The MANTRA (OM) token’s wild crash on Apr 13, 2025, shocked the crypto world. Discover the causes, fallout, and what’s next in MANTRA’s road to recovery.

In the morning and daytime hours of Apr 13, 2025, the MANTRA blockchain's native token, OM, sat at a respectable market cap of $6 billion, making it the third-highest-ranked cryptocurrency in the 

 (RWA) category, the area the platform specializes in. Everything seemed like smooth sailing for the token.

Then, just after 6 PM UTC, the price of the OM token suddenly began to free-fall, declining from nearly $6 to about $0.50 in the space of just two hours.

A project that started the day as one of the top players in the RWA field was now worth 90% less as the evening approached. OM's abrupt, sharp crash immediately caught the market's attention, with speculation of a 

However, MANTRA's CEO, John Patrick Mullin, immediately sprang into action for PR damage control on social media, reassuring the public that the team members weren’t dumping OM tokens at all. Instead, MANTRA's founder and CEO alleged that deliberate actions of some 

 (CEXs) had caused the catastrophic plunge.

As of our coverage date of Apr 23, 2025, this is a developing story. In this article, we’ll establish what actually happened, who's involved and what awaits the OM token in the foreseeable future.

 decentralized network dedicated to RWA tokenization and utilization in compliance with real-world regulatory requirements.

 It features high scalability and low transaction fees. The project is one of the earliest initiatives dedicated to RWA use via blockchain technology. Originally, MANTRA debuted as a 

 (ETH) in August 2020. In October 2024, the project migrated to its own dedicated Layer 1 platform, the MANTRA Chain. The MANTRA blockchain is based on the Cosmos SDK framework, and is part of the wider 

The MANTRA ecosystem's main products include MANTRA DEX, a 

 (DEX); a digital identity (DID) management tool; a compliant token development and management solution; and a comprehensive compliance and permissioning system. MANTRA has also partnered with global powerhouses like Google Cloud, and with DAMAC Properties, one of Dubai's most prominent developers, to propel innovative solutions for 

Starting in late 2024, right after its own dedicated mainnet launch, MANTRA had become a significant player in the RWA corner of 

 (DeFi). By late February 2025, the platform’s native OM token had climbed to a value of nearly $9, with its market cap peaking at around $8.2 billion. Before the fateful events of Apr 13, 2025, OM was the third-highest-capped crypto in the RWA category, trading at $6.27, with a market cap of slightly over $6 billion, according to the CoinGecko portal.

In the evening hours (UTC time) of Apr 13, 2025, OM began to lose its value precipitously, dive-bombing from over $6 to about $0.52 in the space of two hours. The token’s market cap fell to slightly under half a billion dollars — a loss of more than 90%.

CEO John Mullin was quickly online, reassuring the crypto community that no team member had sold their OM holdings, and that this wasn’t a case of the bad ol’ rug pull. Instead, Mullin alluded that after OM tokens were moved to two leading CEXs (Binance and OKX) to use as collateral, the exchanges initiated a cascade of 

 of positions backed by the token. Both exchanges refuted the allegations, and connected OM’s price collapse to its recent unusually high price 

, and significant tokenomics changes made to OM in October 2024 that greatly undermined its value.

As a chain of liquidations took place, the token’s price started to plummet, causing significant panic that quickly led to further price drops. The situation only stabilized closer to the end of the day, with OM’s price remaining under $1. As of Apr 23, it’s trading at $0.5543 — a far cry from its rate of over $6 just two weeks ago.

After investigating, crypto analytics firm Lookonchain concluded that 17 wallets had deposited 43.6 million OM tokens (4.5% of the token's circulating supply) into the implicated exchanges. Two of these wallets are believed to belong to Laser Digital, one of MANTRA's investors. Another investor in the project, Shorooq Partners, is also suspected to be among the 17 wallets. Both Shorooq and Laser Digital have denied the allegations.

Although the price plunge was immediately compared to the 2022 collapse of the 

 (LUNA) blockchain, many analysts point out that the two crashes are fundamentally different. Terra's crash resulted from structural abnormalities in the 

 regulating UST, the project's stablecoin. In contrast, OM's fiasco is suspected to be the direct result of market-driven manipulation by 

, and possibly exchanges. No security breach, disruption to services or data, or other adverse structural events have occurred on the platform.

While this development is unprecedented for the project, MANTRA has been embroiled in other controversies throughout its history. One of these was its 

, first announced in August 2024 and then delayed multiple times. Around 50% of the wallets believed to be bots were cut off from the airdrop list. However, many considered the bot-culling process to have been conducted without much proof.

There have also been reports of vote rigging in the project's governance system in a bid to obscure MANTRA’s centralized model of profit allocation. Additionally, some analysts have accused the project of "forced bridging" to manipulate the market price. Platform users had to migrate their Ethereum-based OM tokens to MANTRA's native OM tokens via 

, which would increase gas fees and allow the project team to control the token's circulation pace.

How is MANTRA (OM) headed toward recovery?

MANTRA’s CEO rapidly reassured users that the team is now working hard to jump-start the token’s recovery. On Apr 14, 2025, Mullin unveiled plans to initiate a buyback scheme, along with the intent to burn all OM tokens held by the project team. The team's supply totals 300 million tokens, representing about 17% of the total supply.

He also denied factually incorrect assertions circulating online that the team effectively controls 90% of OM's supply. Mullin further assured the public that no large-scale selling events by investors have occurred.

As OM’s value has stayed firmly under $1, it remains to be seen how these PR efforts — as well as the planned buyback and burn — will affect the token’s future.

 as a swap pair with USDT, or on the Derivatives market as the 

Naturally, given the ongoing situation with the OM token, buying OM is at your own discretion, as right now the token is truly for the adventurous and brave at heart.

As of Apr 23, 2025, the OM token is trading at $0.5543, 93.8% lower than its ATH of $8.99 on Feb 23, 2025, and 3,138.8% higher than its ATL of $0.01726 on Oct 12, 2023.

Curiously, most crypto price prediction portals are optimistic about the OM token's long-term prospects. DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $1.81 in 2027 and $2.82 in 2030, whilePricePrediction 

It's hard to verify all the allegations flying around regarding the involvement of exchanges and key investors in the MANTRA OM incident. What matters at this stage is that the project team has been quick and proactive in injecting transparency and clarity into the situation.

The free fall in the token's price seems to be over by now. In fact, OM’s decline was over within hours of the incident. Moreover, unlike Terra's LUNA and UST coins, OM hasn't become worthless. All these factors point to potential stabilization and recovery ahead. The question now is: Will the pace and magnitude of the recovery be enough to save the project in the long term? At this early stage after the collapse, few people could answer the question with confidence. We'll eagerly await the developments over the next few weeks to see if MANTRA finds its way out of the woods. 

Intermediate

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MANTRA (OM): Understanding its wild ride and road to recovery

In this article, we explore WalletConnect's features, its native token (WCT) and how you can trade WCT on Bybit Spot and Futures.​

WalletConnect is an open source bridging protocol that facilitates secure connections between digital wallets and 

 (DApps). With over 38 million unique active wallets and 57,000 supported apps, it’s getting noticed by the crypto community. In this article, we explore WalletConnect's features, its native token (WCT) and how you can trade WCT on Bybit.​

 protocol that allows users to connect their mobile wallets to DApps via QR code. This eliminates the need for browser extensions, and enhances security by keeping 

The protocol supports a wide range of wallets and DApps, making it a versatile tool for users navigating DeFi and web3.

 is essentially a decentralized infrastructure that facilitates a uniformed way for users to easily connect their crypto wallets with thousands of DApps. It operates through a network of

 that relay messages, ensuring reliable and secure connections. The network's design emphasizes scalability and resilience, catering to the growing demands of DeFi. 

When a user initiates a connection between their wallet and a DApp, WalletConnect establishes a secure session through a relay server that enables encrypted communication, allowing users to interact with DApps directly from their wallets. 

The network's architecture ensures that messages are transmitted efficiently, maintaining a seamless user experience.​

The WalletConnect ecosystem comprises various stakeholders, including node operators, wallet providers and DApp developers. Node operators play a crucial role by maintaining the network's infrastructure and relaying messages. 

To incentivize participation, the network implements a rewards mechanism whereby node operators earn WCT tokens, based on their performance and contribution. Prominent organizations like Consensys, Ledger and Figment are among the network's node operators, underscoring its robustness and reliability.​

 is the native utility and governance token of the WalletConnect network. It has a total supply of 1 billion, 

Initially, WCT is nontransferable to ensure that tokens remain within the WalletConnect ecosystem, supporting its focus on network functionality and development. Based on discussions within the community, transfers will be enabled based on community consensus and future governance decisions.

Where to buy the WalletConnect token (WCT)

 on Bybit Spot, and as a Perpetual contract with up to 75x 

. Bybit provides a secure and user-friendly platform for buying and selling WCT, allowing users to participate in the WalletConnect ecosystem. 

How to trade the WalletConnect token (WCT) on Bybit

Bybit's platform ensures efficient execution and provides various tools to assist users in their trading journey with ease.​ 

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WalletConnect (WCT): Bridging web3 beyond wallets and DApps

Circle has launched the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a global payment solution designed to streamline cross-border transactions using stablecoins like USDC and EURC for real-time settlement. 

The S&P 500 rose 2.51% as investor confidence improved following President Trump’s support for Fed Chair Powell and hints of easing U.S.-China trade tensions, despite tempered optimism and Tesla’s earnings miss. Gold rebounds toward $3,400 as the US Dollar weakens and investor caution lingers over US-China trade and Fed concerns. Technicals suggest a possible pullback, with focus shifting to upcoming S&P Global PMI data. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, rose 7.46%, with Bitcoin and Ether up 4.68% and 7.70%, respectively, in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is DEEP, up 122.1%, following the launch of DeepBook v3.1 on Sui, which unlocks permissionless pools, enhanced balance management, and cost-efficiency for DeFi.

DeepBook (DEEP), launched on July 12, 2023,  is Sui’s native liquidity layer, using a central limit order book to enable high-throughput, low-slippage, and low-fee trading. 

, introduces several key upgrades: permissionless pools, revamped fee mechanics, and enhanced balance management. These changes make DeepBook more accessible, composable, and cost-efficient for DeFi users. Permissionless pools allow anyone to create custom trading pairs, while the enhanced balance manager supports third-party liquidations and improves protocol stability and user experience.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

, a global payment solution designed to streamline cross-border transactions using stablecoins like USDC and EURC for real-time settlement. CPN offers faster, programmable, secure, and always-available money movement for financial institutions. It supports services like invoice payments, remittances, treasury services, and payroll payouts. Over 20 design partners, including dLocal, WorldRemit, and BVNK, are contributing to building a more efficient global payments infrastructure.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw $719.2M in total inflows, with $654.1M from non-GBTC funds and $65.1M from GBTC.

 its incentivized testnet, allowing users to earn $SO tokens by testing its cross-chain lending platform. By supplying and borrowing assets across chains and completing quests, participants earn "Seeds," which will convert to $SO at TGE. Powered by LayerZero, Soul aims to unify liquidity across blockchains.

Beginner

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Circle launches Circle Payments Network for faster, secure global transactions using stablecoins

VeChain (VET) is a blockchain platform focused on sustainability, using eco-friendly technology to support green initiatives across industries and drive a more sustainable future.

Sustainability is now the name of the game across many industries. The blockchain industry is one of them, with several projects aiming to reduce the energy impact of their operations or support green causes in other ways. However, on closer inspection, sustainability has received much less attention in the world of blockchain technology than many people may assume. Indeed, the industry's two leading data portals, CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, have no "Sustainability" or similar category, despite coming up with hundreds of other classifications.

Some smaller-cap projects outside of the top 100, such as 

 (IOTA), do focus on supporting environmental causes. But in the entire list of top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, only one project can confidently be described as having sustainability as its key pillar — 

With a market cap of $2 billion (as of the time of writing on Apr 22, 2025), VeChain stands head and shoulders above any other crypto project in the sustainability niche. The project has been fully operational since 2018, and is among the oldest environmentally focused blockchain initiatives. In short, if we talk about sustainability and blockchain, it would be disingenuous not to mention VeChain and its 

Having championed green blockchain causes since 2018, VeChain announced a significant upgrade initiative in late 2024 to be rolled out in stages during 2025. Called Renaissance, it’s envisioned to further solidify VeChain's position as the leader of eco-friendly blockchain use and introduce a host of technical improvements. In fact, 2025 is the year of the most fundamental upgrade to this notable industry player in its entire history on the market, so it's precisely the time to revisit this project in our coverage.

VeChain (VET) is a decentralized project designed to support sustainability-focused blockchain use cases across various industry verticals.

 The company was first conceptualized and founded as a blockchain project in 2015 by Chinese technology professional Sunny Lu. It launched its Layer 1 network, VeChainThor (VTHO), in mid-2018, becoming one of the first decentralized initiatives to support eco-friendly applications on-chain. The VeChainThor network features low transaction fees and high levels of scalability.

For years, the VeChain blockchain has remained probably the leading decentralized platform in the niche of sustainability. As of April 2025, it retains the leadership position, and is ranked 56th among all cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of $2 billion.

VeChain's sustainable blockchain technology

Many blockchains claiming to support environmental causes typically use the 

, which is indeed much more energy-efficient than the power-hungry 

 (BTC). By using PoS, these blockchains have boldly announced that their energy use is much lower than Bitcoin's. While this is true, these platforms are essentially general-purpose networks that don't specifically design their operations with any particular sustainability use case in mind.

Instead of these two typical consensus mechanisms, the VeChainThor blockchain uses 

 (PoA), touted to be even more energy-efficient than the standard PoS employed by 

 chains. In a typical PoA consensus, a smaller number of validators with "authority" — i.e., a history of reliable behavior on the network — are entrusted to process blocks. This is in contrast to PoS, whereby many validators take part in the staking contest to outperform each other in terms of token holdings. They then receive the right to validate the next block, and have to constantly align their consensus process with other 

As a result, PoS is usually less energy-efficient than PoA. VeChain's PoA model elegantly combines efficient processing, minimal energy use and high levels of enterprise-grade security.

The VeChainThor blockchain network's processing engine also features compatibility with the 

 (EVM), making cross-chain communication with the Ethereum world much easier for VeChain developers and 

PoA block validation isn’t the only sustainability-minded feature of VeChain. Unlike many other popular chains, VeChain also directly enables sustainability use cases, primarily by utilizing its tamperproof and transparent data-tracking mechanism. Thus, enterprises across different industries can track and reliably verify the origin of goods and their sustainability status for eco-friendly supply chain management. For instance, supermarket chains can use the platform to track and verify the carbon footprint of the produce they source; logistics companies can calculate the overall emissions generated along their supply chains; and fashion brands can track sustainable sourcing of materials used for their product lines.

Besides its own blockchain, the project also offers a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, VeChain ToolChain, to help businesses integrate VeChain's technology into their business processes via standardized smart contract services.

To further position itself as a champion of sustainability, VeChain launched 

 represents an on-chain ecosystem of DApps that reward VeChain users for completing various eco-friendly tasks, such as using reusable coffee cups, shopping for organic products, picking litter off streets and more. VeBetterDAO is the project’s foray into the individual consumer side of environmentalism, which complements the VeChain platform’s long-standing sustainability features for the enterprise world.

In late 2024, VeChain first announced its planned multi-stage upgrade, Renaissance, to make the platform even more efficient. Its changes are envisioned to take place gradually throughout 2025, and possibly beyond. The Renaissance upgrade touches many parts of the platform, with three key areas involved — a new VeChain staking and node model, technical updates and changes to the dual token mechanism. We'll cover the first two areas below, and the changes to VeChain’s tokenomics in the next section.

VeChain’s PoA block validation model uses a group of 101 trusted Authority Masternodes (AMs) who will fully transition to Validators under the new Renaissance model by December 2025. Each Authority Masternode is approved by the VeChain Foundation. These nodes are responsible for generating transaction blocks. You’ll need to 

 at least 25 million VET to participate in block production, which occurs in fixed 14-day cycles.

Under the platform’s pre-Renaissance model, there are two more types of specialized nodes — Economic and X-Nodes — who stake their tokens to a selected AM/Validator and participate in 

 on the platform. After the Renaissance upgrade is fully rolled out, Economic nodes and X-Nodes will be replaced by a tiered system of Delegator nodes.

Delegators will need to stake a certain amount of VET tokens to mint Delegator 

, which will entitle them to different grades of staking reward multipliers. The more you stake, the higher grade of NFT you receive, and the higher your staking rewards will be. When blocks are produced, AMs/Validators will receive 30% of the total block reward, with the remaining 70% going to holders of the Delegator NFTs.

The image below shows the new Delegator NFT–tiered model, with minimum VET staking requirements and reward multipliers.

While the VeChainThor network is EVM-compatible, there are still differences between its technical parameters and the standard EVM used by Ethereum. For this reason, the Renaissance upgrade aims to reach full EVM compatibility, including implementing the JSON-RPC (

remote procedure call) extensively employed within the Ethereum blockchain.

As part of the Renaissance upgrade, the project will also introduce a new set of tools to achieve more seamless cross-chain capabilities. This will involve integrating new 

The VeChain token model has always been based on two cryptocurrencies: VET and VTHO. VET is the 

 that acts as the main means of value storage and transfer on the platform, while VTHO is used to pay for gas. Now, the Renaissance upgrade also changes the way the dual-token mechanism operates.

Before the upgrade fully kicks in, VTHO is still generated by simply holding VET. After the Renaissance, only staked VET will generate new VTHO for the holder. This should better align VTHO with the active participation of users on the platform. VTHO's inflation rate will also be cut by over 70%, as its issuance will be aligned to a new emission model that considers the total amount of VET staked on the platform.

To further reduce the inflationary properties of VTHO, 100% of all base transaction fees on the network, which are all paid with VTHO, will be 

VET is the platform’s value transfer and storage token. It’s also used for governance and access to various features and apps on the network. VET is a supply-capped token with a max supply of just over 86.7 billion. These properties will not change following the Renaissance upgrade.

VTHO, which is used to pay for gas fees on VeChainThor, is an inflationary token with an uncapped supply. It currently has a total supply of almost 88,7 billion. As noted above, after Renaissance, VTHO will be generated via staking only, and will feature a burn mechanism to reduce its inflation rate.

 as a swap pair with USDT, and on the Derivatives market as the 

In addition, you can take advantage of Bybit’s event dedicated to the VET token to grab a share of a 

. New users can earn VET rewards by accumulating a deposit volume of at least 5,000 VET, or by depositing at least 100 USDT and trading 100 USDT worth of VET via their first Spot trade using their Bybit account. Meanwhile, existing users can also qualify for rewards by trading at least 500 USDT worth of VET on the Bybit Spot market. The event runs through Apr 28, 2025, 9AM UTC.

As of Apr 23, 2025, the VET token is trading at $0.02576, which is 90.8% lower than its ATH of $0.281 on Apr 19, 2021, and 1,243.2% higher than its ATL of $0.001917 on Mar 13, 2020.

Long-term price forecasts for VET are mostly bullish. DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $0.088 in 2027 and $0.14 in 2030, while PricePrediction 

In the long term, VET might even rise to $1, at least according to PricePrediction’s forecast. Its portal is highly optimistic, estimating that VET will hit the $1 mark in 2034.

You might consider investing in the VeChain token VET based on the following:

When Sunny Lu created VeChain in 2015, his vision focused on sustainability issues. VeChain's work in this area has led to the creation of the first decentralized network truly dedicated to making a tangible environmental impact. The entire VeChain ecosystem — including the VeChainThor blockchain platform, VeBetterDAO and VeChain Toolchain — continues to serve as a significant enabler of sustainable technology in the business world.

Now, with the Renaissance upgrade being rolled out for the duration of 2025, VeChain aims to solidify its leadership in this sphere. With the Renaissance upon us, it's hard to see any blockchain platform that could challenge VeChain in the area of sustainability anytime soon.

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What is VeChain (VET): Building a sustainable future for all

Candlestick

Trading

A rising wedge signals a future falling price or a breakout to a downtrend is approaching. But is it reliable? Master how it works in 10 mins!

Rising-Wedge-Pattern-How-to-Identify-the-Selling-Opportunity.jpg

Due to its straightforward entry and exit guidelines, the rising wedge pattern is a favorite chart formation of many technical crypto traders. The rising wedge can alert traders to an upcoming top and reverse prices, as the pattern contains a distinct formation.

The rising wedge carves on all chart time frames and can develop quickly, making it difficult to spot in real-time. We’ll guide you through what the pattern looks like and how to use it for generating sell signals.

A rising wedge is a bearish chart pattern consisting of two converging trend lines, with the first line connecting the recent lower highs and higher highs, and a second trend line connecting the recent lows. 

The resulting shape looks like a triangle that is angled upward. The opposite of a rising wedge pattern is a falling wedge.

The rising wedge pattern can be interpreted as a bearish wedge as the low is overtaking the high in which the lower supporting trend line is steeper. Though the falling wedges have a similar shape, the only differences being the slope of the triangle and the implied result of the pattern.

The rising wedge (ascending) pattern in which the trading volume decreases as the wedge progresses signals the future falling prices or a breakout to a downtrend, making it a bearish pattern. The decreases in trading volume could suggest that sellers are consolidating their power for a bearish breakout despite the wedge captures the price action moving higher.

On the other hand, the falling wedge (descending) pattern has a negative slope, slanting downward and implying a rally forming nearby, making it a bullish pattern. However, the interesting part is that a rising wedge can occur during a downtrend as a continuation pattern or during an uptrend as a reversal pattern. 

The rising wedge pattern’s shape resembles that of a slice of pizza, formed when two trend lines are converging. The rising wedge pattern carves a series of higher highs and higher lows.

The resistance trend line needs to cover the extreme high points of the pattern. A minimum of two higher highs is needed for the resistance line. 

Similarly, draw a support trend line covering the higher lows. You’ll need at least two swing low points to draw the support trend line.

 trend lines, you should see a triangular shape that also looks like a wedge. A key detail of the rising wedge pattern is that the apex of the triangle needs to be pointed upward. Thus, the resistance trend line must slope upward to validate this as a rising wedge pattern.

The rising wedge pattern is generally observed after long trends, which means it can be quite useful for cryptocurrency trading. For instance, if a crypto trend has moved too far too fast, the wedge pattern may appear as a warning signal of an upcoming trend reversal.

Strong trends are the result of an imbalance between buyers and sellers. At each price, buyers and sellers are transacting. If there’s an imbalance with a lot of buyers and no sellers, then the price must readjust quickly to higher levels, which will hopefully attract more sellers into the marketplace.

If the higher pricing fails to draw in more sellers, then the price will continue to quickly readjust higher. This swift readjustment creates strong uptrends that begin to attract more buyers, who fear missing out on a powerful trend (known as FOMO, or fear of missing out).

Once this strong trend has developed, and large crypto whales are no longer interested in buying, the price will begin to correct, drawing in the FOMO buyers. Each new high sees another correction, drawing in more buyers. 

At this point, the rising wedge pattern has formed and the market is ripe for a large correction.

The rising wedge — also called an ascending wedge — is a bearish reversal pattern. This means that after the pattern completes, you can expect the market to reverse direction. As the rising wedge pattern trends upward, a bearish reversal looms nearby, changing the trend’s direction from upward to downward.

The opposite of a reversal pattern is a continuation pattern. Continuation patterns manifest as an interruption of the larger trend. Reversal patterns, however, form at the end of trends, after which the market changes direction.

There are some similarities between a wedge pattern and a 

 that may confuse crypto traders. However, there are differences that allow the trader to distinguish one from the other so they can better determine the market’s next path.

Wedge and triangle patterns both have triangular shapes because of the converging resistance and support trend lines that contain them. The major difference is that wedges form in the direction of the larger trend — upward or downward — while triangles form sideways, or horizontally. In the rising wedge example above, both the resistance and support trend lines are converging as they ascend. Similarly, the falling wedge has resistance and support trend lines that are converging as they descend.

Still, the triangle pattern has converging resistance and support trend lines, but the resistance trend line is either descending or horizontal, while the support trend line is either ascending or horizontal. 

As a result, wedges are reversal patterns, while the triangle is a continuation pattern.

What Happens After the Rising Wedge Pattern Appears?

The rising wedge appears at the end of a trend. Therefore, the next move after the ascending wedge pattern forms is a bearish reversal. 

The bearish reversal can be confirmed when the market falls below the support trend line. On many occasions, the market will correct back to the level of the origin of the rising wedge pattern.

Spotting a Rising Wedge Pattern on a Crypto Chart

The rising wedge pattern appears after a long and mature uptrend, signaling a potential reversal.

From Sept 2020 to Jan 2021, the ETH rocketed from around $300 to $1,300 in a long, strong uptrend.

The next example has two illustrations in it.

First, notice how the price action turns sideways in late January 2021. This is a triangle pattern with converging horizontal and ascending trend lines. Newer traders might mistake this pattern as a wedge. However, although it looks like a wedge, the resistance line is basically horizontal-to-downward sloping. This is a dead giveaway of a continuation triangle pattern — not a rising wedge.

Once this pattern completes, ETH begins to rally at the start of a rising wedge pattern.

Beginning Jan 31, ETH price begins to rally in choppy waves — i.e., when new highs are formed, then immediately met with a corrective trend. These choppy waves make upward progress, but it’s slow and overlapping.

When you see these choppy and overlapping waves, the next step is to add your trend lines to the pattern.

The resistance trend line is drawn so that it covers the high points of the choppiness. The resistance trend line should slant higher, as the prices are making a series of higher highs. If the resistance trend line isn’t slanting higher, then this isn’t a rising wedge pattern — and some other pattern is forming.

Once the upward sloping resistance trend line is in place, it’s time to draw the support trend line. This is drawn connecting the low points of the choppiness. The support trend line should also slant higher, as the pattern stair-steps upward, forming higher lows. If the support trend isn’t angled higher, then some other pattern is forming, different from an ascending wedge.

Now, if you have both support and resistance lines angled higher, then check to see if they’re converging. At some times this convergence is more obvious than at others. The easiest way to determine if the two trend lines are converging is by extending each of the lines to the right. If they cross each other in the future, then they’re converging — and this is a rising wedge pattern. If they don’t eventually intersect, then some other pattern is forming.

Within an ascending wedge valid pattern, you’ll find the following:

If you spot a pattern with each of these ingredients, the chances are strong that you’re looking at an ascending wedge pattern.

There are a couple of other items you might see as well, though these are guidelines and not guarantees. 

Add an oscillator to the bottom of your chart, such as the 

 (RSI) indicator. If the RSI is showing divergence, it’s another clue that this is a rising wedge pattern.

Oscillator divergence is created when the price makes a higher high, yet the oscillator makes a lower high. The price is said to be diverging from the oscillator, as the two aren’t in sync.

Another clue you may be witnessing an ascending wedge pattern may be found in the cryptocurrency’s volume.

If the volume is falling as the wedge pattern advances, then this indicates bullish whales are no longer supporting the price. In circumstances like this, the market is mature for a reversal.

One of the most obvious and lucrative rising wedge patterns in crypto was formed by Bitcoin going into April 2021. You may recall that Bitcoin was in a monster uptrend from the March 2020 pandemic low into 2021 high. It rose nearly 1,600% over this period, with bullish predictions forecasting immediate trends up pricing.

When rosy market sentiment is making traders feel positive with forecasts of skyrocketing price levels, that is an ideal spot for the ascending wedge pattern to appear. Rising wedge patterns are notorious for appearing at the end of large rallies that have carried on for too long.

After completing the bulk of the rally in early January 2021, Bitcoin began to correct for the last part of the month. Beginning in late January, Bitcoin rallied again, but this rally becomes choppy and overlapping.

The rally begins to lose momentum, and divergence with the RSI indicator appears, symptomatic of rising wedge patterns.

The resistance and support trend lines within the pattern fit the definition, as both are rising and converging. Each of these clues is present to signal the trader that a top is forming — and to be on the alert for a bearish reversal.

Trading the bearish reversal is quite easy. As the trend is shifting from up to down, the trading opportunity is to short sell the market or close out of your long positions.

The trigger for the short entry will be a break of the support trend line. Some traders will wait for the candle to break and close below the trend line before entering the trade. Other traders sell short once the price has breached the trend line by a specified amount, like 50 or 100 points.

Still, it is preferable to selling short once a specified level below support has broken. The reason is that crypto markets tend to fall and crash fast. If you wait for the candle to close, you could be missing out on a better entry point.

Once support breaks, the market is giving you a big clue: the mood of the uptrend is beginning to change to that of a downtrend.

 for a short trade will be placed just above the recent swing high. If the market breaks the support trend line and rallies up to new highs, then some other pattern is playing out and the rising wedge has failed.

Most of the time, successful rising wedge patterns will see the market correct back to the original level of the formation. In this case, the pattern begins on January 27, 2021, at $29,250. Therefore, a successful rising wedge pattern will drive Bitcoin prices lower, back to $29,000.

In hindsight, we can see that this pattern has played out well: within one month of the signal confirmation (by mid-May), Bitcoin corrects back to the origination of the pattern.

Though the rising wedge pattern can signal excellent short sell opportunities, the pattern is not 100% accurate and there are some limitations to be aware of.

First of all, the ascending wedge pattern can carve rather quickly, yet it’s difficult to confirm until the pattern has progressed nearly 2/3 of the way to completion. This means you’ll need to constantly review the market to make sure the clues and indications of the rising wedge are present.

Once the pattern is displaying many of the specified markers, then you can set up the short-sell trade opportunity as trend line breakout below the support levels. Though the pattern is easy to spot, it can be a challenge to catch it while it’s forming, as you typically won’t see the clues develop until most of the pattern is complete.

Secondly, smaller cryptocurrencies are susceptible to bad ticks and an occasional bad feed. These situations show up as extremely long wicks on the price chart patterns. When you see these wicks, it can be challenging to accurately discern what pattern is forming.

More commonly, smaller cryptocurrencies don’t have enough liquidity to maintain stable pricing. As a result, you’ll get quick price aberrations that can create long wicks. This is more likely to occur on smaller chart time frames.

In these situations, changing over to a line chart that is one or two chart frames smaller than your current one would be a better option.

That is because the line chart tends to remove the noise, enabling you to see the core pattern. Sizing down a couple of chart time frames will help you focus on the subwaves of the larger pattern.

In the Tezos (XTZ) example above, we have a 1-hour chart time frame. Several wicks can make a pattern look like a rising wedge. When you switch over to a line chart, the patterns become clearer and you can quickly discern which ones are and aren’t an ascending wedge.

However, when you switch to a line chart and size down the time frame, be careful not to size down too much. Minute chart time frames begin to lose their lucrative 

, as the spread cost of the trade tends to eat up any potential profits.

The rising wedge pattern is a favorite among traders and technical analysts, though it can be difficult to spot in real-time. In a reversal pattern, the rising wedge is often confused with the triangle pattern, which is a continuation formation.

The clear entry and exit signals the ascending wedge pattern provides make the rising wedge ideal for traders who want to short the market or use the signals to manage their long-term HODL positions.

Candlestick Patterns Professional Traders Use

Rising Wedge Pattern: How to Identify a Selling Opportunity

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