Built on the Solana blockchain, Fartcoin combines humor and cryptocurrency by tokenizing fart jokes and memes to build a playful, community-driven ecosystem.

Just when you think the innovative cryptocurrency world has run out of surprises, along comes a project that catches everyone off guard. One such unlikely superstar is Fartcoin. This 

 blockchain, has quickly gained attention for its quirky premise: tokenizing fart jokes and memes. But beneath the gastro-inspired humor lies a fast-growing community and a surprising market performance.

This article unpacks the Fartcoin phenomenon, and asks the question: Is it worth your investment — or is it simply hot air? 

Fartcoin is a meme coin built on the Solana blockchain that allows users to submit fart jokes and memes to earn tokens. It went viral for its humorous concept and community-driven engagement.

Fartcoin, like most meme coins, doesn’t claim to have intrinsic value or serious utility. Instead, it thrives on humor and community engagement. True to its irreverent premise — tokenizing farts — Fartcoin is all about creating a fun and lighthearted experience in the crypto space. it attempts to build an interactive, inclusive community centred on fart jokes and memes, in which creativity and laughter take the spotlight.

Fartcoin scintillates with features like the "Gas Fee," which playfully produces fart sounds during transactions, adding a hilarious twist to the crypto experience. It also encourages participation through meme submissions, rewarding users for their contributions and building a strong sense of community

Fartcoin was created as part of an experiment by Truth Terminal, an 

, to test the influence of artificial intelligence on cultural trends. This merry project takes a playful approach to cryptocurrency, relying on jests and memes to drive its value. The more people talk about and interact with Fartcoin, the more its value grows — thanks to its reflexive memetic strategy.

Fartcoin’s community plays a key role in its success. Users can earn tokens by submitting fart-themed jokes or memes, with the most popular contributions earning extra tokens and a chance to be featured in various media projects related to the coin.

To keep things fun and engaging, Fartcoin’s tweets and social media presence are powered by Truth Terminal, with posts that embrace meme culture and fun. These posts, crafted by AI and manually shared by the team behind the token, help keep the community entertained and actively involved.

Thanks to Solana's fast processing speeds and low transaction fees, Fartcoin transactions are both efficient and accessible to users, making it easy for everyone to join in on the fun.

FARTCOIN is the native token of the Fartcoin project. It’s primarily used for community engagement, speculative investment and as a means to participate in the Fartcoin ecosystem.

FARTCOIN has a fixed supply of 1 billion tokens, almost all of which are circulating. At launch, 20.1 million tokens were allocated to Truth Terminal, the AI behind the project. This allocation ensures that Truth Terminal plays a central role in the promotion and development of Fartcoin. The remaining tokens were distributed to early participants through community meme submissions and liquidity pool incentives on 

. This approach has helped to build a strong and engaged community from the start.

Fartcoin has taken the crypto world by surprise with its quirky humor and explosive growth. Launched in October 2024 as part of an AI experiment by Truth Terminal, Fartcoin quickly captured attention with its playful concept and savvy marketing.

In just two months, Fartcoin’s market cap soared past $1 billion, its price skyrocketing by an astonishing 500% in just 11 days and placing it firmly as one of the top-performing meme coins of the year. On Dec 20, 2024, it reached an all-time high of $1.27 — all while the broader crypto market struggled during a downturn. It then reached a new ATH of $1.45 on Jan 2, 2025.

Fartcoin’s rapid rise can be attributed to early backing from institutional players like the 

, which helped establish credibility and liquidity, drawing in more investors. A major boost came when Fartcoin was listed on Binance Futures, sparking fresh interest and driving prices even higher. Its whimsical narrative also struck a chord with investors looking for something different. In a market dominated by uncertainty, Fartcoin’s comedic appeal offers a refreshing and profitable diversion.

Looking to trade Fartcoin tokens? Bybit now offers the FARTCOINUSDT Perpetual contract for trading. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

Fartcoin's meteoric rise and quirky appeal make it an intriguing choice for speculation. However, potential investors should exercise caution. Meme coins like Fartcoin are highly volatile and often lack intrinsic value, making them risky investments. While its community-driven model and unique features offer entertainment and engagement, Fartcoin’s value depends heavily upon its popularity and ongoing participation.

As with any cryptocurrency, users need to 

 and understand the risks involved before investing. Diversifying your portfolio and investing no more than you can afford to lose are essential steps toward safely navigating the volatile world of cryptocurrencies.

Fartcoin is a perfect example of how humor and community engagement can create a buzz in the cryptocurrency world. From its quirky concept to its impressive market performance, it’s captured the attention of investors and enthusiasts alike. However, its success hinges on its viral appeal, making it a high-risk, high-reward investment. Whether you're in it for the gassy laughs or the potential gains, always approach meme coins such as Fartcoin with caution and research them thoroughly. After all, even in crypto, not every joke pays off!

Intermediate

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Fartcoin (FARTCOIN): Breaking Wind & Records in the Crypto World

Jan 6, 2025: Our weekly Institutional Insights explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

Weekly Highlight — Markets Snap Five-Day Loss Streak 

Investors are now seizing the opportunity to buy the dip in U.S. stocks after a five-day decline that erased over $1 trillion in market value. Wall Street has broken its longest losing streak since April, with the Nasdaq-100 rebounding 1.7% and the S&P 500 rising 1.3% on Friday, January 3. These gains slightly offset the week's sell-off, which had continued into the new year following a tough December.

Despite concerns about slowing earnings growth among tech giants like the Magnificent Seven, traders remain optimistic, especially regarding AI leader NVIDIA Corporation. The market believes that, as long as retail investors keep investing in AI, the associated stock market boom is expected to persist. 

Stocks reached their session highs in the afternoon after Mike Johnson was reelected as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, indicating potential support for a business-friendly agenda. Meanwhile, bond yields rose, with the 10-year hitting 4.6% following comments from Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin about maintaining restrictive rates. U.S. manufacturing showed modest growth, with new orders at their highest since early last year, while investors assessed economic strength against the possibility of slower interest-rate cuts.

Weekly Crypto Highlight — AI Agent Spring Coming

Many investors are eagerly anticipating an Alt Season, a period when altcoins typically surge in value. However, current market dynamics suggest we may not see a widespread altcoin rally. The sheer number of tokens, combined with limited liquidity, has led to what's known as altcoin dispersion, making it crucial to select the right sectors and tokens.

, which are thriving even as the broader market declines. This nascent sector is experiencing rapid advancements, and its associated tokens face less pressure from venture capital unlocks. Many of its top protocols lack centralized exchange listings, indicating more buyers may enter the market.

Those investors who missed previous opportunities, such as the DeFi summer of 2020 and the Alt Layer 1 trade, now have another chance. Instead of targeting individual AI agents, the best risk/reward strategy lies in investing in infrastructure plays, which serve as the foundational tools for the sector.

The leading AI agent player is Virtuals Protocol, a platform for launching tokenized AI agents on the Base network. By purchasing tokens like Luna by Virtuals (LUNA) and VaderAI (VADER), users gain governance rights over specific agents, which allows them to both influence development and share in profits. 

Recently, daily protocol fee revenues dropped significantly in mid-December 2024 as activity slowed for the holidays. However, speculation around agent-associated tokens surged as the new year approached. Currently, Virtuals Protocol generates over $1 million in daily fees, though this is 50% less than figures for early December. Despite these challenges, the VIRTUAL token has more than doubled in value, reaching a market capitalization of $4.6 billion.

Other highlighted opportunities include Zerebro, which is pivoting to a full-stack framework for AI agents; ARC, with its Rust-based framework; and 

 (GRIFFAIN), a natural language on-chain search tool. These projects are well-positioned for future growth in the evolving landscape of AI technology.

 as we delve into leading AI agent tokens and the past week’s market movements. 

Advanced

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Weekly Institutional Insights: Market Snaps Five-Day Loss Streak; AI Agent Spring Coming

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

December's end-of-year options expiration brought an unexpected drop as realized volatility fell to the lowest levels of the month. Perpetual swap open interest remained stable, indicating these markets weren't heavily used for hedging against expired options, likely contributing to the muted volatility. 

While most expired open interest in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) hasn't been reinvested, the balance of calls and puts remains consistent. Notably, ETH options are pricing in higher implied volatility as compared to BTC, particularly for shorter expirations, leading to a flat term structure for ETH, while BTC is offering cheaper options exposure.

In the perpetual markets, low volatility and minimal spot movements have led funding rates for nearly all tokens to mirror broader market sentiment throughout the holiday season. On the options side, BTC's term structure is noticeably lower and steeper than ETH's, with realized volatility now dipping below implied volatility levels, highlighting an intriguing shift in market dynamics.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Open Interest Solid Amid Year-End Options Expiration

Although open interest for both BTC and ETH perpetual swaps hasn’t returned to early December 2024 highs, it remained robust throughout the significant end-of-year options expiration event. This suggests that these markets weren’t heavily utilized to 

 of the expiring options contracts, likely contributing to the lack of volatility observed during this period. Instead, trading volumes have dipped noticeably during the winter holiday season, coinciding with a collapse in realized volatility back to December 2024’s lowest levels.

BTC Option Curve Remains Steep During Call-Put Parity

The expiration of December's end-of-year options didn’t trigger the anticipated surge in volatility; instead, realized volatility has plummeted to the lower end of its recent range. The implied volatility term structure remains steep compared to both its recent behavior and ETH's, with longer-dated implied volatility around 57%, and 1-week at-the-money options trading about five points lower. Much of the expired open interest hasn’t yet been rolled into new positions, maintaining a neutral balance between puts and calls. Consequently, BTC's options market positioning is relatively neutral, lacking the leverage it had at the start of December 2024.

Huge ETH Option Expiring Doesn’t Cause Volatility

A late December spike in realized volatility didn’t carry into the new year, with ETH’s spot price currently exhibiting volatility below that of short-tenor implied volatility. Interestingly, the implied volatility term structure has undergone a steepening and re-flattening over the past week, contrasting with BTC’s slightly steeper profile. This suggests that ETH’s options market is anticipating higher short-term volatility in spot price movements. 

Despite the significant expiration of options open interest at the end of December 2024, which didn’t lead to a rollover into later expirations, call options continue to dominate the market and have increased at the start of 2025.

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Bybit X Block Scholes Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report (Jan 2, 2025): BTC Options Continue to See Call-Put Parity, With Lower Short-Term Volatility Expected

Dive into FLock, a decentralized platform that revolutionizes the way AI models are developed, trained and deployed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to transform countless industries, but its development often raises questions about privacy, control and inclusivity. 

 is a unique decentralized platform that democratizes AI training, fine-tuning and inferencing. With its blockchain-powered infrastructure, FLock ensures transparency, security and community-driven decision-making, paving the way for AI models that align with established societal values. 

In this article, we’ll explore how FLock decentralizes AI training, its key features and its potential impact on developers, communities and users.

 platform that revolutionizes the way AI models are developed, trained and deployed. By leveraging blockchain technology and a novel approach called 

, FLock addresses critical issues in AI development, such as centralized control, lack of transparency and privacy concerns.

At its core, FLock’s mission is to democratize AI by enabling communities to participate directly in the creation and refinement of AI models. Through federated learning, FLock trains AI models across multiple decentralized devices or servers. This method ensures that data remains local, eliminating the need for raw data exchange while still enabling robust model training. By decentralizing the training process, FLock not only protects individual privacy, but also fosters a more inclusive ecosystem in which diverse contributors can collaborate.

What sets FLock apart is its integration of 

. This ensures that all contributions — whether data, compute power or feedback — are transparently recorded and fairly rewarded. Blockchain tech’s immutable ledger enhances trust among participants and safeguards the process against manipulation. Additionally, the platform’s on-chain incentive mechanisms encourage participation from a wide range of contributors, ensuring that rewards are distributed equitably.

Ultimately, FLock empowers communities to develop bespoke AI models tailored to their specific needs. By decentralizing the process and prioritizing transparency and collaboration, FLock breaks the monopoly of large corporations, creating an AI ecosystem that aligns with public ethics and societal values.

, an Oxford alumnus with a robust background in AI and blockchain technology. Sun, who serves as FLock's CEO, has an impressive career trajectory, having worked as the Director of AI for the Royal Bank of Canada and as an AI Research Fellow at Imperial College London. His vision for FLock stems from a deep understanding of both the technical and ethical challenges of AI development.

The founding team also includes other Oxford alumni, boasting over a decade of combined experience in AI research and the cryptocurrency industry. This team brings a collective blend of academic excellence and practical expertise that positions FLock to lead the decentralized AI movement.

FLock has successfully raised $11 million in funding across two rounds, reflecting strong investor confidence in its vision. In May 2024, FLock secured a $6 million seed round co-led by Lightspeed Faction and Tagus Capital, with additional backing from Digital Currency Group (DCG), Volt Capital, OKX Ventures and Inception Capital.

Later, in December 2024, FLock announced a $3 million successful funding round led by DCG and joined by prominent names like Animoca Brands, Fenbushi Capital, GnosisVC and GSR. These investments are being channelled into enhancing the platform’s testnet and federated learning client, accelerating FLock’s mission of enabling secure, collaborative AI development.

With this funding and over 1,500 nodes contributing from platforms like Numerai and Kaggle, FLock is rapidly scaling its impact on decentralized AI training.

FLock AI revolutionizes AI development through its decentralized training framework. This approach allows participants to contribute to AI model training without ever sharing their personal data. Instead, models are trained locally across devices using federated learning, which ensures that data remains with its owners while still enhancing the accuracy of the model overall. 

FLock’s reward system is designed to incentivize active participation. Contributors who provide data, computational power and/or feedback are compensated with FLOCK tokens, ensuring a fair distribution of rewards. 

FLock empowers its community through a robust governance framework. Decisions regarding AI model development, deployment and ethical considerations are driven by the community, ensuring alignment with established societal values. Through blockchain-based voting mechanisms, contributors can influence the direction of AI projects, fostering transparency and public accountability. 

FLock’s modular architecture allows contributors to participate in specific aspects of AI model development. Whether providing raw data or computational power or even refining algorithms, the platform enables a collaborative and scalable development process. 

At the core of FLock’s philosophy is its commitment to privacy and security. By leveraging blockchain technology, the platform ensures that no single entity controls the AI development process. Data remains local and protected by cryptographic measures, while the immutability of blockchain guarantees transparency in every transaction and model update. 

 begins with a blockchain and an AI layer.

The blockchain layer underpins FLock’s incentivization and security mechanisms.

The AI layer facilitates model training, refinement and deployment, leveraging both centralized and federated approaches.

Let’s have a look at the supply and demand for the FLOCK token.

FLock adopts a 1:2 ratio model between team/investors (33.3%) and community (66.7%), prioritizing community-driven growth and ecosystem expansion. The majority of tokens are allocated to incentivize user participation and long-term ecosystem success.

FLock aims to improve the future of AI development by decentralizing the training process and ensuring transparency, privacy and inclusivity. By leveraging blockchain and federated learning, FLock empowers communities to contribute to AI creation without compromising on privacy. Its innovative reward system and community-driven governance foster a fair and collaborative ecosystem. 

With significant backing and a growing network of contributors, FLock is positioning itself as a leader in decentralized AI, offering a more ethical and secure alternative to traditional AI development models. As it continues to scale, FLock is set to transform the way AI models are built and deployed.

 — and earn a share of a 10 million FLOCK prize pool. For more details, visit 

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FLock AI: Decentralized AI Training

Trading

Indicators

New to trading and can't decide between leading vs. lagging indicators? Why not learn how to combine both indicators with our handy guide!

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Technical analysis is the science of adding indicators to crypto charts to determine trend strength and direction, and overbought or oversold readings. Many of the technical tools can be broken down into leading or lagging indicators. The leading indicators help predict trends, while the lagging indicators confirm the analysis. Wondering which is better when comparing leading vs. lagging indicators? Let’s review popular leading and lagging indicators and how, together, they become a powerful combination in any crypto trading plan.

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators: What Are They?

Before comparing leading vs. lagging indicators, it’s important to know how similar and different they are. Leading and lagging indicators are used in the technical analysis of price charts to predict and review the direction of price trends, potential reversal zones and target pricing for cryptocurrencies.

Both leading and lagging indicators are used by crypto traders, as each type serves a purpose. Leading indicators give you predictive hints on future movement and reversal points, while lagging indicators help you to identify and confirm trends.

Leading indicators are applied to a chart that uses past price data to forecast future price movements. These indicators “lead” the price because they anticipate movements and trends ahead of time. This helps crypto traders open or close their trades near the beginning of a new trend.

Support and resistance levels are some of the most important leading indicators. Support represents a “floor” below the current pricing, while resistance is the “ceiling” found above the current price.

When price corrects lower and approaches support, sellers stop selling and buyers begin to buy. This creates an imbalance in the marketplace, in which buyers overwhelm sellers and the market price rises. The opposite is true for resistance.

 often trend in an upward or downward direction, though they can be horizontal as well. Drawing a support trend line in an uptrend is pretty easy. Find the two or three lowest points of the uptrend, and draw an upward sloping line that connects at the low points of the uptrend. The low points should create a series of increasingly higher lows, giving the line an upward slant.

Support and resistance can be drawn and noted on the chart long before the price arrives, so that the trader can plan their trade or set alerts. In the support example above, we simply extend the line to the right, and as the price approaches, it becomes a buying signal. It truly is that easy — but more importantly, trend lines work!

Having a well-thought-out plan for your trade tends to lead to more stable results, rather than acting on emotion in the moment.

Lagging indicators are chart reading tools used by traders to analyze the market by using an average of previous prices. Rather than predict future market movements, they’re generally used to confirm the current trend and direction. Lagging indicators, as the name implies, lag the market so traders are more certain of the trend direction before they place a buy or sell order.

Relying on lagging indicators means the trader will miss out on the first portion of a new trend. Likewise, a trader will remain invested in the latter portion of an old trend when the beginning stages of a reversal have begun. Essentially, the lagging indicator gets you into the market later — and out of the market after it’s begun to reverse.

This is the price to pay for greater confirmation, and to some traders it’s worth it. Lagging indicators work really well when strong trends are in force. If the market isn’t trending, then lagging indicators provide little help, as the delay  in detecting a market reversal means entering at a worse price into a trend that doesn’t move.

As a result, a trader heavily reliant on lagging indicators will oftentimes miss major turning points and get whipsawed around in sideways trends. Ideally, instead of looking at it as leading vs. lagging indicators, traders will want to incorporate a mix of both into their trading plan.

Why Are Leading and Lagging Indicators Important to Technical Analysis? 

As both leading and lagging indicators have their benefits, it’s important to change that mindset of it being leading vs. lagging indicators. Leading indicators help you predict potential turning points before the price arrives. Using a leading indicator is similar to looking out the front window of your car while driving. It offers a view as to where you might be going.

Lagging indicators, on the other hand, are essentially an average of past price history, showing whether current trends are higher or lower than average. Using lagging indicators is like looking out of your rearview mirror to see where you’ve been. 

It’s important to note that relying solely on the signals of leading — or lagging — indicators will never produce 100% accuracy.

A leading indicator is a tool that’s added to the price chart to anticipate the future direction of the market. As a result, it allows traders to enter or exit the trend earlier, relative to waiting for additional confirmation from other tools.

Several leading indicators are available. The calculation behind each indicator is different, so they produce different, and sometimes conflicting, results.

Below are some examples of popular leading indicators.

If this was the first indicator you thought of when comparing 

 and extensions are hidden levels of support and resistance. These levels are “hidden” because they’re not obvious to the naked, untrained eye.

If you draw the Fibonacci retracement tool from the September 2020 low to the April 2021 high for Bitcoin, above, horizontal lines are produced at 23.6%, 38.2%, 61.8% and 78.6%.

These price zones represent potential levels of support in an upcoming correction. As you can see, during the summer of 2021, Bitcoin falls to the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level on multiple occasions before rallying nearly 75%.

The Fibonacci retracement tool is a leading indicator because we can apply the tool to draw these support levels in April 2021, nearly five weeks ahead of the first touch of the 38.2% level! 

The Fibonacci extension is another tool that can anticipate turns in the market ahead of time by plotting how far a trend may extend.

In the Bitcoin chart above, the tool measures the length of the first wave from March 2020 to August 2020, then projects that distance from the September 2020 low. Essentially, since September 2020, a trader could view these levels as potential turning points. 

One of the projections produced in September 2020 when Bitcoin was trading near $10K was for the trend to extend, and then reverse near $69K in price. Bitcoin topped at $65K in April 2021.

 are another level of hidden support and resistance. Again, they’re “hidden” because the levels aren’t obvious to the naked eye. Pivot levels have been around for many years, and have stood the test of time for providing potential turning points in the market.

Pivot levels are calculated based on a period’s high, open, low and close prices. These four prices are run through a formula to calculate the output levels. The thinking behind the formula is that the prior period’s price movement will impact the next period’s turning points.

In the Ethereum chart above, we have weekly pivot points that are calculated at the beginning of the trading week. As trading begins on Sunday, you’ll often find prices bouncing and reacting near these pivot levels throughout the week.

As these price levels are created on Sunday, having only certain levels to focus on keeps the trader from getting distracted, and they can consider entering the market when the price reaches a pivot level.

On-balance volume (OBV) is a leading indicator that can offer insight into the direction of future trends. OBV was created to provide insight as to what the large “whale” investors are doing. If whales are buying, then OBV should be rising. If whales are selling, then OBV should fall.

“Whales” are the large money players within the crypto market, so understanding how they’re behaving helps predict the future price direction of the crypto. If price and OBV are diverging, that price behavior suggests a trend change may soon be at hand.

In the Ethereum chart above, the rally in September 2021 doesn’t have the supporting volume. The market’s price rallies to a new recent high while OBV is below its starting point. This means there’s a small  volume on the rally, and the market is at risk of falling.

Sure enough, Ethereum ends up falling about 25% over the next week on increasing down volume.

A lagging indicator is a tool used by traders to analyze the market using averages of previous price data. As these calculations are a variety of moving averages, they tend to react more slowly to the market’s movements.

While this might be a reason why some traders prefer using Pivot Points and OBV when comparing leading vs. lagging indicators, this time delay can be used in your favor. Slower reaction time helps the trader capture the essence of the larger trends, and can be a confirmation signal to the trend change.

Let’s review some popular lagging indicators.

Contrary to popular belief when comparing leading vs. lagging indicators, the 

 is a lagging indicator. As one of the most popular oscillators for traders, the RSI provides a measure of internal strength. When the RSI becomes oversold and the indicator dips below 30, then the market is ripe for a bullish reversal. If the RSI becomes overbought and the indicator rises above 70, then the market is at risk of correcting lower.

In July 2021, Bitcoin had been entrenched in a large correction. This downtrend meant that opportunities to sell short would be the higher probability trades. Sell trade signals would appear when the RSI was overbought, with the RSI indicator crossing back below the 70 level.

There were several sell signals generated during July that would have helped a trader enter into the downtrend. Not every signal is always 100% accurate. However, the signals tend to be a little more reliable than a leading indicator because lagging indicators have the benefit of averaging in the longer trends.

Simple moving average (SMA) is extremely popular and widely used. SMA is a versatile tool, commonly used to determine trend direction.

 is just as its name implies: a simple average of the prices covering a certain number of previous periods. A 200-period SMA would be an average price over the previous 200 periods. Therefore, if the current price is trading above the moving average, then the current trend is considered higher relative to the previous trend.

Looking at the Bitcoin chart above, from May 2021 through July 2021 Bitcoin was generally trading below the 200-period simple moving average. This implies the trend was lower, and the trader was wise to consider sell positions.

Then, Bitcoin began to rally in late July, breaking above the SMA. At that point, Bitcoin was flashing buy signals.

The benefit of using moving averages is that you can easily determine the direction of the longer trends. However, the signals will be delayed, as it took four days from the bottom on July 20 before the buy signal from the moving average was generated.

 are an indicator which factors in volatility. The calculation involves a moving average surrounded by a volatility gauge. When the markets become volatile, Bollinger Bands adjust by widening their scope to accommodate greater price movements. When the markets become stale, the volatility gauge adjusts inward.

The outer limits of the Bollinger Bands can be seen as support and resistance levels. The idea is that the market may stray from the middle only as far as the outer bands, then eventually retrace back to the moving average.

On the Ethereum 4-hour chart above, we have Bollinger Bands added to a 100-period moving average. When Ethereum falls toward the lower band, this can be seen as a buy signal. The subsequent sell signal is generated when the price rallies to the upper band.

How to Combine Leading and Lagging Indicators

Now that you understand the differences when looking at leading vs. lagging indicators and understand both have useful qualities, it’s time to combine both of them. A powerful strategy which crypto traders implement is using leading indicators to establish a price zone of interest, then allowing the lagging indicator to confirm the trade.

This type of combination allows traders to see potential reversal zones in advance of the market arriving. This affords the trader the ability to use the lagging indicator to trigger the entry signal.

As a leading indicator, the convergence or divergence of OBV with price can indicate whether the current trend is strong and likely to continue — or tired and about to reverse. When the SMA is aligned with OBV, the combination can generate a powerful and quick trend.

On the Ethereum chart above, OBV starts to break lower before the price breaks the equivalent support zone. This early breakdown of OBV hints that large volumes are being sold and are likely to push market prices lower.

Now that we’ve a suggested trend (lower in this example), the trader can then check that trend against a simple moving average. At the time of the breakdown in OBV, the price is trading below the 200-period simple moving average. Therefore, as a lagging indicator, the SMA is confirming the trend is lower.

Taken together, the leading indicator is suggesting new lows while the lagging indicator shows a downtrend. Ethereum did in fact undergo a sell-off over the next several days.

As mentioned, the Fibonacci tools provide hidden levels of support and resistance. Once these levels are determined in advance, look for the RSI to become overbought or oversold for the trigger signal. By waiting on the lagging indicator to appear, the chance of a false signal is greatly reduced.

Let’s go back to our previously noted Fibonacci extension example. Months in advance, we can identify the $69K area for Bitcoin as a potential reversal zone. As Bitcoin approaches the $69K resistance area, look for overbought signals to appear on the RSI.

On April 14, the day of the high for Bitcoin, the RSI indicator flashes a Bitcoin sell signal after being overbought. This combination of leading and lagging indicators leads to a quick 50% collapse in pricing.

Since pivot points are a leading indicator and are calculated in advance, a powerful combination is created when the RSI indicator is brought in to confirm a reaction that a crypto market is making at a pivot point.

Above, you can see weekly pivot points (a leading indicator) that are calculated on Sunday for the full trading week.

Entering from above, Ethereum prices reach the weekly pivot point on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. At the same time, the RSI (a lagging indicator) reaches into oversold territory below 30. When the RSI crosses back above 30, it confirms a bullish trade.

Leading vs. lagging indicators: which is best? Ultimately, leading indicators are best for identifying potential price reversal zones or trend strength before the market arrives. Conversely, lagging indicators are used for confirming the direction of trends or overbought and oversold levels.

A combination of the two can lead to more informed trading decisions as the trader receives the benefit of prediction joined with the strength of confirmation.

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators: Can They Help Time Your Entry and Exit?

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