Crypto in May 2025: Bitcoin's New Record and Coinbase Joins the S&P 500
2025-06-01
After April's whiplash, May was the month the bulls retook control. Bitcoin set a fresh record, Ethereum finally posted a green month, and a US crypto exchange entered the S&P 500 -- even as it disclosed an awkward data breach. Here is the recap.
A New All-Time High
On May 22 -- fittingly, Bitcoin Pizza Day -- Bitcoin printed a new all-time high near $112,000, powered by steady institutional demand. It pulled back to close the month around $104,600, but the message was clear: the April low held, and the trend had turned back up.
Ethereum's Pectra Surge
Ethereum was the bigger mover in percentage terms. The Pectra upgrade went live on May 7, bundling around 11 EIPs including a blob-capacity increase. On May 8-9, ETH ripped roughly 20% in a single day -- its biggest move since 2021 -- and went on to close the month near $2,529, its first positive monthly close of 2025.
Coinbase: Index Inclusion and a Breach
On May 19, Coinbase became the first crypto company to join the S&P 500 -- a genuine milestone for the sector's mainstream legitimacy. Days earlier, on May 14, it had disclosed a data breach affecting 69,461 customers, in which overseas support contractors were bribed to leak data. Coinbase refused a $20 million ransom, offered a $20 million bounty instead, and flagged remediation costs of $180-$400 million. Index inclusion and a security incident in the same week captured the duality of crypto going mainstream.
Stablecoin Law Moves Forward
The GENIUS Act stablecoin bill stumbled on a failed cloture vote (48-49) on May 8, then passed the Senate floor 66-32 on May 19 after 16 Democrats flipped -- clearing the path toward final passage later in the summer. A wave of crypto equity also hit public markets: eToro IPO'd on Nasdaq on May 14 (closing up ~29%), and Galaxy Digital began trading on Nasdaq on May 16.
Not All Calm
DeFi had its largest hack of the year so far when Cetus Protocol on Sui was drained of ~$223 million on May 22 via an overflow flaw, though roughly $162 million was quickly frozen on-chain. Meanwhile FTX began its second creditor distribution -- around $5 billion -- on May 30.
The Takeaway
May rewarded patience: those who held through April's panic saw new highs four weeks later. With ETFs at record assets and Ethereum's tech roadmap back on track, momentum and flow signals aligned. See where our models point now on the forecasts dashboard.