Bitcoin Slides to $73K as Texas Names BTC Reserve Committee, ETFs Bleed $2.8B in Record 9-Day Streak

Bitcoin News

Texas has moved one step closer to operationalizing its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, with Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock announcing a five-member advisory committee tasked with overseeing custody, valuation, and management of the state's BTC holdings. The panel was created under Senate Bill 21, signed into law on June 22, 2025, and includes Hancock himself alongside investment veteran Laurie Dotter, Cormint Data Systems CEO Jamie McAvity, SMU law professor Carla Reyes, and CleanSpark CFO Gary Vecchiarelli. The committee will advise on transparency, security, and financial controls as Texas prepares to transition away from indirect ETF exposure toward directly custodied coins, positioning the state as a national leader in sovereign Bitcoin policy.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have now logged nine consecutive sessions of net outflows totaling roughly $2.8 billion, the longest withdrawal streak since the products debuted in January 2024. The largest single-day redemption arrived Wednesday at $733.43 million, dominated by a $527.84 million outflow from BlackRock's IBIT. Weekly flows have deteriorated sharply, with the latest week marking around $1.30 billion in net withdrawals after $1 billion and $1.26 billion in the prior two. Year-to-date Bitcoin ETF flows have turned negative for 2026, ranking among the worst sustained capital exodus episodes since spot products launched.

Bitcoin has slipped out of the world's top 10 assets by market capitalization, falling to 13th place after its valuation dropped from $1.66 trillion in early May to roughly $1.45 trillion this week. The asset now ranks behind Saudi Aramco, Tesla, and Meta Platforms, a notable reshuffling driven by capital rotation into precious metals and artificial intelligence equities. Gold reached an all-time high of $5,600 per ounce in January before easing to about $4,486, while silver peaked near $120. Semiconductor heavyweights including TSMC, Broadcom, and Micron Technology have all overtaken BTC in valuation amid sustained AI-driven momentum.

Beneath the surface, derivatives markets are flashing mixed signals as Bitcoin stabilizes near $73,500, roughly 10% below the monthly high of $81,000. Long-term holder supply has reached a record 15.8 million BTC, but analysts caution the figure reflects inactivity rather than fresh conviction, with short-term holder supply shrinking by 2.2 million BTC since December. Spot demand remains too thin to reclaim cost-basis levels near $78,000. On Polymarket, traders are pricing strong odds that BTC closes May between $72,000 and $76,000, while realized profit-loss ratios sit well below readings typical of healthy bull market conditions.

The Texas Comptroller's office has also issued a request for proposals seeking a custody and liquidity provider to transition the state's $10 million Strategic Bitcoin Reserve out of BlackRock's IBIT and into directly held coins. The procurement document, posted May 7, requires the winning firm to execute the migration within 60 days of contract execution, deliver institutional-grade security controls, and maintain a public dashboard disclosing reserve holdings and valuations. The mandate covers acquisition, custody, reporting, and liquidity services in the name of the State of Texas, with the door left open to additional qualifying digital assets beyond BTC over time.

The disconnect between crypto and traditional risk assets has widened as S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures pressed toward fresh record highs while Bitcoin slid to early-April lows. The rejection above $83,000 has reinforced a series of lower highs stretching back to October, a classic bear market signature. BTC open interest has crept up to $20.05 billion from $19.7 billion a week ago, while one-week 25-delta skew has firmed to 12.85%, pointing to rising demand for downside protection. Stellar bucked the trend with a 25% surge after DTCC confirmed plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to the network.

Technically, BTC at $73,243 sits precariously between immediate support at $72,644 and overhead resistance at $73,600, with deeper floors at $70,580 and $66,863. RSI at 34.76 is approaching oversold territory but has not yet confirmed exhaustion, while the bearish MACD signal aligns with the prevailing downtrend. A decisive reclaim of $75,112 would shift momentum toward $76,602 and ease the broader lower-highs structure, but a clean break below $72,644 likely opens the path to $70,580. The bullish thesis is invalidated on a daily close under $70,580; bears lose control on a sustained move above $76,602 on rising volume.