Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and ethereum ( ETH-USD ) edged down a bit in Tuesday morning trading, erasing some gains seen in the past week, as the stock market's two-month-long relief rally takes a breather.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap ( BTC-USD ) slid 1.7% to $23.8K at 11:34 a.m. ET after reaching as high as $25.03K on August 14. Similarly, ether ( ETH-USD ) fell 1.7% to $1.88K.
If bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) overcome the bearish price action and break out its 100-day moving average, which stands at roughly $24.7K, "it would indicate a major trend reversal and a potential move to the high $20,000 range, but if not then we can expect more pain ahead on the longer time frame," GlobalBlock analyst Marcus Sotiriou wrote in a note.
In the broader stock market, the Nasdaq ( COMP.IND ) -0.9% is off the most, while the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) -0.3% and the Dow Jones ( DJI ) +0.2% as traders weigh stronger-than-expected Q2 retail earnings from Walmart ( WMT ) and Home Depot ( HD ) as well as a fresh round of economic data. Housing starts for July was certainly a disappointment, falling 9.6% from June.
Of note, "the 10-day moving average of equity call option volume continues to be a very good directional indicator of the Bitcoin price," Joe Weisenthal, co-host of the Odds Lots podcast, wrote in a Twitter post . In other words, as traders ramp up their stock bets by purchasing call options, which allow them to get a bigger bang for their buck if the underlying stock price rises before maturity, then the price of bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) will likely follow suit.
Crypto-related stocks, meanwhile, got knocked lower as traders tighten their risk appetite. Riot Blockchain ( RIOT ) -7% , Marathon Digital ( MARA ) -6.5% , BIT Mining ( BTCM ) -42.5% , Bitfarms ( BITF ) -8.2% , Greenidge Generation ( GREE ) -21.4% , Galaxy Digital ( OTCPK:BRPHF ) -11.9% , Coinbase Global ( COIN ) -5.8% and Hut 8 Mining ( HUT ) -7.4% .
Earlier this week, (August 15) SkyBridge's Anthony Scaramucci says " demand shock" coming for Bitcoin .
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Bitcoin, ether give up some gains as traders' risk tolerance narrows