Cryptocurrency Trading Sessions: Best Time to Trade
Cryptocurrencies are traded around the clock, without breaks or weekends. Formally, there are no "sessions" like on Forex or the stock market.
But still, the difference in the market mood is still noticeable from the session in which cryptocurrency trading takes place. And it is advisable to take these features into account in your work.
Understanding these daily waves makes it easier to choose the moment of entry, save on spreads and not get into a thin market.
Why does this happen? Most of the capital is concentrated among traders and funds in several time zones.
Asia starts working early in the morning, Europe and London in the afternoon, the USA and Canada in the afternoon and until late in the evening. It is these inclusions and overlaps that provide those very "windows" in which transactions are executed faster, and technical analysis signals look cleaner.
| Session | Time (Kyiv) | Volatility | Liquidity | Convenience of trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | 03:00–09:00 | Average | Average | Average |
| Europe/London | 10:00–14:00 | Average | High | High |
| Europe-USA overlap | 15:00–19:00 | High | High | High |
| USA/New York | 15:00–23:00 | High | High | High |
| Late evening/night | 23:00–03:00 | Low | Low | Low |
| Weekend | 24 hours (Sat-Sun) | High | Low | Low |
Asia: Early Impulses and Gentle Trends
Night hours in Kyiv UTC/GMT+3 (approximately from 03:00 to 09:00) are the time when Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore are most active.
At this time, the trend moves quite calmly, especially for BTC and ETH, and the market is less often shaken by Asian news. Due to predictability, this is the time period that many traders choose for cryptocurrency scalping .
Europe/London: Choose your destination of the day
Late in the morning and in the first half of the day in Kyiv (approximately 10:00–14:00) European volumes come to the market. At this time, the market tends to “determine” the daily direction: support/resistance levels are tested more carefully, retests appear more often, spreads narrow.
For day trading, this is a convenient window: entries along the trend or from a level are made closer to the declared price, with less slippage .
US/New York: Liquidity Peak and 'Clean' Breakouts
From 15:00 to 23:00 Kyiv time, the US joins in — and this is usually the busiest period of the day. Macro data is released, large companies report, stock indices move — and all this affects the risk appetite, and therefore the crypto.
In the first hours of the American session, impulses most often occur, after which either continuations or clear reversal structures are formed on the volume. If you prefer to work breakout + retest, this is where you can catch "clean" signals without unnecessary noise.
Europe-US Overlap: Highest Volatility
The boundaries are approximate, but the logic is simple: where there are more intersections of participants, the order book is denser. The overlap of Europe and the USA occurs approximately at 15:00–19:00 Kyiv time. At this time, the market is simultaneously “seen” by two large audiences, so the execution of orders is better, and there are fewer false movements.
For day trading and careful scalping, this is perhaps the main hourly corridor.
Cryptocurrency trading by days of the week
Monday is often spent on setting up positions after the weekend, the structure of the day can be ragged. From Tuesday to Thursday, the market is usually most businesslike: more news, more trend passes. On Friday, fixation is noticeable before the weekend: impulses tend to fade.
Saturday and Sunday are quite specific days for trading, in most cases the price moves in a narrow corridor, but breakouts also occur when there is strong news.
Best Cryptocurrency Sessions for Profitable Trading
There is no magic hour that guarantees profit. There is an approach that increases the chances of accurate execution and clear signals. If you trade intraday, focus on the Europe-US overlap and the first hours of the American session: there the density of orders is higher, strong levels are processed more cleanly.
If you prefer a more measured rhythm, the European morning is suitable for searching for retests and entries on a trend with calm dynamics. Do you like to carry over positions? It is better to enter during the day, on a liquid market, and reduce the leverage size at night, so that a sudden "spike" on thin volumes does not knock out the position.
Pay special attention to the news. US inflation publications, Fed meetings, major reports and coin listings change the price behavior dramatically. In the first minutes after the release of such events, slippage and spread spread increase, so the conservative approach is to wait until the dust settles and work the already confirmed level or retest.
