According to The Kobeissi Letter, the 7-day moving average of arrivals at the top 10 US airports dropped 5% year-over-year last week, marking the largest decline seen in 2025 (source: Apollo, The Kobeissi Letter, May 19, 2025). This decrease in air travel reflects weakening demand in tourism, business, and government travel sectors. For traders, this signals potential downward pressure on travel and airline stocks, which could ripple through to crypto markets by dampening overall risk sentiment. Historically, sharp declines in transportation and hospitality metrics have preceded periods of reduced crypto trading activity, as investors become more risk-averse and shift focus to defensive assets.

According to Fox News, cruise ship crime has reached a two-year high as of May 2025, raising concerns among travelers and negatively affecting sentiment around major cruise line stocks such as Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL). This uptick in crime, as reported by Fox News, may result in increased volatility for travel sector equities, which historically correlates with risk-off sentiment in the cryptocurrency market, especially for tokens connected to travel and leisure industries (Source: Fox News, May 15, 2025). Traders should closely monitor developments in the travel industry, as heightened negative news can trigger broad sell-offs or reduced inflows into both traditional and digital assets.