Live markets: Bitcoin shrugs off early decline, but two-month winning streak is in jeopardy

Shares of Robinhood (HOOD) climbed another 10% on Friday, extending a rally that has pushed the stock up more than 20% over the past two trading sessions as investors reacted to a string of developments tied to the company's crypto, AI and retail investing initiatives.

Part of the momentum came from regulatory news earlier Friday after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved bitcoin (BTC) perpetual futures contracts on a regulated exchange operated by Kalshi, marking the first domestically regulated perpetual futures product in the U.S.

The agency also cleared a path for a Coinbase (COIN) affiliate to connect customers to global options and perpetual futures markets. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig called the decisions a "major step forward" for policies aimed at supporting the U.S. crypto sector. The move could accelerate the development of regulated crypto derivatives products, an area where Robinhood has been expanding following its acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.

Investors were also digesting several company-specific announcements made this week. On Wednesday, Robinhood unveiled Agentic Trading and an Agentic Credit Card, products that allow customers to connect third-party AI agents to their accounts to automate investing and spending decisions. The company said users can set conditions for AI agents to monitor markets, rebalance portfolios, execute trades and make purchases while guardrails such as spending limits, notifications and instant shutdown controls remain in place.

And on Thursday, the Trump Accounts app launched ahead of a broader rollout scheduled for July. Robinhood is serving as the brokerage and clearing partner for the program, which allows families to open investment accounts for children and, for eligible newborns, receive a $1,000 Treasury-funded contribution.

The month of May isn't yet over for crypto, but it is for U.S. stocks and they posted big gains.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained more than 8% this month, while the S&P 500 rose 5% and the DJIA added nearly 3%. All three indexes closed the month at record highs.

The Technology Select SPDR ETF (XLK) rose almost 20% in May.

With about 55 hours left in May, the crypto sector is meanwhile on track to post its first losses in three months. Currently at $73,500 bitcoin (BTC) is down about 4.5% in May. Ether (ETH) was hit even harder, falling more than 11%. Solana (SOL) relatively outperformed, dipping just 2.1%.

In a Truth Social posting, President Trump said he was meeting in the "Situation Room" to make "a final determination" on the Iran peace deal.

The president also said the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will now be lifted.

The news sent WTI crude oil down by more than 2%, now below $87 per barrel. Earlier flat, U.S. stocks are now posting modest gains, the Nasdaq higher by 0.2%.

Even crypto is joining in, bitcoin (BTC) rising about $1,000 from the morning's lows to $73,500.

Shares of SoFi (SOFI) rose 7% on Friday as investors appeared to respond to the company's launch of a dollar-backed stablecoin, a move that positions the digital bank at the center of a growing push by traditional financial institutions into blockchain-based payments.

The company announced earlier in the week that it rolled out SoFiUSD to 15 million users of its banking app, making it the first U.S. national bank to offer a stablecoin directly to retail customers on a public blockchain.

The stock is up 15% over the past week, trading at $18.01 at press time, but continues to trade 34% lower since the start of the year.

The most recent of the floated Middle East peace deals appears to have more legs than the dozen or so previous ones. Stocks continue to gain, bond yields are easing, and oil has fallen back to close to a three-month low.

No bit of news, though, has been able to lift crypto prices.

Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen back to $72,500 in morning U.S. trade, down about 0.5% over the past 24 hours and lower by 5.5% over the past week. Other crypto majors are posting similar declines.

Bitcoin began May at about $77,000, so absent a sizable rally over the next 60 hours, BTC will be negative for the month, ending a two-month winning streak.

Source: CoinDesk