Bitcoin soared past the $100,000 mark for the first time since March, with price action pushing as high as $103,000 by Friday as ETF inflows surged and institutional demand returned in force. Ethereum followed with a breakout of its own, while DeFi tokens, memecoins, and Layer 1s all posted strong weekly gains. From top to bottom, the crypto market was up across the board with every major asset in the green both daily and weekly.

Adding fuel to the move, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged for May, maintaining its 4.25 to 4.50% target and signaling no immediate plans for a cut despite rising political pressure. Coupled with renewed risk appetite and speculation about a Q3 pivot, the macro backdrop offered plenty of room for bulls to run.

Bitcoin ETF Flows: Mixed Start, Clean Finish as BTC Reclaims $103K

This week saw mixed flows across U.S. Bitcoin ETFs. Monday, May 5, opened strong with over $530 million in inflows to BlackRock’s IBIT, while outflows were recorded from Fidelity, Bitwise, Ark, Franklin, and Grayscale’s GBTC, partially offsetting gains. On Tuesday the 6th, aggregate flows flipped negative, driven by further GBTC and ARKB redemptions. However, sentiment turned decisively midweek: both May 7 and May 8 recorded net inflows of $142 million and $117 million, respectively - with zero outflows from any BTC ETFs over those final two sessions. The strong close coincided with Bitcoin’s price blasting through the $100,000 barrier and ending the week at $103K.

Ethereum ETF Flows: Outflows Continue, But Price Explodes Nearly 30%

Ethereum ETFs began the week in rare silence- Monday, May 5, saw no inflows or outflows across any provider, a statistical anomaly in a market this active. From May 6 through 8, however, BlackRock (ETHA) and Fidelity (FETH) resumed their outflow streak, resulting in over $55 million in net redemptions for the week. Despite the ETF selling pressure, Ethereum’s price surged nearly 30% in the past 24 hours, suggesting a wave of retail-driven momentum that may be decoupled from institutional flows. Whether this marks a new trend or a short squeeze remains to be seen once today’s ETF flow data is finalized.

Governance Update: SOL, ADA, and XLM Markets Coming to Metal X
The proposal to launch Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Stellar (XLM) markets on Metal X DEX has officially passed. Backed by a grant from the XPR Network community, this upgrade will enable users to trade and lend all three assets natively on Metal X, with deep liquidity and active market making. These assets have already been bridged via xTokens and now, full utility is coming online.

LOAN Holders: Cast Your Votes to Finalize Lending Market Launches
With the DEX and infrastructure approved, the final step is up to LOAN Protocol token holders. Two proposals are now live to determine whether SOL and ADA should be added to the Metal X Lending markets, with options to include or exclude LOAN token rewards. Adding these markets will broaden the protocol’s cross-chain coverage, invite new borrowers and lenders, and grow TVL across the ecosystem.

🗳️ Vote on SOL Lending: gov.xprnetwork.org/proposals/6813cb29f27f8365c08a4e58
🗳️ Vote on ADA Lending: gov.xprnetwork.org/proposals/6813cb6ef27f8365c08a4ef5

Top Gainers This Week, ETH and LOAN Lead the Charge
Looking at our top gainers 7 day snapshot, it was a green week across the board, with strong momentum from both majors and altcoins. Ethereum (ETH) surged to the top with a +28.8% gain, fueled by its sharp Friday rally and renewed DeFi interest. Close behind, LOAN Protocol climbed +27.4%, possibly driven by governance activity and reward optimism surrounding new lending market proposals.

Dogecoin (DOGE) added +14.6%, Solana (SOL) followed with a +14.2% rise as ecosystem activity picked up, and Litecoin (LTC) rounded out the leaderboard with a solid +12.2%.

Every single asset tracked on the Metal Pay dashboard closed the week in the green a clear signal of bullish sentiment returning across sectors.

These assets and more, available for trading on Metal Pay.