Key points:

Bitcoin continues to range around $103,000 as bulls struggle to keep upside momentum going.

Traders favor short-term BTC price gains eventually returning, while overall faith in the bull market varies.

Fed rate cuts seem increasingly far off despite encouraging inflation data.

Bitcoin (BTC) hugged familiar territory around the May 14 Wall Street open as traders awaited fresh US macro cues.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Trader: BTC needs $108,000 reclaim for breakout

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed $103,000 remaining a BTC price magnet.

Bulls had managed another trip to $105,000 the day prior, with momentum nonetheless lacking after brisk gains throughout the first half of the month.

Now, traders eyed consolidation prior to a return to volatility, with predictions favoring further upside.

It’s all just a big shake-out range in before another break-out again

PATIENCE$BTC https://t.co/t9vNUsoIQA pic.twitter.com/5BSUTzPLoM

— Phoenix (@Phoenix_Ash3s) May 14, 2025

“Even though $BTC looks great IMO, I still stand by the fact that it probably moves sideways from here for a while, which would probably be great news for alts tbh,” popular trader Byzantine Trader wrote in one of his latest posts on X. 

“If BTC remains calm, then alts can do their own thing for a bit.”BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Byzantine General/X

Despite seeing the Bitcoin bull market unwinding sooner rather than later, fellow trader Roman agreed that higher highs would come first.

“Looking for more upside if we can continue to consolidate here as consolidation = continuation of trend. Yes my macro views believe the $BTC bull is close to over but there’s still some room for short term upside,” he told X followers. 

“Break 108 resistance and 120 is possible.”

Market rate cut odds “adjusted” after CPI

Macro influences were less pronounced on the day thanks to a gap in US inflation data releases.

Related: BTC bulls get ‘biggest signal’ — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

The day prior, a lower-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) print had failed to spark a fresh crypto rally, with eyes now on the Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers due on May 15.

Commenting, trading firm QCP Capital stressed that the Federal Reserve’s hawkish policy was dictating market expectations. Interest rate cuts in the first half of 2025, a would-be risk-asset tailwind, were being increasingly priced out.

“US CPI came in below expectations, providing a welcome reprieve to inflation worries and bolstering bets on rate cuts,” QCP wrote in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers. 

“Still, the Fed remains cautious. At its last meeting, officials reiterated a data-dependent stance, flagging the uncertain downstream effects of tariffs on both unemployment and inflation.”Fed target rate probabilities (screenshot). Source: CME Group

Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool put the Fed’s September meeting as the likely occasion to deliver the next cut.

“Market pricing has also adjusted accordingly, with two rate cuts now expected for 2025, down from four just a month prior,” QCP added.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Opinion by: Mike Cahill, co-founder and CEO of Douro Labs

Despite the institutional frenzy around crypto and the ubiquitous narrative of democratized access to investing, most of the world population is still barred from traditional wealth-building. 

Take the US, for example — here, the top 10% of earners own more than 90% of all stocks. On a global scale, it gets even worse: Billions of individuals don’t have the financial literacy, digital tools or minimum funds required to even access the most basic investment opportunities. 

Traditional institutions must do more than just invest in crypto to ameliorate this disparity — they must start employing digital assets for new use cases altogether. 

The facet of TradFi that is most ripe for disruption is equities. Investing in shares of private companies is an opportunity historically reserved only for the wealthy and hyper-connected. It is often siloed within the most economically advanced nations. Enhancing access to equities worldwide can be achieved, however, by injecting decentralized technology into three fundamental components of our financial system: price, execution and settlement.

The bedrock of traditional finance

Equities typically refer to shares of private companies, and they’re one of the most potent tools for wealth creation. On top of regulation, the main factor restricting access to equities is the infrastructure that underpins our financial system: stale and inaccurate pricing data, exclusive execution venues and painfully slow settlement periods. 

Price

Traditional equity markets are private. Here, pricing data is sequestered behind non-disclosure agreements, paywalls and groups of individuals who want to keep this information to themselves. Access to accurate, real-time pricing is what enables investors to make informed decisions, and it’s the crucial ingredient required to participate at all. If pricing data remains in the hands of those who can afford access or run in the right social circles, the system will continue to support only a small group of wealthy, privileged people.

Recent: Ether sentiment hits yearly low but that could be a good thing: Santiment

Execution

While many apps and platforms might make it seem like buying equities is as easy as pressing a button, the reality is that making these types of investments almost always requires strict vetting processes and minimum investment thresholds that everyday investors just don’t have access to. While it seems like public markets should be exempt from these barriers, brokerage fees and geographic limitations can still hamper participation. As a result, the current systems simply uphold the “rich get richer, poor get poorer” narrative.

Settlement

Most traders have experienced the frustratingly slow, highly bureaucratic and hazardous equity settlement systems in place today. It can take several days for a single trade to finalize. If it’s a cross-border trade, settlement times can lag even more. This results in capital being locked up, further dissuading smaller investors from participating — a snowball effect that keeps access to equities solely in the hands of the most elite traders. 

While these barriers are undoubtedly systemic, they’re also very solvable. As history has shown, time and time again, innovation always forces a shift. That’s where decentralized finance (DeFi) comes in.

Reimagining infrastructure through DeFi

Decentralized technologies have the potential to reimagine TradFi’s infrastructure to create a system that is faster, more accessible and more efficient and unlock new forms of equities participation. These include synthetic equity markets, tokenized private equity and even equity-based prediction markets.

Regarding price, execution and settlement, DeFi and TradFi have the opportunity to work together, combining forces to offer a new foundation to the financial system that promotes equity, access and transparency. 

Decentralized price feeds offer real-time, accurate price data on equities that don’t come at the exorbitant price of a Bloomberg Terminal. They empower traders of any background or location to access fresh market data to trade equities with the same knowledge as the most elite traders. 

At the same time, decentralized execution platforms enable marketplaces for fractional, tokenized equity exposure. Now, if traders have an internet connection, they can make trades supported by smart contracts that automate trade matching, liquidity provision and order fulfillment. This empowers traders to purchase small, fractional stakes in these assets, empowering those even in the most rural and secluded areas of the world to own a piece of the same high-growth company as an accredited investor in the US. 

Finally, settlement in DeFi is almost instantaneous. That’s because blockchain removes the need for intermediaries, making it possible for equities to be traded in milliseconds. This dramatically reduces counterparty risk while unlocking capital for continuous use, making trading even more attractive to smaller players. 

Building the next generation of finance

Creating a financial system that is genuinely democratized means more than encouraging institutions to buy and trade digital assets. It means rethinking the way our financial infrastructure exists and operates today. While equities are one of the most powerful wealth-building tools available, most of the global population still can’t access them due to geography, legacy and privilege. Through revolutionizing price, execution and settlement via decentralized innovations, equities can be entirely disrupted — closing the wealth gap that keeps billions of people at the mercy of a select few.

Opinion by: Mike Cahill, co-founder and CEO of Douro Labs.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Summer Mersinger, one of four commissioners currently serving at the US financial regulatory body Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will become the next CEO of the digital asset advocacy group the Blockchain Association (BA). 

In a May 14 notice, the Blockchain Association said its current CEO, Kristin Smith, would be stepping down for Mersinger on May 16, allowing an interim head of the group to work until the CFTC commissioner assumes the role on June 2. Though her term at the CFTC was expected to last until April 2028, the Association said Mersinger is set to leave the agency on May 30.

The departure of Mersinger, who has served in one of the CFTC’s Republican seats since 2022, opens the way for President Donald Trump to nominate another member to the financial regulator. Rules require that no more than three commissioners belong to the same political party. 

Like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC is one of the significant US financial regulators whose policies impact digital assets. Lawmakers in Congress are currently working to pass a market structure bill to clarify the roles each agency could take in overseeing and regulating crypto.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.