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Bitcoin Has Been Less Volatile Than Tesla Stock for Months

Bitcoin is often criticized for being overly volatile, but it's been a sea of calm compared with Tesla stock in recent months.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:01 a.m. Published Sep 28, 2020, 12:29 p.m. 2 min read
Tesla

Bitcoin is often criticized for being overly volatile, but it's been a sea of calm compared with Tesla stock in recent months.

  • Tesla (TSLA) has been seeing bigger daily percentage moves since the end of June, according to 30-day realized volatility data.
  • Further, the volatility gulf between the two assets has been widening in recent weeks.
  • Bitcoin witnessed a below-1.25% daily move in 14 out of the last 27 days, according to data from TradingView – almost 52% of the time.
  • However, Tesla only achieved sub-1.25% moves 6% of the time over the same period, data source Skew tweeted early Monday.
Volatility of bitcoin price and Tesla stock
  • "People always assume bitcoin is incredibly volatile, but it's not more volatile than many popular tech stocks," Skew co-founder and CEO Emmanuel Goh told CoinDesk.
  • Looking at the price charts, both bitcoin and Tesla have witnessed two-way business this month and formed contracting triangles (narrowing price ranges), as shown below.
  • However, Tesla has seen a month-to-date price decline of 18% – far worse than bitcoin's 6% drop.
Daily charts for Tesla and bitcoin
  • Bitcoin's 30-day historical volatility, which measures the price action realized in the past 30 days, has been flatlined near 55% (annualized) since Sept. 3.
  • Further, its 30-day implied volatility – that is, investors' expectations of how volatile price will be over the next four weeks – has declined to 44%, the lowest level in nearly two years.
  • In the past, big moves have been preceded by an implied volatility reading of less than 50%.
  • At press time, the cryptocurrency is currently trading at $10,911, representing an over 2% gain on the day.
  • The weekly chart MACD histogram, an indicator used to identify trend changes and trend strength, has crossed bearish below zero.
  • As such, the cryptocurrency may face some chart-driven selling pressure in the short term.

Also read: The Real Story Behind Tesla's Crazy Rally

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(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

CNBC reported Tuesday that Musk is discussing a merger between Tesla and SpaceX that would tie his tech empire closer together and instantly create the world’s fifth-largest corporate bitcoin treasury, worth $3.3 billion.

What to know:

  • Elon Musk is exploring a potential merger of Tesla and SpaceX, a move that would deepen operational overlap in areas such as power infrastructure and AI-related computing.
  • A combined Tesla-SpaceX entity would control about 30,221 bitcoin, worth roughly $3.3 billion, making it the fifth-largest public corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.