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Candles and an around-the-clock market
Crypto trades through weekends too, but activity is not equally deep at every hour. A candle still needs a timeframe and a data source.
Read OHLC while checking venue and candle boundaries.
A candle summarizes open, high, low and close for a selected interval. The body connects open and close; wicks extend to the interval's extremes. Color normally indicates whether close exceeded open, but chart settings can change the colors.
A daily candle is defined by the data provider's boundary and timezone. Two venues can show different highs because they have different trades and liquidity. A candle is a summary, so it does not reveal every path the price took inside the interval.
Crypto often trades throughout the week, but individual venues can pause, undergo maintenance or lose connectivity. Around-the-clock availability does not imply constant liquidity. Plan study periods and breaks rather than assuming you must watch every move or act on an unfinished candle.
Let’s use numbers · hypothetical example
Hypothetical: open 100, high 108, low 96, close 103. Body size is 3 and full range is 12. The candle alone cannot tell whether 108 occurred before 96. On a 4-hour chart the same day becomes several candles.
Keep in mind
An incomplete candle can change shape until its interval ends.
Your turn
Draw the example and label four prices. Write the chart's venue, pair, interval and timezone.
A quick check before we move on
Does OHLC reveal the order of the high and low?
- Always
- Only when the candle is green
- No
Check answer
No Both intraperiod paths can produce the same four summary prices.
Sources and further reading
Content reviewed: 29 October 2026
Educational material with hypothetical examples. Trading can cause substantial losses. A course, pattern, stop order or past result cannot guarantee a profit or limit every loss. Practise in simulation and check current rules and product terms in your jurisdiction.