Why Is the Crypto Market Crashing Today? $86 Billion Wiped Out

The crypto market saw another sharp selloff today as nearly $86 billion disappeared from the total market value within hours. The global crypto market cap dropped from around $2.57 trillion to nearly $2.49 trillion, while Bitcoin briefly fell to $74,255, recording a 4% decline over the past 24 hours.

Major altcoins were hit even harder, including Ethereum, Solana, XRP, BNB, and Dogecoin, all of which dropped between 5% and 9% as traders rushed to reduce risk across the market.

SEC Delay Triggers Fresh Market Fear

One of the biggest reasons behind today’s crash was a fresh regulatory setback tied to tokenized stock trading.

Reports suggested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had delayed a proposed framework that could have allowed blockchain-based trading of tokenized U.S. stocks like Apple and Tesla.

The proposal would have allowed crypto firms and decentralized finance platforms to offer tokenized versions of public company shares while still treating them as securities under U.S. law.

The setback weakened investor confidence across crypto markets, especially after the odds of the Crypto Market Structure Bill being signed into law dropped from 75% to 62%.

Rising Global Tensions Add More Pressure

At the same time, geopolitical fears also pushed markets lower.

Reports that the Trump administration was preparing for possible military strikes against Iran increased concerns about another oil price spike.

Higher oil prices could worsen inflation and reduce the chances of future Federal Reserve rate cuts, something that usually hurts crypto and other risk assets.

Meanwhile, rising U.S. Treasury yields and record-high Japanese bond yields are also adding pressure to financial markets globally.

Nearly $1 Billion Liquidated

The sharp market drop triggered massive liquidations across leveraged crypto positions.

According to CoinGlass data, more than 160,000 traders were liquidated during the past 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching roughly $941 million. The single largest liquidation reportedly happened on Bitget, involving a BTC position worth over $32 million.

Crypto ETFs Continue Bleeding

Institutional outflows also continue hurting market sentiment. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have now recorded six straight days of outflows totaling nearly $1.44 billion.

On May 22 alone, Bitcoin ETFs saw another $105 million leave the market, led again by BlackRock with roughly $69 million in outflows.

Ethereum ETFs also remain under pressure, recording nearly $500 million in cumulative outflows since May 11.

What Next?

For now, Crypto Trader Ash Crypto says that if tensions with Iran escalate further this weekend, Bitcoin could fall toward the $72,000 support zone before any meaningful recovery begins.

On the flip side, if no strikes occur, we could see a strong reversal next week.