Crypto Bloodbath: Why Markets Are Tanking on May 19, 2025
Another brutal red day hits digital assets—BTC plunges 8% as institutional traders flee ’overheated’ altcoin positions. Here’s what’s rattling the cages:
Macro Shockwaves: Fed Chair Powell’s surprise hawkish pivot triggers risk-off tsunami. Traders now pricing in two more rate hikes by Q3—because clearly 2024’s recession never happened.
Binance Blues: BNB tumbles 12% after exchange reports ’unexpected liquidity pressures’ (translation: another VIP client just got margin-called).
DeFi Dominoes: Total Value Locked drops below $80B as yield farmers finally realize 2000% APYs might be... unsustainable.
Silver lining? Bitcoin’s hash rate just hit an ATH—miners clearly believe this dip’s a buying opportunity. Or they’re desperately trying to offset their underwater ASIC loans.
Why Is Crypto Down Today – May 19, 2025: Crypto Winners & Losers
Not a single coin among the top 10 coins per market cap has seen its price increase today.recorded the highest loss. It’s down 4.8% to the price of $2,386.
The smallest decrease is recorded by, having dropped 0.9%, now trading at $103,011. This is a significant pullback from the briefly held daily high of $106,518. Notably, this was also its high for the past week.
Only four of the top 100 coins saw their prices rise in this same time frame.is the day’s best performer, with an increase of 4.5%, now changing hands at $1.82.
On the other hand,fell the most in this category: 7.1% to $399. It’s followed by6.1% to $0.3569.
Meanwhile, Virtuals is a protocol for tokenized AI agents onEthereum layer-2, which yesterday announced “more traffic coming [Base’s] way.”
Better discovery. Deeper analysis. @arbusai is now live on Virtuals Protocol. https://t.co/tTRSmx0Wl5 pic.twitter.com/W3bTjBiXh9
— Virtuals Protocol (@virtuals_io) May 18, 2025At the same time, it announced that, from the AI market intelligence layer, has gone live on Virtuals.
Overall, the day’s pullback seems to be driven by liquidations, currently standing at $669.12 million over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin May Surge to $136,000 Soon
John Glover, Chief Investment Officer at crypto lending platformand formermanaging director, says he expects to see a short-lived Bitcoin correction before the next leg higher towards $136,000.
“The BTC price action is tracking the projected line nicely,” Glover says. He expects a short-lived correction into the mid-$80,000 region to complete wave (ii) of Wave 5.
Once that wave is done, the next impulsive move WOULD be higher to target $120,000, with the ultimate target of $136,000 later in the year or early next year “to complete Wave 5 (orange line) of the bull run.”
Per Glover, “keep in mind that wave (i) can be completely retraced by wave (ii), so a retest of the $74,5000 low of Wave IV is not out of the question. But my expectations continue to be for a rally to $133,000-$136,000 into the end of this year/beginning of next.”
Meanwhile, Adam Back, CEO of blockchain tech company, recently argued that BTC is significantly undervalued and could hit $1 million per coin during the current market cycle.
He said that the four-year cycle in BTC’s price action stretches with time and that we’re early in this cycle. “I’m thinking this cycle could get quite high […] $500,000 to $1 million, because there’s a lot going on.”
The catalysts include the US approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and crypto-friendly political approach in that country, Back said.
BULLISH: Adam Back says "$100,000 is way too cheap" and that Bitcoin gets between "$500,000 and $1 Million during this cycle."
pic.twitter.com/7oy5haOTbn
Levels & Events to Watch Next
Bitcoin posted its previous weekly high in December 2024 when the price surpassed $104,400. The coin is currently hovering around $103,000, signaling a short-term weakness. Nonetheless, a drop below the psychological level of $100,000 and the technical level of $98,000 could lead to further downside.
According to the latestreport, a key accumulation zone has been between $93,000 and $95,000. This zone will likely act as a strong support level in case of a short-term market pullback such as this one. It will be “a demand zone where investors are likely to see value once again.”
Moreover, the Fear and Greed Index has stood at 71 for several days now. While it may indicate a rise in Optimism and buying activity, the downside is that it may also suggest overconfidence and overvaluation.
That said, the price is still supported by consistent spot ETF inflows and major macro factors. Inflation, tariff deals, and other economic factors are turning investor interest towards SAFE assets, including digital assets.
For the week ending 16 May, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows totaling $608.4 million, withleading the pack.
Furthermore,has purchased an additional 1,004 BTC on Monday. This is Asia’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, and the purchase is part of its Bitcoin accumulation strategy. This acquisition has increased its total holdings to 7,800 BTC.
The purchase comes days after the company reported record-breaking earnings for the first quarter of 2025.
*Metaplanet Acquires Additional 1,004 $BTC* pic.twitter.com/r86rLc7ngh
— Metaplanet Inc. (@Metaplanet_JP) May 19, 2025Quick FAQ
The broader crypto market has seen notable volatility and downward pressure today due to high leverage and liquidations. On the other hand, the US stock markets posted gains due to the increase in investor and macro optimism. For example, theis up 0.7% today, thehas increased by 0.43%, and theis up by 0.78%.
The current sell-off may be unsustainable, given the consistent institutional interest. The dip is likely a pullback triggered by liquidations across long and short positions. However, negative news or regulatory shifts, combined with the volatility, may trigger an additional correction.
