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A hammer candle is where the lower or upper wick is 90% of the total range.
Updated Mar 6, 2025, 10:33 a.m. UTCPublished Mar 6, 2025, 10:30 a.m. UTC
The past few weeks have been highly volatile for bitcoin (BTC), with price action reflecting sharp swings. In the past two weeks bitcoin traded on an open-high, lower-close candlestick pattern with double-digit percentage differences.
The week beginning Feb. 24 saw bitcoin drop to a low of $78,167 and climb to a high of $96,515, a 23% swing. The following week, starting Mar. 3, recorded a low of $81,444 and a high of $94,415, marking a 16% swing.
These large candlestick formations are known as hammer candles, as defined by analyst Checkmate, where the lower or upper wick makes up 90% of the total price range, leaving a small body with a long wick.
Checkmate’s analysis shows that Bitcoin has formed a weekly hammer candle with a 90% lower wick only five times in its history. These instances occurred during the 2017 bull run, the late 2021 bull market peak near $69,000, twice in 2023—following the Silicon Valley Bank crisis and again after the summer downturn—and once in 2024, also during a summer lull.
While the data does not show a clear pattern in bitcoin’s cycle, the 2017 bull market correction stands out, suggesting that such formations could signal critical turning points in price trends.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
James Van Straten
James Van Straten is a Senior Analyst at CoinDesk, specializing in Bitcoin and its interplay with the macroeconomic environment. Previously, James worked as a Research Analyst at Saidler & Co., a Swiss hedge fund, where he developed expertise in on-chain analytics. His work focuses on monitoring flows to analyze Bitcoin's role within the broader financial system. In addition to his professional endeavors, James serves as an advisor to Coinsilium, a UK publicly traded company, where he provides guidance on their Bitcoin treasury strategy. He also holds investments in Bitcoin, MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Semler Scientific (SMLR).
CoinDesk Bot
“CoinDesk Bot” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk's AI Policy here.
