Explore essential crypto and trading terms in one place, from indicators like RSI and MACD to concepts like bullish momentum, breakouts, and volatility.
The ask (offer) is the lowest price sellers are currently willing to accept on the order book.
ATR (Average True Range) measures typical price range over a lookback period, helping traders gauge volatility for stops, targets, and alert buffers.
Bearish momentum refers to strong and sustained downward price movement in a crypto asset, signaling increasing selling pressure and market weakness.
The bid is the highest price buyers are currently willing to pay on the order book.
The bid-ask spread is the gap between the highest bid price and the lowest ask price on an order book.
Bollinger Bands plot a moving average with upper and lower bands based on standard deviation, framing volatility and stretch around price.
A breakout occurs when the price of a crypto asset moves above resistance or below support with strong momentum, signaling the start of a potential new trend.
A breakout alert notifies you when price moves beyond a predefined level such as a range high, resistance line, or pattern boundary.
Bullish momentum describes a strong upward trend in price action, driven by increased buying pressure and positive sentiment signaling strength in the market.
Buyers are market participants who place purchase orders, aiming to acquire an asset at a specific price. Their actions influence price movement and demand strength.
A candlestick is a chart unit that shows open, high, low, and close for a period, with the body marking open-to-close and wicks marking extremes.
A chart pattern is a recognizable price structure (flags, triangles, heads-and-shoulders, ranges) used to frame continuation or reversal scenarios.
Consolidation refers to a period when a crypto asset trades within a tight price range, showing little directional movement as buyers and sellers reach temporary equilibrium.
A death cross is a bearish moving-average event when a shorter average crosses below a longer one (often 50 below 200).
Divergence is when price and an indicator (such as RSI or MACD) move in opposite directions, often used as a warning that momentum may be fading.
A doji is a candlestick where open and close are nearly equal, producing a tiny body that can signal indecision after a directional move.
A downtrend is a market condition where the price of an asset consistently moves lower over time, forming lower highs and lower lows, signaling ongoing selling pressure.
Drawdown is the peak-to-trough decline in equity or price, measuring how deep a losing stretch has been.
EMA (Exponential Moving Average) is a moving average that gives more weight to recent prices, making it more responsive than an SMA.
An engulfing pattern is a two-candle setup where the second candle’s body fully covers the prior body, often read as a potential momentum shift.
An entry is the price or condition where you open a position according to your plan.
An exit is the price or condition where you close or reduce a position — for profit, loss, or time.
A false breakout (fakeout) is when price briefly moves beyond support or resistance then reverses back, trapping breakout traders.
Fibonacci retracement levels are horizontal ratios drawn between a swing high and low to map potential support or resistance during pullbacks.
A fill is the execution of an order (full or partial) at one or more prices.
FOMO (fear of missing out) is the emotional urge to enter because price is already moving or peers are bragging about gains.
FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) refers to alarming narratives — sometimes exaggerated — that pressure sentiment and price.
Funding rate is a periodic payment between long and short traders on perpetual futures to tether the contract to spot.
Crypto futures (including perpetuals) are derivative contracts that track an underlying with leverage, funding, and venue-specific rules.
A golden cross is a bullish moving-average event when a shorter average (often 50) crosses above a longer one (often 200).
A hammer is a candlestick with a small body near the high and a long lower wick, often watched as potential bullish rejection after a decline.
An indicator alert notifies you when a technical indicator condition you configure becomes true — for example an RSI threshold or MACD cross.
Leverage lets you control a larger notional position with less margin, amplifying both gains and losses.
A limit order is an instruction to buy or sell at a specified price or better; it rests until filled, canceled, or expired.
Liquidation is the forced closure of a leveraged position when margin can no longer cover losses under the venue’s rules.
Liquidity is the ability to quickly buy or sell a crypto asset without causing significant price changes, ensuring efficient trading and narrow bid‑ask spreads.
A long position profits if price rises; you buy first (or hold a long derivative) expecting appreciation.
Lower highs occur when the price forms a peak lower than the previous one, signaling weakening bullish momentum and a potential continuation of a downtrend.
Lower lows occur when price forms a new bottom below the previous one, signaling increased selling pressure and the continuation of a downtrend in the market.
MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) is a trend-following momentum indicator that compares two EMAs and a signal line to highlight momentum shifts.
A maker is a market participant whose order rests on the book and adds liquidity, typically a resting limit order.
Margin is collateral posted to open and maintain leveraged positions.
Market depth describes how much volume is available at various bid and ask prices in the order book.
A market order is an instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best available prices in the order book.
Momentum describes the speed and strength of a price move — how quickly an asset is advancing or declining.
A moving average crossover occurs when a faster average crosses a slower one, often used to flag a potential shift in trend or momentum regime.
Open interest is the number of active derivative contracts not yet closed, used to gauge positioning intensity.
An order book is a live list of buy and sell orders for a crypto asset, showing price levels, quantities, and market depth, essential for understanding liquidity and price pressure.
Overbought describes a market condition where an oscillator (often RSI) prints in a high zone, suggesting strong recent buying pressure that may be stretched.
Oversold describes a condition where an oscillator prints in a low zone, suggesting strong recent selling pressure that may be stretched to the downside.
Paper trading is practicing strategies with simulated fills and no real capital at risk.
Position sizing is how large a trade you take relative to account equity and risk per idea.
A price alert is a notification triggered when an asset reaches a price you define, so you can review the market without constant chart watching.
A pump and dump is a manipulative scheme where promoters inflate a price then sell into hype, leaving late buyers with losses.
A range is a sideways price area between roughly defined support and resistance where neither side dominates for a period.
Resistance is a price level where a crypto asset tends to stop rising due to increased selling pressure, often leading to a pullback or reversal.
Risk management is the set of rules that control loss size, exposure, and survival across trades and regimes.
RSI (Relative Strength Index) is a momentum oscillator that measures how quickly prices have risen or fallen, typically on a 0–100 scale, to highlight overbought or oversold conditions.
Scalping is a short-horizon style aiming to capture small price moves with frequent entries and tight risk.
Sellers are market participants who place orders to offload a crypto asset, contributing to supply and often causing price to stall or decline.
A shooting star is a candlestick with a small body near the low and a long upper wick, often watched as potential bearish rejection after an advance.
A short position profits if price falls; you sell first (or hold a short derivative) expecting depreciation.
A sideways market is a period when price drifts or oscillates without a clear higher-high/higher-low or lower-high/lower-low trend.
Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price actually received, often due to spread, latency, or thin liquidity.
SMA (Simple Moving Average) is the unweighted average of closing prices over a set number of periods, used to smooth noise and highlight trend direction.
Spot trading is buying or selling the actual asset for immediate settlement, without derivative leverage by default.
In trading, spread usually means the difference between bid and ask prices; wider spreads raise the cost of getting filled.
The Stochastic oscillator compares a close to its recent high-low range, producing %K and %D lines used to frame momentum extremes.
A stop-limit order becomes a limit order only after a stop trigger price trades, combining a stop activation with limit price control.
A stop-loss is an order or rule designed to exit a position when price reaches a predefined adverse level, limiting further loss.
Support is a price level where a crypto asset tends to stop falling and may bounce upward due to increased buying interest or historical demand.
Swing trading holds positions across multiple days or sessions to capture larger swings than scalps.
A take-profit is an order or rule to exit a position when price reaches a predefined favorable level, locking in gains according to your plan.
A taker is a participant who removes liquidity by hitting resting bids or lifting asks with a marketable order.
A trailing stop moves an exit level as price moves in your favor, aiming to lock progress while leaving room for continuation.
A trend reversal occurs when the direction of a market trend changes, shifting from bullish to bearish or from bearish to bullish. It signals a potential turning point in price action.
An uptrend is a price regime of higher highs and higher lows, showing persistent buying pressure over the swing structure you care about.
Volatility refers to the degree of price fluctuation in a crypto asset over a period. High volatility signals larger swings, while low volatility indicates stability.
Volume refers to the total amount of an asset traded over a given period. It helps traders assess market strength, confirm trends, and detect momentum shifts in crypto.
A whale is a trader or entity holding or moving large amounts of crypto relative to typical market size, capable of influencing short-term price and liquidity.
A wick (or shadow) is the thin line on a candlestick showing prices traded beyond the open-close body, marking the period’s high or low extreme.