Bitcoin Slides 2.4% to $79,123 as Risk Assets Sell Off Across the Board; ETH Tests $2,200 Support

Bitcoin closed Friday at $79,123, down 2.4% on the session, as a broad-based risk-off move dragged the four largest crypto assets lower in unison. Ether lost 2.7% to $2,220, Solana fell 3.1% to $89.27, and XRP slid 3.4% to $1.44. Stablecoin supply contracted across both USDT and USDC, a signal that may point to capital exiting rather than rotating.

Market Overview

Crypto's Friday session was a clean down day. Bitcoin closed at $79,123, off 2.4%, with ether, solana, and XRP all printing red between 2.7% and 3.4%. The synchronized move across majors suggests macro-driven de-risking rather than asset-specific repositioning.

Despite the drawdown, bitcoin remains up 5.7% on a 30-day basis. The weekly print is a more modest -1.3%, which puts Friday's slide closer to a single-session unwind than a regime change.

Asset Price Action

Bitcoin spent the session on the back foot, failing to defend the $80,000 handle and closing below it for the first time this week. The $79,000 area is the nearest visible support; below that, the next reference is the prior consolidation floor near $77,500.

BTC $79,123 -2.4% ↓ (24h) -1.3% ↓ (7d) +5.7% ↑ (30d)
ETH $2,220 -2.7% ↓ (24h) -3.8% ↓ (7d) -5.9% ↓ (30d)
SOL $89.27 -3.1% ↓ (24h) -2.9% ↓ (7d) +5.1% ↑ (30d)
XRP $1.44 -3.4% ↓ (24h) +1.2% ↑ (7d) +3.1% ↑ (30d)

Ether is the relative laggard. The 30-day print of -5.9% sets ETH apart from the other majors, all of which remain green over the same window. ETH's loss of the $2,220 level puts the round $2,200 figure in play; a failure there would open the door to the April lows.

Solana's drop was the steepest of the day at 3.1%, though its 30-day return of +5.1% is roughly in line with bitcoin's. XRP gave back the bulk of its weekly gain but stayed positive on a 7-day basis, the only major to do so.

Stablecoin Pulse

Combined USDT and USDC supply contracted by roughly -$260M ↓ on the session, per InflowScan data. USDC dropped $210M to $76.6B; USDT shed $50M to $189.7B. Same-day supply contractions during equity-correlated drawdowns are historically more consistent with capital exiting the on-chain perimeter than with positioning for re-entry.

ETF Flows Context

Issuer reports for Friday's session have not yet settled. The most recent settled tape, Thursday, May 14, 2026, showed total net inflows of +$59.5M ↑, according to InflowScan data, carried entirely by BlackRock's IBIT at +$140.5M ↑. Outflows from BITB (-$35.4M ↓), GBTC (-$30.9M ↓), and FETH (-$14.0M ↓) capped the headline number.

The 7-day cumulative stands at -$486M net outflow, while the 30-day window remains positive at +$2.91B. That divergence — a soft week inside a strong month — frames Friday's price action: the marginal flow bid has thinned, but the structural base built over the prior four weeks is still intact. Friday's settled prints, due Monday morning, will show whether the price drawdown coincided with redemptions or whether issuers absorbed the move.

Outlook

Levels to watch into next week: bitcoin's $79,000 area, with the prior consolidation floor near $77,500 as the next reference below. For ether, the $2,200 round number is the immediate test; a clean loss there would extend the underperformance theme. Friday's settled ETF tape lands Monday and will be the first hard read on whether the price slide pulled redemptions through with it.

Stablecoin supply trajectory is the second data point worth tracking. A second consecutive day of contraction would strengthen the read that capital is leaving rather than rotating; a stabilization or rebuild would point the other way.