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US Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $648.64 million in net outflows, led by BlackRock’s IBIT with $448.36 million
Michael Saylor’s Strategy purchased 24,869 BTC worth $2.01 billion, taking total holdings to 843,738 BTC
Ripple minted 39.4 million RLUSD tokens in 24 hours, while Tether invested in LemFi to expand USDT-based international settlements
The crypto market witnessed major developments as Bitcoin ETFs saw over $648 million in outflows, Strategy increased its Bitcoin stash, and Ripple minted 39.4 million RLUSD tokens. Meanwhile, Tether is pushing harder into global cross-border payments with a fresh investment in LemFi.
According to SoSoValue, the Bitcoin spot ETF saw a total net outflow of $648.64 million yesterday. The Bitcoin Spot ETF with the highest net outflow yesterday was BlackRock's ETF IBIT, with a daily net outflow of $448.36 million.
The second highest was Ark Invest and 21Shares's ETF ARKB, with a daily net outflow of $109.64 million, and the total historical net inflow of ARKB currently stands at $1.28 billion.
The total net asset value of Bitcoin Spot ETFs is $100.49 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio of 6.52%. The historical cumulative net inflow has reached $57.69 billion.
Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy acquired 24,869 BTC for approximately $2.01 billion. The company now holds 843,738 BTC acquired for $63.87 billion at an average price of $75,700 per Bitcoin.
The recent acquisition, priced at an average of $80,985 per Bitcoin, was Strategy’s sixth largest on a BTC basis and 8th largest on a dollar basis.
Saylor says Strategy has achieved a BTC Yield of 12.6% year-to-date. The firm, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker MSTR, is the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is trading at $77,123.76 at the press time. The cryptocurrency is down more than 2% in the past 24 hours and nearly 7% in the past seven days.
Tether has invested in LemFi, a fintech company that transfers money from Europe and the Americas to Africa and Asia.
The partnership will integrate USDT as a settlement layer across LemFi's payment corridors. SWIFT is an international banking network.
LemFi and Tether aim to replace that process with near-instant, low-cost USDT settlement. No concrete deployment date has been confirmed.
Tether reported a net profit of $1.04 billion for the first quarter of 2026. Total assets reached $191.77 billion against $183.54 billion in liabilities.
Ripple USD stablecoin has seen an increase in activity over the last 24 hours with 39.4 million RLUSD tokens minted in this span.
According to the Ripple USD tracker website, $33.4 million RLUSD tokens were minted on May 18 while $6 million RLUSD has been minted so far on May 19. This added up to a total of $39.4 million RLUSD minted over the last 24 hours.
The Ripple Stablecoin tracker on X reported two transactions that totaled $31 million of RLUSD minted. $16 million RLUSD and $15 million RLUSD were minted in two separate transactions on the XRP Ledger.
Meanwhile, $0 in RLUSD was burned in the last 24 hours.
Also Read: Bitcoin Long-Term Momentum Surges to Record Highs Since 2017
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has a new Director of the Market Participants Division, DJ Hennes.
The entity’s Chairman, Michael S. Selig, formalized the appointment on Monday to accelerate institutional modernization plans focused on derivatives rules applied to digital assets.
He has a prior 15-year background at Promontory Financial Group and recent experience in the compliance area of the firm KPMG.
BNB Chain successfully tested quantum-resistant blockchain security using ML-DSA-44, also known as Dilithium, for transaction signatures alongside pqSTARK technology for consensus vote aggregation.
Post-quantum upgrade increased transaction signature size from 65 bytes to nearly 2,420 bytes during testing.
BNB Chain testing showed network transaction speeds dropped roughly 40% under high-load cross-region environments recently.
Also Read: XRP vs Ethereum: $5,000 Investment Comparison and Returns by 2028
Bitcoin ETFs saw heavy outflows as investors reduced exposure amid Bitcoin’s recent decline below $78,000 and broader weakness across the crypto market. Rising volatility and risk-off sentiment also pressured institutional flows.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy views Bitcoin as a long-term treasury reserve asset. The latest 24,869 BTC acquisition strengthens its position as the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder despite short-term price fluctuations.
The increase in RLUSD minting suggests rising stablecoin activity and growing demand for Ripple’s payment-focused ecosystem. Higher minting volumes may also indicate increased liquidity requirements across XRP Ledger transactions.
Tether and LemFi plan to use USDT as a settlement layer for international transfers, potentially reducing transaction costs and settlement times compared to traditional systems like SWIFT.
BNB Chain is preparing for future cybersecurity threats from quantum computing. The network tested Dilithium-based quantum-resistant signatures, although transaction speeds slowed during high-load testing conditions.
