Bitcoin

Study Finds Bitcoin’s Most Volatile from Midnight to 1 A.M. (UTC)

Eustace Cryptus | Jul 17, 2019 | 17:00

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Data analysts at Longhash found that Bitcoin’s price action fluctuates most from midnight to 1 a.m. UTC. Could this present an opportunity for day traders?

 Does the Early Bird Get the Worm?

A recently published report from Longhash found that Bitcoin’s most volatile trading hours occur between midnight and 1 a.m (UTC). The data analytics collective used Crypto Data Download to analyze Coinbase trading data from July 6, 2017, to July 2, 2019. The team observed hourly high and low prices for each hour of each day and then compared this data set to the remaining 23 hours of each day. 

The results show that for the past two years, midnight to 1 a.m. UTC has been the time slot where Bitcoin’s price experienced the most volatility. 1 a.m UTC is especially volatile and has a greater number of daily highs and lows than any other hour of each day. It’s possible that 1 a.m UTC is exceptionally volatile as it matches with the start of the evening in North America and beginning of the 8-hour workday in Asia.

It’s fair to say that this is likely one of the times where Western and Asian traders are both actively trading cryptocurrency. The traders in Asia are just waking up and responding to the crypto news of the day, while the red-eyed North American traders are still staring at their keyboards and observing Asian traders reaction to crypto price action. 

Daytrade or Hodl?

The chart also shows that there is not a routinely ‘perfect’ time of day to trade Bitcoin and the data set from the last two years suggests that one would have been more likely to buy into a daily low than a high if the purchase was made between 3 a.m. to noon UTC. Longhash cautions that the differences are minuscule and advises that traders not apply the information to their daily trading strategy. 

Ultimately, time and Bitcoin’s price action show that time spent invested in the digital assets is much more fruitful than attempting to time the market and purchase on price swings. A quick look at any long-duration chart supports this conclusion. 

Do you think its better to day trade or hodl Bitcoin? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

Images via Shutterstock, Longhash