Is this the dawn of a new crypto era?

Bitcoin’s latest bull market has been fuelled by a steady stream of positive news. Most recently, Coinbase became the first crypto-native company to join the S&P 500 – in what is a landmark moment for the asset class. And the momentum may be far from over.

A recap of what’s been happening

After years of delay, the SEC finally approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in late 2023. 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs received the green light to begin trading in January 2024. Over US$108 billion of AUM has been invested in these ETFs, as at the end of April 2025¹.

It took only 50 days after launch for one ETF to reach US$10 billion in AUM, shattering a record in the process. Another record was broken when the same spot Bitcoin ETF reached US$50 billion in 228 days.

Since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the US, the following events have occurred:

• The first ‘pro-crypto’ administration was elected in the US
• Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the software company led by Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor, has been added to the Nasdaq 100 index. Although a software and cloud-based services provider, Strategy’s stock has since become a Bitcoin proxy due to the company’s large Bitcoin holdings.
• On Monday 12 May 2025, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) joined the S&P 500. Coinbase provides an online platform for buying, selling, transferring, and storing cryptocurrencies.

Why does Coinbase’s inclusion matter?

May 2025 has seen Coinbase become the first crypto-native company to be added to the S&P 500 benchmark stock market index. Since Strategy entered the Nasdaq 100 index in December, the share price has risen 37% (as of close 19^th May). That is more than double the performance of Bitcoin during the same timeframe.

This is also beneficial for Coinbase. ETFs that track the S&P 500 will now become buyers of Coinbase’s stock, potentially increasing demand and driving up the share price. After news of Coinbase’s S&P 500 inclusion broke late on 12 May 2025, the company surged 24% the day after.

According to Bernstein Research, Coinbase could see roughly $16 billion of buying pressure as a result of its S&P 500 inclusion. Around $9 billion of that will come from passive funds linked to the S&P 500 and another $7 billion may come from active allocations².

Regulatory developments

Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed ‘crypto president’, has continued to fulfil his campaign promises. Since moving into office, he has made pro-crypto appointments in key government agencies. These include Paul Atkins at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Brian Quintenz at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

There was also a creation of an internal task force dedicated to crypto, and the banning of a central bank digital currency (CBDC)³. The latter ensures decentralisation remains intact within the crypto space and may also help promote the growth of stablecoins.

Trump has also created a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve”, although this pertains to cryptocurrency that is seized during legal operations, instead of direct purchases of Bitcoin⁴. With a pro-crypto administration, it is generally expected that more regulations will be put in place and announced.

What’s next on Trump’s agenda?

The next thing on Trump’s list is signing stablecoin and market structure legislation. Bo Hines, White House official and executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, stated on stage at Consensus 2025 in Toronto that the President should be able to sign before Congress goes on break in August⁵.

Clarity on regulation would bring more confidence to the space which should lead to more investment, deals and acquisitions. The clarity would should also give the green light for traditional finance companies to become more deeply involved in digital assets due to less regulatory risk.

Bitcoin shows signs as a maturing asset

Historically, Bitcoin has been extremely volatile. In September 2017, it fell 40% in two weeks. Between May and July 2021, Bitcoin fell nearly 50%, before climbing back to then-all-time highs.

Lately, however, Bitcoin may be showing signs of a maturing asset. During the latest macro shock, Bitcoin held up relatively well. After reaching a new all-time high on Donald Trump’s inauguration day of US$108K, the largest cryptocurrency fell to US$75K on Liberation Day. This 30% pullback, while relatively tame, was also the largest pullback over the last year. The Nasdaq fell 21.5% between January 1^st and April 8^th2025.

Since the April 2 drawdown, gold has risen just over 1% and the Nasdaq 100 has risen close to 11%. But Bitcoin is up almost 25% over that same timeframe.

How major asset classes performed during and after the April tariff shock

Why is Bitcoin showing signs of more stability?

There are several reasons Bitcoin may be showing more stability.

Firstly, more institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds are accumulating Bitcoin⁶.

Secondly, there are more ways to access the asset through traditional investment products such as ETFs.

Finally, more companies are acquiring Bitcoin as a treasury asset. For example, Strategy now holds 576,230 BTC which they acquired at an average price of US$66,384 USD per Bitcoin⁷.

This last strategy (no pun intended) has been so successful that in late April, another start-up called Twenty One decided to enter the “Bitcoin as a treasury corporation” model.

The newly formed entity is part of a pending merger with Cantor Equity Partners. Currently, the firm is majority owned by stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, with Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group holding a minority stake⁸. It was disclosed last week that Cantor Equity Partners has acquired $458.7 million in Bitcoin as part of the pending merger with Twenty One⁹.

As the space continues to mature, things are potentially heating up for crypto companies (those involved in servicing crypto-asset markets or which have material investments in crypto-assets). This group of companies is being led by Strategy on the Nasdaq 100, and Coinbase being listed on the S&P 500. Anyone with exposure to these two indices now has a very small indirect exposure to Bitcoin. This is great news for crypto and will only bring more eyeballs to the industry. It will be interesting to see whether further crypto companies will be added next to a broad market index, or whether some may go public.

Crypto’s maturity is also a symbol of how far it has come since the industry collapsed in 2022 following the implosion of FTX and other high-profile bankruptcies. Some thought that the industry was doomed and that Bitcoin would not recover. Yet with Bitcoin on the verge of breaking through all-time highs, the future for some crypto companies looks brighter, and the industry is arguably stronger than ever.

For investors looking to gain exposure to companies involved in the crypto economy, Betashares offers the Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP). For investors looking to get exposure Bitcoin and Ethereum, Betashares offers both a Bitcoin ETF (ASX: QBTC) and an Ethereum ETF (ASX: QETH). In either case, it’s important to remember that investing in crypto assets or crypto-focused companies should be considered extremely high risk. An investment in these products should only be made by investors who fully understand the features and risks of such assets.

With great potential comes big risk

Although there is a lot of good news in the works, it is imperative to remember that Bitcoin and crypto-associated companies are extremely volatile. The launch of Bitcoin futures contracts on a major US exchange (CBOE) in December 2017 and the listing of Coinbase on Nasdaq in April 2021, were two examples of major positive crypto events that also signalled the top of the bull cycle. Following both events, there were deep drawdowns in the Bitcoin price and crypto companies.

Having said this, Bitcoin now has a $2 trillion+ market cap, regulatory clarity is increasing and there are more ways for more investors to access the asset.

Bitcoin had its first watershed moment when ETFs were approved. Now that crypto companies are being included in broad market indices, it could be the beginning of the next crypto era.