Bitcoin slips below $84,000 as oil climbs back above $100

Bitcoin lost its footing late on Tuesday. The price fell below $84,000 in evening trading in the United States, CoinDesk reported, after sitting just above $86,000 early in the day. NewsBytes put bitcoin at about $84,200, down 1.5%.

Smaller coins fell further. Ether dropped about 3.5% to roughly $2,610, XRP lost nearly 3% and dogecoin about 5%, according to NewsBytes.

Both outlets linked the slide to oil. Crude rose to about $101.50 a barrel, NewsBytes reported, after trading below $100 on Tuesday morning. CoinDesk and NewsBytes attributed the jump to attacks on tankers linked to Iran. Neither report gave details of those attacks that we could confirm, so treat the cause as reported, not established.

The level matters because traders were already watching it. In CoinDesk's market updates earlier on Tuesday, analysts at FxPro called a break below $84,000 a win for sellers, and said a fall through $83,000 could open the way toward $80,000. That is their reading of the chart, not a forecast we endorse.

Higher oil prices tend to feed inflation worries, which make riskier assets less attractive. The next scheduled test is the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes on Wednesday.