Bitcoin Breaks $100K, Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Boosts ETH, Fed Holds Rates: Weekly Crypto Recap

There’s a lot to unpack from the past seven days, so let’s get straight to it.

Let’s take you back to our previous Market Update from last Friday when BTC targeted $100,000 yet again. This transpired after the asset had gained over $20,000 since the early April lows. However, BTC was stopped there and couldn’t continue into a six-digit price territory.

The weekend was sluggish, while the beginning of the new trading week brought some pain. In fact, BTC was stopped at $96,000 and pushed south to under $94,000 on May 6. With the US Federal Reserve expected to maintain the key interest rates at current levels (4.25%/4.5%), there was little hope on the horizon.

That hope, though, came from reports claiming that the US and China will meet this weekend in Switzerland to discuss a potential trade deal. It seems that was all it was needed for Bitcoin to receive the much-anticipated boost. Within a day after this report, and a few more hints on the matter, the cryptocurrency finally broke $100,000 and skyrocketed to over $104,000 earlier today.

This became its highest price since late January. Although it was stopped there and pushed south to the current $103,000, the asset is still well in the green on a weekly scale (6.3%). However, it has been dwarfed by its biggest competitor – ETH.

After months of disappointing price performances, Ethereum’s asset has exploded by almost 30% on a weekly scale. It soared to almost $2,500 earlier today, which became a two-month peak. This impressive price revival came just days after the implementation of the latest Ethereum upgrade, Pectra.

Other double-digit price gainers from the larger-cap altcoins include SOL, DOGE, SUI, ADA, BCH, HYPE, and SHIB.

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Market Data

Market Cap: $3.380T | 24H Vol: $230B | BTC Dominance: 60.6%

BTC: $102,966 (+6.3%) | ETH: $2,336 (+27.65%) | XRP: $2.38 (+7.7%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Ethereum (ETH) Sees Best Day Since 2021 in 20% Surge. As mentioned above, ETH stole the show in the past few days, but especially since Thursday. In fact, it posted one of its biggest daily surges in over four years on a 24-hour scale, as its price skyrocketed by more than 25% at one point.

SEC, Ripple Ink $50M Settlement to End Long-Running Legal Battle. Almost two months after Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, announced that the lawsuit between his company and the US SEC had effectively ended, the agency sought court approval for a $50 million settlement, which will officially close it. The amount is a lot smaller than the previously ordered $125 million or the $2 billion the agency asked for initially.

New Hampshire Becomes First US State to Enact Bitcoin Reserve Bill. New Hampshire made history this week as it became the first US state to allow its treasury to invest in crypto assets like bitcoin, after Gov. Ayotte signed House Bill 203 into law. Arizona followed suit, but with a different bill.

Wall Street Chooses Bitcoin Over Gold as IBIT Flips GLD in YTD Flows. Although the yellow metal has performed better than BTC this year, it turns out that BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has attracted more flows YTD than the company’s gold alternative.

$389M in Token Unlocks Set to Shake Crypto Markets This Week. On-chain data provided by Tokenomist indicated that the month of May will deliver massive token unlocks worth almost $400 million (according to prices from May 4). Two of the biggest unlocks will be for SOL and WLD.

Saylor’s Strategy Makes Another Bitcoin Acquisition, Bringing Total to 555,450 BTC. It wouldn’t be a bull market week if Michael Saylor’s Strategy didn’t announce another BTC acquisition. Although this past Monday’s purchase was nowhere near as big as some of the previous ones, it still increased the company’s stash to 555,450 BTC.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Hype, and Solana – click here for the complete price analysis.