Bitcoin takes a breather after a two-week 20%+ rally, Bakkt stock dips

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) takes a breather from its 23% rally since Jan. 22, with the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap slipping 0.7% in the past 24 hours to ~$43.3K.

On Monday, bitcoin (BTC-USD) touched as high as $44.4K, with commentators naming $45K as its next resistance level.

Along with bitcoin's (BTC-USD) action, many crypto-linked names slide even more — Bakkt (BKKT -3.6%), Marathon Digital (MARA -1.0%), Bitfarms (BITF -0.8%), SOS Ltd (SOS -3.6%), BIT Mining (BTCM -3.1%), Coinbase (COIN -0.7%), and Galaxy Digital (OTCPK:BRPHF -2.7%). A few names manage to rise — MicroStrategy (MSTR +0.8%), Silvergate Capital (SI +2.9%), Bit Digital (BTBT +4.5%).

"Today's pullback is due to some profit-taking after a big move," as some traders take short-term profits, Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak told Bloomberg News.

Analysts have also been observing cryptocurrencies tracking with riskier assets, including U.S. stocks.

"Much like U.S. equities, BTC’s price performance lapsed into negative territory in the month of Jan. as risk-on assets sold off following the hawkish shift from the Fed and continued Omicron fears," crypto exchange Kraken said in a report it recently issued.

Note that among a portfolio of crypto-related stocks, the SA Quant rating flags four of them for potential to perform poorly — Bakkt (NYSE:BKKT), Bit Digital (NASDAQ:BTBT), Riot Blockchain (RIOT -0.5%), and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR).