Crypto glossary
Candlestick chart
A candlestick chart is a price chart in which each bar shows an asset's opening, high, low and closing prices for a set period, such as one day.
Each candle covers one time interval, from one minute to a week or more. The thick body spans the opening and closing prices, and thin lines called wicks or shadows mark the highest and lowest prices reached. A candle is usually green, or hollow, when the close is above the open, and red when it is below.
Candlestick charts are the default view on crypto exchanges and charting platforms. Traders read single candles and patterns, such as a doji, which signals indecision, or an engulfing candle, which can mark a reversal, and pay close attention to daily and weekly closes. Because crypto trades around the clock, the daily candle usually closes at midnight UTC rather than at an exchange's closing bell.
Patterns are probabilistic hints, not reliable forecasts, and the same shape can mean different things in different contexts. Long wicks on illiquid markets can come from a single large order. Candles are most useful combined with volume and the broader trend.
Example
A daily BTC candle that opens at 60,000 dollars, touches 62,500 and 59,200 and closes at 61,800 appears as a green body from 60,000 to 61,800 with wicks reaching both extremes.
