Key Highlights
- Worldcoin surged 30.9% to $0.3946 as AI-identity and infrastructure tokens led the market.
- ZEC open interest dropped 12.79% to $1.51 billion, signaling heavy profit-taking after its weekly rally.
- Bitcoin held near $77,184 while Ethereum traded around $2,124, leaving majors in consolidation.
On May 26th, the cryptocurrency market paused, with Bitcoin and Ethereum remaining relatively stable. Investors began shifting their money into tokens related to artificial intelligence and the infrastructure that supports it. Worldcoin saw the biggest gains, jumping 30.9% to $0.3946, fueled by growing interest in its AI-powered identity system and pushing its total market value above $920 million.
NEAR maintained its price around $2.85, increasing by 9.5%. Meanwhile, interest in Zcash (ZEC) decreased by 12.79% in the last 24 hours – the largest drop for any major cryptocurrency this month. This suggests investors are selling to take profits after Zcash’s strong 28.6% gain over the past week.
Worldcoin and NEAR saw significant decreases in investment, indicating a shift away from those tokens. Meanwhile, a large drop in open interest for Zcash (ZEC) suggests the recent gains for privacy coins may be slowing down.
Rain, Worldcoin, and the AI-infrastructure rotation
On May 26, the biggest gains in the cryptocurrency market were seen in tokens related to artificial intelligence and the infrastructure that supports it. Rain saw the largest increase, jumping 37.9%, while Worldcoin was close behind with a 30.9% gain – making it the largest token to increase by over 30% this month, excluding HYPE. Other top performers included Aztec (+26.8%), io.net (+26.7%), and Drift Protocol (+24.1%).
| Top gainers | Price | 24h move |
|---|---|---|
| Rain | $0.01087 | +37.9% |
| Worldcoin (WLD) | $0.3946 | +30.9% |
| Aztec | $0.02759 | +26.8% |
| io.net | $0.182 | +26.7% |
| Drift Protocol | $0.04242 | +24.1% |
| Nockchain | $0.03574 | +21.9% |
| Keeta | $0.2024 | +17.6% |
| ASI (Artificial Superintelligence Alliance) | $0.2513 | +16.7% |
Worldcoin is currently experiencing the most substantial gains. With a market value of $920 million and $175.7 million traded in the last 24 hours, it’s a significant move beyond a small, insignificant project. This growth is fueled by the increasing adoption of World ID, a verification system created by Sam Altman, and the growing interest in AI-based identity solutions. Gains in ASI (+16.7%) and io.net (+26.7%) confirm this trend: investors are specifically putting money into tokens that build the infrastructure for AI, rather than just speculative AI-related projects.
Stocks that had risen yesterday generally fell today. Monji plummeted 48.7% and Block Street dropped 38.8% with significant trading activity. Citrea and Xphere also saw declines, giving up some of their recent gains, falling 32.1% and 23.9% respectively. Billions Network has now been among the day’s biggest losers in five of the last seven trading days.
| Top losers | Price | 24h move |
|---|---|---|
| Monji | $0.01234 | -48.7% |
| Block Street (BSB) | $0.6064 | -38.8% |
| Citrea | $0.02516 | -32.1% |
| Xphere | $0.03827 | -23.9% |
| Billions Network (BILL) | $0.08874 | -21.3% |
| SEDA | $0.04835 | -17.0% |
| Nexus | $0.053637 | -15.5% |
| SkyAI | $0.2474 | -15.4% |
BTC and ETH drift flat as weekly picture turns green
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum saw small drops in price today, but they’re now showing a slight gain for the week – up 0.4% and 0.3% respectively. This is the first weekly increase since prices began to fall.
| Asset | Price | 24h move | 7d move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $77,184.51 | -0.1% | +0.4% |
| Ethereum | $2,124.03 | -0.5% | +0.3% |
| BNB | $662.93 | -1.2% | +3.4% |
| XRP | $1.35 | -0.1% | -1.5% |
| Solana | $85.44 | -0.5% | +0.9% |
| TRX | $0.375 | -1.4% | +5.7% |
| DOGE | $0.1026 | -0.2% | +1.1% |
Looking at the weekly charts, the crypto market is showing positive signs. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Solana, Tron, and Dogecoin all increased in value this week – it’s the first time most of the top 10 cryptocurrencies have had weekly gains since early May. Tron saw the biggest jump at +5.7%, followed by Binance Coin at +3.4% and Solana at +0.9%. Only XRP experienced a loss this week, dropping by -1.5%. For most major cryptocurrencies, the price drops seen between May 12th and 18th have now been recovered.
ZEC OI crashes 12.79% — the privacy rally pauses
ZEC open interest fell sharply by 12.79% in the last 24 hours, reaching $1.51 billion. This was the largest single-day decrease in open interest for any cryptocurrency this month, and it happened across all major exchanges.
| Exchange | ZEC OI | 24h OI change |
|---|---|---|
| Gate | $26.50M | -21.36% |
| OKX | $82.15M | -18.07% |
| Bitget | $83.32M | -17.66% |
| Bybit | $138.93M | -16.67% |
| Hyperliquid | $387.53M | -13.93% |
| Binance | $378.00M | -13.46% |
| KuCoin | $163.21M | -7.16% |
As a researcher, I’ve been tracking Zcash (ZEC) and noticed something interesting after its recent 28.6% weekly jump to $674.82. We’re seeing typical profit-taking – traders are securing gains by closing out leveraged positions after such a substantial increase. What’s encouraging is that, despite a 12.79% drop in Open Interest, the spot price only decreased by 4.7% during the day. This suggests the selling was controlled and not a panicked rush to exit positions. The rally might take a breather now, but the core reasons people are interested in ZEC – its privacy features and potential benefits from regulatory changes – still seem strong.
HYPE OI surges 9.76% in 4 hours as funding stays negative
Zcash (ZEC) saw a decrease in its positions, while interest in HYPE significantly increased, jumping 9.76% in just four hours – the largest surge of the day. Currently, there’s $2.89 billion worth of HYPE tokens in open interest, totaling 45.53 million tokens.
| Exchange | HYPE OI | 4h OI change |
|---|---|---|
| BingX | $82.95M | +18.27% |
| OKX | $115.75M | +14.93% |
| MEXC | $74.68M | +14.03% |
| Bitunix | $25.89M | +18.35% |
| KuCoin | $104.03M | +10.26% |
| Binance | $437.76M | +7.48% |
HYPE is currently experiencing very negative funding rates (-0.0043% on Binance, -0.0096% on OKX), which means traders who are betting against the price (shorts) are actually paying those betting on it (longs) to maintain their positions. This, combined with increasing open interest, suggests a potential price squeeze is building. New short positions are being opened, but they’re losing value due to these funding costs. If HYPE’s price stays above $60, these short sellers will likely be forced to buy back their positions to cut their losses.
NEAR funding hits -0.035% — shorts paying the most in the top 20
As a crypto investor, I’ve been watching NEAR’s funding rates closely, and they’re currently the most negative of any top 20 coin on Binance and OKX. Basically, traders who are betting *against* NEAR (shorting it) are having to pay a pretty hefty fee – around 3.5% every eight hours, which works out to roughly 38% per year – just to keep their positions open. It’s a strong signal that the market is leaning towards a price increase, as shorts are willing to pay a significant premium to avoid getting squeezed.
| Asset | Binance funding | OKX funding | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEAR | -0.0354% | -0.0297% | Most negative in top 20 |
| HYPE | -0.0043% | -0.0096% | Shorts paying longs |
| BTC | +0.0035% | +0.0048% | Mildly bullish |
| ETH | +0.0059% | +0.0034% | Mildly bullish |
| SOL | +0.0047% | +0.0072% | Bullish |
| XRP | +0.0063% | +0.0100% | Bullish |
| ZEC | +0.0082% | +0.0100% | Bullish despite OI drop |
Funding rates show a divide in the market. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Zcash are all experiencing positive funding rates, which is typical when prices are slightly increasing. However, NEAR and HYPE have significantly negative funding rates, meaning traders are betting against their recent price increases, even though they’ve risen 48.9% and 36.5% this week. Usually, when funding is this negative during a rally, it leads to a ‘short squeeze’ – a rapid price increase – rather than a price drop.
Longs lead liquidations again as four-day short streak ends
Crypto liquidations surged to $233.05 million, impacting over 85,600 traders – a significant increase from the $147.60 million seen the previous day. Notably, long positions accounted for the majority of these liquidations (53.5%, or $124.57 million), while short positions made up 46.5% ($108.48 million). This marks the end of a three-day period where short positions were primarily being liquidated.
| Liquidation metric | 24h data | vs. yesterday |
|---|---|---|
| Total liquidations | $233.05M | Up from $147.60M |
| Long liquidations | $124.57M (53.5%) | Longs leading again |
| Short liquidations | $108.48M (46.5%) | Down from 54.4% |
| Traders liquidated | 85,613 | Up from 62,335 |
| Largest single liquidation | $8.01M BTC-USD on Hyperliquid | Up from $10.52M |
Liquidations by asset
| Asset | 24h liquidations |
|---|---|
| BTC | $51.67M |
| ETH | $43.78M |
| Others | $24.44M |
| NEAR | $16.39M |
| WLD | $11.54M |
| ZEC | $11.45M |
| HYPE | $9.71M |
| SOL | $6.45M |
Recent liquidations of NEAR ($16.39 million) and WLD ($11.54 million) show how unstable AI-related tokens are, with traders taking strong positions on both sides. The balance between long and short positions has shifted from 45.6/54.4 yesterday to 53.5/46.5 today, indicating the market is likely to trade within a range rather than experience a continued strong price movement in one direction.
Recent trading data over the last four hours shows a surprising trend: most exchanges – Binance, Hyperliquid, OKX, and Bybit – are currently seeing more short positions being liquidated than long positions. This is despite the fact that, looking at the last 24 hours overall, long positions have been more frequently liquidated. Essentially, while the overall trend favors liquidating long positions, the most recent trading activity is still heavily impacting short positions.
Open interest overview
| Asset | OI | 24h change | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | $54.78B | -0.24% | Flat; consolidation |
| ETH | $32.01B | -0.09% | Flat |
| SOL | $5.52B | -1.16% | Mild deleveraging |
| HYPE | $2.89B | -0.45% (but +9.76% in 4h) | Short-term buildup |
| ZEC | $1.51B | -12.79% | Aggressive profit-taking |
Bitcoin and Ethereum open interest haven’t changed much – it’s the first time in two weeks that neither has seen a large increase or decrease. This typically happens when the market is pausing to figure out its next step, instead of strongly betting on a price increase or decrease.
Sentiment
The Fear & Greed Index remains at 41, indicating a neutral market sentiment, after rising to that level yesterday. While it’s still considered a ‘Bitcoin Season,’ the Altcoin Season Index is at 36 out of 100, and mid-sized cryptocurrencies like NEAR, HYPE, WLD, and ZEC have shown much stronger weekly gains compared to Bitcoin.
| Sentiment metric | Latest reading | Market read |
|---|---|---|
| Fear & Greed Index | 41 (Neutral) | Stable at Neutral for 3 of last 4 days |
| Altcoin Season Index | 36/100 | Bitcoin Season but mid-cap led |
| BTC funding | +0.0050% (OI-weighted) | Mildly bullish |
| ETH funding | +0.0061% (OI-weighted) | Mildly bullish |
Levels to watch
Bitcoin has been trading in a narrow range between $76,500 and $78,000 for the past week. A significant amount of call options at $79,000 on Deribit suggests that if the price breaks above that level, it could trigger a wave of buying. Currently, the $76,000 level continues to act as strong support, having held for over a week.
Ethereum is currently trading around $2,124 and is struggling to break past resistance at $2,150. While open interest remains stable and funding rates are slightly positive, with a small weekly increase of 0.3%, the conditions for a price increase are forming, but there isn’t strong confidence yet.
Market outlook
The market recording from May 26th shows a stabilization after the sell-off between May 12th and 18th, but it’s still waiting for a strong reason to move significantly in one direction. Looking at the weekly performance, Bitcoin is up slightly at +0.4%, Ethereum at +0.3%, Binance Coin at +3.4%, and Solana at +0.9% – indicating the recent downturn has been fully recovered. However, daily price changes are less than 1%, open interest remains steady, and liquidations are roughly equal on both sides.
Right now, smaller-sized cryptocurrencies are seeing the most activity. Coins like Worldcoin (+30.9%), NEAR (+9.5% today, +48.9% in the last week), HYPE (+36.5% in the last week), ZEC (+28.6% in the last week), and Grass (+43.9% in the last week) are attracting investment. The biggest trend driving this is AI infrastructure – specifically coins like NEAR, io.net, ASI, and Drift. Interestingly, there’s a lot of betting *against* NEAR and HYPE, but those bets are currently losing, suggesting these coins will likely continue to rise.
The recent sharp drop in open interest for ZEC (12.79%) is something to keep an eye on. If the price stays above $650 over the weekend, even after some traders closed their positions, it suggests the recent price increase for privacy coins might continue. However, if the price falls below $650, we could see a larger price drop as more traders sell off their holdings.
For the next two days, Bitcoin is expected to stay between $76,500 and $78,000. Investors are currently favoring mid-sized cryptocurrencies. The market is pausing, waiting for a significant event – like new information from the Federal Reserve, a change in the flow of money into Bitcoin ETFs, or a global event – to push the price higher or lower.
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2026-05-26 17:58