Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s leading crypto asset, has soared remarkably within the last few days to break and set records, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Following its upsurge on Thursday, May 22, 2025, it has hit a new all-time high of $111,880 per BTC, surpassing its January record of $109,580 by approximately 2%.
Remarkably, May 22 is a significant day in the crypto industry’s history as it marks the world’s first real-life bitcoin transaction. On this day in 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two large pizzas from Papa John’s. Thus, crypto enthusiasts marked the day as “Bitcoin Pizza Day.”
At the time of the transaction, those bitcoins were valued at $41. In contrast, with BTC hitting a new all-time high, 10,000 BTC is worth over $1.18 billion.
BTC Makes History
Notably, a few crypto analysts foresaw the upward trajectory and predicted that bitcoin would hit new highs at different times this year. Meanwhile, BTC surged due to the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) while altcoins did not record significant price movement. Many analysts also noted this in their predictions.
On this historic day, U.S.-approved BTC ETFs continued a six-day-long inflow streak, ending the business day with approximately $607 million intake. BlackRock’s IBIT headed the green business day with $530.6 million, while others followed.
Investors Enjoy Profits
Following the bitcoin surge, many investors have enjoyed remarkable profits from the pump, including many firms and nations with a long-term BTC HODL strategy. Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, the first country to adopt BTC as a legal tender, revealed via an X post on Thursday that the nation’s bitcoin bag is worth over $677 million and has earned over $386 million in unrealized profits.
They said, “Don’t take screenshots, take profits” 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/dEKP5Y4qzc pic.twitter.com/2lx8sPWBSJ
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 22, 2025
Also driven by the pump in BTC price, Metaplanet, the Asian first bitcoin company, saw an over 90% rise in the value of its stock, as investors interested in gaining indirect access to BTC stacked up shares. Additionally, American business intelligence firm Strategy is currently sitting on over $23 million in unrealized profit due to the surge.
Meanwhile, at its all-time high, BTC’s market capitalization is double Elon Musk’s Tesla market cap, and it has surged past the Chinese Yuan capitalization to become the world’s eighth-largest currency.
