million in net inflows...one of the strongest single day totals for ETH ETFs in about a month, driven largely by BlackRock’s ETHE and Grayscale’s ETH product. These flows suggest increasing optimism for Ethereum and the wider DeFi ecosystem built on top of it.

This week’s top gainers on Metal Pay saw Metal Blockchain (METAL) lead the charge with a 15.7% rise, continuing its strong momentum as the network continues to announce financial institutions joining the chains “Banking Innovation Program”. Solana (SOL) climbed 6.1%, buoyed by rising DEX volumes and ongoing interest in the memecoin sector. Bitcoin (BTC) added 5.3%, supported by consistent ETF inflows and strong institutional appetite. Dogecoin (DOGE) posted a modest 4.5% gain as memecoins remained in the spotlight, while Hedera (HBAR) edged up 0.5% to round out the leaderboard. Overall, the green streak extended across major assets.

Don’t forget about the Solana (SOL) Trading competition over on Metal X - top traders go in the draw to win a share of 1m XPR and free trading passes!

We are pleased to share the Metallicus 2025 Q1 Quarterly Report, featuring updates on product, engineering, the banking innovation program and much more. If you would like to read the full report please visit https://www.metallicus.com/news