Reading Bitcoin Candlesticks, Volume, and Order Book Depth
Summary
The document explains the main elements of a Bitcoin price chart. Each candlestick summarizes an interval with its open, high, low, and close: the body spans the open and close, while the wicks mark the interval’s highest and lowest prices. A separate volume display reports the amount of Bitcoin traded during each interval. Candle colors and fill styles distinguish rising from falling intervals, but the specific color choices are a display convention.
It also describes a cumulative order book depth chart as a snapshot of bids and offers at different prices. The bid side shows quantities buyers seek at a given price or better, while the offer side shows quantities sellers are willing to sell. This differs from candlesticks, which record historical price movement. Depth can help estimate how much could be traded immediately at less favorable prices, but it is only a point-in-time view and does not guarantee execution at displayed levels. The answer identifies common chart terminology but does not address how to interpret patterns or predict prices.
Key ideas
- Candlesticks display open, high, low, and close prices for each time interval.
- The candle body spans the open and close, while its wicks show the interval’s price extremes.
- Volume bars show the amount of Bitcoin traded during each interval.
- Candle colors and fill styles distinguish rising and falling intervals, and their exact colors are configurable.
- Order book depth summarizes bid and offer quantities by price as a point-in-time snapshot.
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Full text
# Understanding the GDAX price chart # Understanding the GDAX price chart I'm a beginner looking at the USD-BTC price chart on gdax: https://www.gdax.com/trade/BTC-USD It looks like this: I'm trying to work out what the top graph means. Can anyone tell me what each of the following things mean (my guess in brackets)? - The grey bars (volume bought/sold) - Green hollow bars (sale prices range) - Orange filled bars (sale prices range) - Lines (trend lines of green/orange boxes with different averaging timeframes) - The O,H,L,C,V (Open,High,Low,Close,Volume) Is there a reason that the orange boxes are filled and the green ones are empty? What are the obvious search terms I should be using to get information on understanding these sorts of graphs? ## Answer by nbbo2 (score 7, accepted) https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/30051 The top chart is called a 'candle stick chart' or 'OHLC candlestick' or 'OHLC bar chart' http://multicharts.com/trading-charts When the price goes down during a time interval (from O to C) the box is filled in orange, when the price goes up it is green bordered with black inside. The exact colors are a matter of taste, as long as they are clearly different to the eye. The box has an up and a down spike giving the min L and the max price H during the interval. The box itself extends from O to C (or C to O) along the vertical dimension. Volume is how many BTC were traded during each time interval (looks to me like "time interval is 5 minutes, i.e. 12 an hour). Second chart (at bottom) with 'a valley' in green and orange is 'depth of book'. It shows how many BTC are (right side, orange colour) offered, and how may are bid (left side, green) at a certain price or better. The price is on the x axis. The bottom of the valley is where the market price is currently. This chart is a 'point in time' snapshot. (The OHLC chart on the other hand is historical). For more info on the cumulative depth of book chart see here bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=147716.0 . It lets you see, for example, how many BTC you could sell instantly if you were willing to accept a rather bad (low) price.
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