Bitcoin has shown signs of recovery, trading at $73,404 according to The Economic Times, after falling to its weakest level in over six weeks. The cryptocurrency has now wiped out more than $950 million in liquidations across leveraged crypto positions in a single day, with most losses coming from bullish traders. Ether declined even more sharply, falling 4% to $1,965, while XRP lost 3.5% and Solana declined 3.6%. The altcoin market suffered a severe capital flush, with Ethereum falling below $2,000 for the first time since late March, BNB dropping under $640, and XRP sliding beneath $1.28. The total crypto market cap declined around 2.5% in the past day to $2.5 trillion. In the latest 24-hour period, Bitcoin and Ethereum were up 0.1% and 0.4% respectively, showing some stabilization after the earlier decline.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest net outflows since late January, with $1.5 billion in net outflows so far in May, marking the largest monthly outflows since the start of the year, according to Livemint. BlackRock's IBIT logged a net outflow of $527.8 million, its second-largest outflow since inception, with Farside Investors reporting approximately $528 million in net losses. Grayscale's GBTC posted $104.8 million in net outflows, while four other ETFs from Grayscale, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Ark & 21Shares also recorded negative flows. Only Morgan Stanley's MSBT posted positive flows, drawing in $4.3 million. US spot-Bitcoin ETFs have now seen around $2 billion in net outflows in May alone, even as US equities continue rallying on AI optimism. Delta Exchange notes that institutional appetite for Bitcoin exposure appears to be cooling, with US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs posting their longest run of net outflows since launch.
The latest Bitcoin decline has been amplified by the approach of one of the largest Bitcoin options expiries of the year. Data from Deribit shows over $6.25 billion worth of Bitcoin options contracts, representing around 85,679 BTC contracts, are set to expire on Friday, May 29. The largest concentration of call options sits near the $80,000 strike, while heavy put positioning has formed around the $75,000 region. Deribit's max pain level currently stands at $75,000, the price where the highest number of contracts would expire worthless. However, the latest expiry has been expanded to include $7.5 billion in total Bitcoin and Ethereum options worth approximately $6.2 billion in Bitcoin and $1.29 billion in Ethereum. Bitcoin's put/call ratio stands at 0.84 with 45,790 calls against 38,322 active puts, reflecting a slightly bullish bias among active market participants. The strike distribution shows relevant concentration at higher levels, particularly between $80,000-$85,000 during the cycle.
The $7.5 billion Bitcoin and Ethereum options expiry on May 29 has been characterized as a form of bearish unwinding by market analysts. Greeks.live reported that 84,000 Bitcoin options expired with a notional value of $6.2 billion, while 639,000 Ethereum options worth $1.28 billion also expired. Bitcoin's put-call ratio stood at 0.88 with the max pain level at $75,000, which sat above the market price during the expiry window, showing that bulls failed to pull Bitcoin back toward a key settlement level. Greeks.live described the expiry as bearish unwinding, with large positions expiring while long traders failed to reclaim key price levels. The firm noted that only 20% of options expired this month, with June options rising to about 40% of open interest after settlement, meaning the next round of positioning may now guide market direction.
The technical structure has weakened considerably following Bitcoin's rejection from the $82,000 region earlier this month. On the daily chart, BTC has now broken below several short-term moving averages while continuing to print lower highs and lower lows. The MACD histogram has extended deeper into negative territory, while the MACD line itself remains below the signal line after confirming a bearish crossover earlier this week. The Relative Strength Index has fallen toward the 35 level, placing momentum near oversold territory but without showing a confirmed bullish divergence yet. A separate chart shared by trader Altcoin Sherpa shows Bitcoin losing support across the 4-hour exponential moving averages after failing to hold above the $76,000 region. Analysts warn that a sustained breakdown from current levels could drag BTC toward the $71,000 area, with CoinGlass liquidation heatmaps showing large liquidity clusters between $71,000 and $72,000. However, WazirX notes that Bitcoin moved lower through the week, easing from around $77,004 to nearly $73,091, while holding the key $73,000 to $75,000 support zone. Despite short-term technicals remaining cautious, ETF inflows, long-term holder accumulation, and falling exchange reserves support Bitcoin's broader market structure.
