Bitcoin's summertime blues ☀️

BTC crashed under $73,000 Thursday, sparking almost $1 billion in liquidations—and prediction market traders think it has further to fall before month's end.

Author

Stephen Graves
May 28, 2026

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📝 What you need to know

Amid renewed tensions in the Middle East and surging ETF outflows, Bitcoin slid to an intraday low under $73,000 Thursday morning. Although Bitcoin’s price dipped by only a few percent on the day, crypto liquidations soared to nearly $1 billion, indicating that traders are using high leverage even as BTC ranges. Ethereum, meanwhile, slipped under $2,000 for the first time since May.

Prediction market traders are increasingly pessimistic on Bitcoin’s outlook, forecasting that it will drop below $70,000 by the end of the month. But not everyone’s feeling the blues—Standard Chartered reiterated its prediction that Ethereum would climb to $40,000 by the end of the decade, bolstered by its DeFi ecosystem.

Bitcoin Slips Under $73K as Crypto Liquidations Near $1B

The near-$1 billion crypto liquidation spree comes amid rising tensions over the U.S.-Iran conflict and ETF outflows.

Decrypt • Decrypt / Akash Girimath

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📰 In the News

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Bitcoin Traders Increasingly Convinced Price Will Fall Below $70K by End of May

Prediction market odds are rising for Bitcoin to drop below $70,000 in the next few days following a dip to a six-week low price.

Standard Chartered Reaffirms $40K Ethereum Price Target Due to DeFi Dominance

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📊 Myriad Insight of the Day

Who wins the 2026 World Cup?
France 25%Spain 27%England 17%Other 31%
    
Why it matters
The World Cup kicks off June 11 with three established favorites all clustered between 17% and 27%: France's 2018-champion depth under Deschamps, Spain's Yamal-and-Pedri attack as Euro 2024 holders, and Tuchel's England, who finished qualifying without conceding a goal. The 31% "Other" bucket—covering Brazil, Argentina, Portugal and the field—reflects how open the expanded 48-team format remains, per ESPN. Myriad's $100K trading contest runs throughout.

🥇 Be First to Market With Myriad

Join the Myriad Markets Telegram to see the latest prediction markets the second they drop!

With Myriad, the on-chain prediction market launched by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, you can break the news and stake the news, using USDC and points.

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📚 Watch, Listen & Learn

📹️ WATCH: Bitcoin Falls Below $73K on Iran Escalations, Massive ETF Outflows, Hype Tumbles

🎧 LISTEN: The Decrypt News roundup with TylerD - May 28th

Massive ETF outflows just sent crypto sharply lower. Jefferies says the next crypto IPO wave could eventually create a $1 trillion public market. And another insider trading case has hit Polymarket, this time involving a Google engineer.

🎓️ LEARN: What Is Hyperliquid? The Decentralized Exchange With Its Own Blockchain

Hyperliquid’s decentralized exchange has rapidly grown to become one of the biggest projects in crypto. Here’s how it works.

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