Bitcoin Holds $81K Pivot as Capital B Raises $17.8M and Crypto ETPs Pull $858M in Sixth Weekly Inflow Streak

Bitcoin News

France-listed treasury firm Capital B raised 15.2 million euros, or roughly $17.8 million, through a private placement backed by Blockstream chief executive Adam Back and Paris asset manager TOBAM, with the proceeds earmarked for further Bitcoin accumulation. The deal attaches four share subscription warrants to each new share at a fixed price of $0.78, a structure that could unlock an additional $116.5 million if fully exercised. Management indicated the fresh capital could fund the purchase of another 182 BTC, lifting total holdings toward 3,125 coins. The company currently ranks as the 25th-largest corporate Bitcoin holder and Europe's second-largest behind Bitcoin Group SE, holding roughly $237 million worth of BTC.

Crypto investment products recorded a sixth consecutive week of inflows, totaling roughly $4.9 billion across the streak, with $858 million arriving last week alone — a sharp jump from $118 million the prior week. Total assets under management across crypto exchange-traded products climbed past $160 billion, the highest reading since February. Bitcoin-focused vehicles led the tape with $706 million in net inflows, while short-BTC products bled $14 million in their largest single weekly outflow of the year. The acceleration is widely tied to improving sentiment around US legislative progress, even as late-week profit-taking trimmed the headline figure for spot ETF products on Thursday and Friday.

The Senate Banking Committee scheduled the markup of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for Thursday, May 14, marking the most concrete legislative milestone the bill has reached. The White House is publicly targeting full passage by July 4, with the markup tightening that runway. The longstanding obstacle around stablecoin yields was resolved two weeks ago through a compromise that bans passive yield on stablecoin balances while permitting activity-based rewards tied to platform participation. Polymarket-implied odds for passage briefly spiked to 79% before retracing to 63%, reflecting investor sensitivity to Senate floor time ahead of the Memorial Day recess on May 21.

Strategy resumed accumulation after a one-week pause, acquiring 535 BTC for approximately $43 million at an average price near $80,340 per coin. Chairman Michael Saylor used a weekend podcast to refine his stance, clarifying that the firm's guiding principle is to never be a net seller of Bitcoin rather than to never sell at all. Saylor pegged the company's break-even issuance rate at 2.3% annually, against current preferred-stock issuance running at 15% to 20%, implying a roughly 30-to-1 buy-to-sell ratio in any month where dividends must be funded. Total holdings now stand at 818,869 BTC, acquired for $61.86 billion at an average cost basis of $75,540.

Strategy's signaled willingness to monetize a portion of its stack revives a playbook the firm executed in December 2022, when it sold 704 BTC for $11.8 million at $16,776 per coin before repurchasing 810 BTC two days later for tax-loss harvesting purposes. Bitcoin's 23% Q1 2026 decline from $87,500 to $67,700, combined with FASB fair-value accounting adopted in January 2025, produced a $12.54 billion mark-to-market loss and generated a $2.2 billion deferred tax asset on holdings acquired above $80,000. Management framed any future sale as a tool to retire $8.2 billion in convertible debt, repurchase MSTR at depressed multiples, or service the $1.5 billion annual STRC dividend.

Derivatives desks navigated whipsaw conditions as BTC ripped from $80,670 to $82,400 around the CME futures reopen before settling beneath $81,000. Aggregate crypto futures open interest has been pinned just above $130 billion for four straight sessions, signaling stalled leverage inflows even as exchanges liquidated more than $400 million in positions over 24 hours, with shorts absorbing the majority of the damage. Geopolitical risk added pressure after the White House rejected Iran's latest peace proposal, lifting oil and the dollar while compressing risk appetite. Liquidation heatmaps show dense liquidity pockets stacked on both sides of the current range, pointing to further candlestick volatility before a directional break.

From a technical lens, BTC is trading at $81,259 with a 0.56% daily gain and a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, holding firm inside an established bull market structure. Immediate resistance sits at $81,624 and $82,871, with the 200-day SMA cluster near $82,000 acting as the gatekeeper to a $89,065 extension. Support stacks at $80,176, $78,287 and $73,990. RSI at 61.99 confirms momentum without flashing overbought, and the MACD remains in bullish alignment. A daily close above $82,000 with steady spot demand would validate continuation; a breakdown below $80,176 invalidates the near-term thesis.