Chart Types, Scales, and Timeframes

2.1 The chart that lied

Node showed Mint a long-term Bitcoin chart. It looked flat for years, then shot up almost vertically in the last few. "Look," said Node. "It's a bubble. Nothing for years and then a rocket."

Hash changed one setting on the chart, and the picture transformed. The early years now showed huge rises and crashes, and the recent period looked much calmer.

"Same data," said Hash. "Different scale. Before you can read a chart, you have to know how it's drawn."

Module 1, Chapter 11 introduced candlesticks and timeframes. This chapter goes deeper into the settings that change how a chart looks, and therefore how you interpret it.

2.2 Three ways to draw price

Line charts connect closing prices with a single line. They're clean and good for seeing the big picture, but hide what happened during each period.

Bar charts show the open, high, low, and close for each period as a vertical bar with small ticks on each side. They contain the same information as candlesticks but are harder to read at a glance.

Candlestick charts show the same four prices with a coloured body and wicks. Most crypto traders use these, and this module will too.

Chart type	Shows	Best for
Line	Closing prices only	Long-term overview, comparing assets
Bar	Open, high, low, close	Traders who prefer a minimal look
Candlestick	Open, high, low, close, with colour	Most technical analysis

2.3 Linear and logarithmic scales

This is the setting Hash changed, and it matters more in crypto than almost anywhere else.

On a linear scale, equal distances on the price axis represent equal dollar amounts. The move from $10,000 to $20,000 takes the same space as the move from $90,000 to $100,000.

On a logarithmic (log) scale, equal distances represent equal percentage changes. A doubling takes the same space whether it's from $1,000 to $2,000 or from $50,000 to $100,000.

Move	Dollar change	Percentage change	Space on linear chart	Space on log chart
$1,000 to $10,000	$9,000	+900%	Tiny	Large
$10,000 to $100,000	$90,000	+900%	Huge	Same as the move above

Both moves made investors ten times their money. A log scale shows that. A linear scale makes the earlier move look insignificant.

Chapter 2 · Linear versus logarithmic scale

On a linear scale, early percentage moves look tiny and recent dollar moves look huge. On a logarithmic scale, equal percentage changes take equal vertical space, so early and late rallies of the same percentage appear the same size.

"So for Bitcoin's long history, log scale is more honest," said Mint.

"For long periods with big percentage moves, yes," said Hash. "For short timeframes, like a few days, the two look almost identical, so it matters less."

A useful rule: use log scale for long-term charts and for comparing growth; use either for short-term trading. Some trendlines also look very different on each scale, so be consistent.

2.4 Timeframes, revisited

Each candle represents a fixed period. The same market tells different stories on different timeframes.

Timeframe	Each candle represents	Commonly used by
1 minute to 15 minutes	Very short periods	Scalpers and day traders
1 hour to 4 hours	Intraday moves	Day traders and swing traders
Daily	One day, usually closing at midnight UTC	Swing traders and investors
Weekly	One week	Position traders and long-term investors
Monthly	One month	Long-term trend analysis

Two principles guide timeframe choice:

Higher timeframes carry more weight. A support level on the weekly chart is generally more significant than one on the 15-minute chart, because it reflects more trading and more participants.

Lower timeframes have more noise. Random fluctuations dominate very short charts. Many beginners lose money by over-trading short timeframes, where they're competing against bots (Module 1, Chapter 9).

Chapter 14 covers how to combine timeframes.

2.5 When does the day end?

In stock markets, the daily close is clear: the market closes. Crypto never closes, so the daily candle's open and close are conventions. Most exchanges and charting platforms use midnight UTC, but some let you choose your own time zone, and a few use different defaults.

This means the same day's candle can look different on different platforms. A candle that looks bullish on one chart might look neutral on another, depending on when the day "ends." When using daily or weekly closes as signals, use the convention most traders follow, usually UTC, and be consistent.

Weekly candles usually open on Monday at midnight UTC. Monthly candles open on the first of the month.

2.6 Which chart to use

Because crypto trades on many venues, there's no single "official" chart.

Major spot exchanges show their own trading. For major assets, prices are very close across large exchanges, though wicks can differ.

Perpetual futures charts may differ slightly from spot, because of funding and leverage (the Perpetual Futures module). Sharp liquidation wicks are often more extreme on perp charts.

Index or aggregated charts combine several venues, smoothing out exchange-specific spikes.

A sensible default: analyse the venue you actually trade on, but compare with a major spot exchange or index to avoid reacting to a spike that only happened on one platform.

Situation	Suggested chart
Long-term analysis	High-volume spot exchange or index, log scale
Trading spot	The exchange you trade on
Trading perps	The perp market you trade, checked against spot
Small tokens	The venue with the deepest liquidity for that token

2.7 Keep your chart clean

Beginners often pile on indicators until the chart is unreadable. A cluttered chart makes it harder to see price itself, and makes it easy to find a signal that supports whatever you already wanted to do.

Hash's suggestion: start with clean candlesticks and volume. Add one or two tools at a time as you learn them in this module, and remove anything you don't actually use in decisions.

2.8 Try it yourself

Open a long-term Bitcoin chart on the weekly timeframe. Switch between linear and log scale and describe how your impression of its history changes.

Then open the daily chart on two different exchanges and compare the same day's candle. Are the highs and lows identical? Finally, if your charting tool allows it, change the time zone and see how the daily candles change.

Key takeaways from this chapter

1. Line, bar, and candlestick charts show price in different levels of detail. Candlesticks are the standard for crypto trading.
2. Linear scales show equal dollar moves equally; log scales show equal percentage moves equally.
3. Use log scale for long-term crypto charts, where percentage moves are huge.
4. Higher timeframes carry more weight; lower timeframes contain more noise.
5. Crypto's daily close is a convention, usually midnight UTC, and can differ across platforms.
6. Prices and wicks can differ across exchanges and between spot and perp markets.
7. Start with a clean chart and add tools deliberately.