Bitcoin Falls Below $75K as SEC Greenlights Nasdaq BTC Options, Spot ETFs Bleed $1.26B

Bitcoin News

Bitcoin slipped below $74,500 for the first time in four weeks, extending a punishing nine-session losing streak that erased much of the recent Bitcoin rebound. The decline triggered a wave of forced unwinds across derivatives venues, with aggregate crypto liquidations climbing toward $1 billion in 24 hours. BTC accounted for the largest share at roughly $378 million, of which $353 million stemmed from long positions caught wrong-footed by the breakdown. The selloff coincided with a convergence of regulatory uncertainty, hawkish macro signals, and renewed geopolitical risk, leaving traders little cover as global risk assets rotated sharply lower across both spot and futures markets.

Hopes for swift passage of the Digital Asset Market Structure CLARITY Act have faded after the United States Senate adjourned until June, removing one of the most anticipated catalysts behind crypto's 2026 thesis. The bill now competes for limited floor time against reconciliation work, FISA reauthorization, and other priority items already crowding the calendar. Industry advocates had treated the legislation as a near-certain framework defining oversight between the SEC and CFTC, and its drift signals fresh delay for token classification rules. The procedural setback amplified caution among institutional desks that had positioned for a clean regulatory tailwind earlier in the quarter.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared Nasdaq to list cash-settled Bitcoin index options on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, expanding the institutional toolkit for hedging spot exposure. The contracts, ticker QBTC, are European-style and reference the Nasdaq Bitcoin Index, a benchmark tied to one one-hundredth of the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index. Settlement is cash-only, eliminating early-assignment risk that complicates options on spot Bitcoin ETF shares. Approved on an accelerated basis, contracts will trade with a $0.01 minimum increment and a position limit of 24,000 per side, equivalent to roughly 0.12% of circulating supply.

Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee opened a formal probe into alleged insider trading on event-based prediction markets, sending letters to the chief executives of Kalshi and Polymarket. Chair James Comer requested detail on how the platforms surveil trade flow and prevent users holding nonpublic government information from monetizing sensitive geopolitical outcomes. Investigators cited markets tied to Iran and Venezuela that priced major developments with unusual precision before public disclosure. One referenced case involves a US Army soldier accused of leveraging classified material to net hundreds of thousands of dollars through political event contracts, a charge that has accelerated scrutiny of crypto-rails prediction venues.

Polymarket separately confirmed that an exploit targeting top-up infrastructure compromised more than $600,000 in user balances, with the team attributing the loss to a suspected private key breach rather than a smart contract flaw. Market resolution and customer funds outside the affected pathway remain intact according to platform operators, who pledged full reimbursement for impacted users. The incident is the largest operational security event at a major prediction venue this year and lands as Washington intensifies oversight. For a sector reliant on retail trust and clean settlement, the breach adds reputational pressure precisely as regulators weigh whether blockchain-based betting platforms warrant tougher rules.

Spot Bitcoin ETF products closed the week with roughly $1.26 billion in cumulative net outflows, the heaviest five-day drain since late January and capping a six-session redemption streak totaling $1.55 billion. Monday alone absorbed $648.6 million in withdrawals, the worst single day since January 29, before pressure moderated but never flipped positive. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust now holds $61.1 billion in net assets against $64.8 billion in cumulative inflows, leaving the fund roughly $3.7 billion underwater versus capital deployed. Ether funds extended their own outflow streak to ten sessions, the longest run since March 2025.

At spot near $75,620, Bitcoin trades inside a fragile band between immediate support at $75,070 and resistance at $76,560, with a sustained breakdown opening the door to $72,658 and the deeper $70,280 floor. The 14-period RSI at 39.45 sits near oversold territory but lacks bullish divergence, while the MACD continues to print negative momentum, confirming the broader bear market bias. Bulls need a reclaim of $77,949 to neutralize the breakdown and revisit $80,687. A clean loss of $72,658 on rising volume would invalidate any near-term recovery thesis.