On May 15, 2026, on-chain data showed Bitcoin's exchange-held supply holding near an 8-year low at about 5.6%, while Ethereum's exchange supply moved higher to roughly 4.6% from 4.2% over the prior ten days. Netflow readings also differed, with BTC at -967.7 BTC and ETH at -14.2K ETH, following a May 10 ETH inflow spike of around 240K ETH.

Bitcoin has repeatedly failed to hold above $82,000, but analyst Michaël van de Poppe said on May 15 that BTC could still move toward $90,000 in the next few days. He pointed to a rebound from the 21-day moving average, which he described as key support since early April, while flagging $71,438 to $73,408 as a critical liquidity support zone.

Strategy said its STRC variable-rate perpetual preferred stock posted a record $1.53 billion in trading volume on May 14, finishing exactly at its $100 par value with only $0.02 of intraday movement. The company previously said STRC launched in late July 2025 and has expanded to $8.5 billion in under nine months. River data also links STRC proceeds to about 77,000 BTC of Strategy purchases in 2026 and notes the firm holds 818,869 bitcoin.

In Q1 2026, Bitcoin's average network hashrate fell from about 985 EH/s in Q4 2025 to 873 EH/s, even as several public miners reallocated fleets toward AI and HPC use cases. Across 10 large miners tracked, combined realized hashrate edged down from roughly 297 EH/s to 291 EH/s, masking sharp cuts at some firms and aggressive expansion at others.

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) is pursuing a capital-raising plan to expand its Bitcoin treasury toward 1 million BTC, with an internal slide mapping holdings from 673K in 2025 to 1.06 million by 2028. The firm currently holds 761,068 BTC and would need nearly $540 million in weekly purchases through December 2026, implying about $22.2 billion in additional capital. Bitcoin was priced at $80,473, up 8.9% over 30 days and 1.0% over 7 days at the time referenced.

Bitcoin fell to about $79,200 during the Trump–Xi summit and later bounced back to briefly retake $81,000 before easing to $80,500 a few hours later. The move came as leaders extended the October 2025 trade truce under a "strategic stability" framework, while U.S. inflation data showed CPI at 3.8% and PPI at 1.4% month-over-month.

About 25,000 Bitcoin options contracts are due to expire on Friday, May 15, carrying roughly $2 billion in notional value, an event described as too small to meaningfully sway spot markets. The batch features a 0.55 put/call ratio and a max-pain level near $80,000, while total crypto market cap sits at $2.77 trillion after a mid-week dip tied to the U.S. inflation report.

Bitcoin (BTC) has successfully reclaimed the spotlight in the global financial landscape, surging 2.45% over the last 24 hours to trade near $81,200. The rally, which briefly touched an intraday high of $82,007, comes on the heels of a landmark regulatory milestone in Washington and a massive signal of institutional conviction from Wall Street’s largest bank.