Michelle Legge
By Michelle Legge • Head of Crypto Tax Education
Updated Nov 25, 2024
This article has been fact checked and reviewed as per our editorial policy.

Best Crypto Charts for Traders 2024 (And How To Read Them)

Crypto charts can help you strategize, spot investment opportunities & improve performance. Get analytical with the best crypto charts for traders in 2024 and learn how to read different crypto charts for trading analysis. 💰

What are crypto charts?

Crypto trading charts are visual representations of the price movements of cryptocurrencies. These charts can help investors identify patterns and trends in price movements to help them make more informed trading decisions by analyzing data.

What are crypto charts?

There are different kinds of charts, but candlestick charts are generally the most popular among crypto investors - and that’s the charts we’ll be looking at for our best crypto charts for 2024.

Skip ahead if you want to learn how to read crypto charts instead.

What is the best crypto chart in 2024?

We’ve rounded up the 4 best crypto charts and trading analysis tools for you to research:

Charting toolFree plan?Trading?Cryptocurrencies supported?
TradingViewYesYes740+
CoinigyNoYes5,000+
GoChartingYesYes100+
CryptoViewNoYes500+

TradingView

TradingView is the market leader when it comes to crypto charts and one of the best crypto charting tools for both traders and investors thanks to a comprehensive and user-friendly platform. Key features include:

  • Price: Starts free

  • Mobile app: Yes

  • Markets: Crypto, stocks, forex, indices, futures, bonds

  • Exchanges: 30+

  • Charts available: 12 including candlestick, Renko, Kagi, and more.

TradingView offers a wide range of tools and features to analyze markets and track price movements - far more than we could list here! The platform provides users with real-time data on many markets, all of which are completely customizable, and you can save them for later.

One of TradingView’s stand-out features is the community. Users can trade ideas, help educate each other, share scripts to create custom trading indicators and strategies, and watch live streams from professional traders and investors.

Coinigy

Coinigy is a crypto charting tool specifically, and while it doesn’t come free, it’s a powerful tool that can offer valuable insights and analytics into the crypto market from more than 45 exchanges.

  • Price: from $18.66 a month

  • Mobile app: Yes

  • Markets: Crypto

  • Exchanges: 46 including derivatives & DeFi.

  • Charts available: 6

For investors new to charting tools, Coinigy may be a good choice due to its intuitive interface. The platform provides users with a simple and user-friendly dashboard that allows them to track their portfolios, view market trends, and execute trades with just a few clicks.

And for those worried about the safety and security of their crypto assets - Coinigy follows best security practices. All user data is encrypted with AES 256-bit encryption, every request goes through a verified and secure SSL, 2FA with TOTP is supported and every login is timestamped by an IP address with an authentication email.

GoCharting

GoCharting is a powerful multi-asset charting tool for traders and investors, offering valuable insights into multiple markets including crypto.

  • Price: Starts free with premium add-ons

  • Mobile app: Yes

  • Markets: Crypto, forex, stocks, futures, and options (US and India specific)

  • Exchanges: 10+

  • Charts available: 15 including candlestick, OHLC, and Renko.

Although their crypto charts can be used worldwide, GoCharting has a particular focus on US and Indian markets and offers many premium features for users trading in traditional markets like forex, stocks, and more.

The platform also offers an academy to help novices to crypto charting learn how to best utilize the platform to get the data they need to make more informed decisions. As well as this, the platform offers paper trading to help users trial their investment strategies before going live.

GoCharting isn't just for novices though - experienced investors will enjoy the Options Desk - a powerful tool that helps options traders build, trial, and execute strategies.

CryptoView

CryptoView is a crypto charting and trading tool that lets users strategize and exchange all from one platform.

  • Price: Free trial, then tiered monthly fee

  • Mobile app: Yes

  • Markets: Crypto

  • Exchanges: 15+

  • Charts available: Charts are powered by TradingView

CryptoView utilizes charts and tools from market leader TradingView, including more than 85 technical indicators and 75 drawing tools. Other features include multi-screens, a news aggregator, an events calendar, support for all sub-accounts for supported exchanges, shareable portfolios, and in-browser, email, or SMS alerts.

When it comes to security, CryptoView offers enterprise-grade security with cloud architecture, SSL encryption, API key encryption, and DoS protection.

Although CryptoView isn't free after your initial trial, all subscription plans cover the entire range of core features.

How to read crypto charts

To the untrained eye, crypto trading charts look intimidating, so let's learn how to read crypto trading charts - specifically, candlestick charts as they’re the most common and complicated!

Depending on the crypto charting tool you’re using, the features may vary a little, but they’ll all share some common ground. For starters, they’ll look something like this:

Crypto chart example

So, what are you looking at?

Each 'candlestick' - that is, the vertical bars in red and green - is a set of data relating to the price of a given asset, over a given time frame. The colors represent whether the price was trending upward or downward:

  • Red candlestick: the price of the crypto closed lower than it opened. Also known as falling candlesticks or bearish candlesticks. In some other markets, these are black instead of red.

  • Green candlestick: the price of the crypto closed higher than it opened. Also known as rising candlesticks or bullish candlesticks. In some other markets, these are white instead of green.

Every candlestick on the chart is made up of four pieces of data:

  1. Open price

  2. High price

  3. Low price

  4. Close price

How to read crypto charts

There’s a lot of jargon around candlesticks, but here are the basics:

  • Body: The distance between the open and close price. It’s the thicker block of color.

  • Wick: The distance between the body and the high or low price. It’s the thinner block of color. These are also known as shadows.

  • Range: The distance between the high and low. It’s the entire candlestick.

As you can see in our example above, the length of candlesticks vary - a lot, from long to short. These different lengths, and the patterns traders can spot in them, can indicate market trends and potential investment opportunities.

There are a few factors to consider here, so let’s break them down.

Length of the candlestick body

The body of the candlestick shows the difference between the open price and close price of a given cryptocurrency. The longer the body, the more drastic the change in price.

A short green body indicates a small price increase, while a long green body indicates a more drastic and fast price increase. This can indicate that investors are buying, as the prices are being driven up - however drastically.

Conversely, a short red body indicates a small price decrease, while a long red body indicates a more drastic price drop. This can indicate that investors are selling, as the prices are being driven down.

Patterns matter too. If the size of candlestick bodies are increasing over a period of time, the price trend is accelerating. Similarly, if the size of candlestick bodies are shrinking over a period of time, the price trend may be decelerating or coming to an end. In the middle of this, if candlestick bodies remain relatively constant in size, this indicates price stability.

Of course, every now and then there are sudden market changes. If there are sudden shifts in the size of candlestick bodies, for example, from long green candlesticks to long red candlesticks, this indicates a sudden shift in the market - usually due to strong market forces. An example of this would be following the collapse of FTX.

Length of the wicks

Wick length helps determine the volatility of a given crypto asset - in either direction.

The longer the wick, the more volatile the price. The shorter the wick, the more stable the price.

A long rising wick shows the price climbed rapidly that day, then dropped back down, while a long falling wick shows the price dropped rapidly that day, then climbed back up. Short wicks show the same trend but in a less drastic manner.

Volatility can happen in either direction - whether the price is increasing or decreasing. It’s understanding patterns or trends in the length of a wick and what they may indicate that’s important.

For example, a long rising wick may indicate an increased level of buying/selling high and potentially a peak, while a long falling wick may indicate an increased level of buying/selling low and potentially a bottom.

Meanwhile, short wicks tend to predict a healthier and more stable market. A candlestick with no, or a minimal wick, is a signal that the current market price is agreed upon by sellers and buyers.

Body-to-shadow ratio and position

Now you've got the basics of bodies and wicks, let's look at how to put it together.

Generally, the larger the body compared to the shadow, the stronger the trend. So, if you have a large green body with short wicks, you have a strong upward trend in price. If you have a large red body with short wicks, you have a strong downward trend in price.

You'll usually see a trend slowing down as the wicks begin to grow compared to the body. Small bodies with long wicks may indicate uncertainty about a price trend or a turning point in a price trend.

As well as this, the position of a body in relation to the wick(s) matters. A candlestick body may have both a rising and a falling wick, of varying lengths.

A body with an equally long rising and falling wick may show indecision and uncertainty in a market, but ultimately stability as the price has opened and closed relatively close. While a body with a wick skewed in a particular direction may indicate a price trend despite volatility.

Bullish vs. bearish crypto chart patterns

Ultimately, the purpose of reading crypto charts is to identify bullish or bearish patterns and use this to inform your investment strategy and identify buy and sell opportunities.

There are many candlestick patterns that may indicate crypto bull or bear trends, including:

  • Shooting star: A shooting star is a single candlestick pattern. It has a small body at the bottom of a long upper shadow, indicating that buyers were able to push the price up from its lows, but sellers eventually took control and pushed it back down.

  • Doji candlestick: A Doji candlestick is a pattern that occurs when the open and close prices of an asset are very close to each other, resulting in a small or non-existent body - it looks like a cross sign. This pattern typically signals indecision or uncertainty in a market. There are different variations of the Doji candlestick pattern, including the long-legged Doji, the dragonfly Doji, and the gravestone Doji.

  • Bearish engulfing pattern: A bearish engulfing pattern is a two-candlestick pattern that may occur during an uptrend. The first candlestick is a small bullish candlestick, followed by a larger bearish candlestick that ‘engulfs’ the first candlestick, potentially indicating a shift in momentum from bullish to bearish.

  • Bullish engulfing pattern: A bullish engulfing pattern is a two-candlestick pattern that may occur during a downtrend. The first candlestick is a small bearish candlestick, followed by a larger bullish candlestick that ‘engulfs’ the first candlestick, potentially indicating a shift in momentum from bearish to bullish.

  • Bearish evening star: A bearish evening star is a three-candlestick pattern that may occur at the end of an uptrend. The first candlestick is a large bullish candlestick, followed by a small candlestick that may be bullish or bearish, and then a large bearish candlestick that opens below the previous candlestick's close and closes below the first candlestick's open, potentially indicating a potential reversal in trend.

  • Bearish harami: A bearish harami is a two-candlestick pattern that occurs during an uptrend. The first candlestick is a large bullish candlestick, followed by a small bearish candlestick that is completely contained within the range of the first candlestick, indicating a potential reversal in trend.

  • Bullish harami: A bullish harami is a two-candlestick pattern that occurs during a downtrend. The first candlestick is a large bearish candlestick, followed by a small bullish candlestick that is completely contained within the range of the first candlestick, indicating a potential reversal in trend.

  • Bearish harami cross: A bearish harami cross is a two-candlestick pattern that occurs during an uptrend. The first candlestick is a large bullish candlestick, followed by a doji candlestick, which opens and closes at the same level, indicating indecision, and is completely contained within the range of the first candlestick, indicating a potential reversal in trend.

  • Bullish harami cross: A bullish harami cross is a two-candlestick pattern that occurs during a downtrend. The first candlestick is a large bearish candlestick, followed by a doji candlestick, which opens and closes at the same level, indicating indecision, and is completely contained within the range of the first candlestick, indicating a potential reversal in trend.

  • Bullish rising three: A bullish rising three is a five-candlestick pattern that occurs during an uptrend. It consists of three small bearish candlesticks, followed by a long bullish candlestick that completely engulfs the previous three candlesticks, and then another small bullish candlestick, indicating a continuation of the uptrend.

  • Bearish falling three: A bearish falling three is a five-candlestick pattern that occurs during a downtrend. It consists of three small bullish candlesticks, followed by a long bearish candlestick that completely engulfs the previous three candlesticks, and then another small bearish candlestick, indicating a continuation of the downtrend.

All this said it’s important to note that patterns are not predictions. Though we can look at historical data and patterns to better inform our investment decisions, it does not guarantee any specific result.

Other crypto analysis methods

Technical analysis through crypto charts isn't the only option available to help you analyze the crypto market and its movements. Some other forms of crypto analysis include:

Fundamental analysis

Fundamental analysis focuses on the intrinsic value of a cryptocurrency by evaluating factors such as technology, team, use cases, adoption rates, market demand, and regulatory environment.

Key factors in fundamental analysis include:

  • Project’s whitepaper: Analyze the technical details, goals, and vision of the project.

  • Team and partnerships: Investigate the developers, advisors, and key partnerships to assess credibility and competence.

  • Market cap and token supply: A high market cap with low circulating supply could indicate potential for future growth.

  • Adoption rate: How widely used the cryptocurrency is in real-world applications.

  • Competitors and ecosystem: Analyze the coin's competitors and its standing within the broader blockchain ecosystem.

Sentiment analysis

This involves gauging the overall mood or sentiment of market participants toward a particular cryptocurrency. There are a number of common methods available:

  • Social media and forums: Analyze platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram for market sentiment.

  • News monitoring: Stay updated on crypto news (partnerships, regulatory updates, hacks, etc.).

  • Fear & Greed Index: A popular metric used to measure the emotional state of the market.

On-chain analysis

On-chain analysis involves examining blockchain data, such as transaction volumes and wallet activities, to understand the behavior of the cryptocurrency market. For example, if you observe an increase in Bitcoin being moved from wallets to exchanges, it might signal that large holders are preparing to sell, which could lead to price drops. Key metrics include:

  • Transaction Volume: High transaction volume can indicate strong market activity.

  • Active Addresses: The number of active wallets trading a particular cryptocurrency, which could signal growth or interest.

  • Whale Activities: Tracking large transactions from significant wallets can give insights into potential market movements.

How to analyze crypto trading and markets

You'll need a mix of all of the methods in this article to analyze crypto markets and trading. An example workflow for crypto trading analysis might include:

  1. Research: Conduct fundamental analysis by studying the project, its news, and developments.

  2. Market sentiment: Look at social media or news to gauge how the community feels about the crypto.

  3. Technical analysis: Open a chart and analyze the price using indicators like RSI, MACD, and trend lines.

  4. On-chain data: Check on-chain metrics for potential market moves.

  5. Investment strategy: Use the information gathered and create an investment strategy. You can also utilize risk management tools like stop-loss and take-profit orders to execute your strategy.

Use Koinly to track your portfolio

If you’re looking for a read-only access portfolio tracker, that’s secure and also works as a crypto tax calculator - look no further. Koinly can help you keep track of your portfolio performance, including tracking realized and unrealized gains, and best of all, come tax time, Koinly can generate your tax reports for you. Sign up free today.

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