Bitcoin Slides Toward $73,000 as Texas Moves Ahead With Strategic BTC Reserve and ETFs Shed $2.8B
Bitcoin drifted lower toward $73,500 as Texas took fresh steps to put its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into operation and U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs extended a heavy redemption streak.
Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said the state has formed a five-member advisory committee to oversee custody, valuation and management of Texas' Bitcoin holdings. The panel was created under Senate Bill 21, signed June 22, 2025, and includes Hancock, investment veteran Laurie Dotter, Cormint Data Systems CEO Jamie McAvity, SMU law professor Carla Reyes and CleanSpark CFO Gary Vecchiarelli. The committee is expected to provide guidance on transparency, security and financial controls as the state shifts from indirect ETF exposure to directly held coins, a move Texas is positioning as a model for sovereign-style Bitcoin policy.
Texas is also seeking vendors to execute that transition. The Comptroller's office issued a request for proposals for a custody and liquidity provider to move the state's $10 million Strategic Bitcoin Reserve out of BlackRock's IBIT and into directly custodied BTC. The RFP, posted May 7, calls for the migration to be completed within 60 days of contract execution, with institutional-grade security controls and a public dashboard disclosing reserve holdings and valuations. The scope includes acquisition, custody, reporting and liquidity services in the name of the State of Texas, with flexibility to add other qualifying digital assets over time.
In markets, spot Bitcoin ETFs have now recorded nine straight sessions of net outflows totaling about $2.8 billion, the longest withdrawal run since the products launched in January 2024. The biggest single-day pullback came Wednesday at $733.43 million, led by a $527.84 million outflow from BlackRock's IBIT. Weekly flows have weakened further, with the most recent week showing roughly $1.30 billion of net withdrawals after about $1 billion and $1.26 billion in the prior two weeks. Year-to-date spot Bitcoin ETF flows have turned negative for 2026.
Bitcoin has also slipped out of the world's top 10 assets by market capitalization, dropping to 13th as its value fell from $1.66 trillion in early May to around $1.45 trillion this week. It now trails Saudi Aramco, Tesla and Meta Platforms, as capital has rotated toward precious metals and artificial intelligence-linked equities. Gold hit an all-time high of $5,600 per ounce in January before easing to about $4,486, and silver peaked near $120. Semiconductor leaders including TSMC, Broadcom and Micron Technology have overtaken BTC in valuation amid sustained AI-driven momentum.
Derivatives signals remain mixed as Bitcoin stabilizes roughly 10% below the monthly peak near $81,000. Long-term holder supply has reached a record 15.8 million BTC, though analysts say the increase may reflect inactivity rather than new conviction, while short-term holder supply has declined by 2.2 million BTC since December. Spot demand has not been strong enough to reclaim cost-basis levels around $78,000. On Polymarket, traders are assigning high odds that BTC closes May between $72,000 and $76,000, and realized profit-loss ratios remain well below levels typically associated with a healthy bull market.
The gap between crypto and traditional risk assets has widened, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures pushing toward fresh record highs as Bitcoin slid to early-April lows. The rejection above $83,000 has reinforced a pattern of lower highs dating back to October. BTC open interest rose to $20.05 billion from $19.7 billion a week ago, while one-week 25-delta skew firmed to 12.85%, indicating increased demand for downside protection.
Altcoins were mixed. Stellar jumped 25% after DTCC confirmed plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to the network.
On technical levels, BTC was quoted at $73,243, wedged between support at $72,644 and resistance at $73,600, with further downside levels at $70,580 and $66,863. RSI stood at 34.76, nearing oversold territory without a clear exhaustion signal, while MACD remained bearish. A sustained move back above $75,112 would point toward $76,602 and soften the lower-high structure; a clean break below $72,644 would likely expose $70,580. The bullish thesis is invalidated on a daily close below $70,580, while bears cede control on a sustained move above $76,602 on rising volume.
