Key Highlights
- Shorts accounted for 57.5% of 24-hour liquidations, marking the first short-led liquidation split since the May 12 selloff began.
- Bitcoin climbed back above $77,000 as total crypto market cap recovered to $2.57 trillion, though ETF outflows remained negative.
- Crypto stocks turned green, led by miners, while XRP and SOL ETFs continued to attract positive inflows despite BTC and ETH outflows.
On May 20th, a key indicator wasn’t the price change, but rather a shift in who was losing money. For the first time since the market downturn began on May 12th, data from CoinGlass showed that more short positions (57.5%) were being closed due to losses than long positions (42.5%). This is a significant change from Monday, when long positions accounted for 88% of the $814 million in liquidations. By Wednesday, short positions led liquidations at $178.82 million, indicating a fundamental change in how traders are positioned. As a result, Bitcoin rose to $77,184, a 0.73% increase and its first positive session in six days. The total value of the crypto market recovered to $2.57 trillion, with $71.26 billion traded.
Bonfida and Lighter lead the gainer board with real volume
On May 20th, two tokens stood out with significant trading activity. Bonfida increased by 46.7% with $103.6 million in trades, indicating possible investment from larger firms. Lighter rose 27.6% on $81.6 million in volume. While the next three top performers – Derive, Purr, and Banana For Scale – saw gains of 36.8%, 30.4%, and 24.7% respectively, overall trading volume was stronger than the previous day, which was heavily influenced by speculative ‘meme’ tokens.
| Top gainers | Price | 24h volume | 24h move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonfida (FIDA) | $0.02929 | $103.56M | +46.7% |
| Derive (DRV) | $0.1055 | $3.18M | +36.8% |
| Purr (PURR) | $0.1049 | $4.15M | +30.4% |
| Lighter (LIT) | $1.25 | $81.63M | +27.6% |
| Banana For Scale (BANANAS31) | $0.01237 | $45.06M | +24.7% |
Bonfida is currently showing the strongest performance. Its token has more than doubled in value since its low point in May, and trading activity has increased as overall confidence in the Solana network improves. The $81.6 million in trading volume for Lighter, priced at $1.25, is also significant – this DeFi platform specializing in derivatives is gaining traction as the market recovers from the May downturn.
Losers show Monday’s momentum fading
As expected, the market saw a typical shift today: stocks that performed well yesterday declined. Ronin, which jumped 34% on Tuesday, fell by 10.8%. Billions Network continued its losing streak, dropping another 13.3%.
| Top losers | Price | 24h volume | 24h move |
|---|---|---|---|
| INI | $0.08136 | $637.97K | -35.6% |
| Superfortune (GUA) | $1.26 | $5.01M | -17.6% |
| Billions Network (BILL) | $0.09859 | $112.21M | -13.3% |
| Rollbit Coin (RLB) | $0.05686 | $641.90K | -11.8% |
| Ronin (RON) | $0.1036 | $15.83M | -10.8% |
As a crypto investor, I’m watching Billions Network closely, and honestly, I’m a little concerned. It’s been dropping for two days straight, and today saw a huge $112 million in trading volume – the most of anything losing value right now. This isn’t just a natural cool-down after a price surge; it looks like people are actively selling, and it’s fallen quite a bit since peaking in mid-May.
Bitcoin and ETH catch a bid after seven-session slide
On May 20th, Bitcoin hit a high of $77,184, a 0.73% increase over the previous 24 hours – its highest point since Friday. Ethereum also rose, reaching $2,130, up 0.8%, and Solana increased by 1.45% to $85.79. These gains ended a recent trend of daily price drops that had been happening since May 12th.
| Asset | Price | 24h move |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $77,184.68 | +0.73% |
| Ethereum | $2,130.51 | +0.8% |
| BNB | $646.63 | -1.17% |
| Solana | $85.79 | +1.45% |
| XRP | $1.3696 | +0.13% |
While Bitcoin has seen a recent price increase, it’s not a strong or lasting one. It’s still about 6% below its 200-day moving average (around $82,228), and overall, the price is still down for the week. According to Wintermute, the recent gains weren’t due to people actually buying Bitcoin, but rather from leveraged trading and traders covering their short positions. However, today’s price action suggests that those betting against Bitcoin (bears) are now facing losses, which is a more positive sign than what we’ve seen over the past week where those who bet on Bitcoin rising were losing money.
Shorts pay the bill for the first time in May
The most significant takeaway from this session is a major drop in liquidations. CoinGlass data shows total liquidations reached $178.82 million, a 78% decrease from Monday’s $814.50 million. A total of 67,585 traders were liquidated. Notably, short positions accounted for the majority of these liquidations at $102.76 million (57.5%), compared to $76.05 million (42.5%) for long positions.
| Liquidation metric | 24h data | vs. Monday |
|---|---|---|
| Total liquidations | $178.82M | Down from $814.50M (-78%) |
| Short liquidations | $102.76M (57.5%) | Up from $94.64M (11.6%) |
| Long liquidations | $76.05M (42.5%) | Down from $719.86M (88.4%) |
| Traders liquidated | 67,585 | Down from 123,091 |
| Largest single liquidation | $3.97M BTC/USD on Bybit | Down from $28.49M on Bitget |
| Timeframe | Total | Long | Short |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1h | $6.03M | $3.35M | $2.68M |
| 4h | $85.56M | $36.18M | $49.38M |
| 12h | $118.26M | $41.82M | $76.44M |
| 24h | $178.82M | $76.05M | $102.76M |
The fact that liquidations totaled $49.38 million in shorts compared to $36.18 million in longs over a four-hour period is significant. It suggests traders are currently betting more on price declines than increases, and the recent price increase is primarily benefiting those short positions. Historically, when liquidations shift from being mostly long to mostly short, it indicates that the period of forced selling is ending and prices can start moving freely in either direction.
Liquidations by asset
| Asset | 24h liquidations |
|---|---|
| BTC | $35.93M |
| ETH | $30.78M |
| XYZ:CL | $13.26M |
| ZEC | $11.50M |
| HYPE | $10.96M |
| BSB | $6.42M |
| SOL | $4.20M |
Bitcoin and Ethereum are currently very close in liquidation volume, at $35.93 million and $30.78 million respectively. This is a shift from last week, when Ethereum consistently had higher liquidations. Zcash liquidations reached $11.50 million, indicating that traders are closing out leveraged positions built up during the price increase in early May. Hyperliquid continues to see a lot of trading activity for its size, with $10.96 million in liquidations.
ETF flows: Outflows moderate but the streak continues
Data from SoSoValue on May 19th indicates that while both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs still experienced outflows, the rate of those outflows slowed down considerably compared to Monday.
Bitcoin spot ETFs (May 19)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Daily total net inflow | -$331.05M |
| Cumulative total net inflow | $57.36B |
| Total net assets | $100.29B (6.50% of BTC market cap) |
| Total value traded | $1.41B |
| Fund | Ticker | May 19 flow | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | IBIT | -$325.58M | $61.99B |
| Fidelity | FBTC | -$1.67M | $14.21B |
| Grayscale | GBTC | $0.00 | $11.41B |
| Ark & 21Shares | ARKB | $0.00 | $2.56B |
Outflows totaled $331.05 million, a significant drop from Monday’s $648.64 million, though still substantial. The vast majority of these outflows – $325.58 million, or 98% – came from IBIT, while FBTC saw only $1.67 million in outflows and other funds remained stable. Total net assets for all Bitcoin ETFs have fallen to $100.29 billion, just above the key $100 billion mark.
Ethereum spot ETFs (May 19)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Daily total net inflow | -$62.30M |
| Cumulative total net inflow | $11.68B |
| Total net assets | $12.14B (4.75% of ETH market cap) |
| Fund | Ticker | May 19 flow |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | ETHA | -$59.37M |
| Fidelity | FETH | -$3.68M |
| Bitwise | ETHW | +$756.33K |
Outflows from Ethereum (ETH) ETFs decreased a bit, going from a loss of $86.31 million on Monday to $62.30 million. Most of the selling came from the ETHA fund, accounting for $59.37 million – or 95% of the total outflows. There was a small positive sign, however: Bitwise’s ETHW fund saw inflows of $756.33K, marking the first positive flow for any ETH ETF in more than a week.
Altcoin ETFs: XRP and SOL stay positive
| Asset | May 19 flow | Cumulative | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| XRP | +$1.48M | $1.39B | $1.12B |
| SOL | +$3.78M | $1.12B | $957.93M |
XRP saw a gain of $1.48 million, all of which came from Franklin’s XRPZ fund. Solana (SOL) increased by $3.78 million, largely driven by a $3.22 million inflow into Fidelity’s FSOL, with VanEck’s VSOL adding another $560,000. This marks the third week in a row that alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) have seen positive inflows, even as Bitcoin and Ethereum experience outflows – a notable difference in how institutions are investing compared to earlier in the year.
Crypto stocks turn green as miners lead the recovery
After several days of declines, cryptocurrency stocks generally rose today, with companies involved in crypto mining seeing the biggest gains. Data from SoSoValue, focusing specifically on companies directly involved in the crypto industry, confirms this trend.
| Stock | Price | Day change | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| IREN | $51.59 | +8.06% | Mining |
| Hut8 (HUT) | $97.455 | +4.44% | Mining |
| Bitmine (BMNR) | $19.33 | +3.76% | Mining |
| Block (XYZ) | $71.31 | +3.09% | BTC Treasury |
| GameStop (GME) | $22.58 | +2.17% | BTC Treasury |
| TeraWulf (WULF) | $21.715 | +1.76% | Mining |
| Robinhood (HOOD) | $75.444 | +1.73% | Exchange |
| Strategy (MSTR) | $167.12 | +1.51% | BTC Treasury |
| Circle (CRCL) | $112.03 | +0.90% | Stablecoin |
| Coinbase (COIN) | $194.55 | +0.57% | BTC Treasury |
| Figma (FIG) | $22.31 | -4.13% | BTC Treasury |
IREN saw the biggest gains, rising 8.06% and making back much of the 7.55% it lost yesterday. The mining industry as a whole recovered well, with companies like IREN, Hut8, Bitmine, and TeraWulf all increasing in value between 1.76% and 8.06%. This positive movement seems to be a direct result of Bitcoin’s price going back up, exceeding $77,000. Figma was the only stock that declined, falling 4.13%.
Sentiment
The Fear & Greed Index remains at 39, indicating fear. This is the same level as yesterday, but an improvement from Monday’s low of 37. This stability is encouraging because the index isn’t falling further, even though investors are still selling off ETFs. This suggests the most intense period of panic may be over, although investors aren’t fully confident yet.
| Sentiment metric | Latest reading | Market read |
|---|---|---|
| Fear & Greed Index | 39 (Fear) | Stable; no further deterioration |
| Altcoin Season Index | 39/100 | Up from 30 Monday; alts recovering relative to BTC |
| CMC 20 Index | $155.80 (+0.56%) | First positive session in a week |
| Market cap | $2.57T | Recovering from $2.54T Monday |
| 24h volume | $71.26B | Declining from panic levels; normalizing |
As a researcher tracking the crypto market, I’ve observed a notable shift recently. Our Altcoin Season Index has jumped from 30 to 39 in just three days – that’s the quickest recovery we’ve seen all month. While we’re still technically in a ‘Bitcoin Season’ where Bitcoin dominates, things are changing. Today, Solana (SOL) actually performed better than Bitcoin, rising 1.45% compared to Bitcoin’s 0.73%. This is a typical sign that altcoins are starting to recover after Bitcoin experiences a price drop.
Macro context
| Macro factor | Status | Crypto relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Brent crude | $106.18 (-4.58%) | Eases energy-driven inflation narrative |
| U.S.-Iran | Strikes called off; tensions easing | Contributing to oil drop |
| 30-year yield | Still near 5.1% | Structural headwind persists |
| FOMC minutes | Expected this week | Warsh-era policy clues |
As a crypto investor, I’m really paying attention to the recent drop in oil prices. Brent crude falling from over $112 to $106 is a big deal because it takes some pressure off inflation, which was a major driver behind the recent CPI numbers and why everyone thought interest rates would stay high. That whole situation actually triggered the sell-off we saw in May, so this oil price move could be a positive sign for crypto.
Levels to watch
Bitcoin is currently trading between $75,000 and $78,606. If the price closes above $78,606, it suggests the recent price dip is over. However, if it falls below $75,000, it could drop to $73,911 and potentially as low as $71,813 – around the April 12th low. Bitcoin has been trading within this range for the past three days.
Ethereum is currently facing a resistance level around $2,150, meaning it needs to break past this price to continue rising. According to Thomas Lee at Fundstrat, Ethereum and oil prices have been moving in opposite directions more strongly than ever before. With oil prices dropping 4.5% today, this could give Ethereum a significant boost if that trend continues.
Market outlook
The market update from May 20th shows the most positive shift since the recent price drop. While Bitcoin only increased by 1.2% – a small change considering the 7% decline over the past week – the underlying market dynamics have changed. For the first time, those betting against Bitcoin (short sellers) are experiencing the most losses. The amount of money leaving Bitcoin ETFs has also decreased significantly, falling from $648 million to $331 million. Additionally, stocks in crypto and mining companies have started to rise (4-8%), and oil prices have fallen sharply by 4.5%. Overall, indicators that were consistently negative between May 12th and 19th are now showing mixed signals or improvement.
It’s unclear if the recent price increase is just a temporary bounce back or the beginning of a sustained recovery. The answer hinges on whether the selling of ETFs slows down (or even turns into buying) and if Bitcoin can stay above $76,000 for the rest of the week. While the recent liquidations suggest the worst of the selling is likely over, that doesn’t necessarily mean prices will quickly rebound. The most likely scenario for the next two days is that prices will remain stable, fluctuating between $76,000 and $78,600, rather than experiencing a sharp, V-shaped recovery.
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2026-05-20 20:40