Bitcoin fell back under $78,000 after failing near recent range highs, and Glassnode says options positioning still points to caution. The data highlights lower implied volatility, persistent demand for downside hedges, and a short-gamma area around the mid-$75,000s that could intensify weakness if price drifts lower. BTC was last noted at $76,744 at press time.

Bitcoin derivatives positioning is rebuilding after an roughly eight-month deleveraging stretch, as Binance futures open interest moved back above its 180-day moving average. The shift was flagged by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, who said the contraction started after the October 10 event and later began to reverse in early May. BTC was trading at $77,479 at press time.

XRP saw a notable burst in address creation, with 4,300 new wallets added over 24 hours, ranking as 2026's fourth-largest spike. Santiment said network growth can be a leading signal for potential reversals and paired the surge with metrics that it argues place XRP in a comparatively lower-risk zone. In a livestream, Brian Quinlivan highlighted negative MVRV readings and softer crowd sentiment as part of the same setup.

Analyst Michaël van de Poppe says SUI is being overlooked despite ongoing infrastructure and institutional-facing progress, as attention centered on the token's drop from $5.35 to about $0.90. He highlighted milestones such as a fifth spot crypto ETP listed in February 2026, CME futures going live, and March stablecoin transfers surpassing $1 trillion, while SUI traded at $1.0896 at press time.

On May 21, 2026, Arkham said Hyperliquid "flipped" Solana by fully diluted valuation (FDV), with its dashboard showing HYPE at $56.71 and an FDV near $54.57 billion versus SOL around $86.51 and roughly $54.22 billion. The same figures showed a much smaller circulating market cap for Hyperliquid at about $13.28 billion compared with Solana near $49.99 billion, alongside $1.20 billion and $2.74 billion in 24-hour volume, respectively.

Dogecoin spot ETFs have picked up inflows in May, reaching $2,154,380.79 month-to-date through May 19 with no outflow days during the period shown. The gains were driven by five positive sessions, including an $860,958 inflow on May 18, while eight sessions logged zero net inflow. DOGE was trading at $0.10 at press time.

Wintermute said in its May 18 market update that Bitcoin's recent push higher failed its first major macro test and was driven more by leverage and short covering than sustained spot demand. The firm cited hotter inflation, higher Treasury yields, ETF outflows and renewed rate-hike pricing, noting BTC reversed after briefly topping $82,000 and ended the week near $78,000, with weekend moves toward $77,000 tied to $657 million in liquidations. Wintermute said $76,000–$78,000 is the near-term support zone, while a drop below $75,000 could put $70,000–$72,000 back in view; BTC was $77,297 at press time.

Bitcoin’s rebound from April lows has run into a combined technical and on-chain resistance area, with CryptoQuant research head Julio Moreno warning that correction risk is rising. CryptoQuant’s May 13 report highlighted the 200-day moving average at $82.4K after a 37% rally, alongside elevated unrealized profits, heavier profit-taking in spot and futures, and softer US demand. At press time, BTC was trading at $76,961.

ONDO rose roughly 16% after reports that the SEC is preparing a framework that could let tokenized stocks trade via crypto infrastructure. The token changed hands around $0.390, up 15.5% over 24 hours, with about $228 million in daily volume and a market cap near $1.9 billion. The report said the SEC could unveil an “innovation exemption” as soon as this week.