It’s fitting that Bitcoin’s price hit record highs on one of the most famous days in this cryptocurrency’s history.
On this day in 2010, the first-ever transaction involving this digital asset was completed — when two pizzas were purchased for 10,000 BTC.
This crypto would have been worth about $40 back then. Fast forward to now, and it’s a haul worth a jaw-dropping $1.1 billion.
It’s crazy to think that some companies now have a target of acquiring 10,000 BTC for the whole of this year… a powerful reminder of how prices have risen.
BTC has managed to hit $111,000 despite no shortage of curveballs from the Trump administration, including aggressive tariffs that tanked the markets in April.
Interestingly, this latest spike also comes despite challenging conditions on the stock market, with the S&P 500 suffering selloffs on Wednesday. It’ll fuel the narrative that BTC isn’t as correlated to equities as some might think.
As you’d imagine, Bitcoiners on X are struggling to contain their glee. Each and every all-time high provides a much-needed dose of vindication, especially for those who defied naysayers during punishing bear markets.
Strategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor was among those popping open the champagne on X — arguing those who are failing to buy BTC even at this price are “leaving money on the table.”
No one has ever lost money buying Bitcoin.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) May 21, 2025
The surge also comes ahead of two key events in the crypto calendar.
On Thursday night, the U.S. president is hosting an “exclusive” dinner for 220 people who won a competition to hold the most $TRUMP tokens.
In a sign that there’s no shortage of froth and excess in the market, reports suggest that the average cost of a seat was $1.8 million.
Attendees at next week’s Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas will also have a spring in their step, with Vice President JD Vance among the keynote speakers.
It’s fair to say that Bitcoin has been the star of the show so far in this bull run — up 8.5% over the past seven days.
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That’s streets ahead of Ether’s 3.2% rise since this time last week, with BNB up 4.9% and Solana rising 3.5%.
Data from Google Trends also shows BTC’s rally hasn’t been accompanied by an increase in search volume. This suggests many investors are yet to pile into the market, and could indicate we’re still at an early phase in this cycle.
Searches for ‘Bitcoin’ on Google over the past five years
Solv Protocol CEO Ryan Chow told Cryptonews that the institutional embrace of Bitcoin comes against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, and earning a reputation for being a “macro asset, global edge and digital reserve asset.”
“A new all-time high sends a clear message: it’s validation that Bitcoin isn’t going away. This isn’t a passing trend. You don’t see BlackRock and Fidelity building infrastructure for a fad. TradFi is slowly embedding crypto into its core business.”
But other executives have warned that challenges lie ahead — with vast improvements needed when it comes to usability, real-world applications, and scaling up infrastructure so it can accommodate more users. Cysic’s co-founder Leo Fan said:
“Crypto is still largely seen as a financial instrument where people move money, speculate, or hedge, but very few engage with blockchain for the technology itself. For crypto to become truly mainstream, it must be seamlessly integrated into everyday systems that users barely notice.”
And Radix founder Dan Hughes says “we’re about to find out what happens when Wall Street meets dial-up internet,” telling Cryptonews:
“Bitcoin as digital gold? Perfect. Store of value? Absolutely. But if we’re serious about this institutional adoption narrative, and want crypto to be the foundation of the new financial system, we’re going to need infrastructure that can actually handle institutional volumes.”
Data from SoSoValue shows investment into spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wall Street stood at $609 million on May 21 as BTC entered uncharted price territory. But this is far from a record — with daily inflows exceeding $1.3 billion in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. election last November.
Meanwhile, bettors on Polymarket believe the odds that Bitcoin’s rally will continue are rising. There’s now said to be an 84% chance of BTC hitting $120,000 this year, compared with just 33% at the start of April. Meanwhile, there’s a 41% probability of $150,000 and a 20% chance of $200,000 as of now — compared with 11% and 13% respectively just six weeks ago.
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