Dear reader,
Next week heralds a pivotal moment for Toronto’s blockchain landscape, with Spirit Blockchain Capital playing a central role. The week launches Monday, May 11, as CEO Lewis Bateman takes the stage alongside fellow industry visionaries at the Web3 Toronto Conference. That evening, the Spirit Team will co-host the Canada Crypto Week kickoff event in partnership with Bitcoin Bay, CryptoMondays Collective, Toronto DAO, Functionland, and Vault12-catalyzing a dynamic week of innovation, collaboration, and strategic dialogue within Toronto’s thriving crypto ecosystem.
🔗 Learn more and RSVP here: https://lu.ma/5vp2x5l9
Markets Hold Steady as Fed Maintains Rates
North American equity markets remained resilient this week as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the third consecutive meeting, keeping the benchmark rate between 4.25% and 4.5%. The decision reflects cautious optimism amid a mixed macroeconomic backdrop:
• Labor markets remain strong
• Consumer spending is steady
• Inflation persists above the Fed’s 2% target
• GDP growth shows signs of moderation
Market participants are closely watching upcoming U.S. inflation and employment data, alongside ongoing global trade negotiations. Notably, tech equities sustained their upward trajectory, mirroring the positive momentum in digital assets and signaling continued risk appetite despite persistent economic uncertainty.
This Week in Crypto: Bitcoin Breaks $100K, Rally Broadens
Bitcoin surged past $100,000 this week—its first return to six figures since February. The move was catalyzed by President Trump’s announcement of a new U.S.-UK trade agreement, which lifted sentiment across crypto and equity markets. Bitcoin gained nearly 6% on Thursday, closing the week at $103,076, and is now up over 17% from its early April lows.
This breakout underscores Bitcoin’s positioning as a macro-resilient asset, bolstered by ongoing spot ETF inflows and a favorable U.S. regulatory stance.
Ethereum: Pectra Upgrade Goes Live
Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, successfully completed on May 7, introduced significant enhancements:
• Scalability improvements
• Lower transaction costs
• Account abstraction for more intuitive wallet UX
The update has reinvigorated developer activity and investor confidence, positioning Ethereum for continued strength in the months ahead.
Major Crypto Assets – Weekly Performance
• Bitcoin (BTC): Closed at $103,076, up 6.2% week-over-week and 10% year-to-date
• Ethereum (ETH): Benefited from the Pectra upgrade, outperforming peers
• Solana (SOL): Gained on rising DeFi and NFT activity
• BNB, XRP, Cardano (ADA), TRON (TRX), Litecoin (LTC): Posted solid gains tracking broader sentiment
• Dogecoin (DOGE): Rose sharply amid meme coin resurgence
• SUI: Climbed 25%, buoyed by ETF speculation and strong ecosystem growth, consolidating above $3.50
Meme Coins & Standouts
• Dogecoin (DOGE): Led gains among large-cap meme coins
• Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe, Bonk, TURBO: All saw elevated volatility; TURBO stood out with sustained momentum driven by community-led narratives
Other Developments to Watch
• Meta & Stablecoins: Meta is reportedly revisiting digital assets, exploring stablecoin payment integrations across its platforms, including Instagram
• Institutional Flows: Spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to attract inflows, reinforcing institutional participation and validating crypto’s investment thesis
Bottom Line:
Crypto markets ended the week firmly in the green, supported by major protocol upgrades, robust institutional interest, and renewed innovation from both legacy firms and emerging platforms. The alignment of macro tailwinds and technical milestones signals a potentially pivotal moment for the digital asset ecosystem.
This Week’s Headlines
Fed holds rates, cites increased risk of setbacks in the labor market, inflation: However, they noted there’s now an increased risk that unemployment and inflation will rise in the coming months.
Stablecoin Legislation Suffers Severe Blow as GENIUS Act Fails to Pass Key Senate Vote: The GENIUS Act failed a key Senate vote Thursday, leaving the future of the stablecoin bill and other crypto legislation in question.
Exclusive: Apparel giant Adidas launches Sui NFTs: The drop gives buyers Adidas outfits for their in-game characters, but the game hasn’t fully released yet
Warren Buffett will step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO: Legendary investor Warren Buffett announced today that he will ask the Berkshire Hathaway board to have Greg Abel replace him as CEO at the end of 2025.
Corporate Treasuries Will Add $330 Billion in Bitcoin by 2029: Analysts at the firm are predicting Strategy—MSTR—copycats to continue buying cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Core devs want Bitcoin governed by ‘transparent, minimal rules’: Debate over extra Bitcoin use cases has returned, two years on from Ordinals
Blockstream Announces Major Growth & Expansion Plans for 2025 Following $210M Raise: Bitcoin infrastructure leader, Blockstream reveals strategic updates, new products, and corporate spinouts to drive institutional adoption and innovation across its platform.
Fed Stagflation Risk Signal Could Be Bullish for Bitcoin, Analyst Says: Holding rates steady, the U.S. central bank took note of the possibility of higher inflation and unemployment.
Sui Network Sees Over 1 Million New Wallet Addresses Daily
Notable Deals and Fundraising
Coinbase Strikes $2.9 Billion Deal for Major Crypto Options Platform: Deribit is the world’s biggest trading platform for bitcoin options
Finom, a challenger bank aimed at SMBs, lands $105M in growth funding from General Catalyst
IntoTheBlock and Trident Merge With $25M Backing to Build Institutional DeFi Gateway: The newly formed Sentora aims to offer a compliant DeFi platform for sophisticated investors looking for yield, liquidity and risk management.
Spark Commits Additional $1 Billion to Lead Tokenized Treasuries Sector: Spark has allocated another $1 billion to tokenized U.S. Treasuries, bringing its total deployment to $2.4 billion across three funds.
IntoTheBlock and Trident announce merger, raise $25M for new firm: Sentora aims to create an ecosystem focused on institutional investors’ DeFi needs
Fastino trains AI models on cheap gaming GPUs and just raised $17.5M led by Khosla
Marathon Venture Capital, a venture firm in Athens that prides itself on being “day one partners to Greek tech partners,” just closed its newest fund with €75 million in capital commitments, according to partner Panos Papadopoulos.
SimpleClosure, a startup that has described itself as “the Turbo Tax of shutting down,” has announced that Carta is a new investor in its $15 million Series A round.
Have a great week!
The SPIRIT Blockchain Team
