Here’s What the Data Says

The global and ceaseless nature of cryptocurrency trading poses a number of challenges for traders, one of which is finding the best time to trade.

Those looking to execute large buy and sell orders will need to identify times when there’s maximum liquidity (availability of counterparties at any given time for you to exit or enter a trade) and trading volume (how many times a coin changes hands at a given time). That's just like a grocer with vast quantities of produce to sell will ideally want to set up his stall at the busiest market with the most visitors.

For novice traders, or those looking to place smaller trades, liquidity is less of a concern. However, they may still want to trade on more established platforms because prices on those apps tend to be less affected by large orders or manipulation.

Finding the right hours to conduct trades is not just a challenge for spot traders (people who buy and sell with immediate delivery of assets,), but also for investors in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.

Blockchain transaction fees, such as Ethereum gas fees, can change dramatically from one hour to the next, and so it’s especially important for beginners with small portfolios to pay attention to those prices because gas fees are responsive to network congestion rather than to the size of a trade.

For example, someone looking to trade $100 worth of cryptocurrency may end up paying twice that amount in gas fees if he plans to execute the trade at a busy time.

CoinDesk asked crypto metrics firms, market analysts and professional traders to help illuminate the mysteries around crypto trading and why time matters.