BTC breaks USD record on Pizza Day
Bitcoin hit a new record price in dollars last week. In euros, it approached the €100,000 mark. On the same day, the world celebrated Pizza Day, an annual nod to Bitcoin's early years. Meanwhile, the mood shifted from lighthearted celebration to serious policy decisions. Want to know more? Read the full story in this edition of Bitvavo Market News.
Market update
On Thursday, May 22, Bitcoin's price rose to €99,400, its highest point since Feb. 3. In dollars, Bitcoin even set an all-time high in the books. At $112,000, the price was up a few percent from its peak on January 20 of $109,400. It marks the culmination of an impressive rise of more than 50% in just seven weeks.
As the price rises, we're also seeing money flow back into the Bitcoin market. This can be seen in the on-chain data, particularly in the rise of the so-called “realized cap”, and also in the figures from U.S. Bitcoin ETFs.
In February and March, we recorded outflows averaging $500 million per day. After the low point in early April, that turned into solid inflows averaging $1.8 billion per day. That's about the same level as last fall, when the stock price jumped from €55,000 to €100,000.
Could this fresh wave of capital be a sign we’re heading for another sharp rise, like in November and December? If so, we may well see another price doubling from €66,000 on April 7 to over €130,000 in the coming months.
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Bitcoin: from pepperoni to political capital
On May 22, Bitcoiners around the world took a moment to remember the most famous pizza order of all time. In 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas, a sum now worth over $1 billion. What began as a lighthearted moment with historic weight has since become an annual tradition: Bitcoin Pizza Day. It's a moment of self-mockery, reflection, and appreciation for how far Bitcoin has come.
Laszlo Hanyecz.
And it was the very same week that Bitcoin's true reach became clearer: the state of Texas passed a bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. No more pizza; this is policy. No more hobbyists; just legislators. No more hungry forum members; but states buying Bitcoin like it was gold.
Texas plans to keep the fund separate from the regular state treasury and to store Bitcoin in cold storage, overseen by an advisory committee. Only Bitcoin is eligible, as the digital assets must have maintained a market cap of at least $500 billion over the past 12 months.
What connects these two events - the pizza and the policy - is how surreal yet inevitable this development is. The technology that first gained value through a pair of pizzas is, 15 years later, the subject of state policy in one of the largest economies in the US. Texas doesn't just want to understand or regulate Bitcoin, it wants to hold it. To keep it safe, and protect it as a strategic asset.
At least, that's the intention of Texas lawhouses. It remains to be seen whether Texas Governor Greg Abbott will go along with it. He still has the power to veto the approved bill, though there are no signs that he intends to do so. On the contrary, Abbott appears pleased with the outcome and already positioned himself back in 2021 as a supporter of legislation aimed at boosting the growth of the crypto sector.
Texas isn't the first state to come up with a Bitcoin reserve (New Hampshire and Arizona got there sooner), but it is the largest, the loudest, and the most influential. Which brings us back to pizza: without those pepperoni slices, there may never have been a Texas Bitcoin reserve.
In other news
Bitcoin and crypto funds recorded record inflows of $3.3 billion last week. This brings total inflows in 2025 to $10.8 billion, a new record. Bitcoin once again led the way with $2.9 billion, followed by Ethereum with $326 million. Interestingly, XRP interrupted its 80-week inflow streak with a $37 million outflow. That's more than 15% of all the capital invested in XRP funds so far this year. It is unclear what prompted the outflows.
Pakistan is setting aside 2,000 megawatts of surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. The move is part of a national digitization strategy, which includes tax breaks to lure foreign investors. Several international delegations have already shown interest. Deployment of renewable energy is also on the agenda. Islamabad is targeting digital growth, with hashpower a key lever.
Trump's memecoin dinner puts Washington on edge. During the gala for the top 220 owners (together accounting for $148 million in investments) Trump used the presidential seal, which may violate federal law banning its use for commercial purposes. Among the guests were Justin Sun, Lamar Odom, and several crypto-CEOs. Outside, protestors gathered, inside, the food disappointed. The controversy around the memecoin dinner is making it harder to push through stable legislation and has once again turned the topic into a political fault line.
The Sui network suffered a major blow this week. Dex Cetus, the largest DeFi platform on the network, was hacked for around $230 million. The attacker used spoof tokens to pull real assets from the liquidity pools. Validators quickly froze $162 million, but this led to criticism: how decentralized is Sui if assets can be frozen at will? SUI's share price fell 15%, and some ecosystem tokens plummeted as much as 80%.
Satoshi Radio: The latest episode of Satoshi Radio focuses (naturally) on Bitcoin's new all-time high. In an extensive market update, you'll hear what's going on and what to expect from the coming weeks. Other topics include self-custody, Bitcoin subsidies, stablecoins and America's credit score.
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