May has been another hectic month for fintech and crypto. The market is still digesting the fallout after the collapse of Luna, the G7 countries are (once again) picking up speed on digital asset regulation and CBDC development, and Latin America is showing strong pro-crypto sentiment.

Crypto Crash

Bitcoin slumped to its lowest in 52 weeks reaching $25,402. Since 2020, the market has not witnessed cryptocurrencies reaching its lowest. After a breath on the surface, Bitcoin is still around 30 thousand. Traders, HODLs and the general public keep questioning if the cryptos will recover and go back to its golden all time high moments. The culprits are the ongoing rising inflation and consequently interest rates, besides the conflicts in Ukraine, that is causing a turbulence on the global supply chain. For a decentralised market, crypto is seemingly going with the traditional market flow.

Serious Crypto Table Talks

The G7 leaders announced the urgence to regulate cryptocurrencies in a letter to FSB (Financial Stability Board), especially after the Terra collapse. A European Central Bank member declared that at the end of 2023 they might begin the development and testing for digital Euro to be released in 2026. Meanwhile, at The World Economic Forum, International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, surprisingly stated that crypto “offers us all faster service, lower cost, and more inclusion.”

The Contra Gang

Warren Buffett is growing his selected little club of prominent billionaires who turn up their nose to the crypto market. He now made another declaration about the new economy, stating he wouldn’t buy all the Bitcoin in the world for $25. 

Bill Gates is another one that has frequently publicly raised concerns over crypto. He recently explained why he does not invest in crypto, justifying that “The value of crypto is just what some other person decides someone else will pay for it so not adding to society like other investments.” Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, known Bitcoin critic, has revealed her son is a crypto investor against her advice.

Show Me The Money

Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto arm has announced a new $4.5 billion fund, one-third of it exclusively for seed deals, increasing its exposure to crypto startups. The idea is to profit from the bargains arising during the crypto slump. The company also led a $70 million funding to Flowcarbon, the new startup from WeWork’s founder Adam Neumann, aimed at selling tokenized carbon credits on the blockchain.

Unicorns Are Becoming A Endangered Species

The billion dollar startup industry is doing some employment cuts as a consequence of a challenging macroeconomic situation, with central banks around the world raising interest rates to contain inflation. With investments decreasing and fintech stocks plummeting, startups all over the world are left with no choice but firing employees. Mortgage startup Better.com alone fired around 4,000 people and Robinhood laid off over 300 employees. Unicorns are finally facing the real world.

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Had A Productive May

After a crypto bash in the Bahamas that gathered 2 thousand people with tickets around $3K, and names such as Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, in a four day business conference, SBF is considered the man of the hour.

The derivatives exchange mogul said “The bitcoin network is not a payments network and it is not a scaling network”, during an interview to Financial Times. Meanwhile he continues his battle to allow crypto linked derivatives with SEC. It was also disclosed this month that he bought a 7.6% stake in Robinhood, followed by the launch of FTX Stocks, an exchange’s stock trading service for the US market.

In The Old Days 10K Bitcoins Were Worth 2 Pizzas

On May 22, the crypto community celebrates the traditional Bitcoin Pizza Day. 12 years ago, on that day, a programmer in Florida bought 2 pizzas for 10 thousand Bitcoins, marking the first known transaction ever made in cryptocurrency. To commemorate, several crypto players took over The Promenade in Davos, during The World Economic Forum. USDT creator Tether, for example, gave away free pizza. Down in the La Croisette, in Cannes, it was Binance’s turn to take over a pizza place to also give away free pizzas, with CZ himself playing the pizza maker role. All over the internet, crypto companies ran events and giveaways around the theme.

I Might Not See You On The Otherside

Yuga Labs, Bored Ape Yacht Club creator, raised $320 million selling $5,000 virtual lots of land on their own metaverse Otherside. The latest expansion in the Bored Ape franchise caused a crash on the Ethereum Network. 

Ethereum got so much traffic with transactions that went down for hours and a record amount of Ether was permanently destroyed. The race for virtual lands in the Apes-centric metaverse project has cost traders over $176 million in fees alone. Apecoin, the cryptocurrency of the Bored Ape ecosystem, plunged after the Otherside metaverse went online.

Ground Control To Major Tom

After the collapse of Luna, which caused a huge commotion in the market, investors approved the creation of Luna 2.0. The new version of Luna has been approved by 65% of investors who are part of the Terra blockchain community. The plan includes the distribution of new tokens to all holders of a snapshot, or portrait of the wallet, who had a balance equivalent to 10,000 Luna or more before the collapse. According to the network, 30% will be immediately and the rest over two and a half years. The old chain will be called Terra Classic, while the current version of the crypto will be called Luna Classic.

In The Name Of Father, Son And House Of Crypto

Starting in May, Gucci stores in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Las Vegas will begin accepting payments in ten different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether and Dogecoin. The luxury fashion icon stated that by the end of the summer, all their stores in the USA might accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

South Hemisphere Countries Moving Towards Crypto Adoption

Panama and Brazil are Latin American nations signalling strong pro-crypto sentiment. They both recently approved laws to regulate crypto assets. In Brazil the law passed in the Senate and now awaits the approval of the Parliament. In Panama, however, the President Laurentino Cortizo stated he may veto the approved bill. 

The law is the first step towards regulating the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, including issuance, tokenization, payments and other purposes. Putting the crypto on radar, the government of Uruguay is working on a campaign to prevent crypto scams. El Salvador and the Central African Republic still remain the only countries that have legislated for Bitcoin as legal tender around the globe.

Conclusion

May underlined how quickly crypto’s agenda can shift from growth narratives to stress tests. The market absorbed a major collapse, policymakers tightened their focus on rules and sovereign digital money, and adoption headlines kept coming from both emerging markets and global brands. The next phase looks set to reward teams that can manage volatility, compliance pressure, and reputation risk at the same time.

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