200-day simple moving average
The 200-day simple moving average, or SMA 200, is the average daily price of an asset over the previous 200 days.
- 200-day average
- 200-day moving average
- 200-day MA
- 200 DMA
- SMA 200
TL;DR
- SMA 200 is the average of a crypto token's daily prices over the last 200 days.
- Many traders track this line to see where the crypto market sits compared with its own past.
- Each day's price is the last trade before 00:00 UTC, because crypto markets never sleep: they trade around the clock, every day of the week.
- In crypto the 200-day average covers the last 200 calendar days, about six and a half months. On stock markets (NASDAQ, NYSE) it counts only trading days, Monday to Friday minus bank holidays, so the same 200 days stretch over about nine and a half months.
What is SMA 200 in crypto?
SMA 200 is the average of a token's daily prices over the last 200 days. Drawn on a chart, these numbers form a smooth line that follows the price. Traders and quants use it to judge the market cycle (bull or bear market) and how today's price compares with its recent past.
Stock exchanges such as NASDAQ, NYSE and DAX trade from Monday to Friday and skip public holidays, so a stock's 200-day average reaches back nearly ten months. In crypto, 200 days is just 200 days: roughly six and a half months.
A stock’s 200-day average is also built from official closing prices. Crypto markets never sleep, so mortymer uses the last trade before midnight UTC as each day's close.
Where can I see Bitcoin's 200-day moving average?
On mortymer's live Bitcoin chart, the 200-day average is the dashed line.
How do you calculate the 200-day moving average?
Add up the last 200 daily closes, then divide the total by 200. On each new day, the oldest price drops out of the window and the newest one joins it.
mortymer leaves out the day's own price, so the day's average is fixed at midnight UTC and does not change during the day.
SMA 200 in crypto vs stocks
Is the 200-day average the same for Bitcoin and stocks?
The maths is the same, but the time window is not. Crypto trades 24/7, 365 days a year, while stock exchanges follow the workweek and skip public holidays. So Bitcoin’s SMA 200 covers about six and a half months, while for a stock like Tesla (TSLA) it covers about nine and a half.
| Topic | Crypto on mortymer | Stocks |
|---|---|---|
| Days that count | Every day, weekends too | Trading days only |
| Time that 200 days covers | About six and a half months | About nine and a half months |
| Daily price | Last trade before 00:00 UTC, on each exchange | Official closing price |
| Same asset, many lines? | Yes, one line per exchange | Usually one main listing |
Each crypto exchange has its own trades, so each exchange has its own daily closes and its own average.
How to read a price above or below the line
When the price is above the line, it is higher than the average of its previous 200 daily prices. When the price is below the line, it is lower than that same average. That is everything the line tells you: where today's price sits against its recent history.
The line itself climbs when the newest close beats the one dropping out of the window, and slips when it doesn't.
What does it mean when Bitcoin is below its 200-day average?
It means that the current Bitcoin price is lower than the average of its previous 200 daily closes. It does not say where the price goes next or how long it stays below the line. A short dip and a long stay below look identical on the first day. Only the following days reveal which of the two situations it was.
- Price
- 200-day average
- Days below the SMA 200
Hyperliquid BTC perpetual, daily price and its 200-day average in USD, 2025-10-01 to 2026-10-01. Shaded days are below the average. Not live; fetched 2026-10-18 16:02 UTC.
This chart shows both a long stay below the line and a few much shorter dips below it. From 2025-11-03 to 2026-08-18, the daily price of the Hyperliquid BTC perpetual stayed below its 200-day average for 289 days in a row.
Why many traders and quants watch it
Many traders follow SMA 200 because it sums up the last six months of trading in one line. It filters out daily spikes and noise, which makes it easier to judge whether the market is in an uptrend (bull market) or a downtrend (bear market).
Is the 200-day moving average reliable for crypto?
Crypto trading is spread across many exchanges, and each one has its own trades. For example, Bitcoin's price on OKX is rarely identical to its price on Binance, so their 200-day averages won't match exactly either. The gap is usually small, but it is there.
What is the difference between SMA and EMA?
An SMA counts every day in the window the same. An EMA gives recent days more weight, so it reacts faster to new prices, and the two lines drift apart.
Can you use a 200 moving average on other timeframes?
Yes, because a moving average counts periods, and a period is not always a day. On a 4-hour chart, a 200-period average covers 200 blocks of 4 hours, which is about one month.
7 common mistakes
- Calling one day below the line a trend change. The line shows where the price sits today, and it does not show a change of direction.
- Treating the line as a floor or a ceiling. The price does not have to stop at the line, whether it comes from above or from below.
- Treating a same-day dip like weeks below the line. A dip that recovers before the end of the day is a different event from a long stay under the average.
- Mixing exchanges or tokens. Each exchange has its own trades, so its own average. Two exchanges' lines rarely sit exactly on top of each other.
- Using the average before 200 daily prices exist. With fewer than 200 days of history, there is no SMA 200, and mortymer shows no value at all.
- Comparing crypto and stock lines as if they cover the same time. A crypto line spans roughly half a year; a stock's reaches back nearly ten months.
- Mixing up lines with similar names. A 200-day SMA, a 200-day EMA, a 200-week average and a 200-bar line on a 4-hour chart are four different lines.
What 200-day moving average does not tell you
- Where the price goes next, or how long it stays above or below the line.
- Why the price moved.
- Whether one day below the line matters. The page shows how far below and for how long, not a judgement.