Bitcoin tops $111,000 on Pizza Day, fuelled by ETF inflows and regulation hopes

Over the years, Bitcoin Pizza Day has grown from a niche community celebration into a symbolic moment for the crypto industry.

Bitcoin has soared to a fresh all-time high, crossing the $111,000 mark on May 22, coinciding with the annual Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrations. The rally comes amid record inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, growing optimism around stablecoin regulation, and global economic uncertainty.

According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin rose over 4 percent in the last 24 hours to trade at $111,489, with trading volumes jumping 77 percent during the same period. The world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly touched $111,862.98, up 3.3 percent from May 21’s close, pushing its market cap to $2.21 trillion.

"Bitcoin is fast approaching $112,000 and trading at a new record as hopes increase that stablecoin regulation will soon pass after the advancement of legislation yesterday," Jim Reid, global head of macro and thematic research at Deutsche Bank, said in a note cited by Reuters.

The timing of the surge is notable as it comes on Bitcoin Pizza Day, an annual event celebrated by crypto enthusiasts to mark the first real-world transaction using Bitcoin. On May 22, 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz famously paid 10,000 Bitcoins (worth about $41 then) for two pizzas. At today’s prices, that pizza purchase would be valued at over $1.1 billion, making it the most expensive pizza buy in history.

Over the years, Bitcoin Pizza Day has grown from a niche community celebration into a symbolic moment for the crypto industry.