BTC futures open interest on exchanges hit an all-time high above US$80 billion on 23 May; Crypto.com and Canary Capital established the Canary CRO Trust, a private investment vehicle for US investors; Crypto.com secured a MiFID licence to expand traditional investment service offerings across Europe.
US spotbitcoin ETFs had a net inflow of US$2.75 billion last week, the sixth consecutive week of net inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT had the highest inflows among US ETFs on 22 May, which coincided with BTC’s new all-time high. Spot ether ETFs saw a net inflow of $248 million last week, six times the net inflow of the week before.
On the macro side, the US S&P Flash PMI Composite Output Index rose to 52.1 this month compared to 50.6 in April; the faster growth for new orders in the manufacturing sector was fueled mainly by domestic demand. Exports for both goods and services dropped in May, which coincided with tariffs. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed a 6% probabilityof a June rate cut in the US (compared to 8% last week). The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 0.25% to 3.85%, its lowest level since May 2023, citing a downtrend in local inflation.
Notable updates: Circle Payments Network went live; Jupiter (JUP) shared plans to launch Jupiter Lend; the Crypto.com App listed Mantra (OM) and KernelDAO (KERNEL).
Notable events in the coming week: US FOMC Minutes and Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, New Zealand RBNZ Interest Rate Decision
Weekly Market Index
Price, volume, and volatility indices were up by +0.17%, +14.26%, and +39.47% respectively.
BTC reached an all-time high above US$111,800 last Thursday before retracing to the $108,000-level to end the week. This coincided with US President Donald Trump suggesting imposing a 50% import tariff on all European Union (EU) goods from 1 June before agreeing to delay it to 9 July.
Volatility increase was led by APT (+63.06%), which coincided with a weekly adjustment after a drop in volatility the week before (-47.30%).
Chart of the Week
BTC open interest (OI) on exchanges hit an all-time high above $80 billion on 23 May, a 30% increase since the beginning of May. An increase in OI generally suggests a build up of leveraged positions and higher market speculation, which coincided with BTC reaching an all-time high above $111,800 last week.
Weekly Performance
BCH (+7.5%) led the price increase last week. BTC and ETH increased by +3.1% and +0.8%, respectively. Other large-cap tokens saw mixed price performances.
All key categories increased in market capitalisation in the past seven days, led by the DeFi category.
Circle Payments Network, a blockchain-enabled payments coordination protocol, went live. It allows banks and payment providers to settle global payments, including cross-border remittances, supplier payments, and payroll or enterprise payments, using USDC on public blockchains.
The Jupiter team shared plans to launch Jupiter Lend, a money market on Solana powered by Fluid, in Summer 2025. It will feature two layers: (1) a liquidity layer acting as the liquidity hub and (2) a protocol layer, which will consist of the lending protocol for debt positions and the vault protocol for borrowing.
As of 25 May 2025 Sources: Crypto.com Research, Crypto.com Price, CoinGecko, protocols’ websites
Mantra is a Layer-1 blockchain built for regulatory compliance and real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation. Built on top of the Cosmos SDK, Mantra Chain enables seamless communication and asset transfers with other blockchains within the Cosmos ecosystem. OM serves as the native token used for governance, staking, paying transaction fees, and unlocking platform services.
KernelDAO is a multichain restaking protocol built to empower DeFi users to restake assets across multiple networks and applications. It allows users to access additional yield opportunities while maintaining liquidity and flexibility on the staked assets. KERNEL serves as the native utility and governance token.
As of 25 May 2025 Sources: Crypto.com Research, Crypto.com Price, CoinGecko, Protocols’ websites
News Highlights
Crypto.com / Cronos News
Crypto.com secured a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) licence to expand its traditional investment service offerings, including securities, derivatives, and contracts for differences, across the European Economic Area (EEA). This comes after receiving approval of its acquisition of A.N. Allnew Investments Ltd (Allnew) from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Crypto.com and Canary Capital, a digital asset-focused investment firm, partnered to establish the Canary CRO Trust, a private investment vehicle for US investors. Canary CRO Trust will be the first private investment vehicle providing US investors with exposure to CRO.
Adoption
Companies co-owned by JPMorgan, Bank of America, CitiGroup, Wells Fargo,and other US commercial banks are exploring a joint venture to launch a stablecoin, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Discussions remain preliminary.
JP Morgan will soon allow its clients to buy bitcoin, including access to bitcoin ETFs. CEO Jamie Dimon mentioned that the bank will not provide custody, but will include it in statements.
Investment Vehicles
VanEck plans to launch the VanEck PurposeBuilt Fund in June, which aims to invest in liquid tokens and venture-backed projects across Web3 sectors on the Avalanche blockchain. Idle capital will be deployed into Avalanche RWA products.
Hong Kongpassed a stablecoin bill that mandates licensing for issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Stablecoin issuers will also have to meet requirements on reserves, redemption, and client asset segregation. It is expected to come into effect this year.
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is expected to tighten rules around digital asset transactions in June, which includes allowing non-profit organisations and virtual asset exchanges to sell crypto, but with new compliance standards. There will also be stricter listing standards for digital assets.
Research Roundup Newsletter [April 2025]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into ‘The Rise of Crypto Treasury’ and ‘Wall Street On-Chain Part 3: Trading & Liquidity’.
Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [April 2025]: All asset classes had mixed performances in April, with BTC and Gold leading price increases. Trump reduced tariff rates on imports from most US trading partners and considered lowering tariffs on China.
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🚀 BTC futures open interest on exchanges hit an all-time high above US$80 billion on 23 May; Crypto.com secured a MiFID licence to expand investment service in Europe.
BTC futures open interest hit a record $80B on May 23; Crypto.com secures MiFID licence to expand traditional investment service in Europe; Crypto.com and Canary Capital to launch the Canary CRO Trust
