Bitcoin is approaching its next halving with fewer than 100,034 blocks remaining until block 1,050,000, with estimates placing the event around April 17–19, 2028. The block subsidy is set to drop from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC, a change that could further tighten mining margins. Strategy and Blackrock together hold more than 1.66 million BTC heading into the supply reduction.

Iran has introduced Hormuz Safe, a state-backed maritime insurance service that lets eligible shippers pay premiums in Bitcoin, with coverage triggered after on-chain confirmation. The rollout was described as occurring around May 16–18, as BTC held near $77,000 after sliding from $83,000 to as low as $76,000. The cited report says the program could target over $10 billion in annual revenue if it captures traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a route said to handle about 20% of global seaborne crude.

Strategy has accumulated 843,738 BTC, compared with BlackRock's 817,138 BTC, leaving a gap of roughly 26,600 coins. In April 2026, Strategy surpassed BlackRock after buying 34,164 BTC for $2.54B in one week, and later added 24,869 BTC for $2.01B. JPMorgan projects Strategy's 2026 bitcoin buying could total $30 billion, keeping the 1 million BTC mark in focus.

On May 19, bitcoin bounced from $76,000 and moved back above $77,000, hovering near $77,200 by 3:50 a.m. EST. Bitfinex analysts said the earlier break below $78,000 highlights underlying market weakness, with liquidity conditions described as the worst since February. They added that onchain flows are about $2.8 billion, far below the roughly $10 billion they view as typical for a durable breakout.

Capital B said it purchased 192 BTC for about $15 million (€13 million) after completing capital raises totaling roughly $20 million (€17.15 million). The French firm reported total bitcoin holdings of 3,135 BTC and an overall acquisition cost of approximately $330 million (€283.6 million). It also disclosed a year-to-date BTC yield of 1.82% and a quarterly yield of 1.09%.

On May 19, Bitcoin traded at $77,043 after the prior day's dip held above the SMA50 at $75,848, keeping the ascending-channel support from the March lows intact. On-chain data shows 10,200 BTC in Short-Term Holder Loss flow to Binance, while STH Profit flow was 906 BTC. Long-term holder realized cap change (30D) reached about $51.2B and RSI stood at 45.29 with a 57.37 signal line, pointing to negative momentum even as structure remained supported.

Bitcoin's 7-day Supply in Profit average has climbed from the early-March trough near 53.6% to 63.3% as of May 18, indicating improved network-wide profitability. Over the same period, the 7-day STH-SOPR is back below the 1.0 break-even line at 0.9994, with BTC around $76.9k, leaving the $76k–$77k zone as the key area to watch.

Institutional investors withdrew a combined $1.07 billion from Bitcoin and digital-asset investment products in one week, ending a seven-week run of inflows and marking the year's third-largest weekly outflow. Bitcoin led the declines with $982 million leaving, while Ethereum recorded $249 million in outflows, its biggest weekly redemption since January 30th. XRP and Solana bucked the trend, drawing $67.6 million and $55.1 million in inflows, respectively.