Bitcoin (BTC) Price, S&P 500, Nasdaq, USDC Issuer Circle IPO

It was a dreadful week for the stock market, with the S&P 500 falling more than 6% over the last five days. That didn't help Bitcoin, but the original cryptocurrency fared better than the wider market

This week saw the S&P 500 slide more than 6% over five days, while the cryptocurrency benchmark rose over 1% in the same period.

The Nasdaq had one of its biggest drops in 25 years on Thursday, but bitcoin remained relatively stable, even if it’s yet to reach the highs above 100,000 that we saw at the beginning of the year.

The big question for bitcoin amid market volatility is whether it’s perceived as a risk asset to be sold off in a downturn or a safe haven similar to gold (which had performed well relative to the market until the last 24 hours). The impact of tariffs on crypto is a subject of ongoing discussion among researchers.

Elsewhere in the industry, there were signs of progress. Circle, the issuer of the second largest stablecoin, USDC, officially filed for an IPO. A key U.S. House committee advanced its stablecoin bill, securing substantial support from Democrats.

Fidelity Investments, a large brokerage firm, unveiled plans to offer an IRA that will allow investors direct access to crypto in their retirement accounts. Advisers are becoming increasingly open to promoting crypto products to their clients, according to surveys. In other news, corporate bitcoin buyers, including Strategy, Metaplanet, Mara and Tether, continued to purchase bitcoin in bulk, taking advantage of the current prices.

Ethereum developers set May 7 for their next upgrade, Pectra. Ripple saw strong demand for its new stablecoin, RLUSD.

In regulatory developments, Paul Atkins moved closer to confirmation as SEC Chair and a long-standing D.C. crypto advocate stepped down from leading the Blockchain Association to join a new Solana-focused group.

Much of the industry news followed a trend observed in recent weeks: declining markets and quiet industry growth aided by a regulatory thaw.

With the macroeconomic environment remaining turbulent, it will be interesting to observe how crypto performs in the coming weeks.