Bitcoin Forum

Having dabbled in forex trading for the past years and starting my crypto journey.
I'm wondering what indicators are useful for crypto day-trading. How useful are SMA's or EMA's?
What trading platform has the most complete technical analysis tools?

Tradingview probably has the best TA tools. For some reason you can't get Crypto on MT4, if you could then I'd use that, but no broker seems to offer it at the moment. As for tools themselves, SMA's and EMA's should work fine. There isn't that much difference between Crypto and Forex to be honest. All the tools you use in Forex work the same in Crypto, it's just that the volatilizes a lot higher that's all.

I think that in order to be able to successfully detain the date, you do not need to observe too many indicators. For me, it is important to observe the following factors:
MA 89
MA200
RIS
Volume

Also you should apply down the theory and the downtrend and uptrend lines.

I use Fibonacci a lot for my TA analysis (in forex), but I do it in the bigger time-frames, where they seem to have more validity (due to historical data).
It's harder to find historical support and resistance levels, due to the lack of historical data in crypto.

I do miss the standard MT4 TA tools tbh ... Tradingview has some cute tools, but still nowhere near what I'm used to ...

I look at the charts of all the crypto currency on the TradinView website and I also conduct all technical analysis there. For me, the most important indicators are the volume of trades as well as the levels of support and resistance. I do not use anything else.

Same here.

Tradingview is a bit laggy to, at least it is for me, so it's not easy to navigate when you've got a few tools and lines on it.

How long have you been trading FX?

Crypto isn't liquid enough for technical indicators to work properly. It's also unregulated and rife with manipulation, so technical indicators that work for regulated stocks, won't work in the same way for crypto.

Trading view is best mate for charting and indicators.


Ive never traded forex, but the indicators I use work according to my trading style.   You must have obviously have your trading style.

I would test/back test to see if your indicators work for you in cryptocurrency, I dont see any reason why they should'nt.


I have multiple charts saved on trading view to give me various outlooks on a coin (mostly BTC and ETH)

My main chart consists of

12/26EMA
MACD
RSI
VOLUME
VWAP

My other charts include all my other indicators I find useful.

Around 2 years ... I am at the point that I feel so comfortable with my trading style in forex that i was ready to invest bigger, but I can't ignore the positive developments I hear about the crypto trading ... I believe in the technology and i hear the growing adoption ... so I am really actually researching now if I can be as comfortable with crypto trading as i feel with forex trading ...

disclaimer: I never claimed to be an forex veteran, but I am convinced I have enough chart time and a strategy that I feel confident about trading there ... my problem with forex would be, that it can be slow. AUXUSD is pretty volatile, but also very manipulated, but then again I have enough safety tools to limit my losses. I don't know that with crypto yet

Every indicator have different purposes and setting, you should understand that before use it. Technical indicator will follow chart ( number ) and always change because supply/ demand not balance anymore and delay ( network problem ). For day trading, I recommended SMA ( 5.3.3 ) and use MACD to read trend. There's no completed analysis tools, keep practice and your experience will become your guide. 

For me i only use 3 different indicator for my day trading, those are MA 20, MA 50, MACD and Volume. And sometimes i also add trenline. For trading platform that good for day trading is exchange that has high trading volume, like Bitmex,  Binance, Huobi, Okex. These all platform has nice charting and easy to use and to add some indicator.

thank you ... I'll look into them ... you're the first to mention macd ... havent seen stochastics yet though lol

I have used bollinger band and RSI as far as I know. Those are the two things that makes the most sense. If something is fitting on the bollinger band levels and RSI is proper you can buy or sell accordingly because it shows the perfect moments of going up and down too much. However if you add something like trailing on top of that, it will also help you out on pumps or dumps as well, it may go too high or low too quickly because of some dumps and you don't want to buy because of those so a trailing method would help prevent that. Those three is enough for anyone to start trading.

Interesting ... On what time frame do you make your analysis?

I think you'll adapt fine to Crypto.

The only advice I'll give you (since I used to trade Forex, too) is that slippage is a much bigger problem in Crypto than it is in Forex. I only got slipped like 3 times in Forex over a six year period, but in Crypto it's happened at least 15 times, and one occasion caused me to lose quite a lot of money. So just be careful of that when you place a stop loss.

Im no big experts with the crypto trade analysis terms that you have used here but I can assure one thing, crypto technical analysis always fails and it is far far different than the forex market place. Never compare that market with the crypto one because it never works here, due to ever changing facts, news, updates, and different political/non-political decisions about the crypto currency usage. These all drive the prices of bitcoin or altcoins in different fashion and when your technical analysis says bitcoin should be up by 2x at this XYZ time then exactly reverse might just happen because of ABC factors affecting it. So its better you research over this topic more and you will see kinda similar opinion to mine.

Most of Trading or Exchange sites as of now do have that Tradingview charts which you can able to use up technical indicators.
I would like to tell you this that Forex trading and Crypto trading is similar yet they do involve buy and sell but when it comes to volatility then it would really be a different story.
Going back to your question, theres no technical indicator that can give you a precise or somehow accurate prediction yet this market is very speculative.
On my part, i just do use up trend lines, S&R and some Fibonacci levels.

Wow that's significantly more man ... slippage is a big turn off in forex ... ppl will start panicking, saying that the broker is cheating you out of your money ...

would you say the trading platform is comparable to mt4? and what trading platform if I may ask

Every indicators you know may be useful and somehow works if you just know how to see the future of crypto. You'll just have to learn to a new market and try to adapt it.

For a good trader in cryptocurrencies, you use a combination of several indicators,not just one. each tell the trading story from different perspectives so that you can make better judgement

You're not really contributing ... what do you suggest? What indicators do you work with?

- As said fibonacci, bollinger - but if you use bifinance, for example and other sites like it, you dont even really need to understand the maths and economics. There are really user friendly drop-down menus, which, once you have selected your coin of choice; apply it to it with said method.

There's some great Youtube videos out there and even seasoned old hands, in my opinion sometimes can get ahead of themselves and the basics. So it's worth once in a while doing a youtube search for an instructional vid on literally, for example, something like 'beginners guide to cryptocurrency analytics' or 'how to use the drop down menu's on bifinance website.' - Works for me to brush up fundamentals once in a while.

I personally rate the KISS (keep it simple stupid) approach, and if the stock has a value and is being traded under that average value - compression can occur. Then some say the rebounds come in upspikes of 2's and 3's; then either level out or more likely peak and go back down - sell sell sell!

So you are a TA lover. To be frank I never liked the idea of technical analysis in the Cypriot currency because it does not apply here. I mean crypto currency is way too hard to predict based on the technical analysis data because it is not the same whenever it is predicted and when the actual time point comes up front. Also when it comes to the day trade then just forget about that any correct theory might be put forth it to predict the price movements in right way. For me fundamentals are very important. They do affect the crypto movement and they can be pre-judged very easily. So its upto you what to choose.

I used stuff like Bollinger Bands or RSI, which I find quite useful.
But I also rely on machine learning predictions or sentiment analysis, at least for the short to medium term strategies.
Stuff like this: https://enroyd.com/Predictions/
Of course no machine learning algorithm can predict the exact price, but I think of it as another indicator.
What do you think?

Indicators are nothing more than tools, there is not one that is more effective when it comes to this market, what you need to do is to understand when to use the most appropriate tool for the job, for example it is a mistake to use a hammer when you need to use a screwdriver, moving averages are great when the market is trending, the direction of the market does not matter, as long as there is a big trend you could use those indicators to make money, but when the market is moving in a tight range I prefer to use oscillators instead.

I do agree they are just tools ... they are more like signs ... it's like when you see dark clouds outside (1 sign) and the temperature is going down (sign 2) and there is a cool breeze (sign 3) => it'll most probably rain soon, I'd better bring an umbrella.

So it's like with stochastics, if the stochastics show an oversold for a longer period of time, I'll try to look at the EMA to see when the trend may have run out of fuel. The problem with crypto is that it's so hype heavy. That's why I am asking some tips from experienced TA crypto traders.

I think the indicator of the daily cryptocurrency price is that you should see the volume development of the coin you want to buy afterwards you can see the existing chart is enough to help make a profit.

Well, he might be trying to say that its better to use every indicators you know.
In cryptocurrency TA will work also, try to use Moving Average, MACD, Fibonacci. This three can help you a lot aside from the resistance and support level or the candle movements. One important thing in TA is that, you should know the effects of the trading Volume.

Dude using every indicator possible is a cluster fuck of lines and shapes ... the more indicators you use, the less sure you are about your understanding of market behavior. But that's just me. I agree on trading volume though. Very underrated and overlooked in my opinion.

You need to understand how to make your analysis with the charts when trading daily. You need to use tradingview as well. Ema, bollingerbands and stochastic are very good indicators to use when trading as well

In a couple of days ago I use Technical analysis MT4 indicators but it is not working properly in cryptocurrency trading. It is working properly only in Forex and binary trading. If you use technical analysis indicators for cryptocurrency day trading and you understand it is not work in day trading. Now I'm following the manual and still now make some profit.

Ema and sma use much of indicators in crypto but i never used it. See the volume of the indicators makes you have big chance in crypto because you've understand the indicator.

I recommend Tradingview for you, I personally have 3 months do not read or see the technique of indicator analysis, do not know why I think it will be easier to see the future market just with news, new holders are easily affected by news and here the new holders are more visible in market movements.

Actually, every technical indicator in a chart has its work that its doing. You need to choose the one that suits your trading style and the one that is more accurate than the others.

Bollinger bands and stochastic are very good indicators I use while trading. It makes me get the better view of that the market is doing and I can make good and better decisions in my trade

Moving averages are my favorite technical analysis for trading cryptocurrency. In addition I used parabolic sar and Bollinga band ,which is effective in determine entry and exist point.

There isn’t much difference between forex and crypto trading so I believe that if you know much about forex trading you will also know how to trade crypto.

I am always surprised when I see some people that claimed to be good at forex trading complain that they don’t know anything about crypto, or maybe say that they think crypto is harder than forex or that forex is harder than crypto, lol. I don’t even think such people have been into forex, they just here to make comments that’s all.

Well there is quite a difference to be honest ... just like the tides of the sea ... in forex there is trading volume that is kinda predictable, whether it's the day of the week or the hour of the day (whether it's Asia market, European market or American market) ... a monday volume is different than a thursday or a friday ... with crypto you have  7 instead of 5 days. Then there is more historical data, which validates your analysis.

It's easy to say that price action is price action, whether stocks, forex, features or crypto ... but I've heard more than a few stories of people who transitioned and had to apply a different toolset when trading crypto. 

I just stick to the basics. My favorites are:

-Trend lines: Drawing resistance points and ceilings and following if they are broken or not. If they become broken then I just expect a speedy move in said direction.
-EMA: Moving averages serve has strong floors or ceilings which need to be broken themselves, just like trend lines but you don't draw them, they just happen and are drawn for you.
MACD: To see volume.

That is all to be honest. I don't really use any of the other fancier indicators like bollinger bands and so on. I sometimes may throw in fib retracements. It's all we have, unless you have insider info on the fundamentals.

Instead of MACD, I use Stochastics, but I agree and I bet your charts look clean as well.

There will be no best analysis tool. In my opinion, perfection comes from your thoughts. You should not trust any analytical tool because it's just a machine. The Crypto market is constantly changing and trends are never forever. So our analysis will be highly appreciated.

There are some ultra legends who are still wasting their time and ours as well because they say something but just useless. We come here to find out the answers for our questions. But surely things art that much interested here when we encounter with such questions and posts. If you are saying something, say it valuable. Don’t just yell and fill out the space. Your comment must guide someone.

Every technical indicator has a way it works. Different traders use the ones that suits their trading style and their trading patterns. What might be good  for a trader might not be good for another trader.

I use EMA's and RSI to trade and they have been working for me