Crypto Technical Analysis: Techniques, Indicators, and Applications

The technical analysis of cryptocurrencies is the gateway towards assessing the current crypto market volatility and identifying market shifts and breakouts. This means understanding the ins and outs of crypto charts, digital currency data, and cryptocurrency market trends. To put it simply, investors are looking to buy when the market is at its lowest, then sell when it's at its highest. Just like with traditional trading, timing is everything in trading cryptocurrencies.

Conducting a thorough crypto technical analysis is one avenue for identifying whether you’re investing at the time that is right for you. “Is the coin still too high?” or “will it drop lower?” are questions you need to ask yourself while analyzing the data. Fundamentally, technical analysis is based on the idea that markets behave in trends that will eventually repeat themselves. It aims to spot these ongoing fluctuations and thus predict future market trends, allowing the trader to buy and sell at the right time.

By using crypto indicators, you’re able to carry out an effective analysis of the market. So, what are the most popular ones? From candlestick charts and trend lines to support and resistance levels, there are various handy charting tools at your disposal.

Let’s take a dive into the most used visualization tools that can help you keep up to date with the ever-changing crypto markets.

One of the more favored tools among traders are candlestick charts. They are great for gaining a deeper insight into the market’s overall behavior.

Candlestick charts reveal the highest and lowest price points of the crypto charts while showcasing the opening and closing price in your chosen timeframe to dissect – this can be anywhere from 10 minutes or 12 hours to a day or a week.

You will notice the body of candlesticks appear only green or red. Green illustrates that prices ended the day higher than where they opened, whereas it would be red if the prices ended the day lower than where they opened.

The wicks of the candlesticks – the thin lines sticking out of the body – are sources of additional information. They display up and down peaks and troughs of the market during the selected timeframe. As such, wicks suggest a battle between sellers and buyers, as well as showcasing the attempts of the market to break out, giving an excellent technical analysis of the cryptocurrency. Overall, the body of a candlestick indicates the fixed open and close prices within the time frame, while wicks show the failed attempts of price points.

Crypto technical analysis is based on past trends, meaning this factor is important to understand. Please remember that past performance is not always indicative of future results. Trend lines are one the most transparent crypto indicators and are created by drawing out a single line connecting the different high and low price points. Ultimately, the more price points you connect, the stronger the trend and easier it is to identify and target potential future market trends.

Support and resistance levels could be powerful crypto indicators for identifying the key entry levels and exits – they represent where the market has made past peaks and troughs. Trend lines can be helpful in determining if a market is range trading or showing signs of a directional trend. Many traders will rely on Fibonacci retracement and expansion levels in helping identify levels the trend could target or potentially form a reversal pattern.

To generalize, resistance levels are points where prices are repeatedly pulled back, and support levels are where it has bottomed out. If the market price continues to rise above resistance, it showcases that the coin has upwards momentum and could break out from the body. Whereas if prices are continuously bottoming the support, it indicates the opposite.

Another tool for identifying probable cryptocurrency market trends, moving averages track the average price points of a crypto asset over a certain timeframe. The longer the time frame, the more it can tone down the daily fluctuations, which for some means it has the potential to be a strong indicator. However, it would be wrong to rule out short-term moving averages, as they have also proved successful in the crypto community. You can set your moving-averages to different lengths, with some of the more popular periods being between 10 to 200 days.

So, how do they work? Moving averages are created by dividing the number of data points over a chosen period by the total of each data point. This information gives traders an indication of the direction of market trends.

Although technical analysis is a great step towards potential success, it is important to do your own personal research before deciding to invest in a market. This means looking at the crypto itself and answering questions such as, “who makes the coin?”, “what is it trying to achieve?” or “what is the purpose of the coin?” These are very important questions to answer and ones that can help you sleep at night, knowing you have invested in a legitimate crypto organization.

Other important pieces of information to consider are the board of directors involved, together with their business and clientele history, as well as finding out whether the cryptocurrency is sustainable in its processes and making sure you’re opting for a US-based regulated blockchain infrastructure company.

Now that you have the tools in your arsenal, it’s time to put them to the test with a globally recognized broker. Whether you’re interested in forex trading or crypto markets (through our partnership with Paxos), OANDA provides an intuitive platform with powerful tools, personalized layouts, and the latest market news and insights. Apply for a demo account to find out more.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell instruments. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk. Losses can exceed deposits. Past performance is not indicative of future results. While technical analysis is a well recognized study, other analysis, such as fundamental, may assert different views.

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Trading in digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, is especially risky and is only for individuals with a high risk tolerance and the financial ability to sustain losses. OANDA Corporation is not party to any transactions in digital assets and does not custody digital assets on your behalf. All digital asset transactions occur on the Paxos Trust Company exchange. Any positions in digital assets are custodied solely with Paxos and held in an account in your name outside of OANDA Corporation. Digital assets held with Paxos are not protected by SIPC. Paxos is not an NFA member and is not subject to the NFA’s regulatory oversight and examinations.