Open interest held steady and funding stayed subdued during the recent liquidation wave, suggesting traders were de-risking rather than capitulating, according to HashKey Research's Tim Sun.

Bitcoin traded near $76.7K on May 19 as BTC charts, oscillators and moving averages signaled consolidation during the morning session.

Bitcoin trades sideways at $76K amid fading relief over U.S.-Iran strikes. Crypto liquidations drop to $175M as Wall Street indexes turn red.