Bitcoin slid to $72,582 on the morning of May 29, marking its lowest level in 14 days. Over the past 24 hours, BTC moved down from $74,552 and was last quoted at $73,826, a decline of 0.97%. That leaves the asset about 9.2% below its May 15 peak of $81,285. Ether also weakened and briefly fell below the $2,000 psychological level, trading in a 24-hour range of $1,967 to $2,030 before changing hands at $2,014, down 0.62%.
$755 Million in Liquidations Hit the Market
The pullback quickly spilled into derivatives. Total liquidations across the crypto market reached $755 million in the last 24 hours, affecting 152,466 traders. Long positions took the largest hit at $651 million, or 86.2% of the total, while short liquidations came in at $104 million, accounting for 13.8%. The single largest liquidation was a $15.34 million BTC-USD position on Hyperliquid. In the last 12 hours alone, liquidations added up to $154 million, pointing to concentrated selling pressure in the latest stretch of trading.
ETH Breaks Below $2,000 While SOL and XRP Diverge
Major altcoins did not move in lockstep. SOL traded between $80.00 and $83.01 over 24 hours and was last at $82.44, down 0.27%, making it relatively resilient on the day, though still about 10.7% below its May 15 high of $92.37. XRP was the only gainer among the four major tokens cited in the source. It rebounded from $1.2677 to $1.3385 over the same period and was last quoted at $1.3165, up 0.59%. Even so, it remained about 11.9% below its May 15 peak of $1.495.
Fed Remarks, ETF Outflows and Geopolitics Add Pressure
The source tied the market weakness to several overlapping catalysts. Fed Governor Waller said on May 28 that there was no urgency to cut rates, pushing back expectations for monetary easing and helping send BTC below $73,000 that day. On the fund flow side, BlackRock's IBIT posted a $733 million net outflow on May 28, close to its largest one-day outflow on record. Combined with a May 26 dark pool sell order of 29.2 million shares, valued at about $1.3 billion, spot Bitcoin ETFs have now recorded eight straight days of net outflows totaling more than $2 billion. Traders are also watching the June 17 FOMC meeting, the first to be chaired by Warsh after taking over from Powell on May 15. Separately, comments from Iran's Revolutionary Guard on May 28 about launching an airstrike against US forces added to risk-off sentiment. Trump Media's withdrawal of applications for a Truth Social Bitcoin ETF and a Bitcoin-plus-Ether ETF added another negative signal.
Fear and Greed Index Drops to 23 as Stocks Push Higher
Market sentiment remained weak. The Fear and Greed Index stood at 23, classified as extreme fear, after a reading of 22 the day before and 28 a week earlier. That places sentiment near its lowest zone of the year for a second straight day. At the same time, US equities moved the other way on May 28, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.59% and the Nasdaq rising 0.82%, both reaching record highs. The contrast between falling crypto prices and rising US stocks was one of the clearest features of the session.