What is RSI, and how to set an RSI alert for crypto

What RSI measures

RSI compares the size of recent gains with the size of recent losses and turns the result into a number between 0 and 100. With the default period of 14 on a daily chart, it looks at the last 14 daily candles. When most of the movement in that window was up, RSI is high; when most of it was down, RSI is low; when the two were balanced, it sits near 50.

It is a measure of momentum, not of value. An RSI of 25 does not say a coin is cheap. It says the recent selling has been strong compared with the recent buying.

How 30 and 70 are read

• Below 30 is usually called oversold: the selling has been one-sided, and traders watch for it to ease.
• Above 70 is usually called overbought: the buying has been one-sided.
• Around 50 means neither side has had the upper hand.

The levels are conventions, not rules. Some traders use 20 and 80 on volatile coins, or a shorter period such as RSI(9) for faster signals. In a strong trend RSI can stay above 70 or below 30 for weeks, which is why it is rarely used alone.

Where RSI stands today

The daily RSI(14) of the largest coins at the last daily close. Each value links to its page, with a year of history and a chart. The RSI comparison page sorts them from the most oversold to the most overbought.

Three common ways to use it

1. Oversold in an uptrend

Instead of buying every dip below 30, many traders only act on it when the bigger trend is up, for example when price is above its 200-day moving average. That filters out the oversold readings of a market that keeps falling.

2. Crossing back over a level

Rather than "RSI is below 30", watch for "RSI crosses back up through 30". The first is a state that can last for days; the second is an event that marks the selling starting to ease.

3. Divergence

When price makes a new low but RSI makes a higher low, the selling is losing strength. Divergences are drawn by eye on the chart; they are a reason to look closer, not a signal on their own.

How to set an RSI alert

1. Open the chart of the coin you want to watch and pick the timeframe, for example BTC/USDT on 1D.
2. Click + to create an alert. The RSI Oversold and RSI Overbought quick-start templates give you a ready-made alert in one click.
3. Or build your own: choose Indicator, then RSI, set the period (14 by default), choose the operator and the value, for example 30.
4. Optionally add a second condition, such as price Greater Than MA(200). The alert fires only when all of its conditions are true on the same candle.
5. Read the plain-English summary under the conditions, then save. When the alert fires, the message arrives on Telegram.

"Less Than" or "Crossing Down"?

This choice decides how many messages you get. Alerts are checked each time a candle closes, and an alert fires on every close where its conditions hold. So RSI Less Than 30 on a 1h chart sends a message every hour for as long as RSI stays under 30. RSI Crossing Down 30 sends one message, on the candle where RSI moves from above 30 to below it. Use "Less Than" when you want to know the state; use "Crossing" when you want to know the moment it changes.

Alerts are checked at the close of each candle, from 1 minute to 1 day, so a signal is based on a finished candle rather than a price that may reverse a second later.

Before you rely on it

Test the same conditions on past candles with the Strategy Tester before acting on them, and read RSI together with the trend. RSI describes what has happened; it does not predict what will.

Questions

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