Crypto glossary
Doji candle
A doji is a candlestick whose open and close are almost equal, leaving a very small body, which signals indecision between buyers and sellers.
On a candlestick chart, the body shows the distance between open and close. In a doji that distance is close to zero, so the candle looks like a cross or a plus sign, with wicks of varying length. Variants include the long-legged doji with long wicks on both sides, the dragonfly doji with a long lower wick and the gravestone doji with a long upper wick.
A doji says that during the period neither side won: price moved but ended where it started. After a strong trend, that pause can be an early sign that momentum is fading, which is why dojis at the top of a rally or the bottom of a selloff draw attention. Crypto traders watch them most on daily and weekly charts, where each candle reflects more trading.
On its own a doji is weak evidence. In a range, dojis are common and mean little, and in a strong trend they often appear briefly before the trend continues. Most traders wait for the next candle to confirm a direction.
Example
After a ten-day rally, BTC prints a daily doji with long wicks on both sides. The next day it closes sharply lower, and traders cite the doji as the first sign of exhaustion.