Crypto Market Basics: How Digital Asset Markets Differ
Crypto assets trade in a market that looks familiar on a chart but works quite differently from traditional commodity exchanges.
Always open
Crypto trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week across many exchanges worldwide. There is no single official closing price, so data providers pick a reference time (often 00:00 UTC) for daily candles and percentage changes.
Market capitalisation
Market cap is the current price multiplied by the circulating supply. It is the usual way to rank coins, as in our top coins table. Fully diluted value uses the maximum supply instead, which matters for tokens with large future unlocks.
Stablecoins and trading pairs
Many crypto prices are quoted against stablecoins such as USDT or USDC, which aim to track the US dollar. That is why our charts show pairs like BTC/USDT.
Volatility and correlations
Crypto prices can move far more in a day than most commodities. Bitcoin has at times moved with technology stocks and global liquidity, and at other times has been compared with gold as an alternative asset. These relationships change over time.
Risks specific to crypto
- Exchange and custody risk: platforms can fail or be hacked.
- Regulatory changes that differ by country.
- Smart-contract bugs in DeFi protocols.
- Thin liquidity in smaller tokens, which can cause sharp price swings.
Educational content only, not financial advice.
Educational content only, not financial advice. See our disclaimer.
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