TLDR
Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $111,544 on Thursday, May 22, 2025
Weak demand in the U.S. Treasury’s 20-year bond auction appears to be an immediate catalyst
Bitcoin’s realized market cap crossed $912 billion with $27 billion capital inflow since early May
Exchange inflows dropped 82% since November, suggesting fewer holders are selling
The NVT Golden Cross at 1.5 indicates Bitcoin may not be overpriced yet despite the new ATH
Bitcoin has set a new record in the cryptocurrency market, reaching an unprecedented price level during Asian trading hours. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization surged past previous records in what appears to be driven by macroeconomic factors and institutional interest.
During early Asian trading hours on Thursday, May 22, Bitcoin increased more than 4% from its previous peak of $109,800 on Wednesday to hit a new all-time high of $111,544.
This milestone follows a brief dip to $106,000 and shows growing investor interest in alternative assets during rising economic uncertainty.
The immediate catalyst for this price movement appears to be the weak demand in the U.S. Treasury’s $16 billion 20-year bond auction on May 21.
Investors pushed for lower bond prices, which drove yields above 5.1%. In bond markets, when demand falls, prices drop and yields rise.
Safe Haven Shift
The effects extended across other maturities, with the 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury yields climbing to 4.58% and 5.08%, respectively. Japan’s 30-year yield also jumped to a record 3.19%.
Since long-term government debt is typically seen as a safe haven in the global bond market, these moves point to a wider sense of market unease.
“The real concern isn’t just about U.S. debt—it’s a global issue,” analysts at The Kobeissi Letter wrote on X on May 21. “Government bonds are no longer reliably playing their safe-haven role during market stress.”
What just happened?
At 1:00 PM ET, the S&P 500 fell nearly -80 points in 30 minutes without any major “news.”
What actually happened was a weak 20Y Bond Auction which sent US Treasury Yields soaring.
Investors MUST watch yields here. Let us explain.
(a thread) pic.twitter.com/vymDrRrxrU
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 21, 2025
As a result, investors appear to be moving capital into assets like Bitcoin, which are increasingly viewed as hedges against inflation, fiscal instability, and currency devaluation.
Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto exchange Nexo, told CNBC: “Bitcoin’s new high has been concocted by an array of favorable ingredients in the macro cauldron.” Trenchev cited soft U.S. inflation data, a U.S.-China trade de-escalation, and Moody’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt.
On-chain data supports this rotation toward Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s realized market cap has crossed $912 billion, marking a $27 billion capital inflow since early May.
Exchange inflows have dropped 82% since November, according to CryptoQuant, suggesting fewer holders are selling their Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, Tether (USDT) balances on exchanges, seen as a proxy for crypto buying power, have reached a record $46.9 billion.
Growing Institutional Demand
Institutional demand is also rising. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have attracted more than $4.24 billion in inflows over the past month, according to SoSoValue data.
Public companies now hold 15% of all Bitcoin in circulation, testing Bitcoin’s role as a macro hedge.
The Bitcoin Network Value to Transactions (NVT) Golden Cross, which helps determine if the asset is overpriced, sits at a value of 1.5.
Despite the recent uptrend, the NVT Golden Cross hasn’t yet broken into the overbought zone (above 2.2), suggesting the cryptocurrency may still have room for further price increases.
This metric compares two moving averages of the NVT Ratio: the 10-day MA for short-term trends and the 30-day MA for long-term ones.
The value of this metric has been rising sharply in recent days as Bitcoin’s price has rallied to the new all-time high.
Bitcoin briefly reached $109,400 earlier today, surpassing the previous all-time high of around $109,200 before pushing even higher to the current record.
