Alessandro Rocco Pietrocola

Bitcoin has topped $110,000 for the first time in a recent rally that has seen it gain 3% over the past day to break through past price highs from earlier this year.Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time high of $110,788.98 on Coinbase late on May 21, just before 11:30 pm UTC, according to TradingView.Bitcoin has gained around 3% over the last 24 hours, surpassing its all-time high of $109,458 that it hit earlier in the day, which was the first time it traded above its previously long-held Jan. 20 peak.The world’s largest cryptocurrency has now gained 17.5% so far this year and is up 47% since its slump to $75,000 on April 7, triggered by US President Donald Trump enacting sweeping tariffs that tanked global markets.Bitcoin’s new peak comes as US stock markets were rattled by a weak 20-year bond auction, which sent treasury yields soaring on May 21. The S&P 500 fell 80 points in half an hour while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones mirrored the move, with all US indexes trading down on the day. Bitcoin’s weekly chart shows it has climbed out of a slump earlier this year. Source: TradingViewCaroline Bowler, CEO of the Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets, said in a note to Cointelegraph that Bitcoin’s new high “reflects a mature interest in digital assets worldwide, not the speculative surge seen in past cycles.”“Today’s demand is driven by institutional-grade infrastructure and stronger regulatory clarity. Investor sentiment has shifted decisively, reflecting institutional-style allocations,” she added. According to Google Trends, searches for Bitcoin have been trending down since November and are at lows typical of crypto bear markets, indicating a low retail interest in the cryptocurrency.Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which tracks market sentiment, was at a score of 72 out of 100 on May 22, indicating “greed.” The index is down from its 2025 high of 84 on Jan. 22, which came two days after Trump’s inauguration.Related: How high can Bitcoin price go?Edward Carroll, head of global markets and corporate finance at MHC Digital Group, told Cointelegraph in a note that growing demand driving the price higher in the medium-term could push Bitcoin to at least $160,000 by the fourth quarter of this year and $1 million by 2030.Trader’s leveraged Bitcoin bet tops $1.1BMeanwhile, leverage trader James Wynn’s Bitcoin long position on the crypto platform Hyperliquidity has become the largest onchain margin trade when it exceeded $1.1 billion amid Bitcoin’s price peak. The entry point for the 40x leveraged position was $108,065 and it has an unrealized profit of $20 million. It will be liquidated if Bitcoin’s price falls to $103,800.Magazine: Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins ‘powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest

Crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano’s fintech-focused blank-check company, ProCap Acquisition Corp (PCAPU), rose 7% on its debut Nasdaq listing after a last-minute upsizing of its initial public offering.ProCap had boosted its IPO from $200 million to $220 million on May 20, a day before its public launch, pricing its 22 million shares on offer at $10 each.ProCap shares closed the May 21 trading day up 7% at $10.70, which continued with a 1.6% bump after-hours to $10.87, Yahoo Finance data shows.PCAPU’s share price closed up 7% on its debut trading day. Source: Yahoo FinanceThe company has offered underwriters a 45-day option to buy up to 3.3 million additional shares at the IPO price to cover extra demand.ProCap said in an April 30 regulatory filing that the firm will be a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that will look to invest in, and potentially take public, companies in the financial services, digital asset, asset management or healthcare sectors.Pompliano is one of the crypto industry’s biggest cheerleaders, hosting a Bitcoin and finance-focused podcast and leading investment firm Professional Capital Management.Pompliano told CNBC on May 21 that he had been itching to take a company public over the last five years but hadn’t seen enough demand in the private market until six months ago, citing recent changes to the US regulatory landscape affecting financial markets.Related: Texas House passes strategic Bitcoin reserve billHe hinted that his blank-check firm would invest in crypto-native and traditional finance businesses as he expects the sectors to converge in the coming years.“The reason why I use the term financial services is basically the new digital world and the old incumbent world are all merging.”SPACs haven’t been done right in the past, Pomp saysOn CNBC, Pompliano was pressed on why he chose to make ProCap a SPAC, which have historically seen high failure rates due to sponsor conflicts, dilution, speculative valuations and regulatory scrutiny.Pompliano said SPACs have gotten a bad reputation because companies often treat them like public venture capital, targeting high-growth companies that are losing a lot of money at high valuations.Pompliano noted he has put “millions of dollars” of his own money on the line.“We’ve got real skin in the game,” Pompliano said, adding: “I’m taking a huge reputation risk.”Brent Saunders, CEO of health products firm Bausch + Lomb, also joined as a strategic adviser. Saunders completed over $300 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions over the last 17 years.Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions: Sky Wee

Australia’s financial regulator will seek the High Court’s permission to appeal a lower court’s ruling favoring fintech firm Block Earner, which found the company’s crypto-linked fixed-yield earning service is not a financial product.The Australian Securities and Investment Commission said on May 21 that it wants to ask the High Court of Australia to clarify what the definition of a financial product is and clarify the circumstances when an interest-earning product and the conversion of assets from one form to another are regulated.“The definition of financial product was drafted in a broad and technology-neutral way, and ASIC believes it is in the public interest to clarify this,” the watchdog said.“This clarification is important as it applies to all financial products and services whether they involve crypto-assets or not.”On April 22, Federal Court Justices David O’Callaghan, Wendy Abraham and Catherine Button found that Block Earner’s crypto-linked fixed-yield earning product is not a financial product, a managed investment scheme or a derivative under the Corporations Act.ASIC said the court will consider its application. Special leave is required in an appeal to the High Court, and it’s only granted in cases where it would answer significant legal questions or matters of public interest.A Block Earner spokesperson told Cointelegraph the matter has now escalated to a “broader legal question” around the definition of a financial product, which extends “well beyond Block Earner, and the crypto sector.” “We believe the Full Federal Court’s April ruling was a strong and well-reasoned decision that upheld the integrity of our operations,” the spokesperson said. “We remain confident in the soundness of that judgment and will respond to ASIC’s application through the appropriate legal channels.” Legal saga ongoing since 2022ASIC first launched legal proceedings against Block Earner in November 2022, arguing the company needed a financial services license to offer its yield product, which was available from March 17, 2022, until the company shut it down on Nov. 16, 2022.Related: Australia outlines crypto regulation plan, promises action on debankingASIC was arguing Block Earner needed a financial services license to offer its crypto-linked fixed-yield earning product. Source: ASICIn February 2024, an Australian court initially ruled the fintech firm would need a financial services license to operate its crypto yield-bearing products. Another June 2024 ruling in Australia’s Federal Court released Block Earner from any financial penalties because it had “acted honestly” and pursued its legal opinions before launching the products, which ASIC appealed.Block Earner appealed the Federal Court’s decision that it needed a financial services license on July 9, 2024. Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

VanEck plans to launch a private digital assets fund in June targeting tokenized Web3 projects built on the Avalanche blockchain network, the asset manager said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph.The VanEck PurposeBuilt Fund, available only to accredited investors, aims to invest in liquid tokens and venture-backed projects across Web3 sectors, including gaming, financial services, payments, and artificial intelligence. Idle capital will be deployed into Avalanche (AVAX) real-world asset (RWA) products, including tokenized money market funds, VanEck said.The fund will be managed by the team behind VanEck’s Digital Assets Alpha Fund (DAAF), which oversees more than $100 million in net assets as of May 21. “The next wave of value in crypto will come from real businesses, not more infrastructure,” Pranav Kanade, portfolio manager for DAAF, said in a statement.RWAs are among crypto’s fastest-growing segments. Source: RWA.xyzRelated: Tokenized stocks could top $1T in market cap — ExecsThematic crypto fundsVanEck’s PurposeBuilt Fund is the latest in a series of funds from the asset manager and rivals designed to offer exposure to projects and companies in fast-growing segments of Web3. On May 14, VanEck launched a new actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) to invest in stocks and financial instruments providing exposure to the digital economy.In April, VanEck launched another ETF investing in a passive index of companies operating in the crypto space. Asset managers such as VanEck are requesting the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) permission to list upward of 70 crypto ETFs. The wave of ETF filings is in response to US President Donald Trump softening the agency’s regulatory stance toward crypto after Trump took office in January.Avalanche TVL as of May 21. Source: DefiLlamaAvalanche RWA ecosystemAvalanche has emerged as a hub for real-world assets (RWAs) and other institutional-oriented crypto projects. Its interrelated networks, called subnets, allow institutions to run Ethereum-style smart contracts in a controlled environment. On May 16, Solv Protocol launched a yield-bearing Bitcoin token on the Avalanche blockchain, targeting institutional investorsAvalanche has around $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL) as of May 21, according to data from DefiLlama. “We’re seeing a shift away from speculative hype toward real utility and sustainable token economies,” John Nahas, chief business officer at Ava Labs, said in a statement.Magazine: Danger signs for Bitcoin as retail abandons it to institutions — Sky Wee

A Democratic representative in the US Congress will support a blockchain bill at a time when many left-leaning lawmakers are blocking crypto-related pieces of legislation due to concerns with President Donald Trump’s potential conflicts of interest.In a May 21 notice, Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer said he had reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, a bill that “solidifies that digital asset developers and service providers that do not custody consumer funds are not money transmitters.”Emmer, a Republican, said Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres would co-lead the bill, making it a bipartisan effort in Congress.“The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act reflects a thoughtful, bipartisan effort to get digital asset policy right,” said Torres. “While similar language was voted down in markup last Congress, we took that feedback seriously and returned with a smarter, sharper framework that protects innovation without compromising oversight.”Reintroducing the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act on May 21. Source: Tom EmmerRepresentatives of advocacy organizations, including the Crypto Council for Innovation, Solana Policy Institute, Digital Chamber, Coin Center, DeFi Education Fund and Blockchain Association, said they would support the proposed blockchain regulatory bill. It was unclear whether Emmer and Torres had a majority of votes in the House of Representatives for the legislation to pass. Torres has supported many bills and policies favorable to the crypto industry since assuming office in 2021. Together with Emmer, he has led the Congressional Crypto Caucus to advance crypto-friendly policies in the House since March.A bipartisan blockchain bill amid memecoin concerns?Other Democratic House members, including Representative Maxine Waters, have suggested they intend to block any legislation related to crypto and blockchain until Republicans address Trump’s connections to the industry, such as his family’s stake in World Liberty Financial and his TRUMP memecoin. The president is planning to host a dinner with up to 220 people holding the most significant amounts of his memecoin on May 22.Related: Interest groups, lawmakers to protest Trump’s memecoin dinnerCointelegraph reached out to Torres’ office for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Today in crypto, the Texas House passed SB 21 to create a state-run Bitcoin reserve; DWF Labs’ Andrei Grachev said the GENIUS Act could legitimize stablecoins for institutions; and the SEC filed a $100M fraud suit against Unicoin and its executives.Texas House passes strategic Bitcoin reserve billThe Texas House of Representatives has passed the third reading of SB 21, a bill that seeks to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the state. The bill passed in a 101-42 vote and will now go to Texas Governor Greg Abbott to either sign into law or veto.SB 21, authored by state Senator Charles Schwertner, establishes a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve that is managed by the state’s comptroller. The legislation allows the comptroller to invest in any cryptocurrency with a market cap above $500 billion over the previous 12-month period. Currently, the only cryptocurrency fitting the requirement is Bitcoin.Before the vote, state Representative Giovanni Capriglione said to the chamber that the bill was a “pivotal moment in securing Texas’s leadership in the digital age with the passage of our strategic Bitcoin reserve. Now, we embrace a modern asset with traditional properties for future promise.” The bill passed in the Texas Senate in a 25-5 vote on March 6.Texas State Representative Giovanni Capriglione presenting SB 21. Source: Bitcoin LawsTexas’s economy is the second-largest in the United States, with a gross domestic product of $2.7 trillion in 2024, according to KVUE. If Texas were its own country, it would have the eighth-largest economy in the world.If Abbott signs SB 21 into law, Texas will be the second US state to allow for the creation of a cryptocurrency reserve. New Hampshire became the first to do so on May 6 after Governor Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 302 into law.GENIUS Act “legitimizes” stablecoins for global institutional adoptionStablecoin adoption among institutions could surge as the United States Senate prepares to debate a key piece of legislation aimed at regulating the sector.After failing to gain support from key Democrats on May 8, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act passed the US Senate in a 66–32 procedural vote on May 20 and is now heading to a debate on the Senate floor.The bill seeks to set clear rules for stablecoin collateralization and mandate compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.“This act doesn’t just regulate stablecoins, it legitimizes them,” said Andrei Grachev, managing partner at DWF Labs and Falcon Finance.“It sets clear rules, and with clarity comes confidence. That’s what institutions have been waiting for,” Grachev told Cointelegraph during the Chain Reaction daily X spaces show on May 20, adding:“Stablecoins aren’t a crypto experiment anymore. They’re a better form of money. Faster, simpler, and more transparent than fiat. It’s only a matter of time before they become the default.”Source: CointelegraphThe GENIUS Act may be the “first step” toward establishing a “unified digital financial system which is borderless, programmable and efficient,” Grachev said, adding:“When the US moves on stablecoin policy, the world watches.”SEC sues Unicoin, executives alleging $100 million fraudThe US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Unicoin and three of the crypto platform’s executives on May 20, alleging they made false and misleading statements about crypto assets that raised $100 million from investors.The SEC charged Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin, board member Silvina Moschini, and former investment chief Alex Dominguez with misleading investors about certificates that conveyed rights to receive Unicoin tokens and stock.A highlighted excerpt of the SEC complaint claims Unicoin and its executives misled customers in multiple aspects of the business. Source: SECSEC Division of Enforcement associate director Mark Cave claimed that the trio “exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises that its tokens, when issued, would be backed by real-world assets including an international portfolio of valuable real estate holdings.”The SEC also charged Unicoin’s general counsel, Richard Devlin, with violating federal securities laws. Devlin paid a $37,500 civil penalty without admitting or denying the agency’s claim.