LONDON, May 23, 2026, 10:20 BST
Bitcoin fell to near $74,600 on Saturday, moving below a support zone that traders tracked this week. U.S. spot bitcoin funds showed outflows, and higher bond yields kept risk demand weak.
Trading is light this weekend. U.S. stock markets remain closed Saturday and are set to stay shut Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day. That leaves crypto trading most of the weekend with few signals coming from Wall Street’s cash markets.
Bitcoin traded down 3.3% at $74,594, after swinging between $74,313 and $77,465 earlier. Ether dropped 4.3% to $2,026.64, showing the declines hit more than just bitcoin.
Flows drove markets this week. According to Farside Investors, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted net outflows for five days in a row through May 22, with $648.6 million heading out on May 18 and another $105.2 million on Friday.
Bitcoin slipped close to $77,700 on Friday after briefly dipping under $77,000. Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, told CoinDesk he doesn’t see this as a “structural trend reversal downward.” He said $75,000 to $77,000 is still a “well-defined” short-term floor. CoinDesk
The floor is under pressure. Liquidations, or forced selling of leveraged trades, can hit prices hard when weekend liquidity dries up. This is a bigger risk if futures open interest—outstanding derivatives contracts—doesn’t drop enough to clear crowded bets.
Bitcoin is sticking to the $76,000-$76,500 range, with $77,900-$78,500 seen as the area to watch for a breakout, Riya Sehgal, research analyst at Delta Exchange, said Friday. She called the current chart shape a “contracting triangle,” which traders use for a narrowing range before a bigger move. The Economic Times
Global equity funds saw outflows for the first time in nine weeks, Reuters said, with $6.13 billion leaving the market in the week to May 20. Investors sold as inflation worries hit and long-dated borrowing costs climbed. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield reached 5.201% on Wednesday, a level last seen in 2007.
Buyers were around earlier this week. Akshat Siddhant, lead quant analyst at Mudrex, said bitcoin looked like it was recovering, even with macro uncertainty and ETF outflows, pointing to on-chain data that “buyers remain active at current levels.” The Economic Times
Options markets have stayed calm. “Bitcoin volatility has collapsed,” said Shiliang Tang, managing partner at Monarq Asset Management, pointing to implied volatility as the measure. Implied volatility tracks expected price swings in options markets. Low readings can point to steady trading, though some see it as a sign of complacency before things move. CoinDesk
Crypto-linked stocks slipped ahead of the weekend. Coinbase dropped 4.4% on Friday to finish at $184.99. Strategy, known for its exposure to bitcoin, lost 3.0%, closing at $159.89.
Bulls are still in the mix. Michael Saylor, executive chair of Strategy and a well-known bitcoin supporter, told CNBC (as cited by Investopedia) that bitcoin would “rally from here” and is “going up forever.” But Investopedia also reported that spot bitcoin ETFs posted outflows for four straight business days through May 20. Investopedia
Market might be confusing a pause with real support. If ETF outflows pick up again on Tuesday when U.S. markets open, or Treasury yields don’t come down, watch for a clean move under $75,000. That could spark forced selling and threaten the May range. On the other hand, lower rates, steadier oil or fresh ETF demand could help, but traders may not know which way things go until Wall Street returns.
