Golden cross and death cross in crypto

The two averages

A simple moving average is the average closing price over the last N candles. The 50-day average follows the trend of the last two to three months; the 200-day average follows the trend of roughly the last year. Because the 50-day reacts faster, it crosses the 200-day when the medium-term trend turns.

• Golden cross: the 50-day average crosses above the 200-day average. It is read as the medium-term trend turning up.
• Death cross: the 50-day average crosses below the 200-day average. It is read as the medium-term trend turning down.

Where each coin stands today

Which side of the cross each coin is on at the last daily close, and when it last crossed. The moving average comparison page shows the averages themselves.

What the cross is, and what it is not

Both averages are built from past prices, so the cross always comes after the move that caused it. By the time a golden cross prints, price has usually been rising for weeks. That is the point: it is a confirmation that the trend changed, not an early warning.

In a market that moves sideways the two averages wind around each other and cross several times, each cross reversing the last. These whipsaws are the main weakness of the signal. Traders handle them by waiting for a second confirmation, such as price closing above the 200-day average as well.

Watching it without staring at a chart

A cross on the daily chart happens a few times a year at most, and the averages can creep towards each other for weeks. That makes it a good job for an alert.

1. Open the chart of the coin and choose the 1D timeframe.
2. Click + to create an alert and pick the Golden Cross or Death Cross quick-start template. It sets up MA(50) Crossing Up (or Crossing Down) MA(200).
3. To change the averages, for example to a 20/50 cross for a faster signal, edit the periods in the condition.
4. Save. The alert is checked when each daily candle closes and fires on the candle where the cross happens, with a message on Telegram.

The Golden Cross, Confirmed template adds two filters to the cross: RSI(14) above 50 and price above the 50-day average. The alert fires only when all three hold on the same candle, which cuts out many of the crosses that reverse straight away.

Crossing conditions fire once per cross. A condition such as "MA(50) Greater Than MA(200)" is a state instead, and would send a message on every close while it holds.

Beyond the daily chart

The same cross on a 4h or 1h chart happens far more often and means correspondingly less. Whatever the timeframe, test it on past candles in the Strategy Tester before relying on it.

Questions

This guide explains how traders commonly read these indicators. It is not financial advice, and past signals do not predict future ones.