indicator school
Short, factual guides written for someone who wants to read a live crypto chart, not collect indicators. Each one ends with how the SIMMENT paper desk actually uses the metric. Paper only. Not financial advice.
the short version
| indicator | the question it answers |
|---|---|
| EMA 200 | Which regime are we in? Above it, only longs are with the tide; below it, only shorts. |
| EMA 50 | Where does the trend pull back to? The first reference a dip is measured against. |
| ADX (14) | Is the move strong, or is this a range? Above 20 trend, below 20 chop. |
| RSI (14) | How fast is the move, and does it disagree with price? In a trend, 40-50 is a pullback, not a cheap price. |
| Bollinger (20,2) | What is volatility doing? A squeeze means expansion is near; a close outside the band usually reverts to the mean. |
| ATR (14) | How far away does the stop belong, and how big can the position be? The least discussed tile, and the one that protects the account. |
| VWAP | What did the market actually pay today? Above it buyers control the session, below it sellers do. |
| Volume | Is this move real or hollow? Price without participation fades. |
None of these is a signal on its own. They answer different questions, and they are only useful together: regime, then strength, then timing, then risk. Paper only. Not financial advice.
Paper trading means trading with virtual money on real prices. Learn how crypto paper trading works, what it teaches, what it cannot teach, and how to practice on SIMMENT with 10,000 virtual USDT.
RSI 14 explained for crypto: what oversold and overbought mean on 1h candles, why RSI stays extreme in trends, and how the SIMMENT desk uses RSI in its setup score.
Stoch RSI applies the stochastic formula to RSI itself, producing a faster 0 to 100 oscillator with %K and %D lines. Learn the oversold and overbought zones and how SIMMENT reads crossovers.
MACD 12/26/9 explained: what the MACD line, signal line and histogram show, why the histogram matters more than the crossover, and how SIMMENT scores it.
Bollinger Bands 20/2 explained: the middle SMA, the two standard-deviation envelope, what a squeeze means, and why touching a band is not a reversal signal in trending crypto.
CVD adds up buy volume minus sell volume over time to show whether aggressive buyers or sellers dominate. Learn how to read CVD with price and how SIMMENT labels buy and sell pressure.
Volume tells you how much is trading, not which way. Learn the volume versus 20-bar average rule, why breakouts on low volume fail, and how SIMMENT scores volume.
ATR 14 measures the average candle range including gaps. Learn how to size stops and targets in ATR units, what a range above 2.5x ATR means, and how SIMMENT uses ATR for volatility alerts.
ADX measures how hard price is moving in one direction, not which direction. Learn the 20 threshold, how DI+ and DI- give the side, and how the SIMMENT desk labels TREND or RANGE.
VWAP is the volume weighted average price since the session opened. Learn why desks treat it as fair value, what trading above or below it means, and how SIMMENT anchors it to the UTC day.
The Volume Bias tile scores whether above-average-volume candles have been closing up or down over the last 20 bars. It is a candle statistic, not positioning or order-flow data.
The Coinbase premium is the percentage gap between the BTC price on Coinbase and other venues. Positive means US spot buyers pay up; negative means US selling. Learn thresholds and pitfalls.
The Fear & Greed Index scores market mood from 0 to 100 using volatility, momentum, social and dominance data. Learn the zones, why it is contrarian, and how SIMMENT weighs it.
Crypto trades 24/7, but liquidity does not. Learn the Asian, London and New York windows in Madrid time, why fake breaks cluster in thin hours, and how SIMMENT shows the session.
The whale tape lists large public prints from Hyperliquid perps and Binance spot. Learn what a $100k lift means, why size is not a signal, and how SIMMENT filters the tape.
A fair value gap is a three-candle imbalance where price skipped a zone. Learn bullish and bearish FVGs, why they act as support and resistance, and how SIMMENT alerts on taps and fills.
What a liquidation is, why cascades move price so fast, how to read long versus short liquidation totals, and how SIMMENT aggregates OKX and Bybit prints into alerts.
How the SIMMENT Bitcoin Cycle Engine scores where BTC sits in its multi-year cycle using rainbow and power-law bands, accumulation and distribution scores and phase progress.
Every guide maps to a tile on the desk. Open a free account, get 10,000 virtual USDT and watch the numbers move on live prices. Enter the desk → or get the iOS app.