The best time to buy cryptocurrency depends on your goals, the specific cryptocurrencies you want to buy, and market conditions. While there is no universally cheapest time for all cryptos, analyzing price trends can help identify good times to buy individual currencies. Factors like trading volume, market news, and technical indicators also play a role.
Markets and Prices
Cryptocurrency prices fluctuate frequently due to the volatile nature of the market. Prices can change drastically within days, hours, or even minutes. Here are some key points about crypto markets:
- Cryptocurrency markets operate 24/7 across the globe.
- Large price movements often occur overnight or over weekends.
- Periods of high volatility see larger price swings.
- Major news events can suddenly impact prices.
Understanding these market conditions can help determine when lower or higher prices may occur.
Popular Strategies
Here are some popular strategies for timing crypto purchases when prices tend to be lower:
- Weekends – Prices often dip on weekends when trading volume is lower.
- Overnight – Big price moves sometimes happen when U.S. markets are offline.
- Early morning – Prices can dip in the 1am-7am ET window before U.S. markets open.
- Mondays – Prices tend to drop on Mondays after weekend selling.
These times are not guaranteed to have lower prices, but have historically seen dips for some cryptocurrencies.
Technical Analysis
Analyzing price charts and indicators can identify potential reversal points. Some analysis strategies include:
- Look for oversold conditions with RSI below 30.
- Watch for positive divergence with price and RSI.
- Buy when prices bounce off support levels.
- Focus on areas of bullish volume.
No analysis is perfect, but combining these strategies with overall market conditions can highlight good buy points.
Factors Impacting Crypto Prices
Many variables beyond the time of day impact crypto prices. Paying attention to these factors can help gain a better sense of when to buy.
News and Events
Major news and events related to cryptocurrencies or financial markets often cause sharp price reactions. For example:
- Regulatory changes suddenly restrict or lift bans on cryptocurrencies.
- Large institutional or corporate investments pump up prices.
- Technical upgrades or partnership announcements from crypto projects.
- Changes in traditional stock markets and global financial conditions.
Following cryptocurrency news closely allows you to both avoid major shakeouts and find dips to buy.
Supply and Demand
The basic economic forces of supply and demand impact crypto prices:
- Limited supply – Only a fixed amount of many cryptos will ever exist.
- Increasing demand – More investors and adopters enter the market.
- Higher demand + lower supply = higher prices
Buying during periods of stagnant or declining demand can produce lower entry prices.
Market Cycles
The crypto market goes through broad cycles with alternating periods of excitement and stagnation.
- In bull markets, enthusiasm leads to FOMO and prices topping out.
- Bear markets see decreasing interest and plunging prices.
- Accumulating during down markets sets up buys at multi-year lows.
Identifying cycles can lead to purchases closer to major bottoms.
Buying Strategies for Lower Prices
The following strategies allow buying cryptocurrencies during periods of typically lower prices:
Dollar Cost Averaging
Dollar cost averaging involves making fixed purchases at regular intervals, regardless of price. This smooths out volatility and leads to lower average costs.
- Decide on purchase frequency – Weekly, monthly, etc.
- Set recurring buy amounts based on budget.
- Continue program through ups and downs.
- Avoid trying to time each individual purchase.
DCA takes the emotions and guesswork out of buying.
Stop-Loss Orders
Stop-loss orders automatically sell an asset when its price falls below a defined threshold. This exits positions after adverse price movements to lock in better prices.
- Set stop price below current market price – like 10% lower.
- If price drops to that level, stop-loss triggers.
- Can minimize downsise risk in volatile markets.
- Allows automatic buying of dips.
Stop-losses remove the need to manually time buys after selloffs.
Limit Orders
Limit orders set a price threshold for when to buy or sell an asset. This guarantees execution at your target entry or exit price.
- Enter buy limit orders below current market price.
- If price drops to that level, order fills.
- Use low limits for buying dips.
- Can set multiple limits at decreasing prices.
Properly set limit orders mean you buy at the prices you want.
Top Cryptocurrencies to Buy
While the above strategies can apply to any crypto purchase, here are some of the top cryptocurrencies to consider buying during price dips:
| Cryptocurrency | Description |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | The first and most valuable crypto – maximum 21 million supply. |
| Ethereum (ETH) | Smart contract blockchain platform – key for DeFi and NFTs. |
| Cardano (ADA) | Third generation blockchain focused on scalability and sustainabilty. |
| Binance Coin (BNB) | Crypto of the popular Binance exchange – extensive ecosystem. |
| Solana (SOL) | High-performance blockchain touts speed and low fees. |
These top projects are solid long-term holds. Buying them during dips can produce especially sizable long-term gains.
Conclusion
Timing crypto purchases during periods of lower prices can yield substantial savings. While no one can predict price movements with certainty, paying attention to markets, news, technical factors, and overall cycles can help identify potential buying opportunities. Employing dollar cost averaging, stop-losses, limit orders, and other strategies can turn volatility and bear markets to your advantage. Focusing on top cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum will also provide more reliable long-term growth.