BTC Closes May Down 4% as the CLARITY Act Clears the Senate Banking Committee

Stay up to date with our monthly market commentary:

• SpaceX plans to IPO with 18,712 BTC on its balance sheet. 
• JPMorgan and BlackRock launched tokenized money market funds. 
• The Senate Banking Committee approved the CLARITY Act in a 15-9 vote. 
• Bitcoin (BTC) closed the month down ~4%, while Ether (ETH) closed ~11% lower versus last month.*

Market Overview - May 

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) decreased by 4% in May, closing at approximately $73,800*. 

Bitcoin started the month on a very positive note, rallying from the previous month’s close of $75,400 to over $82,200 within the first week of the month.

During the same period, we saw net inflows across all spot Bitcoin ETFs, exceeding $650 million in the first week of May. 

Bitcoin looked poised for a positive year-to-date performance as it trended back toward price levels last seen before the U.S.-Iran conflict. However, Bitcoin's price took a sharp turn when the peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran stalled. 

Further announcements by the President of the United States and escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz led to volatile market reactions. 

Bitcoin couldn’t sustain its start-of-the-month performance, and the second half of May saw a correction to ~$73,800 to close the month 4% lower. 

Crypto Asset Market Performance Review 

The broader crypto asset market had a mixed month in May, with most of the largest crypto assets by market cap closing slightly in the green. However, we also saw some outperformers with impressive rallies in May. 

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Bitcoin (BTC) had an excellent start to the month, rallying from $75,400 to over $82,200 in the first week, before closing at around $73,800 after a steep correction in the second half of the month amid political and economic uncertainty in the Middle East. 

In parallel with the price trajectory, Ether (ETH) saw a minor upswing during May's opening week, peaking above $2,410 before correcting toward the end of the month. The Ethereum ecosystem also faced internal friction, as high-profile resignations from the Ethereum Foundation prompted a broader debate about the protocol's future direction.

The best-performing crypto assets this month were Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Zcash (ZEC), with performances of 73.4% and 56.2%, respectively. While HYPE’s price rally was driven by token buybacks fueled by rising trading volumes and fee generation, ZEC has benefited from the privacy-coin narrative returning to favor, as well as some institutional buying. 

The remainder of the top crypto assets declined by roughly 2%, with Dogecoin (DOGE) declining the most at 7.3%. 

Institutional Interest in Bitcoin

From SpaceX’s Form S-1 filing, which revealed a balance sheet holding of 18,712 BTC, to the Senate Banking Committee's support for the CLARITY Act and the introduction of new tokenized offerings from industry leaders BlackRock and JPMorgan, it was an exciting month for Bitcoin on Wall Street. 

SpaceX Plans to IPO in June With 18,712 BTC on Its Balance Sheet

It’s anticipated that SpaceX’s upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) will be one of, if not the biggest, IPO in Wall Street history. According to Bloomberg, the space company plans to go public at a valuation exceeding $1.8 trillion. 

This valuation is the result of a merger among SpaceX, xAI, and Elon Musk’s business ventures. And through this merger, we also read about some interesting financial data in SpaceX’s balance sheet. 

According to its Form S-1 filing, the company held over 18,712 BTC on its balance sheet and had no other digital assets as of May 31. At the current price levels, that’s roughly $1.38 billion. 

Senate Banking Committee Passes Digital Asset Market Clarity Act With a 15-9 Vote

The Senate Banking Committee held a pivotal regulatory vote on the digital asset industry on 14 May, deliberating whether to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to the Senate floor.

With a 15-9 vote, the committee approved the Clarity Act, which represents perhaps the most extensive crypto market-structure framework ever voted on by Capitol Hill. The approval was a boost for Bitcoin and other digital asset-related public companies, such as Coinbase. 

Before the legislation can reach the Senate floor, the current bill must be reconciled with its companion version, which was approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee in January. After this reconciliation process is finalized, the bill will be eligible for a full Senate vote.

A key detail regarding the forthcoming vote is the 60-vote requirement. Although Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, securing bipartisan support from Democrats will likely be necessary for the legislation to reach the 60-vote threshold.

JPMorgan and BlackRock Launch New Tokenized Fund Products

Earlier this month, the two Wall Street giants made headlines for very similar products. Both BlackRock and JPMorgan announced tokenized products for institutional investors. 

The acceleration of these initiatives is being fueled by recent regulatory progress in tokenized assets and stablecoins, specifically the GENIUS Act. JPMorgan, under Jamie Dimon, is introducing an Ethereum-based U.S. Treasury money-market fund. Simultaneously, Larry Fink's BlackRock is expanding its focus on the sector, having unveiled two additional tokenized money-market funds earlier this month.

Notably, BlackRock previously entered the tokenization space in 2024 with the debut of its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). JPMorgan is now following suit with its JPMorgan OnChain Liquidity-Token Money Market Fund, a new offering specifically structured to help stablecoin issuers comply with the new regulatory reserve requirements.

‍*Closing price data is from May 31st 2026, at 13:15 GST

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