ETH dominates in crypto’s comeback

May 19, 2025

Reading time: 5 minutes

Crypto’s $7.5B comeback: ETH steals the show

Key points:

  • Digital asset funds logged $785M in weekly inflows, marking a full rebound from the $7B withdrawn during February–March and lifting 2025 totals to $7.5B.

  • Ethereum outperformed other assets with $205M in inflows, driven by renewed confidence following its Pectra upgrade and leadership restructuring.

News - Investor appetite for digital assets is roaring back. Crypto investment products brought in $785 million last week, marking the fifth consecutive week of positive flows and completing a full recovery from the nearly $7 billion withdrawn during February–March’s market dip. The year-to-date total now stands at $7.5 billion, according to CoinShares.

U.S. investors drove most of the demand, contributing $681 million, followed by Germany ($86.3M) and Hong Kong ($24.4M). Analysts noted that the inflows were supported by macro optimism—including a recent 90-day tariff pause between the U.S. and China—and growing institutional participation, with Coinbase registering the year’s largest single-day BTC withdrawal worth $1B.

Bitcoin investment products attracted $557M, though this was a dip from the previous week. Short Bitcoin products also recorded inflows, suggesting hedge positioning amid recent gains.

Ethereum’s turn in the spotlight - Ethereum stood out, pulling in $205 million—its highest weekly inflow since March. Analysts attributed this to the successful Pectra upgrade and the appointment of Tomasz Stańczak as Ethereum Foundation’s new co-Executive Director. The upgrade lifted the staking cap (via EIP-7251) and introduced smart wallet functionality (EIP-7702), reigniting investor confidence.

Meanwhile, Solana saw a rare outflow of $890K, amid a 64% drop in TVL, highlighting contrasting sentiment across altcoins.

What’s next? - With flows back in the green and Ethereum’s fundamentals strengthening, crypto markets appear to be entering a new accumulation phase—fueled by both upgraded tech and renewed institutional conviction.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin bet pays off: $357M profit, global eyes watching

Key points:

  • El Salvador’s BTC portfolio now holds $644M in value, with $357M in unrealized profit—up 124% from its total investment.

  • Despite IMF loan restrictions, President Bukele vows to continue Bitcoin purchases as global interest in sovereign crypto reserves grows.

News - El Salvador’s bold Bitcoin experiment is paying off—at least on paper. As BTC flirts with new highs, the country’s holdings have surged to over $644 million, resulting in an unrealized profit of $357 million, according to a screenshot shared by President Nayib Bukele.

The Central American nation holds approximately 6,181 BTC, purchased since 2021 at a total cost of $287 million. That marks a 124% gain, with nearly $70M in profit realized just this year.

While the public show of profit serves as a victory lap for Bukele, it also revives tensions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Under a $1.4B financing deal signed in December 2023, El Salvador agreed to limit public-sector Bitcoin activity. However, Bukele continues to accumulate BTC through the country’s National Bitcoin Office, which operates outside the fiscal sector’s technical definition.

A global playbook in progress - Despite ongoing IMF warnings about volatility and monetary policy risk, Bukele remains defiant. “If it didn’t stop when the world ostracized us, it won’t stop now,” he said.

El Salvador currently ranks sixth among sovereign BTC holders, trailing only the U.S., China, U.K., Ukraine, and Bhutan. Other nations may soon follow suit—Bhutan is already exploring national reserves, and CZ confirmed he’s been advising governments globally on state crypto infrastructure.

What’s next? - As Bitcoin tests the $106K range, El Salvador’s crypto strategy is under fresh scrutiny—not just for its returns, but as a possible template for how small nations can stake a claim in the digital asset era.

Bitcoin treasury race heats up: Strategy adds $765M in BTC, Metaplanet closes gap

Key points:

  • Strategy (MSTR) bought 7,390 BTC for $765M last week, bringing its total to 576,230 BTC—while facing a new class-action lawsuit.

  • Metaplanet now holds 7,800 BTC after its second-largest purchase, intensifying the corporate treasury race across Asia.

News - Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. is doubling down on its Bitcoin thesis. In a May 19 SEC filing, the company confirmed a 7,390 BTC acquisition worth $764.9 million, funded through a combination of common stock offerings and preferred share issuance. This brings Strategy’s total stash to 576,230 BTC, now valued at roughly $59 billion, with a 47% unrealized gain since inception.

But the big buy came with turbulence. Strategy is now facing a class-action lawsuit filed in a Virginia court, alleging that top executives—Michael Saylor, CEO Phong Le, and CFO Andrew Kang—misrepresented the risks and profitability tied to the firm’s Bitcoin-centric treasury strategy.

While the lawsuit draws scrutiny, Saylor remains unfazed. “Never short a man who buys orange ink by the barrel,” he quipped on X, signaling another buy may be coming.

Metaplanet's bold catch-up play - Meanwhile, Tokyo-listed Metaplanet is tightening its grip on the leaderboard. The company acquired 1,004 BTC for $104.3 million, marking its second-largest purchase to date and lifting its holdings to 7,800 BTC—more than El Salvador and closing in on Galaxy Digital.

Metaplanet’s strategy is aggressive: 2,800 BTC added this month alone, backed by bond sales and a public plan to hit 10,000 BTC by year-end. It now holds the largest BTC treasury in Asia and ranks 10th globally among public companies.

What’s next? - With BTC trading near $103K, institutional buyers are reshaping the Bitcoin landscape. Between Strategy’s relentless accumulation and Asia’s Metaplanet surge, the Bitcoin corporate treasury war is back on—this time with global players.

Vitalik Buterin’s new proposal could let you run an Ethereum node from your laptop

Key points:

  • Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin unveiled a “partially stateless” node model to reduce hardware requirements and boost decentralization.

  • The proposed design could enable users to run private, censorship-resistant nodes on personal devices instead of relying on centralized RPC providers.

News - Ethereum’s decentralization roadmap just got a bold new entry. In a blog post on May 19, Vitalik Buterin proposed a framework for “partially stateless nodes”—a move designed to cut down the storage and bandwidth demands for running Ethereum nodes and open the door for personal device-level participation.

The key idea: rather than store the full 1.3+ terabytes of blockchain history, users could configure their node to only track the data they personally care about—like specific dApps, tokens, or contracts—while cryptographically verifying the rest of the chain on demand. Buterin compared it to a “local-first” library system: keep your frequently used books, borrow the rest.

Why it matters - Buterin flagged the growing dependence on centralized RPC (Remote Procedure Call) providers, which act as intermediaries for many wallets and dApps. These providers have already blocked access in entire countries, raising censorship and privacy concerns. A broader reliance on locally run nodes would help restore Ethereum’s original ethos: trustless and permissionless access to the network.

The stateless node model builds on EIP-4444, which proposes limiting node history to 36 days, with the rest stored via erasure coding across the network. It also complements the vision behind the Pectra upgrade, which aims to reduce node complexity and strengthen decentralized infrastructure.

What’s next? - The design is still early-stage, but if adopted, it could dramatically lower the barrier to entry for Ethereum node operation—potentially turning phones and laptops into sovereign crypto gateways. As Ethereum scales, Buterin is betting that decentralization can still scale with it.

Did you know?

  • Cryptocurrency electricity consumption is projected to reach 160 TWh by 2026: In its Electricity 2024 report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that cryptocurrency electricity consumption could rise by over 40%, reaching 160 terawatt-hours by 2026. This trend underscores the growing energy demands of networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

  • Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than Sweden: In 2024, Bitcoin mining operations consumed approximately 146 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, surpassing the annual electricity usage of countries like Sweden. This data highlights the significant environmental impact of Bitcoin mining activities.

  • Crypto-related thefts surge past $1.5 billion in Q1 2025: In the first quarter of 2025, over $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency was reported stolen—marking a 300% increase from previous periods, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The spike highlights an urgent need for improved fraud prevention and cross-border enforcement.

Top 3 coins of the day

Monero (XMR)

Key points:

  • At press time, XMR was trading at $345, up 2.46% over the last 24 hours.

  • It continued its winning streak, having rallied over 60% so far in May.

What you should know:

Monero maintained its bullish momentum, climbing past the $340 mark and logging a 2.46% daily gain. The rally extended a broader uptrend that began in late April, catalyzed by a suspected hacker converting $330 million worth of Bitcoin into XMR—causing a liquidity-driven price spike. The move also coincided with Monero breaking out of a long-standing symmetrical triangle formation, taking it to levels last seen in 2021. Price action remained supported by the Parabolic SAR, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovered above 81, signaling overbought conditions. If bullish momentum continues, the next resistance to watch lies near $360, while support is established around $320 in case of a cooldown.

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL)

Key points:

  • At press time, VIRTUAL was trading at $1.90, down 6.35% over the last 24 hours.

  • The AI token declined, following a sharp rejection near the $2.40 zone.

What you should know:

VIRTUAL retraced sharply after facing resistance at the $2.40 level, shedding over 6% in a single day. The downturn came as the token formed a potential triple top pattern—commonly seen as a bearish reversal signal. The decline also followed a rapid 300% surge earlier this month, triggering waves of profit-taking among short-term holders. Moreover, the Parabolic SAR dots have remained below the candlesticks since early April, signaling sustained bullish momentum, though this may be weakening. The Directional Movement Index (DMI) showed declining strength in the +DI and ADX lines, while volume also dropped from peak levels. If bulls fail to reclaim the $2.00 threshold, VIRTUAL may slide toward support around $1.50. Until the SAR flips, however, traders should watch for any potential consolidation before a clearer trend emerges.

Brett - Based (BRETT)

Key points:

  • At press time, BRETT was trading at $0.067, down 10.97% over the last 24 hours.

  • It was among the day’s top losers, reversing sharply after nearing the $0.095 resistance zone.

What you should know:

BRETT saw a steep pullback of nearly 11% after surging toward the $0.095 mark earlier this week. The correction followed a notable rally from the $0.045 range, suggesting that traders may have locked in profits near the recent local high. The Parabolic SAR remained below the candlesticks until the latest dip, hinting at a possible shift in momentum. Meanwhile, the MACD lines edged closer to a bearish crossover, with the histogram shrinking—another signal of waning bullish strength. If selling pressure persists, BRETT could test support near the $0.060–$0.058 range. On the upside, reclaiming $0.075 would be the first sign of renewed short-term strength.

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