Crypto Morning Brief》Bitcoin returns to $76K narrow-range consolidation, Ethereum leads the decline; Fear Index hits monthly low of 28

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The global cryptocurrency market cap stands at $2.65 trillion, contracting slightly by 0.82% on the day. Bitcoin has retreated to a narrow consolidation below $77K, while the Fear and Greed Index has dipped further to 28, deep in "Fear" territory; Ethereum led the mainstream decline with a nearly 3% drop. (Background: Iran launches "Hormuz Security" maritime insurance platform, accepting Bitcoin and USDT payments — US Treasury warns: anyone who dares will face sanctions) (Context: Crypto IPOs frozen — Consensys, Ledger, and Kraken all halt listing plans) The global cryptocurrency market continued its choppy pattern amid subdued weekend trading. Bitcoin (BTC) fluctuated between $76,768 and $78,506 over the past 24 hours, trading at $76,837 at press time, down 0.86% on the day. Ethereum (ETH) showed greater weakness, currently at $2,116, down 2.4%, marking the deepest decline among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. The total crypto market cap remains at $2.65 trillion, with 24-hour trading volume around $63.3 billion, a notable contraction from the previous week. Bitcoin's market dominance slipped slightly to 58.2%, while Ethereum's dominance reached 9.7%. Notably, the Fear and Greed Index has dropped to 28, remaining in "Fear" territory for several consecutive days, reflecting market participants' cautious stance on short-term price action. The top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap broadly declined, with only TRON (TRX) edging up 0.27%, and Hyperliquid (HYPE) standing out with a stunning 11% surge — a stark contrast. In terms of funding rates, Bitcoin perpetual futures funding rates remain near neutral (+0.00074%), indicating a balance between long and short forces, with no clear directional bias from the market. Looking at the dual-axis chart of Bitcoin price and network hashrate, BTC has pulled back from its early-May high of $83,000 and is currently finding temporary support near $77,000. Meanwhile, Bitcoin network hashrate remains at the historically elevated level of 1,025.4 EH/s, indicating that miners maintain confidence in the network's long-term value and have not significantly withdrawn hashpower in response to the recent price correction. Worth noting, Bitcoin open interest (OI) stands at approximately 101,167 BTC (around $7.8 billion), still at healthy levels, showing no signs of excessive leverage buildup. Observing the hashrate trend over the past year, Bitcoin's network hashrate has been climbing steadily since mid-2025, with current levels over 50% higher than the same period last year. Sustained hashrate growth is typically viewed as a positive signal for network security and miner confidence, though it may also reflect intensifying mining competition, with individual miners' profit margins being squeezed. Hyperliquid (HYPE) surged against the downtrend in a sluggish market, becoming today's biggest highlight. HYPE's strong performance may be related to the following factors: - Circle's strategic investment and USDC integration: Circle previously announced it had invested in HYPE and is considering serving as a validator node. USDC has been officially deployed on the Hyperliquid chain, injecting strong stablecoin liquidity into the ecosystem. - Continued ecosystem expansion: DEX and derivatives trading volumes on Hyperliquid continue to grow, with several recent ecosystem projects (such as lending protocols and cross-chain bridges) going live, and network effects across the ecosystem gaining traction. - Confidence restored after whale incident: Following the earlier malicious whale liquidation incident, the Hyperliquid team responded swiftly, and market concerns over its risk management capabilities have gradually subsided. Ethereum's performance remained sluggish today, with the ETH/BTC ratio falling further. Structural challenges currently facing Ethereum include: fragmentation of the L2 ecosystem leading to sharply reduced mainnet fee revenue, ETH issuance shifting toward inflation due to weak blob fees post EIP-4844, and competing chains like Solana continuing to siphon capital from DeFi and Meme coin sectors. This weekend's crypto market exhibits a typical pattern of low volatility and low sentiment. Bitcoin is consolidating around $77,000, with short-term direction still unclear. The following points warrant continued attention: - BTC $77,000 support: If this level breaks, the next key support lies in the $74,000-$75,000 range (the intersection of the prior low and the 200-day moving average). - ETH/BTC ratio: Ethereum's weakness relative to Bitcoin has persisted for several months — when a trend reversal emerges will be an important signal of a market style rotation. - Fear Index at 28: Historical experience suggests that extreme fear zones often coincide with medium-term buying opportunities, provided the macro environment does not deteriorate further. - Hyperliquid ecosystem: Whether HYPE's strength is sustainable is closely correlated with broader market activity in commodities, equities, and other asset classes. This article was compiled by BlockTempo from data sourced from CoinGecko.

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Bitcoin wicked down to $76,700, Ethereum broke below $2,100, 107,000 people liquidated for $670 million, fear index at 28 hits a new monthly low

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Published:2026-05-18 02:37:15

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