Bitcoin Drops to $74,300 as Spot ETFs Bleed $2.26 Billion in Two Weeks
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May 24, 2026 8:39 am
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Bitcoin fell to approximately $74,305 early Saturday, its lowest price since April 20 and roughly 10% below its May 6 high above $82,500.
The drawdown came alongside a sustained wave of institutional selling. U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $2.26 billion in net outflows over two weeks, the largest two-week redemption stretch since January.
MARKETS: $BTC falls to $74,305 as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs bleed $2.26B in outflows over two weeks, the largest two-week redemption since January. pic.twitter.com/Xr7cIQn6OC
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) May 23, 2026
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CoinDesk broke the outflows into two distinct legs.
According to CoinDesk: CoinDesk’s market report gives the core data for this Bitcoin story: BTC fell to about $74,305 early Saturday, more than 10% below its early-May high, while U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $2.26 billion in redemptions over two weeks. The article also separates the latest weekly outflow, about $1.26 billion, from the roughly $1 billion that left the funds in the prior week.
The market backdrop is important for readers because the drawdown was not framed as an isolated crypto headline. The report connected the move to higher U.S. and global government-bond yields, which can pressure risk assets that do not produce yield.
CoinDesk reported on May 23, 2026 that Bitcoin fell to about $74,305 early Saturday, its lowest level since April 20. CoinDesk reported that U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw more than $2.26 billion in outflows over the previous two weeks.
CoinDesk reported that spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $1.26 billion in the latest week, after roughly $1 billion in outflows the previous week. CoinDesk tied the Bitcoin sell-off to rising U.S. and global bond yields reducing appetite for higher-risk, zero-yield assets.
The report connected the sell-off to rising U.S. and global government-bond yields, which reduce appetite for higher-risk assets that produce no yield. Bitcoin fits that category squarely.
On-chain flow trackers confirmed the pressure in real time. Lookonchain posted its May 22 ETF update showing single-day Bitcoin ETF net outflows of 1,312 BTC, worth about $101 million, and seven-day net outflows of 18,989 BTC, worth about $1.46 billion.
May 22 Update:#Bitcoin ETFs:
1D NetFlow: -1,312 $BTC(-$101M)🔴
7D NetFlow: -18,989 $BTC(-$1.46B)🔴#Ethereum ETFs:
1D NetFlow: -16,794 $ETH(-$35.62M)🔴
7D NetFlow: -129,315 $ETH(-$274.28M)🔴#Solana ETFs:
1D NetFlow: +45,673 $SOL(+$3.97M)🟢
7D NetFlow: +123,743… pic.twitter.com/0gQaB20JU2— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 22, 2026
Ethereum ETFs showed a similar direction. Lookonchain’s same snapshot listed daily ETH outflows of 16,794 ETH and seven-day outflows of 129,315 ETH.
Cointelegraph pegged the May 21 session at negative $100.9 million for BTC spot ETFs and negative $32.6 million for ETH spot ETFs.
Smaller ETF products told a different story that day. Solana spot ETFs drew a modest $3.9 million, XRP spot ETFs pulled in $8.88 million, and HYPE attracted $16.1 million.
The contrast highlights that the redemption wave was concentrated in the two largest crypto ETF complexes.
Trader Daan Crypto Trades flagged the delayed price reaction to the fund bleed.
$BTC Saw well over $1 Billion in spot ETF outflows this week which was absorbed pretty well until the sell off started Friday/Saturday. Generally when flows go in one direction but price doesn’t follow, that’s a decent indication to start paying attention.
But in this case I’d… pic.twitter.com/z50aszTt0W
— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) May 23, 2026
The observation is fair. BTC absorbed more than $1 billion in weekly outflows before the spot price caught up late Friday and Saturday.
That kind of lag between flow direction and price action tends to resolve sharply when it finally breaks.
Bitcoin remains the number-one crypto asset by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko data as of May 24. Its dominance ranking is unchanged.
The question facing buyers is whether the ETF-flow reversal has run its course or whether rising Treasury yields will keep pulling institutional capital out of these funds.
Two weeks and $2.26 billion is a meaningful signal from the institutional access rail that launched barely two years ago. Spot ETF flows have become one of the clearest real-time gauges of how traditional allocators view Bitcoin risk.
Right now, they are reducing exposure, and the price is following.
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