Bitcoin Hit A New All-Time High on Bitcoin Pizza Day & More Corporations Are Buying BTC

The old Wall Street adage “Sell in May and Go Away” is not a thing in Bitcoin. In fact, the orange coin hit a new all-time high last month. 

Driven by an increase in corporate treasury purchases and positive news on the tariff front, Bitcoin hit its current all-time high of almost $112,000 on Bitcoin Pizza Day.  

We also had some exciting bills and legislative proposals to regulate stablecoins and digital assets. 

There is so much to talk about, so let’s go! 

Bitcoin Reaches a New All-Time High of $111,814 on Bitcoin Pizza Day 🍕

On May 22nd, a special day in its own right in the Bitcoin community, BTC hit its latest all-time high of $111,814. 

May 22nd is known as Bitcoin Pizza Day because back in 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 BTC on two pizzas, marking this as one of the first transactions where Bitcoin was used as a medium of exchange. 

But why did Bitcoin hit a new all-time high? 

Well, there are a few factors that contributed to this significant rally this month. 

First off, we saw an incredibly bullish month for spot Bitcoin ETFs. 

As shown in the chart above, we experienced five consecutive weeks of net inflows into Bitcoin Spot ETFs—a trend last observed in January and February of this year. 

If you look even closer, we had two weeks with billion-dollar inflows. One in the first week of May with over $1.8 billion and the other in the third week of the month with over $2.75 billion. 

ETF investor activity has been a good indicator of how capital allocators react to Bitcoin over the past few weeks, and this month, these investors were very bullish. 

However, there is another major reason why Bitcoin reached a new all-time high this month…

GameStop Is the Latest Company to Buy Bitcoin for Its Balance Sheet 📈

There’s an increasing interest in Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, along with the emergence of companies specializing in Bitcoin treasury services.  

The biggest news in that regard was GameStop! 

The company announced a dedicated funding round to acquire BTC back in March. The board unanimously approved a Bitcoin strategy, and this month, they followed through on that commitment. 

GameStop’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, announced a 4,710 BTC purchase on stage at this year's Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. 

With this announcement, GameStop is the latest company to follow a dedicated Bitcoin strategy, and arguably the most well-known amongst retail investors due to its short-squeeze story in January 2021. 

However, they weren’t the only ones to establish a dedicated Bitcoin strategy this month. 

Amongst the regular companies to acquire more BTC – Strategy, Metaplanet, and Semler Scientific – we also had some news from the newly formed Nakamoto Inc. 

Its CEO, David Bailey, entered a merger agreement with KindlyMD to establish the company. Through a PIPE financing round, they managed to raise $510 million and also issued $200 million in convertible notes. As the first Bitcoin purchase, they bought 21 BTC and announced further purchases later on. 

But they weren’t the only ones! 

I attended the Bitcoin for Corporations conference a couple of weeks ago and gave a talk. You can watch it here if you’d like to learn about Samara Asset Group’s Bitcoin strategy.  

In May alone, the following companies either announced new BTC buys or a dedicated strategy: 

• Strategy 

• Metaplanet

• Semler Scientific 

• GameStop

• Twenty One Capital

• Trump Media Group

• Meliuz 

• Paris Saint-Germain

• KULR Technology Group

• Smarter Web Company

• The Blockchain Group

• Jetking

• Strive Asset Management

As you can see, it’s quite an impressive list, and the interest is definitely growing. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more announcements in the coming weeks. 

The U.S. Is on the Brink of Stablecoin Regulation 👀

Lastly, there is news from the regulatory bodies and politics in the U.S.

For years, at least before the Trump Administration, we’ve seen quite the pushback as legislators weren’t taking digital assets seriously. 

The old SEC regime fought against digital assets and Bitcoin adoption.

But there is a new sheriff in town, and we have a great political ally in Cynthia Lummis on the Committee for Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 

Two major legislative announcements were made this month. 

One is the GENIUS Act, a dedicated stablecoin legislation that aims to simplify the integration of stablecoins into the traditional financial system. 

Stablecoins are one of the most widely used technologies in the digital asset space and effectively solve real-world problems in parts of the world where access to traditional financial systems is lacking or non-existent. 

The second important legislation proposal is the Market Structure Bill, which aims to integrate digital asset technologies into the modern banking system. 

Senator Lummis was also at this year's Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, where she was keen on highlighting the importance of both of these bills, but her favorite seems to be the Market Structure Bill: 

“The market structure bill is probably more important to a lot of the people in this conference than the stablecoin bill, because there are a lot of businesses. There are businesses for people who either buy and hold, so they want a custodial service, or there are companies that lend Bitcoin.”

Both bills are now up for a vote in the House and Senate, with potential approvals in a couple of months.  

We’ll need to wait and see how things evolve, but considering how fast we progressed thus far, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a fast turnaround here. 

Your fellow stacker in Sats, 

Patrick Lowry

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any associated company. This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, financial, or any other professional advice. Investing in cryptocurrencies is highly speculative and carries a significant risk of substantial financial loss, so you must conduct your own thorough research and consult with independent professional advisors before making any decisions.