Top 10 Data: Analyzing Market Trends After the May 19 Extreme Market Conditions
"A violent wind does not last all morning; a sudden rain does not last all day." For investors in the crypto market, after experiencing this May, they should be able to more deeply appreciate the power of this classic quote. It has been exactly one week since the May 19 extreme market conditions. During this week, the crypto market has been tumultuous, bringing joy to some and sorrow to others.
About Extreme Market Conditions
If we explore the reasons for this decline from the perspective of future observers, it seems not very meaningful. Simply attributing the reasons to external pressure is clearly unreasonable, because any external cause must work through internal causes. Therefore, the most reasonable explanation can only be that the market reached a moment where a sharp decline was inevitable. In any investment market, we need to accept these two viewpoints: the market will definitely develop in the direction of least resistance; the market is always correct.
Just like the most common rubber band, when they start being stretched, not much effort is required, but the longer they are stretched, the greater the force needed to maintain the stretched state. That is to say, the fragility of the entire system increases, and with the slightest slack, it will return to its previous state.
Bitcoin market trends since October 2020, Source: OKX
From OKX market data, we can see that Bitcoin took 8 months to rise from $10,000 to over $60,000, during which there was never a major correction of more than 30%. This means it had already reached a very fragile moment. On one hand, if it were to continue maintaining the upward trend, it would face the question of "where will incremental funds come from," and when incremental funds enter, holding costs must be considered; on the other hand, the large amount of profit accumulated in the early stage had already created demand for profit-taking. When accumulated profits reach a certain level, the psychological state of "securing profits" among many people, including early investors, had already reached a critical point. From this perspective, Tesla's sale of its 10% Bitcoin holdings in Q1, thereby obtaining $272 million in cash, may be more convincing than Musk's explanation of "proving Bitcoin's liquidity."
Simply put, when Bitcoin hovered around $60,000, this "rubber band" had already approached the maximum value of elastic deformation. Compared to the force required to continue "stretching" Bitcoin, the resistance to letting it retract was obviously much smaller. In this tense state, with the slightest disturbance, a selling wave naturally followed.
What Happened This Week?
— Spot Market
Taking Bitcoin as an example, during this week, Bitcoin fell from a high of $43,800 to around $29,000. As of writing, it has already rebounded above $40,000, recovering most of its losses. Meanwhile, according to statistics from qkl123 website, Bitcoin had a net inflow of $1.18 billion in the past 7 days.
Bitcoin fund flows in the past seven days, Source: qkl123
In contrast, Bitcoin's market cap and market share have significantly recovered. Currently, Bitcoin's market cap has risen from a low of $605.9 billion to $761.7 billion, while Bitcoin's market share has also risen from 38.59% to 46.51%.
Recent Bitcoin market cap changes, Source: coingecko
In terms of on-chain data, in the past week, the Bitcoin holdings in exchange addresses showed a downward trend, indicating that the net inflow state of Bitcoin in exchange addresses that had persisted for many days turned into a net outflow state.
Changes in Bitcoin quantity in exchange addresses, Source: cryptoquant
According to the latest statistics from blockchain research platform cryptoquant, since May 19, more than 34,000 Bitcoin have net flowed out of exchanges.
Bitcoin flow status in exchange addresses, Source: cryptoquant
Additionally, according to Glassnode data, in the past week, the total number of Bitcoin addresses continued to grow, and the number of non-zero balance addresses also increased. However, addresses holding more than 1, more than 10, and more than 100 Bitcoin, as well as addresses holding more than 0.1 and more than 1,000 Bitcoin, showed different trends.
Changes in total Bitcoin holding addresses, Source: glassnode
From the chart above, we can see that the total number of Bitcoin addresses has exceeded 83.46 million. Excluding zero-balance addresses, this figure still stands at 38.13 million, an increase of 490,000 addresses compared to 37.64 million on the 19th. Meanwhile, the number of addresses holding more than 1, more than 10, and more than 100 Bitcoin has continued to decrease since the 19th, while the number of addresses holding more than 0.1 and more than 1,000 Bitcoin has shown a slight increase, indicating that there are still obvious divergences in market judgment about the future trend.
— Futures Market
Accompanied by the widespread decline in crypto asset prices leading to a significant increase in liquidations, the open interest in the futures market has clearly decreased. According to bybt statistics, on May 19, the total liquidation amount across the network reached $8.613 billion, second only to the liquidation scale on April 18 in terms of amount. In the week after May 19, the total liquidation amount across the network exceeded $6.2 billion.
Statistics on recent crypto asset futures market liquidations, Source: bybt
Under extreme market conditions, the open interest in the futures market dropped sharply from $17.4 billion on May 18 to $12.1 billion on the 19th, and continued to decline in the following days. On the 25th, the total open interest of crypto asset futures across the network was only $11.3 billion.
Statistics on recent crypto asset futures market open interest, Source: glassnode
At the micro level, as Bitcoin's price fell below the 200-day moving average and failed to recover it for multiple days, investor confidence in the future trend was greatly damaged. According to information from OKX trading big data, the basis of Bitcoin quarterly contracts has continued to narrow since May 19, and the funding rate of perpetual contracts has also remained negative most of the time.
OKX Bitcoin quarterly contract basis changes
At 20:00 on May 19, the basis of Bitcoin quarterly contracts on the OKX platform was $631, with a basis rate of 1.85%. As market conditions continued to be sluggish, the basis quickly narrowed to within $300, and the basis rate also dropped to below 1%. As of 15:00 on May 26, the basis rate was only 0.52%. From the perspective of the price discovery function of the futures market, current investors show cautiously optimistic sentiment toward Bitcoin's future trend.
OKX Bitcoin perpetual contract funding rate changes
The funding rate in perpetual contracts more reflects the comparison of forces between longs and shorts in the current market. When the funding rate is negative, it indicates that short-selling forces in the market are stronger. From the chart above, we can find that at 1:00 on May 20, the funding rate of Bitcoin BTC-denominated perpetual contracts on the OKX platform once dropped to -0.348%, then quickly rebounded to near 0, but remained negative most of the time thereafter.
— DeFi Market
In this round of extreme market conditions, the DeFi market also suffered a significant impact. From the perspective of market cap changes, it decreased from $132.1 billion on the 19th to $68.3 billion on the 24th, and rose slightly today to reach $88.4 billion.
From the perspective of on-chain locked asset value changes, there was also a significant decrease, once dropping from $78.68 billion on the 19th to $49.8 billion on the 24th, and as of the 26th, it returned to the scale of $63.66 billion.
Another data point that needs attention is the amount of liquidated assets in DeFi lending protocols. Since ETH prices also experienced a decline of more than 50%, a large amount of collateral assets from users in Ethereum-based DeFi lending protocols were liquidated. According to OK Link statistics, during May 19-25, a total of more than $610 million in assets were liquidated.
Conclusion
After a significant decline, the crypto market welcomed a round of moderate rebound. Just like the "rubber band" principle we mentioned at the beginning, the market will definitely develop in the direction of least resistance. Although history doesn't simply repeat, extreme market conditions like May 19 in the crypto market will certainly not be the last. Therefore, for the vast majority of investors, always maintaining reverence for the market and keeping risk within a tolerable range remains a criterion that needs to be kept in mind.
Disclaimer
This article may contain product-related content that is not applicable to your region. This article is dedicated to providing general information only and is not responsible for any factual errors or omissions herein. This article represents only the author's personal views and does not represent the views of OKX. This article is not intended to provide any advice, including but not limited to: (i) investment advice or investment recommendations; (ii) offers or solicitations to buy, sell, or hold digital assets; or (iii) financial, accounting, legal, or tax advice. Holding digital assets (including stablecoins) involves high risk, may fluctuate significantly, and may even become worthless. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is suitable for you based on your financial situation. For questions about your specific situation, please consult your legal/tax/investment professional. The information appearing in this article (including market data and statistics, if any) is for general reference only. Although we have taken all reasonable precautions in preparing these data and charts, we accept no responsibility for any factual errors or omissions expressed herein. © 2025 OKX. This article may be reproduced or distributed in full, or excerpts of 100 words or less from this article may be used, provided that such use is non-commercial. Any reproduction or distribution of the entire article must also prominently state: "Copyright © 2025 OKX, used with permission." Permitted excerpts must cite the article title and include attribution, such as "Article Name, [Author Name (if applicable)], © 2025 OKX". Some content may be generated or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Derivative works or other uses of this article are not permitted.
Show More
Recommended Reading
OKX Pay: Opening a New Era of Next-Generation Crypto Payments
The choice of tens of millions of users. Register OKX and enjoy the ultimate trading experience and diverse wealth management products. A letter from OKX CEO Star: Today, we are officially launching the first version of OKX Pay to over 100 million global users. As the first payment application in the industry to truly achieve the integration of non-custodial and compliant features, OKX Pay will be embedded in the OKX App, currently open to some markets, and expected to fully launch within a few months
March 22, 2026
New Chapter: Building Next-Generation Financial Infrastructure Together
The partnership between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is an important moment for OKX and equally significant for the evolution of the entire digital asset market. ICE establishes and operates the world's most important financial infrastructure, including the New York Stock Exchange and global derivatives and clearing platforms. This investment by ICE in OKX and joining our board reflects our shared belief—digital asset technology will be in the financial markets
March 10, 2026
Tribute to Another Year of Forging Ahead
As CEO of OKX and also a builder who stays true to our original mission, I proudly look back on OKX's extraordinary growth and progress this year. Despite many challenges, 2024 was a year of focus, innovation, and resilience. We not only expanded and optimized our products but also made important progress in launching transparent and compliant localized businesses, while further strengthening our global management team. Notably, after experiencing
January 29, 2026
2025: Steady Progress Toward Financial Freedom Together
— Annual letter from OKX Founder and CEO Star to global users "Financial freedom" is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean no rules, but rather having the right to choose even when rules exist—and when the system is truly tested, it remains reliable and effective. This is exactly what we focused on throughout 2025. First, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to our global clients, partners, and regulatory authorities
January 16, 2026
OKX Officially Launches in Germany and Poland
Author: Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe Today is significant for OKX—and for crypto users across Europe. We have officially launched fully compliant centralized cryptocurrency trading platforms in Germany and Poland! For us, this is not just a geographic expansion, but a commitment to building the cryptocurrency future the right way: secure, transparent, and meeting local needs. If you are in Germany
October 21, 2025
Partnership Upgraded! OKX Partners with Standard Chartered to Expand European Market
On October 15, Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, stated that OKX is expanding its strategic partnership with Standard Chartered to the European Economic Area (EEA). Earlier this year, OKX first partnered with Standard Chartered in the UAE to launch the collateral mirroring program—this is a
October 15, 2025
