Bitcoin at $97k, Stablecoin Adoption, Sui ETF, and Tokenization

Happy Thursday, TM Family!

Welcome to the Token Metrics Daily Newsletter, your essential guide to navigating the fast-paced crypto markets. 

In Today’s Edition

1. Bitcoin Surged to $97k

2. Tether’s Q1 Profits at $1B & Stabelcoin Adoption

3. 21Shares’ SUI ETF Filing

4. A $2T Market Opportunity for Private Credit Tokenization 

1. Bitcoin Surged to $97k

Bitcoin hit $97k today, a level it has not seen in two months; it was last at this level in February 2025. Some of it is fueled by speculation around a potential capital raise by MicroStrategy, a major BTC holder. Its $53B Bitcoin portfolio is a possible catalyst for market bullishness. Other factors include broader bullish momentum in the crypto market and strong ETF inflows. 

The trader-grade indicator for Bitcoin on the Token Metrics platform turned bullish on April 17th, when it was trading at $85k. Since then, the price has moved 13%.

2. Tether’s Q1 Profits at $1B & Stabelcoin Adoption

Tether reported a Q1 2025 profit exceeding $1B, with U.S. Treasury exposure nearing $120B, up from $113B in Q4 2024. It’s USDT stablecoin, the market leader, hit a $149B circulating supply, and the total stablecoin supply now stands at $230B.

Meanwhile, Visa has partnered with Bridge, a payments platform for stablecoins, to accelerate adoption by launching USDC and USDT-linked cards in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. These cards enable spending at millions of merchants, with Bridge’s API streamlining issuance.

3. 21Shares’ SUI ETF Filing

21Shares, a Swiss asset manager, filed for a SUI ETF on May 1, 2025, sparking about a 10% price surge in SUI, as institutional interest in L1 blockchains intensifies. SUI has a high-throughput ecosystem, powering DeFi and NFT platforms, and the SUI token saw a 60%+ increase in price in the last two weeks. This ETF filing reflects altcoins’ growing appeal to traditional finance, which has high potential to unlock new capital inflows.

4. A $2T Market Opportunity for Private Credit Tokenization 

Private credit is about a $2T real-world asset (RWA) tokenization opportunity. Currently, private credit is leading the tokenization race with $12.9B onchain. It is followed by tokenized T-bills at $6.2B, commodities at $1.4B, and equities at $484M. 

The top three players in this sector are Figure, at $9.8B, Tradable, at $2B, and Maple, at $417M. Figure tokenizes its assets on the Provenance L1 blockchain, whose smart contracts require governance approval, limiting its use for RWA tokenization. Tradable tokenizes institutional-grade private credit positions on the ZKsync L2 chain, and Maple uses a pooled model to determine creditworthiness and loan terms.

RWA is one of the top-performing sectors this year, and it is worth paying attention to certain tokens, like Ondo, Plume, SYRUP by Maple Finance, etc.

Meme of The Day

What the Coin is Going On

1. Bitcoin Surged to $97k

2. Tether’s Q1 Profits at $1B & Stabelcoin Adoption

3. 21Shares’ SUI ETF Filing

4. A $2T Market Opportunity for Private Credit Tokenization 

That’s all for today, folks. Let’s talk tomorrow.  

Your Friends at Token Metrics