GlossarySMA 200 · 1W

SMA 200 · 1W

The 200-week average, tied firmly to weekly candles: it shows the same line on every chart interval, whether on the 15-minute or the weekly chart. It measures the trend over just under four years and is regarded as the zone of cycle bottoms for Bitcoin.

Calculation

It averages the last 200 weekly closes. The weekly candles are built from the symbol's daily candles over its entire history: a week starts on Monday at 00:00 UTC and ends on Sunday, and its close is the close of the last daily candle in it. The chart's candles never enter the calculation.

On other intervals

Each chart candle shows the value of the last week that had already closed when the chart candle closed.

Weekly chart: exactly the regular SMA 200 of the weekly closes.
Below 1W (such as 1D or 4H): The line runs smoothly from weekly close to weekly close. Each weekly value sits exactly where its week closes, and a straight line connects the two values in between. The last stretch leads to the value of the current week, with the current price as a provisional close, and moves with the price until the weekly close.
Above 1W (1M): Each candle shows the value of the last week that closed within it.

How to read it

For Bitcoin, the lows of the big bear markets have historically been close to the 200-week average. Many long-term investors therefore see prices at or below the line as a buying zone.
The price is usually far above it. The line is more of a floor than a trendline you trade every day.
The slope shows the long-term trend: a rising line means that today's weekly closes are above those of just under four years ago.

Note The regular SMA 200 counts the chart's candles and is the same line only on the weekly chart. This entry stays the 200-week average on every interval.

Settings

Length and timeframe are fixed. Under Appearance, you only choose how the line is drawn. For a different length on a weekly basis, use the Simple Moving Average (SMA) with Timeframe 1W.

Limitations

The line needs 200 completed weeks, just under four years of price history. For younger assets it stays empty. That the line marks cycle bottoms is an observation from Bitcoin's past, not a rule for other assets or future cycles.