Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high on Wednesday, briefly topping $111,000 and breaking its previous January peak. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is now up 17.5% for the year and 47% since April 7, when a tariff-induced market slump pushed it as low as $75,000.
Market Context and Traditional Asset Weakness
The rally comes amid growing macroeconomic uncertainty and declining interest in traditional markets. A weak 20-year U.S. Treasury auction on May 21 sent yields soaring and rattled stock indices, with the S&P 500 shedding 80 points in under 30 minutes. As traditional assets struggled, bitcoin gained 3% in 24 hours, surging past its previous all-time high of $109,458 set earlier the same day.
Retail Sentiment and On-Chain Signals
Despite the bullish price action, retail interest remains muted. Google Trends data shows searches for “Bitcoin” have fallen to levels typical of bear markets. At the same time, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 72 on May 22, indicating “greed” but down from a January high of 84.
Bitcoin has climbed 15% in May alone, buoyed by steady ETF inflows and risk-off sentiment. So far this month, exchange-traded funds tracking bitcoin have seen just two days of outflows and total inflows now exceed $40 billion, according to SoSoValue.
On-chain data also paints a bullish picture: reduced bitcoin inflows to exchanges suggest lower selling pressure, while the amount of USDT stablecoin on trading platforms has hit record levels, indicating high market liquidity. Meanwhile, public companies now hold around $349 billion worth of bitcoin—a 31% increase since the start of the year and roughly 15% of the total bitcoin supply, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
Bitcoin Breaks Records—but Ethereum Quietly Flips the Script
Still, the rally isn’t solely about Bitcoin. Lennix Lai, OKX’s Global Chief Commercial Officer, shared insights with Unlock Blockchain on a surprising shift in trading dynamics:
“In a significant market development, Ethereum has overtaken Bitcoin as the most traded asset on our spot market for the first time this year. The numbers tell the story—ETH now captures nearly 27% of spot volume versus Bitcoin’s 26.5%, completely flipping April’s dynamic when BTC dominated at 38% while Ethereum lagged below 20%.“
Lai noted that this shift comes amid increased overall activity on OKX: “We saw spot trading volume jump by 60% week-over-week in the second week of May, with momentum continuing as volumes climbed another 6% the following week while both ETH and BTC continued their rallies.“
Evolving Market Dynamics and Maturity
Lai emphasized the broader market transformation: “The timing of this shift really shows us how the market is maturing. With Bitcoin futures open interest hitting a record $72 billion, Coinbase joining the S&P 500, and the GENIUS Act clearing the Senate in the US, we’re seeing more clarity and potentially even deregulation in certain jurisdictions.”
Even with delays in SEC approval for ETH staking ETFs, Ethereum’s growing dominance may be fueled by optimism around its upcoming Fusaka upgrade and a wave of institutional interest in Ethereum Layer 2 networks to tokenize real-world assets.
“While corporate treasuries keep adding Bitcoin to their books, Ethereum’s comeback on our platform suggests we’re entering a more nuanced phase where traders are backing multiple horses in this bull market rather than putting all their chips on Bitcoin,” Lai concluded.
Regulatory Developments and Institutional Adoption
Meanwhile, in Washington, the Senate advanced the GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoins—a crucial development for the digital asset ecosystem. President Trump has said he wants to sign crypto regulation into law before the August recess.
The combination of regulatory momentum, institutional adoption, and maturing investor behavior is shaping a new narrative for crypto markets in 2025—one where Bitcoin leads, but Ethereum and other assets are catching up fast.
