The crypto market weakened overall on Thursday, with Bitcoin briefly falling below $73,000 and Ethereum dropping below the $2,000 mark. The market decline coincided with two factors: renewed tensions in the Middle East and continued large redemptions from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Continuous outflows from ETFs are pressuring the market.
Data shows that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of $733.4 million on Tuesday, the largest single-day outflow since the end of January this year. When combined with Monday’s outflow of $333.6 million, total outflows over the two days have exceeded $1 billion.
Since May 15, Bitcoin spot ETFs have experienced eight consecutive trading days of net outflows, totaling over $2.6 billion. During the same period, Ethereum spot ETFs also recorded net outflows of $67 million.
Major cryptocurrencies and options expiration coincide
As of press time, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $73,260, down about 3.4% over the past 24 hours, reaching its lowest level in nearly six weeks. Ethereum was trading around $1,983, falling below $2,000 for the first time since April, with its year-to-date decline expanding to approximately 33%.
Other major tokens also faced widespread pressure, with Solana dropping around 4%. HYPE, which has been one of the top performers this year, also fell approximately 10% today, despite the associated ETF still recording modest net inflows. Additionally, around $6.25 billion in crypto options expired today, with the largest open interest centered near $75,000, further amplifying short-term volatility.
Geopolitical risks and industry news proceed in parallel.
The market is also being affected by the escalation of the situation in Iran. Risk assets have generally weakened, with U.S. stock futures declining and Nasdaq futures falling by approximately 0.5%, while oil prices rose by about 2%. In contrast, crypto assets experienced larger declines, reflecting their heightened sensitivity to changes in risk appetite.
Even as prices face pressure, Jefferies still expects the total market capitalization of crypto-related companies in public markets to rise to $1 trillion as more crypto firms move toward IPOs. The firm cited potential IPO candidates including Payward, parent company of Kraken, Securitize, Blockchain.com, and Gemini.
Additional information: This week, U.S. prosecutors also disclosed an insider trading case related to Polymarket, in which a Google security engineer is accused of using non-public search data to place bets and profit approximately $1.2 million. Polymarket is also moving toward broader mandatory KYC measures to address increasing regulatory pressures.