Key takeaways:

Bitcoin’s performance in the current bull market and a new cohort of buyers reflect a maturing market and widening adoption.

A 50% rise in hashrate and a 63% jump in Realized Cap highlight investors’ confidence in Bitcoin.

A recent report from Fidelity Digital Assets explored how the current Bitcoin market cycle reflects a shift toward a maturing market where the rate of adoption deepens and expands.

At block height 892,500—marking 25% progress into the current halving epoch—Bitcoin traded between $82,500 and $85,000, representing a 31% increase from its value on April 19, 2024, when the fourth halving reduced block rewards to 3.125 BTC.

Bitcoin: halving cycles compared. Source: Fidelity Digital Assets

Fidelity’s senior research analyst Daniel Gray emphasized Bitcoin’s network resilience, noting a 50% surge in hashrate since the halving. This increase signals strong miner commitment despite reduced rewards. Unlike previous cycles marked by post-halving rallies, the 2024–2025 phase has been characterized by steadier, more measured growth.

The Puell Multiple—an indicator of miner revenue relative to Bitcoin’s price—has stabilized, suggesting that the market is adjusting to lower issuance without significant volatility. The report explains,

“Bitcoin’s more muted returns likely reflect a market that is digesting several extrinsic tailwinds and headwinds, which have inevitably caused some uncertainty.”

Historically, this mid-epoch phase has coincided with new all-time highs—an event that occurred this week. Fidelity noted that this growth could extend into Q2 2025, potentially redefining Bitcoin’s position as a credible asset class in modern portfolios.

Bitcoin’s Realized Cap is a significant indicator of this evolution, which measures cumulative net capital inflows. Since the 2024 halving, the Realized Cap metric has surged 63%, climbing to $915 billion from $561 billion, underscoring the scale of capital entering the market.

Bitcoin realized cap milestones. Source: Glassnode

This trend fits within Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory, where Realized Cap has risen with each halving, indicating a maturing asset with substantial growth progression.

Key drivers behind this Bitcoin bull market

The current bull market cycle is also distinguished by record-breaking levels of institutional investor and corporate-level participation. The approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US in January 2024 has ushered in $134 billion in inflows, while monthly trading volumes on platforms like Binance soared past $1 trillion in March 2024—a massive leap from just $11 billion in January 2018.

Public companies’ strategic accumulation of Bitcoin, most notably Strategy, now holding 576,230 BTC, also sets a new industry blueprint. Firms like Metaplanet Inc., Bitcoin Group SE, and Semler Scientific have since followed suit, validating Bitcoin’s role as a corporate treasury asset this cycle.

Thus, Gray asserts that Bitcoin’s fundamentals and global recognition are “stronger than ever,” signaling a cycle of growth, institutional anchoring, and market resilience.

Related: Bitcoin’s new all-time high has traders asking: Is BTC price overheating at $111K?

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Key points:

Bitcoin joins risk assets in a knee-jerk reaction to the latest instalment of the US trade war, this time focused on the EU.

BTC price action dives up to 4% before recovering with $110,000 now a resistance level.

Traders demand that price holds higher levels going forward to protect bullish momentum.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw flash volatility into the May 23 Wall Street open as news headlines liquidated longs.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin trips as Trump says EU talks “going nowhere”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $107,367 on Bitstamp before rebounding.

This marked daily losses of up to 4% as markets reacted to comments from US President Donald Trump over tariffs on the European Union.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 

“Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”Source: Truth Social

US stocks reacted immediately at the open, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index down 1% and 1.2%, respectively, at the time of writing.

Reflecting on the latest developments, crypto market participants were unsurprised, given the existing precedent for tariff-related volatility.

“Nice aggregate flush of long leverage & de-risk selling from spot,” popular trader Skew summarized in a post on X.

“All driven by headlines once again.”Binance Bitcoin futures market data overview. Source: Skew/X

Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass put 4-hour liquidations at nearly $350 million, with the 24-hour tally at over $500 million.

Total crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

“There’s the break from the compression with a push from Trump. Markets worldwide obviously not liking the news,” fellow trader Daan Crypto Trades continued. 

“Will have to see where this settles today and how BTC ends up performing relative to equities now the trade uncertainty is back.”BTC/USDT 15-minute chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

Commenting on the macro outlook, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter suggested that the Trump administration was caught between a rock and a hard place.

“We have now learned: Too much tariff pressure causes the basis trade to unwind. Too little tariff pressure causes inflation expectations to rise,” it wrote in part of an X response. 

“Now, President Trump must find a middle ground to maintain tariffs but also suppress treasury yields WITHOUT Fed cuts.”

Kobeissi referred to the Federal Reserve’s unwillingness to hasted interest rate cuts despite declining inflation — a key ingredient in further risk-asset upside.

Related: Bitcoin buyer dominance at $111K suggests ‘another wave’ of gains

Elsewhere, traders eyed key BTC price levels to preserve going forward as the market sought a rebound.

“We need to hold the green zone,” trader Crypto Caesar argued alongside a chart showing an area of interest immediately below $110,000.

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Crypto Caesar/X

Another trader, Poseidon, acknowledged the comparative lack of resistance above spot price, keeping the door open to easy upside.

Don’t forget: above here, it’s nothing but thin air. No resistance in sight.$BTC pic.twitter.com/ugQEGQIcpD

— Poseidon (@CryptoPoseidonn) May 23, 2025

“Front ran $110K tag,” Skew continued alongside a chart of order book liquidity concentrations.

“Important level from here for the market to auction above (key for continuation).”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Web3 developer platform Alchemy has acquired HeyMint, a California-based non-fungible token (NFT) launchpad, in a move designed to enhance the company’s smart wallet infrastructure. 

The undisclosed funding deal will see HeyMint’s infrastructure embedded within Alchemy as it seeks to simplify user onboarding for Web3 applications, the company disclosed on May 23. HeyMint’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Flor Ronsmans De Vry, joins Alchemy as part of the deal. 

While not a household name in crypto, HeyMint attracted more than 1 million users over its first two years of operations. It was the launchpad behind $38 million in NFT sales and supported the Web3 efforts of major brands, including The Sandbox, Universal Music Group and Ubisoft. 

In 2023, HeyMint facilitated NFT sales for the Partnership for Central America, a private sector coalition that included Mastercard.

The HeyMint acquisition is Alchemy’s second funding deal this month. The company recently acquired Dexter Lab, a real-time data infrastructure provider for Solana, for an undisclosed amount. 

Source: Cointelegraph

Related: VC Roundup: 8-figure funding deals suggest crypto bull market far from over

Crypto mergers, acquisitions are heating up

2025 is shaping up to be a more active year for crypto mergers and acquisitions (M&As), especially in the United States, where regulatory clarity and a pro-industry administration are encouraging dealmaking.

There has been a flurry of high-profile deals in recent weeks, including Robinhood’s acquisition of Canadian digital asset operator WonderFi for $179 million and Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his crypto exchange is eyeing more M&A opportunities.

One of the biggest acquisitions was completed in April when Ripple purchased prime brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion — a deal the payments company said would expand its horizons within institutional finance. 

Beyond M&As, crypto venture capital funding has also been on the rise. PitchBook data revealed that, while the number of deals declined last quarter, the value of investments more than doubled compared to a year earlier.

A highlight of crypto-backed venture deals in 2024. Source: Pitchbook

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story