Bitcoin slid to $75,498 in Asian hours Tuesday, leaving crypto markets out of step with the equity rally that pushed global stocks to record highs overnight.
XRP, ether, and Solana were each down as much as 1% in the past day, while Zcash (ZEC) dropped 9% to $564, the biggest single move among the top 15. Hyperliquid (HYPE) bucked the trend at $59.99, up 1.4% on the day and now sitting just behind Dogecoin on market cap.
What traders are now watching is a setup forming on the bitcoin chart. FXPro analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said the price is finding support near the rising 50-day moving average, while the 200-day moving average briefly acted as resistance earlier in May. The two lines are on track to cross in the coming weeks - a setup known as a golden cross, generally read as a bullish signal.
The flow data has been less encouraging. Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. saw $1.74 billion in withdrawals over the past two weeks. Retail traders have been adding leverage in the meantime, a combination that has historically preceded sharp liquidation cascades when the market turns against the crowd.
Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said ether remains the critical chart to watch, with repeated failures ahead of $2,400 reinforcing the importance of that resistance band. A decisive daily close above $2,400 would mark a major technical shift and likely bring renewed institutional participation.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission added another piece to the institutional puzzle on Monday, approving the listing of options on a bitcoin index calculated from BTC prices across multiple exchanges. It is the first instrument of its kind.
Equities went the other way overnight. The MSCI All Country World Index rose for a sixth straight day to a record. Micron Technology jumped 19% in U.S. trading to cross $1 trillion in market value. Brent crude slipped 1.5% to $98 on signs of progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations. Treasury yields edged lower, with the 10-year at 4.47%.