What is a death cross?
A death cross happens when the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day moving average. It shows that the recent trend has turned weaker than the longer-term one. It is read as a bearish sign, but like the golden cross it lags, so much of the fall has usually happened by then.
From the Staxo crypto glossary. The examples use Kraken daily candles (UTC), Oct 10, 2025 to Oct 10, 2026, for the eight coins on Staxo's free plan that are not stablecoins.
How a death cross forms
It is the mirror of the golden cross. While prices rise, the 50-day simple moving average runs above the 200-day. Once prices have fallen for long enough, the 50-day drops below the 200-day, and that day is the death cross. The name sounds dramatic, but it only describes how two averages of past closes have moved.
Bitcoin's death cross came on Nov 16, 2025 at a close of $94,190. Its highest close in the 200 days before was $124,767 on Oct 6, 2025, 41 days earlier, so the price was already 24.5% below that high when the cross appeared. The 50-day average then stayed below the 200-day for 296 days, until the golden cross on Sep 8, 2026.
Death crosses on the top coins in the last 12 months
| Coin | Death cross | Close that day | Below the 200-day high | Days after that high | 30 days later | 90 days later |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardano | Nov 4, 2025 | $0.5207 | -45.8% | 79 | -15.6% | -42.6% |
| XRP | Nov 8, 2025 | $2.28 | -35.7% | 110 | -9.3% | -35.7% |
| Dogecoin | Nov 10, 2025 | $0.1817 | -37.3% | 58 | -21.2% | -46.8% |
| Bitcoin | Nov 16, 2025 | $94,190 | -24.5% | 41 | -6.7% | -25.9% |
| TRON | Nov 20, 2025 | $0.2801 | -23.5% | 90 | +0.6% | -0.5% |
| Solana | Nov 22, 2025 | $127.52 | -48.5% | 65 | -1.4% | -33.6% |
| Ethereum | Nov 30, 2025 | $2,992 | -38.1% | 100 | -0.7% | -34.3% |
| BNB | Dec 29, 2025 | $851.31 | -34.9% | 82 | +5.8% | -28.9% |
All eight coins had a death cross between Nov 4, 2025 (Cardano) and Dec 29, 2025 (BNB). By then most of them were already far below their highs, which is the lag built into any moving average.
What happened after these death crosses
Ninety days after the cross, all eight coins were lower: Bitcoin -25.9%, Ethereum -34.3%, BNB -28.9%, Solana -33.6%, XRP -35.7%, Cardano -42.6%, Dogecoin -46.8% and TRON -0.5%. The path was not straight: after 30 days BNB was still +5.8% and TRON was still +0.6%.
This is one stretch of one year, and the coins fell together, so these are a few observations of the same market, not independent tests. In this window the cross came after the fall had started, and for most coins the fall went on afterwards. That is a description of what happened, not a rule: a death cross on its own says nothing about the next 90 days.
How to practice it in Staxo
The Staxo chart does not draw the 50-day and 200-day averages, so you track the cross by hand or on a free charting site. The 6M and 1Y views of the Staxo chart show the same downtrend the averages describe, and the free RSI shows how stretched the fall is.
With demo money you can practice both sides. Hold a small position through the next death cross on a free-plan coin and note how the loss develops in your Portfolio. With Staxo Pro you can also open a short, which gains when the price falls, and see how leverage changes the result.
Free on iPhone and Android, $500 in demo money. Also on Google Play.Also on the App Store.
Death cross questions
Is a death cross a sell signal?
Not on its own. It shows that the recent trend is weaker than the long-term one, which is usually obvious from the price by then. Many traders treat it as a description of the market they are in rather than a reason to act on that day.
How long does a death cross last?
Until the 50-day average crosses back above the 200-day, which can take weeks or many months. Bitcoin's death cross of Nov 16, 2025 lasted 296 days, until a golden cross on Sep 8, 2026.
Try it with $500 in demo money.
Free download, no card. Also on Google Play.Also on the App Store.
Educational content, not investment advice. The examples describe prices from Oct 10, 2025 to Oct 10, 2026 and say nothing about where they go next. Staxo is a simulator: you practice with demo money, never real money.