Global crypto market on May 26: Bitcoin below $78,000 after US strikes in Iran, $300 million in liquidations, $1.5 billion in weekly ETP outflows

Global crypto market on May 26: Bitcoin below $78,000 after US strikes in Iran, $300 million in liquidations, $1.5 billion in weekly ETP outflows

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026, the global crypto market continued to trade under geopolitical and institutional outflow pressure. Bitcoin printed $76,754.77 in the US morning session - about $483.80 below the previous day's morning price - after US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed defensive military strikes in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz. The news triggered roughly $300 million in futures liquidations over 24 hours and briefly pushed BTC below $77,000. Brent crude rose to $96 per barrel, WTI to $93, amplifying inflation concerns. Ethereum held at $2,114.51 (-0.5% 24h), XRP $1.36 (-0.5%), Solana $84.60-$85.94 (-0.8%), Cardano $0.24. CoinShares confirmed in its Tuesday report that global crypto ETPs saw $1.47-$1.5 billion in outflows for the week ending May 23 - the third-largest weekly outflow of 2026. BlackRock's IBIT alone lost around $1 billion across five trading days. This is the Norriwire daily review of the May 26 global crypto market - top 15 coins, stablecoins, NFTs, ETF flows and regulatory news.

Market overview

May 26 Tuesday was a tense session with a confluence of macro and geopolitical factors. Overnight into Tuesday, the US confirmed defensive strikes on Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz - reviving the early-May war scenario that Polymarket bettors had moved to higher probability. The initial reaction was a brief BTC slide below $77,000 and roughly $300 million in liquidations, mostly in long positions. By US open, BTC recovered to $76,754.77 and then stabilized in the $76,600-$77,200 corridor. Total crypto market cap held at $2.61-$2.64 trillion, BTC dominance near 60%, Altcoin Season Index near 39 - clearly Bitcoin Season territory. The global context deteriorated not just on geopolitics but also on yields - the US 30-year Treasury yielded 5.198%, the highest since late 2025, making fixed-income alternatives more attractive than risk assets. Powell's Monday speech on "the economic outlook" stood out as the week's most important event - markets are pushing rate-cut expectations from Q2 to Q3 or even Q4. CryptoQuant's 30-day apparent demand reading at -147,000 BTC is the weakest of 2026 and points to structural rather than tactical demand weakness.

Top 15 coins on May 26

Prices compiled from Yahoo Finance, Fortune, CoinDesk, INN Cryptocurrency Market Recap, Cryptonews, Invezz, Blockchain Reporter and CoinShares publications on May 26.

1. Bitcoin (BTC) - $76,754.77, -0.8% 24h

Bitcoin printed $76,754.77 in the US Tuesday morning session - about $483.80 below the previous day's morning price and roughly $32,725 below the level one year ago. After the CENTCOM strike news, BTC briefly dropped below $77,000 and touched a local low of $76,610 before recovering. Market cap around $1.33 trillion. On the week BTC remains -2.7%, on the year -23%, and ATH stays at $126,198 (Oct 6, 2025). The technical $76,000-$78,000 corridor holds intact, but the $74,500 weekly low is the week's critical support test. Blockchain Reporter notes "quiet whale buying" below $77,000 - holder addresses with 100-1,000 BTC increased by roughly 8,600 BTC over the past seven days, the largest May accumulation. This contrasts with ETF pressure and points to a structural conflict between institutional liquidity managers and long-term whales.

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

ETH on Tuesday continued to hold the $2,100-$2,400 range with a Tuesday print of $2,114.51. Reclaiming the psychological $2,300 level remains the week's challenge. ETH market cap around $233 billion. ETH/BTC ratio still at 0.0272 - a multi-week low confirming spot BTC ETF rotation away from ETH products. The Tuesday CoinShares report showed Ethereum products saw $222 million in weekly outflows - broadly in line with the prior week's pace but a secondary drag compared to the $1.315 billion BTC product outflow. Ethereum Foundation internal departures continue to dominate the sentiment narrative - 8 senior researchers have left in 2026, 5 of them in May.

3. Tether (USDT) - $0.9999, stable

USDT market cap on May 26 held around $190 billion - more than twice that of USDC. Over the past month USDT has added approximately $5 billion in circulating supply, while USDC, PYUSD and USDe combined lost roughly $42 billion. Tether dominance in the segment remains ~58-60%. Peg stable.

4. XRP - $1.36, -0.5% 24h

XRP held $1.36 on Tuesday. The institutional rotation theme continues to dominate - the CoinShares report shows XRP, Solana and NEAR Protocol experiencing massive institutional and retail buying as Bitcoin and Ethereum funds bleed. The XRPL mandatory fixCleanup3_1_3 amendment activates May 27 - it warns the share of validators that have not yet upgraded nodes of the risk of becoming "amendment-blocked".

5. USDC - $1.00, stable

USDC circulation on May 26 held around the $77-$78 billion level. USDT/USDC ratio in the segment remains approximately 2.5:1. On the month USDC has seen moderate contraction due in part to migration to USDT and new regulated instruments.

6. BNB - ~$630, -0.7% 24h

BNB traded in the $625-$635 range on Tuesday after the weekly pressure. Grayscale this month again lists BNB Chain as one of the potential CLARITY Act beneficiaries. Binance's Maxwell Upgrade remains a medium-term technical catalyst.

7. Solana (SOL) - $84.60-$85.94, -0.8% 24h

SOL traded in the $84.60-$85.94 range on Tuesday. Market cap roughly $48.95 billion. Solana retains a favorable institutional profile - the spot Solana ETF segment is in the middle of a selective inflow run this week, contrasting with BTC and ETH product outflows. SOL/BTC ratio stays near multi-week lows. WEEX's May 26 analysis notes that while Ethereum and XRP bleed, SOL preserves structure thanks to fast transaction speeds, growing developer activity and dominance in the meme-coin ecosystem.

8. Dogecoin (DOGE) - $0.10, -0.7% 24h

DOGE stabilized around $0.10 on Tuesday. Trading volume roughly $600-$620 million. Retail activity moderate.

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

TRX just below $0.37 on Tuesday. The USDT settlement franchise remains the core TRX fundamental driver - more than $85 billion of USDT circulates on TRON.

10. Cardano (ADA) - $0.2400, -0.4% 24h

ADA traded around $0.24 on Tuesday after weekly pressure. ADA currently the 13th coin globally by market cap, 24h trading volume around $329.84 million. The Charles Hoskinson budget proposal vote backdrop - approximately 81% of active dRep stake voting against the 32.9 million ADA proposal - remains the day's sentiment theme.

11. Hyperliquid (HYPE) - ~$44-$45, -0.6% 24h

HYPE stabilized on Tuesday after the week's volatility. CME and ICE continue to lobby the CFTC for tighter perpetual DEX product rules.

12. SUI - $1.17, -0.8% 24h

SUI stabilized in the $1.17-$1.18 range on Tuesday. On a monthly basis it remains one of the strongest top-15 readings.

13. Chainlink (LINK) - $9.25, -0.4% 24h

LINK just below $9.30 on Tuesday. DeFi oracle infrastructure readings stable.

14. Avalanche (AVAX) - $9.15, -1.1% 24h

AVAX weak structure continues. Technical resistance in the $10.50-$11 zone remains hard to reach.

15. Polkadot (DOT) - $1.35, -0.9% 24h

DOT historically low monthly readings continue. Average forecast price for May around $1.36 - precisely near Tuesday's level.

Stablecoins - segment at $320 billion, USDT adds $5B while alternatives lose $42B

The stablecoin segment held at $320-$323 billion on May 26, with $294.53 billion under the CoinFound methodology or $320+ billion under DefiLlama's broader definition. USDT (Tether) dominates with ~$190 billion and roughly 58-60% market share. USDC (Circle) around $77-$78 billion - ~24% of the segment. The rest (DAI, FDUSD, PYUSD, USDe, RLUSD and emerging bank-issued stablecoin candidates) together makes up ~$55 billion, or 17% of the segment.

On the month the structural theme is clear - USDT added approximately $5 billion in circulation while USDC, PYUSD and USDe combined lost about $42 billion. This points to liquidity consolidation in Tether's favor despite USDC's more regulated posture in US and European markets. GENIUS Act rules take effect July 18 - by then all major dollar stablecoins must maintain 100% reserves and conduct regular audits, which should ultimately improve USDC's and Circle's standing in regulated US flow.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) - from June 1 select foreign-issued stablecoins will be legally recognized as electronic payment instruments in Japan. USDC-type dollar-backed token variants will be permitted for legal use in Japan's regulated payments system - a correction of the prior rules that classified foreign stablecoins as securities. This announcement on May 26 preserves the strategic narrative and incentivizes pre-June 1 positioning.

NFT market - CryptoPunks floor at 32.99 ETH, steady readings

The NFT segment had a quiet Tuesday dynamic on May 26. CryptoPunks floor at 32.99 ETH - about $69,750 at Tuesday's ETH price - a moderate decline from the $73,200 level on May 10. The collection remains one of the NFT segment's sentiment drivers and retains strong liquidity on OpenSea. BAYC and MAYC floors also held steady - the blue-chip collections demonstrate a recovery in institutional demand. OpenSea retains leading market share across all chains. Magic Eden continues to dominate the Solana NFT market. NFT segment total market cap remains around $1.5 billion - roughly 95% below the 2021 peak. Polymarket odds on "NFT comeback 2026" rose to 65% probability - one of the segment's strongest weekly signals.

ETF flows - CoinShares confirms $1.5B weekly outflow, IBIT loses $1B in five days

CoinShares confirmed in its Tuesday report that global crypto ETPs saw $1.47-$1.5 billion in outflows for the week of May 18-22 - the third-largest weekly outflow of 2026 after two $1.7 billion outflows in January. Of the total, $1.315 billion came out of Bitcoin products - the largest BTC ETP weekly outflow of 2026 - and $222 million out of Ethereum products. BlackRock's IBIT alone lost approximately $1 billion in investor redemptions across five trading days from May 18-22, with the largest single-day exit of $448 million on May 18. On Friday May 24, IBIT was again the week's leader with a -$68.9 million single-day outflow. It is important to note that BlackRock did not initiate these sales as a strategic move - the outflows are a direct result of investor redemptions.

The core context - hotter inflation data, US 30-year Treasury yield at 5.198%, dampened expectations of a near-term Fed cut. This pushes institutional investors toward safer fixed-income assets. Not all segments rotate, however - spot Solana ETFs and select XRP ETF products this week still attracted inflows, marking selective rather than systemic choices.

Privacy coins - Zcash ETF awaited, segment interest holds

The privacy coin segment held institutional investor interest on May 26. Zcash (ZEC) hit a $600 peak in early May, and Grayscale on May 12 filed a Form S-3 with the SEC to convert the Zcash Trust into a spot ETF (ticker ZCSH) on NYSE Arca. It would be the first privacy-coin spot ETF in US history. The trust currently holds approximately 391,103 ZEC with Coinbase Custody as depositary. The SEC closed the Zcash Foundation probe without enforcement action in January 2026 - approval, possibly in Q3 2026, could attract $500 million - $2 billion in inflows.

Monero (XMR) FCMP++ beta continues to harden - due to Monero's mandatory privacy architecture a Monero ETF remains unlikely, but the underlying technical foundation is strengthening.

Security incidents - no major new attacks, 2026 cumulative damage persists

There have been no major new protocol attacks in the last 48 hours. The 2026 cumulative stolen-funds total stays near record. The year's key incidents:

• Verus-Ethereum bridge (May 18): 5,402 ETH ($11.4 million at Tuesday's ETH price) lost due to a validation gap between the two bridge sides.
• Kelp DAO (April 19): $292 million - the largest 2026 DeFi attack.
• Drift Protocol (April 1): $285 million in losses.
• Echo Protocol (May 18): 1,000 synthetic Bitcoin tokens (eBTC) minted on the Monad chain, ~$76.7 million loss.
• Total 2026 DeFi stolen funds: roughly $1.1-$1.3 billion under various estimates (Phemex, DefiLlama, CCN), of which bridges account for about 25-30%.

Bridges remain the main DeFi infrastructure vulnerability.

Regulatory news - SEC tokenized stocks exemption delayed, CLARITY Act awaits vote, US-Iran escalation

The SEC on Tuesday continues work on the previously delayed tokenized stocks "innovation exemption". The narrower version championed by Commissioner Hester Peirce would cover only "trading the same underlying capital security in digital representation that an investor could already buy in the secondary market today - not synthetics." The core controversy - whether to allow trading of third-party-issued tokens or digital share representations issued without the company's knowledge or approval. The tokenized stocks segment has crossed $1.4 billion and covers approximately 2,246 tokenized assets.

The CLARITY Act awaits a full Senate vote following the May 14 15-9 bipartisan Banking Committee vote. The bill divides digital assets into three categories: digital commodities (CFTC oversight), investment contracts (SEC oversight), and permitted payment stablecoins (bank regulators under the GENIUS Act). The GENIUS Act stablecoin rules take effect July 18.

On May 29 CME Globex will launch 24/7 crypto futures and options trading - an important institutional signal just 3 trading days away.

The US House Oversight Committee's investigation of insider trading on Kalshi and Polymarket continues. The Republican-led probe focuses on bets tied to the Iran war and US military intervention - particularly relevant given Tuesday's CENTCOM strike news.

Macro context - US-Iran escalation, Brent at $96, Powell hawkish risk

The main May 26 macro story is the US-Iran escalation. The CENTCOM-confirmed defensive strikes on Iranian military targets in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz mark the first direct US military action against Iran since the early-May war theme was rekindled. Brent crude rose to $96 per barrel, WTI to $93. This directly affects global inflation outlook and the Fed's policy trajectory - higher oil means higher inflation and lower probability of a near-term rate cut.

The second macro theme - US 30-year Treasury yield at 5.198%. This is the highest since late 2025 and makes fixed-income alternatives more attractive than risk assets. Markets are pushing rate-cut expectations from Q2 to Q3 or even Q4 - Powell's Monday speech on "the economic outlook" is the week's most important communications event and can push these expectations further.

The third theme - asset-class rotation and the quantum infrastructure strategy. Crypto is underperforming this year vs. gold (+18%), the S&P 500 (+9%) and even Treasury bills (+2.1%) - capital has rotated to safer assets in macro uncertainty. The US Commerce Department's May 22 announcement of $2 billion in quantum technology investment under the CHIPS Act continues to flag a long-term security risk to Bitcoin and other cryptography-dependent systems' cryptographic integrity.

Key numbers - May 26

• BTC: $76,754.77 (-0.8% 24h / -2.7% week / -23% year)
• BTC local Tuesday low: $76,610 after CENTCOM strike news
• ETH: $2,114.51 (-0.5% 24h)
• XRP: $1.36 (-0.5% 24h)
• SOL: $84.60-$85.94 (-0.8% 24h)
• ADA: $0.24 (-0.4% 24h)
• DOGE: $0.10
• TRX: $0.37
• DOT: $1.35
• BNB: ~$630 (-0.7% 24h)
• HYPE: ~$44-$45
• SUI: $1.17
• LINK: $9.25
• AVAX: $9.15
• Total market: ~$2.61-$2.64 trillion
• BTC dominance: ~60%
• Stablecoin segment: $320-$323 billion (USDT ~$190B, USDC ~$77-$78B)
• Monthly USDT growth: ~$5 billion
• Monthly USDC/PYUSD/USDe contraction: ~$42 billion
• 24h liquidations after CENTCOM news: ~$300 million
• Global crypto ETP weekly outflow: $1.47-$1.5 billion (3rd-largest of 2026)
• BTC ETP weekly outflow: $1.315 billion
• ETH ETP weekly outflow: $222 million
• BlackRock IBIT over 5 trading days: ~$1 billion redeemed
• IBIT Friday May 24 outflow: $68.9 million
• IBIT May 18 outflow: $448 million
• CryptoQuant 30-day apparent demand: -147,000 BTC (weakest 2026)
• CryptoPunks floor: 32.99 ETH (~$69,750)
• Brent crude: $96/barrel
• WTI: $93/barrel
• US 30-year Treasury yield: 5.198%
• Polymarket NFT comeback probability: 65%
• Tokenized stocks market: $1.4 billion, ~2,246 assets
• 2026 DeFi stolen funds: $1.1-$1.3 billion

This is the Norriwire daily global crypto market review. All price and flow data verified against Yahoo Finance, Fortune, INN, CoinDesk, Cryptonews, Blockchain Reporter, Invezz, CoinShares, CoinGape, WEEX and Bloomberg publications. Model: claude-opus-4-7. Author and reviewer: Toms Ābeltiņš.