Bitcoin Slides Below $73,000 as ETF Outflows and Options Expiry Pressure Bulls
Bitcoin fell toward $72,600 this week as U.S. spot ETF outflows accelerated and renewed U.S.-Iran tensions drove risk-off sentiment. Sources differ on the scale of the decline, and traders are watching a roughly $6.25 billion options expiry on May 29.
Written by CoinArticle’s AI Newsroom · from 2 cited sources. How we work
Price Action and the Retreat From $80,000
Bitcoin traded near $72,600 to $72,800 on May 28, according to crypto.news and Bitcoin Magazine price data, after failing to reclaim the $80,000 level earlier in the week. The sources differ on the size of the weekly move: Bitcoin Magazine reports a decline of more than 5.5% over five days from above $77,000, while crypto.news reports a drop of more than 4% over 24 hours. Both describe the move as a continuation of a pullback from early May highs above $82,000.
Ethereum, Solana, XRP, BNB and Hyperliquid also posted sharp losses, and crypto crypto.news data put total market capitalization below $2.5 trillion.
ETF Outflows and Institutional Demand
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $733.43 million on Wednesday, the largest combined daily outflow since late January, according to both outlets. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for $527.84 million of that figure, its second-largest single-day withdrawal since its January 2024 launch. Bitcoin Magazine notes the record remains roughly $500,000 higher. Grayscale's GBTC lost $104.76 million and Fidelity's FBTC lost $60.30 million, while Morgan Stanley's MSBT was the only fund with inflows, at $4.3 million.
The sources frame the broader trend differently. Crypto.news says spot ETFs have shed more than $3 billion over three weeks and that the Coinbase Premium has turned negative. Bitcoin Magazine emphasizes context: IBIT remains up more than $2 billion year to date and has $64 billion in lifetime net inflows, so Wednesday's outflow represents less than 1% of that total. Bitcoin Magazine also reports that net ETF accumulation for the year had thinned to about 4,500 BTC, with May shifting from net buying in March and April to net distribution.
Bitcoin Magazine also flags a $1.29 billion IBIT block sale on Tuesday, executed as a dark-pool trade of 29.2 million shares. Because a block trade is privately negotiated, it does not by itself register as a fund outflow. IBIT's actual net outflow on Tuesday was $192.44 million, according to the same report. Bitget Wallet analyst Lacie Zhang described the market as having absorbed the sale without disorder, while characterizing continued outflows as a period of institutional cooling.
Macro and Geopolitical Drivers
Both outlets tie the sell-off to geopolitical risk. Crypto.news cites rising oil prices and uncertainty around potential Strait of Hormuz disruptions and U.S.-Iran negotiations, which it says have complicated expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts ahead of U.S. inflation data. Bitcoin Magazine identifies a fresh round of U.S. airstrikes on an Iranian military site near the Strait of Hormuz as the immediate catalyst for Thursday's move below $73,000.
Options Expiry and Leverage
Deribit data cited by crypto.news shows more than $6.25 billion in Bitcoin options, about 85,679 BTC, expiring Friday, May 29. The largest call concentration sits near $80,000 and heavy put positioning near $75,000, with Deribit's max pain level at $75,000. Analyst Ardi said that price moving away from major options zones into expiry can trap one side of the market, which in this case is bulls. CoinGlass data reports nearly $330 million in Bitcoin long liquidations over 24 hours and more than $870 million across the broader market. Technically, crypto.news reports that BTC has broken below several short-term moving averages, with the RSI near 35 and no confirmed bullish divergence yet.
Why It Matters
For Traders
Bitcoin sits well below the $75,000 max pain and $80,000 call concentration ahead of the May 29 expiry, so positioning around that settlement may add near-term volatility.
For Investors
Sustained ETF outflows, which have reduced the year's net accumulation to a thin level, suggest institutional demand has cooled and merits monitoring against the fund's still-large cumulative inflows.
For Builders
The dark-pool IBIT block trade absorbed without disorder shows large ETF-routed sales can clear without visible crashes, which bears on how liquidity assumptions are built into products.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
