eltican·capital
eltican · capital
As of 31 May 2026
May 2026

May 2026 Monthly Research

A combined long-form note covering the month in news, the cross-venue perp landscape, and the macro backdrop.

I

This month in news

What moved the market this month — themes, headline events, and the stories worth tracking into next month.

Bitcoin$73.6K-6.0% over period
Spot BTC ETF flows-$2.41B20 sessions · IBIT -$1.41B
Ethereum$2.00K-12.7% over period · ETF -$0.54B
$72K$75K$78K$81K$84K$-2.41B$0.00B+$1.68B$73.6KCLARITY Act text dropsCPI 3.8% · PPI 6.0%Verus bridge exploitIBIT $1.26B block tradeCFTC OKs first US perpBTC tops $82.3kETF outflow streak beginsWarsh sworn in as Fed ChairBTC tests $73k · IranStrategy first BTC saleMAY 1MAY 8MAY 16MAY 24MAY 31
BTC / USD (LEFT)CUMUL. BTC ETF FLOWS $B (RIGHT)FLOWRISKMACROPOLICYTRADFI
Ethereum$2.00K-12.7% over periodCUMUL. ETH ETF · -$0.54B
$1.94$2.19$2.44$2.00KMAY 01MAY 31
Themes at a glance
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NEGATIVE
ETF flows reverse hard; IBIT hit by a $1.26B block exit
Bitcoin rolled over from $82.3k on May 6 to test $73k on May 28 after US strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, recovering above $77k by month-end. Spot BTC ETF AUM dropped ~$13.5B from May 14 to May 29 across the category. The IBIT block trade on May 26 — 29.21M shares off-exchange at a 2.3% discount, ~$1.26B notional — was, per NYDIG, a rapid exit by a single institutional holder rather than a basis-trade unwind, with corresponding CME volume of only 91 contracts.
NEGATIVE
Strategy makes its first-ever BTC sale; treasury vehicles trade through NAV
Saylor's Strategy sold 32 BTC between May 26-31 at an average $77,135 — the company's first sale ever — to fund preferred-stock dividends, breaking the 'never sell' stance. About one in three of the 156 listed crypto-treasury firms now trade below an mNAV of 1, breaking the share-issuance flywheel. DL News flagged 'spiral of doom' fears, with vehicles such as NAKA collapsing from an mNAV near 75 to ~0.7. With Strategy itself now a seller, forced sales, M&A and leverage are the remaining moves.
NEGATIVE
PCE confirms stagflation; Warsh inherits the regime
April PCE re-accelerated to 3.8% YoY headline / 3.3% core (BEA, May 28), with the Iran energy passthrough doing most of the work, while Q1 GDP was revised down to 1.6% from 2.0% (consumer + investment dragged; corporate profits decelerated to +$40.4B from +$246.9B in Q4). Kevin Warsh, sworn in as Fed Chair on May 22, inherits the regime. VC Jefferson (Tokyo, May 27) said disinflation has stalled on tariffs and energy but is expected to resume; VC Bowman (Reykjavík, May 29) said the FOMC should 'look through' temporarily elevated energy-driven readings. 2026 cut bets stayed pushed out.
POSITIVE
Market structure: first US-regulated perp, CME goes 24/7
The CFTC granted KalshiEX an Order for Approval for BTCPERP on May 29 — the first US-regulated bitcoin perpetual ever — and issued a no-action letter the same day letting Coinbase route perps via its Bermuda venue as 'foreign futures', with BTC/ETH/stablecoins as eligible margin. CME Group went 24/7 on crypto futures and options on May 29, trading 7,200+ contracts (~$50M notional) over the inaugural weekend with Robinhood, Ripple Prime and Wedbush participating. The structural gap between regulated venues and 24/7 spot is closing fast.
NEUTRAL
Banks step into stablecoins as DeFi exploits accelerate
SoFi launched SoFiUSD on May 27 — the first stablecoin issued by a US national bank on a banking platform — live on Ethereum and Solana with 1:1 redemption via SoFi Bank and distribution to ~15M members. Tether's USAT (Anchorage-issued, US-regulated) grew 540% to $140.8M in April, though still trailing USDC ($76B) and PYUSD ($5.5B). Meanwhile CertiK flagged April as DeFi's worst hack month in four years (only 3 days without an exploit), framing AI-accelerated near-daily exploits as the biggest blocker to institutional onchain migration.
NEGATIVE
Quantum threat: from theoretical to credible
The FT reported on May 22 that the crypto industry is bracing for quantum computers to break the cryptography securing Bitcoin, with the risk now 'from theoretical to credible' (RippleX). A Google paper in April found quantum machines could crack today's cryptography with fewer resources than thought, and timelines for useful machines have slipped toward ~2030. Ripple, Circle and the Ethereum Foundation have launched post-quantum roadmaps; Bernstein pegs the industry's prep bill at 'several billions, if not hundreds of billions.' The hardest case is Bitcoin itself: 'leaderless,' with no agreed quantum-resistant upgrade path to protect holders.
Month timeline
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Watching next
FORWARD CALENDAR · 8 ITEMS
II

Cross-venue perp landscape

Overview of the market open interest and volume in the last 30 days.

Total perp OI$35.8B+5.4% 1M · +31.3% 3M · -2.1% 12M
BTC+ETH share of OI62%-2.1pp 1M · +1.7pp 3M · +1.9pp 12M
30D perp volume$1934BBTC $592B · -5.1% 1M · -29.9% 3M · -48.8% 12M
Biggest 30d gainerHYPE+$0.48B · +105%
Biggest 30d loserDOGE-0.23B · -34%
Total ecosystem Open Interest · 30d
STACKED BY ASSET · 3 VENUES
BTC $14.3BETH $7.8BAlts $13.7BTotal $35.8B$0B$14B$29B$43BMAY 02MAY 31
Top alts · current OI
SPLIT BY VENUE · CLICK FOR 12M
BinanceBybitOKXSOL$1.56BHYPE$0.93BXRP$0.76BBNB$0.65BZEC$0.51BDOGE$0.43BH$0.33BLAB$0.29BNEAR$0.26BSUI$0.21BXAUT$0.20BWLD$0.19BADA$0.17BBCH$0.17BTON$0.17B
Top alts · 30d volume
SPLIT BY VENUE · SUM
BinanceBybitOKXSOL$89.46BZEC$56.24BHYPE$54.15BLAB$41.28BDOGE$36.53BXRP$34.54BBSB$19.97BTON$18.90BSUI$17.36BNEAR$16.67BBNB$15.25BBILL$13.65BWLD$10.28BXLM$9.68B1000PEPE$9.50B
30d OI movers · gainers vs losers
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Implied volatility · BTC & ETH
DUAL-AXIS · 30D
BTC IV (LEFT)39.3% → 36.4%ETH IV (RIGHT)54.9% → 49.6%33%36%39%42%46%50%54%57%MAY 02MAY 31
Funding & basis term structure · BTC & ETH
ANNUALIZED CARRY BY MATURITY · LIVE
-6%-3%+1%+5%+0.3%+2.4%+2.2%+2.8%+3.0%+3.3%+3.7%+3.9%BTCETHPerp19Jun26Jun31Jul28Aug25Sep25Dec26Mar
Stablecoin supply · point-in-time
TODAY · 1M · 3M · 12M
TODAY 1M AGO 3M AGO 12M AGO
USDT $188B $190B -0.7% $184B +2.5% $154B +22.5%
USDC $76B $77B -1.8% $75B +0.9% $61B +25.2%
Total $264B $267B -1.0% $259B +2.0% $214B +23.2%
Tokenized real-world assets · on-chain AUM
BY ASSET TYPE · DEFILLAMA TAGS · CLICK FOR 12M
COMMODITIESTREASURIESPRIVATE CREDITPRIVATE EQUITYEQUITIESTotal $26B · 123 protocolsTether Gold$3.03BBlackRock BUIDL$3.02BCircle USYC$2.98BOndo Yield Assets$2.64BPaxos Gold$1.94BCentrifuge Protocol$1.63BSpiko$1.16BOndo Global Markets$1.00BEthena USDtb$0.98BBlockchain Capital$0.97B
RWA perps in CeFi · open interest
BY ASSET · SEGMENTS = VENUE · CLICK FOR 12M
GOLDOILSILVEREQUITIESTotal OI $608MXAUT$201MXAU$130MPAXG$123MCL$36MXAG$34MNVDA$17MQQQ$10MSPX$9MCRCL$9MTSLA$8M
III

Macro setup

Rates, FX, equity, commodities, and credit.

Financial Conditions
74 / 100
LOOSE · +15.8 vs 1M
P26 vs 5y · NFCI -0.52 · 24 APR · Chicago Fed
Risk Appetite
61 / 100
MIXED
z +0.90 · VIX · Cu/Au · SPY/TLT · HY/LQD · 29 MAY
S&P 500
7,580
+5.1% MTD
VIX
15.32
-9.3% MTD
US 10Y yield
4.45%
+6 bps
DXY
98.91
+0.8% MTD
Cross-asset heatmap · MTD / 3M / YTD / 12M
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InstrumentMTD3MYTD12MLAST
Equities· 5+7.3%+11.3%+17.9%+41.8%5 items
S&P 500+5.1%+10.1%+10.7%+28.2%7,580
Nasdaq+8.4%+18.6%+16.1%+41.1%26,973
EuroStoxx 50+2.9%+1.1%+4.4%+12.7%6,051
Nikkei 225+12.9%+15.3%+33.0%+76.3%66,934
MSCI EM (EEM)+7.2%+11.5%+25.4%+50.7%68.60
Rates· 7mixedmixedmixedmixed7 items
US 1M yield-2bp-4bp-4bp-63bp3.70%
US 3M yield+0bp-0bp+4bp-64bp3.59%
US 1Y yield+13bp+31bp+37bp-26bp3.85%
US 5Y yield+13bp+53bp+43bp+17bp4.15%
US 10Y yield+6bp+41bp+29bp+4bp4.45%
US 30Y yield+1bp+30bp+15bp+6bp4.99%
Long UST (TLT)+0.2%-4.3%-1.6%-0.6%85.76
Credit· 2+0.2%-0.7%-0.6%+1.2%2 items
High Yield (HYG)-0.1%+0.0%-0.4%+0.9%80.31
Inv. Grade (LQD)+0.5%-1.4%-0.8%+1.5%109.4
FX· 4+0.1%+0.4%+0.4%+3.1%4 items
DXY+0.8%+0.5%+0.6%-0.4%98.91
EUR/USD-0.7%-0.9%-0.8%+2.4%1.16
USD/JPY+1.5%+1.7%+1.9%+10.8%159.4
GBP/USD-1.1%+0.3%-0.1%-0.4%1.35
Commodities· 8-1.7%+2.7%+16.7%+48.2%8 items
WTI Crude-16.9%+22.6%+52.1%+43.7%87.36
Brent Crude-19.3%+18.4%+51.3%+44.1%92.05
Nat Gas+18.9%+11.1%-10.7%-4.6%3.29
Gold-1.2%-13.9%+5.4%+38.7%4,560
Silver+2.8%-14.3%+7.8%+129.9%75.62
Platinum-2.9%-16.9%-5.5%+82.8%1,922
Copper+7.3%+7.9%+13.0%+36.7%6.36
Wheat-2.1%+6.3%+20.4%+14.3%610.5
Vol· 5-7.5%-17.7%+24.7%+7.9%5 items
VIX-9.3%-28.5%+2.5%-17.5%15.32
VXN+3.6%-11.1%+15.4%+8.2%22.58
MOVE-2.6%-4.1%+9.8%-23.8%70.22
OVX-23.0%-16.1%+91.7%+42.1%57.84
GVZ-6.5%-28.5%+4.1%+30.4%24.91
Crypto· 2-8.9%+1.3%-25.5%-26.3%2 items
Bitcoin-6.5%+3.7%-18.5%-31.8%71,320
Ethereum-11.2%-1.2%-32.5%-20.8%2,003
Cross-asset implied volatility · MTD rebased to 100
VIX · VXN · MOVE · OVX · GVZ · DVOL
10077122 MAY 01MAY 31
VIX (S&P 500)
17.0 → 15.3 -9.8%
VXN (Nasdaq)
21.9 → 22.6 +3.0%
MOVE (UST rates)
70.4 → 70.2 -0.3%
OVX (WTI crude)
75.4 → 57.8 -23.3%
GVZ (gold)
26.4 → 24.9 -5.8%
DVOL BTC
38.5 → 36.4 -5.5%
DVOL ETH
54.7 → 49.6 -9.3%
UST yield curve · today vs 1M / 3M / 12M ago
% YIELD
3.34%3.96%4.58%5.19% 3.70%3.59%3.85%4.15%4.45%4.99% Today1M ago3M ago12M ago 1M3M1Y5Y10Y30Y
Momentum scatter · 1M return vs prior-11M z-score
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-2-112-112 trend continuationreversal uppersistent weaknessreversal down S&P 500NasdaqEuroStoxx 50Nikkei 225MSCI EM (EEM)Long UST (TLT)High Yield (HYG)Inv. Grade (LQD)DXYEUR/USDUSD/JPYGBP/USDWTI CrudeBrent CrudeNat GasGoldSilverPlatinumCopperWheatBitcoinEthereum LAST 1M · Z-SCORE OF LOG RETURN →PRIOR 11M · Z-SCORE → EquitiesRatesCreditFXCommoditiesCryptoclick to filter · again to reset
Cross-asset spreads & ratios · MTD / 3M / YTD / 12M
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InstrumentMTD3MYTD12MLAST
Rates & curve· 3mixedmixedmixedmixed3 items
10Y - 3MYield curve slope · Fed's preferred recession indicator+6bp+41bp+25bp+68bp0.87%
30Y - 5YLong-end steepness · long-duration term premium-12bp-23bp-27bp-11bp0.84%
MOVE / VIX>6 = rate stress dominates, <4 = equity stress dominates+7.4%+34.2%+7.1%-7.6%4.58
Credit· 1-0.6%+1.5%+0.4%-0.5%1 items
HYG / LQDHY vs IG total return · credit risk preference-0.6%+1.5%+0.4%-0.5%0.73
Risk appetite· 3+1.6%+8.0%-0.3%+12.8%3 items
Copper / GoldPro-growth vs flight-to-safety · tracks 10Y yields+8.6%+25.3%+7.1%-1.4%0.00
AUDJPYCarry-trade FX pair · classic RORO indicator+1.2%+3.5%+9.3%+23.5%114.4
ETH / BTCIntra-crypto risk-on signal-5.0%-4.7%-17.2%+16.2%0.03
Equity factor· 3+5.4%+10.7%+15.4%+33.8%3 items
SPHB / SPLVHigh-beta vs low-vol US equity · risk preference+15.0%+31.1%+26.9%+73.7%2.08
IWM / SPYSmall caps vs large caps · domestic risk-on-0.7%-0.1%+6.4%+10.3%0.38
EEM / SPYEM equity vs US · global risk-on+1.8%+1.2%+13.0%+17.4%0.09
Vol regime· 2-9.2%+0.3%+44.7%+31.7%2 items
VIX9D / VIX>1 = backwardation/stress, <1 = contango/calm-3.4%-16.8%+2.4%-8.8%0.82
OVX / VIXOil vol vs equity vol · geopolitics tell-15.1%+17.5%+87.1%+72.2%3.78
Energy· 1-47.5%-28.0%+36.7%+50.8%1 items
Brent - WTIRegional supply imbalance · geopolitics premium-47.5%-28.0%+36.7%+50.8%4.69
FX & dollar· 1+2.0%+16.7%-4.5%-28.2%1 items
DXY / GoldReal-rate proxy · USD strong + Gold weak = high real rates+2.0%+16.7%-4.5%-28.2%0.02