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Bitcoin hits $101.7K as US strategic reserve bills become law and BTC mass adoption accelerates

Key takeaways:

Bitcoin rallies to $101,707 against a backdrop of strong fundamentals in the regulatory and traditional finance space.

Traders are confident that $100,000 will hold as support.

Bitcoin (BTC) price rallied above $100,000 on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “trade deal” with the UK, which could possibly include the removal of the blanket 10% tariff on all imports.

Frequent social posts from President Trump and public comments from White House cabinet members have hinted at a handful of trade deals in negotiation with various countries, and markets have responded positively to the messaging. In addition to the UK trade deal, the US is set to meet with Chinese officials in Switzerland on May 10.

The Dow gained 500 points following the White House announcement, while the S&P 500 rose 1.47%, and Bitcoin trades near $101,600 at the time of writing.

In a Truth Social

US Stablecoin bill blocked as Democrats withdraw support

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins of 2025 Act, known as the GENIUS Act, failed to pass cloture in the United States Senate on May 8, dealing a slight blow to cryptocurrency regulation in the country.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Bill Hagerty and co-sponsored by Senators Tim Scott, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cynthia Lummis and Angela Alsobrooks, received last-minute pushback from Democrats, who took aim at the bill and raised concerns about US President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures.

To address the concerns of Senate Democrats, the bill had already been amended to include stricter requirements for stablecoin issuers for further provisions for Anti-Money Laundering.

The GENIUS Act was seen as a bipartisan effort to increase regulatory clarity for digital assets in the United States. The focus of the bill, stablecoins used for payments, was looked at as extending dollar dominance internationally and straying away from more

Trump tricked into pushing XRP for crypto reserve: Report

US President Donald Trump was reportedly manipulated by a lobbyist tied to Ripple Labs into announcing the XRP token would be part of his plans for a national cryptocurrency reserve.

According to a May 8 Politico report, an employee of pro-Trump lobbyist Brian Ballard gave the president the text to a social media post she recommended he write announcing a US strategic crypto reserve that would include XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA). After he posted the message to his social media platform on March 2, Trump learned Ripple was one of Ballard’s clients, infuriating the president, who felt like he’d been used, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the incident.

“He is not welcome in anything anymore,” said Trump, referencing Ballard, according to the report.

March 2

SEC considers new rules easing security token issuance

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering rule changes to let companies more freely issue tokenized securities, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said in a speech published on May 8.

The regulator is “considering a potential exemptive order” for firms using blockchain technology to “issue, trade, and settle securities” that would release them from certain registration requirements, Peirce said in the speech.

For example, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) may no longer need to register “as a broker-dealer, clearing agency, or an exchange,” Peirce said. The SEC has previously brought numerous charges against DEXs such as Uniswap for failing to register as securities exchanges.

Firms should “not have to comply with inapt regulations, which, in many cases, were developed well before the technologies being tested existed and may be obviated by attributes of that technology,” Peirce said.

Commissioner Peirce described the planned changes in a May 8 speech. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-iismgd-050825" rel="nofollow noopener"

Are layer 2s good for Ethereum, or are they ‘extractive?’

Layer 2s have been a great blockchain success story. They’ve reduced congestion on the Ethereum mainnet, driving down gas fees while preserving security.

But maybe they’ve become too successful, drawing chain activity and fee income from the parent that spawned them? At least that’s what some are suggesting lately, most recently at Cornell Tech’s blockchain conference in late April.

Indeed, some think Ethereum should be a little greedier, or at least fight harder for a bigger part of the revenue pie, particularly sequencing fees.

“People in the Ethereum Foundation [the nonprofit that supports the Ethereum ecosystem] will tell you that, ‘Yes, we effed up by being too ivory tower.’ I have heard that multiple times,” said David Hoffman, an owner at Bankless, during a panel discussion at the Cornell Tech event in New York City on April 25.

Hoffman, left, at Cornell Tech’s blockchain conference. Source: Andrew Singer

Elsewhere, Hoffman has <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.bankless.com/read/ethereums-strategic-pivot" rel="null"

Missouri bill ending capital gains tax heads to governor for signature

Missouri House Bill 594, a bill that would eliminate capital gains tax in the US state, has passed a vote in the state House of Representatives and now heads to Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe’s desk for signature.

According to attorney Aaron Brogan, the bill stipulates a 100% income tax deduction for any capital gains income because the Missouri tax code does not explicitly distinguish between capital gains and income tax.

Missouri House Bill 594 proposes exempting capital gains from income taxes. Source: Missouri House of Representatives

Brogan told Cointelegraph that the specific mechanism to exempt capital gains taxes outlined in HB 594 is unique and compared it to a similar income tax deduction in the federal tax code. The attorney explained:

“The most natural comparison is the state and local tax (SALT) deduction that the federal government offers — where the Internal Revenue

Bitcoin price reclaims $100K for first time since January

Bitcoin has reclaimed the $100,000 price level for the first time since January, reflecting renewed bullish sentiment among investors.

Bitcoin (BTC) reclaimed the $100,000 mark on May 8 at 3:22 pm UTC, surging 4.2% from the intraday low of $95,967, according to data from CoinGecko.

It marked the third time that BTC has broken through the six-figure level since first achieving it on Dec. 5, 2024. A second all-time high followed on Jan. 20 ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Bitcoin price chart in the past year. Source: CoinGecko

Unlike the previous $100,000 hits, the new price spike came as Bitcoin market dominance surged above 60%, reflecting potential bearish sentiment for altcoins.

Bitcoin dominance below 60% in past $100,000 breakthroughs

Bitcoin dominance — the asset’s share of the total cryptocurrency

Ex-Celsius CEO asks to travel for a wedding after sentencing

Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky will probably be allowed to travel for his daughter’s wedding regardless of the outcome of his May 8 sentencing hearing.

In a May 8 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge John Koeltl approved an application for Mashinsky to travel from New York to Memphis, Tennessee, between May 26 and May 29 for his daughter’s wedding. The approval was available on the public docket as of May 8, but appeared to have been removed at the time of publication.

Alex Mashinsky’s request to travel for his daughter’s wedding. Source: PACER

Judge Koeltl will determine in a May 8 hearing whether Mashinsky serves prison time following a plea deal with prosecutors.

The former Celsius CEO appeared ready to go to trial in 2024 until his lawyers lost a motion to have his charges dismissed. In December, He pleaded

User experience could be crypto’s superpower—or its kryptonite

Opinion by Jonathan Farnell, CEO of Freedx

It’s 2025, and over 560 million people worldwide are already using cryptocurrency — roughly 17 times the population of Tokyo. That’s a vibrant community, yet for every user who’s embraced it, billions more stand on the sidelines, put off by the complicated interactions and clunky interfaces of protocols, platforms, decentralized apps (DApps), and mobile applications. Why? Blockchain technology offers game-changing potential — decentralized ownership, secure trades — but let’s face it: Most people still find it intimidating, risky, and confusing. User experience (UX) might just be the deciding factor in whether cryptocurrency achieves mass adoption or remains a niche segment.

Take complexity. A 2024 Chainalysis report pointed out that 43% of would-be crypto users shy away from the technical tangle of private keys and gas fees. Have you ever lost

Bitcoin miner Hut 8 grows hashrate 79% despite $134M quarterly loss

Cryptocurrency mining firm Hut 8 increased its hashrate by 79% during the first quarter of the year.

According to Hut8’s latest quarterly report released on May 8, the firm saw a net loss of $134.3 million despite revenue of $21.8 million. The firm’s CEO, Asher Genoot, explained that this was a result of large-scale investments.

“As reflected in our results, the first quarter was a deliberate and necessary phase of investment,” Genoot said. “We believe the returns on this work will become increasingly visible in the quarters ahead.”

Hut 8 operations reached a total energy capacity of 1,020 megawatts as of March 31, enough to power well over 800,000 average homes in the United States. The company also has the right to scale up its operation by another 2,600 MW.