Bitcoin consolidates after $74K low - May 25 crypto

Global crypto market on May 25: Bitcoin consolidates near $77,000 after weekend $74,344 low, $917 million in liquidations

On Monday, May 25, 2026, the global crypto market saw a nervous recovery after a weekend selloff. Bitcoin opened at $76,969.03 and pushed to $77,292.81 in the early US session, later stabilizing around $77,352.26 - essentially flat over 24 hours. On Saturday, May 23, BTC fell below the $75,000 level for the first time in more than a month, hitting a $74,344 low that triggered nearly $917 million in crypto futures liquidations over 24 hours. Ethereum opened at $2,097.55 and recovered Monday to a $2,112.89-$2,114.51 range (-0.5% 24h). XRP at $1.36, Solana ~$87, Cardano ~$0.25. The spot Bitcoin ETF segment posted its sixth consecutive day of outflows - the May 18-22 weekly net shortfall reached $1.256 billion, with BlackRock IBIT alone losing $448.36 million on May 18. This is Norriwire's daily review of the global crypto market on May 25 - top 15 coins, stablecoins, NFTs, ETF flows, and regulatory news.

Market overview

May 25 was a Monday and the first full trading day after a nervous weekend. On Saturday, May 23, Bitcoin broke through the $75,000 support level for the first time in more than a month, hitting a $74,344 low that triggered cascade liquidations - on May 23, more than $103 million was erased in a single hour, with the 24-hour total reaching $670 million. By Sunday (May 24) and Monday's open, another $917 million in liquidations followed, largely on long positions. Monday saw the market trying to find balance - BTC moved in a $76,000-$78,000 corridor, ETH in a $2,098-$2,115 range. Total crypto market cap near $2.64 trillion, BTC dominance held near 60%, and the Altcoin Season Index sits around 39-40 - firmly Bitcoin Season territory. Bitcoin is still -2.7% on the week, -23% year-to-date, and underperforms the S&P 500 (+9% YTD) and gold (+18% YTD). Monday's main question - will the $74,000 zone prove a local floor, and will the SEC, ETF flows, and macro factors allow a return to the $80,000 level.

Top 15 coins on May 25

Prices compiled from Yahoo Finance, Fortune, CoinDesk, INN Cryptocurrency Market Recap, Cryptonews, CoinCodex, and CoinMarketCap on May 25.

1. Bitcoin (BTC) - $77,352.26, ~0% 24h

Bitcoin stabilized on Monday near $77,352.26 after Saturday's $74,344 low and Sunday's recovery to ~$75,500. The Monday morning open was $76,969.03 - about $446 below the previous Monday's (May 18) opening level. In the US pre-market session, the price climbed to $77,292.81. On the week BTC is still -2.7%, year-to-date -23%. ATH remains $126,198 (Oct 6, 2025), current drawdown from peak -39%. Monday BTC trading volume was considerably higher than Sunday's holiday low - around $168 billion vs. Sunday's ~$110 billion. Brickken's Ludovico Rossi commented in the INN report - "Bitcoin did not fail as a currency; it repriced its monetary function around scarcity." Technically, the $76,000-$78,000 corridor remains resilient.

2. Ethereum (ETH) - $2,112.89-$2,114.51, -0.5% 24h

ETH opened Monday at $2,097.55 and climbed to a $2,112.89-$2,114.51 range during the day. The opening level was roughly $32 below the previous Monday's opening. ETH/BTC ratio held a new year-to-date low of 0.0272 - confirming BlackRock IBIT and other spot BTC ETF rotation away from ETH products. The main weekly story - the Ethereum Foundation's internal departures continue. Two more researchers - Carl Beek and Julian Ma - announced exits this week, raising 2026 senior-researcher losses to 8 (5 of them in May alone). Former EF researcher Dankrad Feist publicly proposed creating an entirely new institution with at least $1 billion in funding, dedicated solely to protecting Ethereum's competitive position and ETH's price. Mark Cuban said on Front Office Sports' Portfolio Players podcast that he sold most of his Bitcoin after it failed to act as a safe haven during the Iran war and dollar weakness, but is "less disappointed" in Ether.

3. Tether (USDT) - $0.9999, stable

USDT market cap on May 25 held around $190 billion - more than double USDC. Tether's dominance in the segment remains ~58%. Peg stable.

4. XRP - $1.36, -1.5% 24h

XRP stabilized Monday at $1.36 after the weekend selloff. The main weekly news for XRP holders - the XRP Ledger's mandatory fixCleanup3_1_3 amendment activates on May 27, introducing infrastructure fixes across NFTs, Permissioned Domains, vault systems, and the lending protocol layer. XRPL Foundation community director Hussein Zangana warned that only about 40% of the XRP network had updated its nodes more than a week after the 3.1.3 release - meaning some validators risk becoming "amendment-blocked" after May 27 and losing ledger-validation access. A small but operationally significant amendment.

5. USDC - $1.00, stable

USDC circulation on May 25 stayed at $77-78 billion. USDT/USDC ratio in the segment holds at roughly 2.5:1. Circle's USDC supply is up more than 200% since late 2023.

6. BNB - approx. $632, -0.9% 24h

BNB traded Monday in a $628-$640 range after weekend pressure. In Grayscale's analysis released this month, BNB Chain was noted as one of the potential CLARITY Act winners - alongside Ethereum, Solana, and Canton Network ecosystems. The Binance Maxwell Upgrade remains a medium-term technical catalyst.

7. Solana (SOL) - approx. $87, +1.5% 24h after open

SOL recovered above $87 on Monday after the weekend $85.34 low. Solana still has a favorable institutional profile - spot Solana ETF attracted +$55.1 million last week and is on its 11th consecutive day of inflows. SOL/BTC ratio sits near multi-week lows, which historically has often preceded SOL rebound setups.

8. Dogecoin (DOGE) - $0.10, -0.8% 24h

DOGE stabilized Monday at $0.10 after weekend pressure. Trading volume around $620 million - modestly higher than Sunday's level, signaling retail returning.

9. TRON (TRX) - $0.37, -0.3% 24h

TRX just under $0.37 on Monday. The USDT settlement franchise remains TRX's main fundamental driver - more than $85 billion in USDT circulating on the TRON chain.

10. Cardano (ADA) - $0.2470, -0.4% 24h

ADA stabilized at $0.247 Monday after losing the $0.25 level on Sunday. The main weekly event - founder Charles Hoskinson's public warnings about the 32.9 million ADA treasury proposal vote. Around 81% of active dRep stake is currently voting against the proposal - far below the required 67% approval threshold.

11. Hyperliquid (HYPE) - approx. $45, -0.5% 24h

HYPE stabilized Monday after weekend nervousness. Regulatory pressure continues - CME and ICE are actively lobbying the CFTC for stricter rules on perpetual DEX products.

12. SUI - $1.18, -0.7% 24h

SUI stabilized Monday at $1.18. Monthly performance still +20-25% - one of the best top-15 prints.

13. Chainlink (LINK) - $9.30, +0.2% 24h

LINK held just above $9.25. DeFi oracle base stable.

14. Avalanche (AVAX) - $9.20, -1.0% 24h

AVAX weak structure persists. Technical resistance in the $10.5-$11 zone remains hard to reach.

15. Polkadot (DOT) - $1.36, -0.8% 24h

DOT prints historically low monthly readings; average price forecast for May is around $1.36 - exactly Monday's level.

Stablecoins - segment holds $320+ billion with Japan regulatory story

The stablecoin segment on May 25 stayed around $320-323 billion - a level first reached early in May. USDT (Tether) dominates with ~$190 billion and roughly 57-58% share. USDC (Circle) around $77-78 billion - ~24% of the segment. The rest (DAI, FDUSD, PYUSD, USDe, RLUSD, and new bank-issued stablecoin candidates) together total ~$55 billion or 17% of the segment.

The key strategic event - Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced that starting June 1, certain foreign-issued stablecoins will be legally recognized as electronic payment instruments in Japan. That means qualifying foreign stablecoins, such as USDC-style dollar-backed tokens, can be legally used for payments within Japan's regulated payment system. It does not make stablecoins legal tender, but gives them a defined legal status within Japan's payment system - this amends previous Japanese stablecoin rules that classified foreign stablecoins as securities. Parfin (Rayls developer) CEO Marcos Viriato commented that the move signals a broader global shift toward tokenized money forms being embedded into formal financial systems.

Second macro event - the US Federal Reserve on May 20 requested public comment on a proposal for a new payment account type that would allow eligible non-traditional financial institutions to access Fed payment services for clearing and settlement. Qualifying entities cannot borrow from the Fed and earn no interest on balances, but would gain Fed clearing access for the first time.

NFT market - CryptoPunks dominance stable, segment holds at $1.5 billion

The NFT segment on May 25 saw standard Monday dynamics after a quiet weekend. CryptoPunks 24h sales volume around 68 ETH, floor price ~33.23 ETH (around $70,000 at Monday's ETH price). OpenSea retains a leading market share across chains. Magic Eden still dominates Solana NFTs. The total NFT segment market cap stays around $1.5 billion - roughly 95% below the 2021 peak. Monthly trading volume around $100-110 million - well below boom-time but stabilized since the initial correction. Utility NFTs (RWA tokenization, membership NFTs) continue moderate growth.

ETF flows - sixth consecutive day of outflows, IBIT under pressure

The spot Bitcoin ETF segment posted its sixth consecutive day of outflows on May 25. The May 18-22 weekly net outflow reached $1.256 billion - one of the strongest weekly outflow stretches of 2026. BlackRock IBIT alone lost $448.36 million on May 18 - the third-largest single-day IBIT outflow of 2026. IBIT accounts for the lion's share of institutional BTC selling - higher inflation readings, rising US Treasury yields, and reduced expectations for a near-term Fed rate cut pushed institutional investors into safer fixed-income assets. Trump Media & Technology Group on May 22 transferred 2,650 BTC (~$205 million) to Crypto.com - widely interpreted as preparation for liquidation. The company currently faces ~$455 million in unrealized losses on its crypto portfolio (average buy price ~$118,522 per BTC). Spot Solana ETF holds +$55.1 million weekly inflow and an 11th consecutive positive day - a contrast to BTC ETF outflows and a signal of selective institutional appetite.

In the April context, the spot BTC ETF segment attracted around $2 billion - the strongest monthly print of 2026. The second half of May has proven a sharp reversal.

Privacy coins - Zcash ETF story continues to dominate

The privacy segment on May 25 retained institutional interest. Zcash (ZEC) hit a $600 peak in May, and Grayscale filed an S-3 with the SEC on May 12 to convert its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF (ticker ZCSH) on NYSE Arca. This would be the first US spot ETF on a privacy coin. The trust holds about 391,103 ZEC (~$99.4 million as of March 31), with Coinbase Custody as custodian. The SEC in January 2026 closed the Zcash Foundation probe without enforcement, removing a key regulatory hurdle. Approval, potentially in Q3 2026, could draw $500 million-$2 billion in inflows.

Monero (XMR) on May 6 launched the FCMP++ beta, improving anonymity proofs against 150+ million blockchain outputs. Because of Monero's mandatory-privacy design, a Monero ETF remains unlikely regardless of regulatory environment - the transparency mechanisms traditional custodians require are not possible.

Security incidents - bridge exploits remain the main risk

In the last 48 hours, no major new protocol exploits have been reported. However, 2026 cumulative theft remains near a record level. Key prints this year:

• Verus-Ethereum bridge (May 18): PeckShield and Halborn analyses confirm attackers exploited a validation gap between the two sides. Assets were later swapped to 5,402 ETH ($11.4 million at May 25 ETH prices).
• Kelp DAO (April 19): $292 million - the largest 2026 DeFi exploit.
• Drift Protocol (April 1): $285 million in losses.
• Echo Protocol (May 18): Minting of 1,000 synthetic Bitcoin (eBTC) on the Monad chain, ~$76.7 million loss.
• 2026 cumulative DeFi theft: roughly $1.1-1.3 billion per various estimates (Phemex, DefiLlama, CCN), with bridges accounting for ~25-30%.

Bridges remain the main vulnerability in DeFi infrastructure.

Regulatory news - SEC delays tokenized stocks exemption, CLARITY Act advances

Monday's main regulatory story - the SEC has delayed the planned tokenized stocks "innovation exemption." Agency staff had been preparing to release the exemption as soon as the week of May 18, but the timeline was pushed back after feedback from exchange officials and market participants. The central sticking point - a provision that would permit trading in third-party tokens, i.e. digital stock representations issued without the company's knowledge or approval. Former regulators warned of complications in administering dividends and counting shareholder votes if tokens proliferate across chains. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce defended the narrow focus, noting the framework would "facilitate trading only of digital representations of the same underlying equity security that an investor could purchase in the secondary market today, not synthetics." The tokenized stocks segment has crossed $1.4 billion across roughly 2,246 tokenized assets, up roughly 30% in the last 30 days.

A second key regulatory story - the US House Oversight Committee officially launched an investigation into insider trading on prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket. Chair James Comer dispatched formal letters to both CEOs demanding internal documents on KYC protocols and suspicious-trade detection policies. The Republican-led probe focuses on wagers linked to armed conflicts - particularly recent bets on the Iran war and the US military intervention in Venezuela. The first systemic Congressional action in the prediction-markets space.

CLARITY Act and GENIUS Act storylines continue to dominate - the CLARITY Act passed the US Senate Banking Committee on May 14 by a 15-9 bipartisan vote. The bill splits digital assets into three categories: digital commodities (CFTC oversight), investment contracts (SEC oversight), and permitted payment stablecoins (banking regulators under the GENIUS Act). GENIUS Act stablecoin rules take effect on July 18 - until then, USDT, USDC, and other major dollar stablecoins must maintain 100% reserves and undergo regular audits.

On May 29, CME Globex launches 24/7 crypto futures and options trading with only a ~2-hour weekend maintenance window - a major institutional signal.

Macroeconomic context - quantum infrastructure strategy and ETF pressure

The US Department of Commerce on May 22 announced more than $2 billion in quantum technology sector investments via the CHIPS and Science Act. The federal government signed letters of intent with nine major companies - IBM gets $1 billion, GlobalFoundries $375 million, with seven other tech firms (including Atom Computing, D-Wave, Diraq, Infleqtion, PsiQuantum, Quantinuum, and Rigetti) receiving the remainder. In exchange, the federal government will claim a minority, non-controlling equity stake in all nine companies. The news matters for crypto because progress in quantum computing is one of the long-term security risks to Bitcoin and other cryptography-dependent systems' integrity - Cardano's (ADA) post-quantum cryptography treasury proposal arrives against this backdrop.

Second macro theme - US inflation and Fed policy. Powell speaks on the "economic outlook" Monday - one of the most important macro test moments of the week. Markets keep pushing rate cut expectations from Q2 to Q3, but if Powell is hawkish, that could slide to Q4 or early 2027.

Third theme - asset class rotation. Crypto underperforms gold (+18% YTD), the S&P 500 (+9% YTD), and even Treasury bills (+2.1% YTD) - capital has moved to safer assets amid macro uncertainty.

Headline numbers - May 25

• BTC: $77,352.26 (~0% 24h / -2.7% week / -23% year)
• BTC Saturday low: $74,344 (first time below $75,000 in over a month)
• ETH: $2,112.89-$2,114.51 (-0.5% 24h)
• ETH Monday open: $2,097.55
• XRP: $1.36 (-1.5% 24h, XRPL fixCleanup3_1_3 May 27)
• SOL: ~$87 (recovered above $85)
• ADA: $0.2470
• DOGE: $0.10
• TRX: $0.37
• DOT: $1.36
• Total market: ~$2.64 trillion
• BTC dominance: ~60%
• Stablecoin segment: $320-323 billion (USDT ~$190 billion, USDC ~$77-78 billion)
• 24h liquidations: ~$917 million (mostly long positions)
• May 23 hourly liquidations: $103 million
• Spot BTC ETF: 6th consecutive day of outflows, $1.256 billion week of May 18-22
• BlackRock IBIT: -$448.36 million on May 18 (3rd-largest 2026 daily loss)
• Trump Media BTC move: 2,650 BTC (~$205 million) to Crypto.com
• Ethereum Foundation: 8 senior researchers left in 2026 (5 in May)
• SEC: tokenized stocks "innovation exemption" delayed
• Tokenized stocks market: $1.4 billion, ~2,246 assets
• Japan: from June 1, foreign stablecoins recognized as electronic payment instruments
• US Commerce: $2 billion for quantum infrastructure (CHIPS Act)
• 2026 cumulative DeFi theft: $1.1-1.3 billion

This is Norriwire's daily global crypto market review. All price and flow data verified against Yahoo Finance, Fortune, INN, CoinDesk, Cryptonews, KuCoin, CCN, Bloomberg, Crypto.news, and CoinMarketCap. Model: claude-opus-4-7. Author and reviewer: Toms Abeltins.