Bitcoin (BTC) Market Cap Sunk More than $120 Billion in May

Bitcoin was hit hard in the crypto market crash of May which led to a steep decline in the market value of the most popular cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin remains the largest digital asset by market capitalization in June 2022. According to Be[In]Crypto research, BTC closed the fifth month of the year with a market capitalization of approximately $605.8 billion.

This was a 17% decrease from the opening day’s market value. On May 1, BTC saw an impressive trading volume of $27 billion which corresponded to a market capitalization of around $732 billion. 

Why the sinking market capitalization?       

A broader sell-off by investors that gained momentum in the week of May 9 to 13 can be credited to the waning market capitalization of Bitcoin. The primary factors that led to the sell-off were economic uncertainty brought forth by Russia/Ukraine crisis, inflation, and rising interest rates. 

In May, the number of large transactions involving Bitcoin reached a peak of 29,130 at a price of $27,960 on May 12.   

This corresponded with a large transaction volume of approximately $278.47 billion.

On May 12, BTC opened at $28,936.73 and reached an intraday low of $26,350.49. Trading volume was in the region of $66.99 billion and corresponded to a market capitalization of approximately $553 billion. This was a 24% decrease in BTCs opening day market value. Due to the plunge in price that saw BTC reach its lowest point since 2020, the late recovery attempts could not see the coin retest the region of its opening day market capitalization in May. 

BTC price action 

Bitcoin opened on May 1, at $37,713, reached a monthly high of $39,789, tested a monthly low of $26,350 on May 12, and closed the month at a trading price of $31,792.

Overall, this equates to a 15% decline in the opening and closing price of BTC in May.