Italian financial investigators traced more than €1 million ($1.16 million) in allegedly undeclared crypto gains tied to Bitcoin Ordinals trading, after examining activity connected to a seized Ledger hardware wallet. The probe used wallet-clustering techniques and exchange KYC records to link pseudonymous on-chain flows to identified individuals, and to reconstruct a repeat trading pattern that cycled BTC proceeds back into further Ordinals activity.

Bitcoin's Coinbase Premium Index weakened, with the daily reading sliding to -0.087 on May 19, even as traders realized 14,600 BTC ($1.14 billion) in profits on May 4. Despite negative spot signals, BTC held above the $70,000–$75,000 area and continued trading over the 100-day EMA near $76,800, suggesting buyers are still defending key support.

Bitcoin traded around $77,000–$77,200 while U.S. spot sentiment weakened, highlighted by a Coinbase Premium reading of -$66.8. Total demand growth flipped below the neutral zero line in May after previously rising above 150,000 BTC, even as derivatives activity continued to drive positioning. Analysts say the recovery looks increasingly fragile unless organic spot accumulation and institutional inflows strengthen again.

The US government holds 328,372 BTC valued at about $25.4 billion, and the White House is expected to issue a formal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announcement within weeks. Patrick Witt said at Consensus 2026 in Miami on May 6 that the administration has cleared a legal hurdle that had stalled the reserve's formal status for more than a year.

Bitfinex analysts said bitcoin saw $584 million in long liquidations on Monday as geopolitical headlines and higher U.S. Treasury yields pressured risk assets. BTC opened the week at $77,385, dipped below $77,000, and hit an intraday low of $76,031, with key support flagged around the May Monthly Open at $76,318 and the 30-day accumulator cost basis near $76,500. They added that $85,900 is a major resistance level, while stablecoin market cap rose to $322 billion, up $2 billion over the week.

Bitcoin traded in a choppy range around $77,000, briefly jumping from just under $76,700 to $77,200 after midnight and later printing an intraday high of $77,604 before hovering near $77,500. The move left BTC up about 0.5% with a market cap near $1.55 trillion, while the broader crypto market cap rose by more than $20 billion to $2.66 trillion. Leveraged liquidations were limited to no more than $38 million in BTC and $184.5 million across crypto, with shorts making up 61% of BTC liquidations.

On May 20, 2026, Strategy President and CEO Phong Le shared 13F-based figures indicating that 13 of MSTR’s top 15 institutional shareholders increased positions in Q1 2026, with combined share quantity up 27% when valued at the fixed May 15, 2026 price. The breakdown notes Defiance ETFs as a new entrant with $511M, while Capital International added $1,921M and UBS added $35M; Morgan Stanley trimmed by $7M and Norges Bank Investment Management stayed flat at $626M.

Tether International has purchased Softbank’s equity stake in Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI), a bitcoin treasury firm that holds about 43,514 BTC. The transaction was announced on May 20, 2026, and Softbank’s board representatives exited in line with the shareholder agreement; no financial terms were disclosed.