Bitcoin Forum

I think the term All Time High (ATH) is misleading as the All Time bit of it implies both the past and the future - and, therefore, there can only ever be one All Time High and it can only go down from that point.  Accordingly what we are hoping for is not actually the all time high, but rather the next new high.

So I think we should stop using it and instead we should use the term High to Date (HtD) or perhaps World Record High (WRH).

High to Date is definitely my preference.


Note, this is not a wholly serious suggestion ... though the all time bit is slightly annoying ...

Not of a big deal to me but I think High to Date is my preference too but I think that will take time to be changed on the mindset of the masses more likely just being caught on that culture of bandwagonism. Apart from that we could grasp that CMC or Coingecko only record ATH from the past.

I think that all time high is also confusing in that way:

https://hg1.funnyjunk.com/pictures/Because_55d78a_1642633.jpg
link (https://hg1.funnyjunk.com/pictures/Because_55d78a_1642633.jpg)

But to be hones, I doubt it matters. Of course, you can break down everything into details and analyze it forever, but there will always be someone who will analyze the situation one step further. No one wants to change nomenclature each week.

I understand what you mean however taking into account that we do not know what that level is then it makes sense that whenever the term ATH is mentioned people think on the highest price we have seen yet, pretty much everyone assumes that as a limitation of the term itself.

Also since that is the way most people refer to that level then I think it is going to be impossible to change it, just as that legendary topic created  by GameKyuubi in which the term HODL (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375643) was born, we know the correct way to refer to it will be hold, HODL was a misspelling of the word but since then it has been identified as a way to uniquely distinguish those that hodl cryptocurrencies so I doubt the term ATH is ever going to change.

https://www.powerthesaurus.org/all-time_high/synonyms

I think I'll keep saying ATH.

You'd have to be an idiot to think Bitcoin couldn't possibly make new highs just because of semantics.


That's precisely what ATH means. "All time" means up to and including the present. It says nothing about the future.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all-time

Err, yes ... it was just a bit of fun ... did you see the bit in tiny text?

Talking about ATH becomes a bit pointless when we're in a bull market and a new ATH is established a few times per day. ATH is interesting after the bubble pops, as it becomes a new milestone to achieve.

So, I agree that we should be talking less about ATH, because it's not very interesting at the moment, but it's still technically correct to call it so.  Also, I think it's okay to ignore the strict definition of ATH, for example if 5 minutes ago the price was $24,000 and now it's $23,800 I'd still say that we're in ATH now, because it's such a small difference on such a short timescale.

Whatever it may be the term used here, it isn't really an impact for all of us here in this community. Let's see what would be the next applicable term to be called in the next few months, since we experienced several increasing btc. All of that certain figures remained successive in breaking it new highest potential value.

Yes, that's the point. The future doesn't exist, yet.

I know what OP means but it's just a philosophical question. ATH is the term people use and I don't think they are going to change no matter if the other is more correct or not.

No matter how you don't like the keyword; you cannot ignore the details about all time high. While researching about a token you definitely have to check its all time high and all time low; so it helps you choose a better sell off position for yourself. and it is not annoying at all.

In crypto currency you cannot hope for a result; instead you are sure about it; either it plays out out or not; you will learn from the decision.

Not a big issue for me, just a way to mark the *current* all-time high.

This reminds me of an ad I watched recently about the new Gorilla Glass Victus - the toughest Gorilla Glass, *yet*. There always will be a new ATH and another *yet*.

2017 high has to be inflation adjusted or even better adjusted by monetary base both 2017 and now and in that estimate you might find out better where is the correct price now in ratio to BTC.   Nominal all time high would be more accurate and would reflect that BTC often latches onto round numbers and other such familiar targets that can be recognized by many markets but actually may not be that significant in volume terms.

Well, whatever the future price is at that time would be the present by then, so I don't think there's even any sense to actually include "future" when taking into account ATH. Sides, it just pushes that mood where it's actually a good result, kinda like an influence that informs you that the ATH is actually sky high, and not just the normal price every day. High to date on the other hand, heck, idk, it just sounds bad, or something. Not the cup of my tea anyway.

I will still say All Time High for bitcoin price because I see that is what happens to bitcoin. Bitcoin price now reaches a new All Time High than a few years ago, and we should be happy to see that price. Sooner or later, the bitcoin price will hit another All Time High, and that is why I will still use that term. But if you do not want to use that term, you do not have to bother to use it because we are free to say that or not.

hahaha. yup I'm gonna go with this one. There is nobody confused about what ATH means. To think it means what OP is suggesting could be a point of confusion, would mean that the person being confused thinks that the person talking about an ATH is a prophet and can see into the future haha.

I understand your sentiments Here mate because like Now ,we record the ATh yesterday but there will be another one sooner,so this can be change from time to time.

But the concern is When the value Goes down continuously ? so the record must stay and that is the All Time High for a certain period of time.

Lets make the 2017 ATH an example ,when the 20,000 Level stays for years on that position so for the respect on that Occasion we have Named it ATH righ?

and besides let the consensus talk about this and you may Get the Good answer ,But for sure same as Mine that Let ATH be named and maybe lets Have another Term if necessary .

I agree with the OP. Grammatically, the term is not accurate. But I guess the same terminology is used while dealing with equities and mutual funds, and even with other assets such as bonds and bullion. Also, the alternative terminology suggested by the OP, such as High to Date (HtD) and World Record High (WRH) doesn't sound that great. So for now, let's stick with the term ATH, although phonologically the term is wrong.

Doesn't make any difference at all to be honest.

All time high (ATH) is not only being used in bitcoin or crypto though, this term has been in existence in traditional markets as well. So we just apply in to crypto without getting into an argument about this semantics and whatnot. We shouldn't get things complicated there, stick to the basics and all will be fine. If you prefer High to date, then that is good as well.

I am not sure if I am missing something, but I am not seeing anything wrong with using ATH. All-time high would be changing anytime when record new high price then it should call ATH. It's not necessary to add current ATH here since it's recorded an all-time high. If the price dropped and pump again, then we can call its current ATH. So, for me, I believe it's the right use.

I do agree that saying all time high or saying highest to date (not high to date) would be no problem for me, both of them are fine. This is one of those things where some people said it back in the day and we have been using that since that period, I think it is not a big deal, we are used to it by now and I would think that doesn't need a change.

However if you are going to feel better about it, many sports records are considered "all time high" as well until they are broken. For example, Kareem Abdul Jabbar has "all time scoring leader" title because he scored 38k+ points in his career, that is a great thing right? Well what if Lebron passes him? Barring any injuries he could actually pass him as well. So it is obvious that all time high in sports could be broken as well and they are still named all time anyway. Once again this is not really a big deal if you ask me.

OP seems over thinking things about BTC. There's no wrong to use the word all time high(ATH) if they really the ATH at that moment. As long as the statement indicates the time for the ATH that they are describing.

I understand what OP meant to say that many people, even me who are into the crypto and blockchain space, have been using the word "All-Time High" as the wrong idea or impression. But many crypto users are accustomed to the word  "All-Time High (ATH)" because it is more suited to its meaning rather than using the word "High to date (HTD)," and I don't think there is anything wrong with it when we use the word ATH; the important thing is crypto users stills understand the real meaning of this term.

KISS - Keep it simple stupid. "All time high" is a perfectly descriptive phrase for what is going on, even if it is annoying and highly repetitive you'll never change what it is called. Trying to change behavior like this will never work because it is just such a common phrase. Even if you were to replace it with another phrase, I expect you would get bored of seeing that plastered all over after a while.

Well, perhaps you meant that the all-time high has been already achieved and reach the highest price bull run of $20k but that does not matter. For me, ^[NO], as long as bitcoin will always make an all-time high we can keep calling this an all-time high or ^[ATH]. I will not stop using the word ATH, even though others had felt confused about this, the term was used for how many years and I think everyone will continue using this term until the supply of bitcoin will become zero, and perhaps that's the time we stop calling ATH on bitcoin price.

people are used to that phrase so really hard to change that. like teaching an old dog here. anyway, whatever you may want to call it, i guess, we all know what we are referring to here. thats the important part. the term may not be appropriate but people can recognise what it means.
 maybe if you are writing a technical paper or something a professional document, you can use those appropriate phrases. but for just day to day conversation here, i guess we can stick to ATH as everyone understands what it means.