“All-time high” is a term that circulates in the crypto world a lot – read on to get to know what it means!
What Is An All-Time High?
The term “all-time high”, or simply ATH, refers to the highest price that a crypto asset has ever reached. It is the opposite of an all-time low (ATL), which signifies the lowest price point of a cryptocurrency recorded throughout its existence.
For example, Bitcoin’s ATH is $69,045.00, while its ATL is $67.81. For Ethereum, these figures equal $4,878.26 and $1,186.73, respectively.
What You Need To Know About An All-Time High
Cryptocurrencies achieve all-time highs during bull runs. In cases of extended bullish periods, it is possible for a coin or token to hit several ATHs, which is known as “forming higher highs” in technical analysis.
When a cryptocurrency reaches an ATH, its value essentially reflects the demand for an asset, showing the maximum amount that someone is willing to pay for it. When assessing a cryptocurrency’s viability as a long-term investment, many hodlers like to analyze its potential for hitting new ATHs in the coming years.
Once the asset exhausts its upward trajectory, it undergoes a correction. In crypto bear markets, the correction of a cryptocurrency is measured by comparing its decreased value to its all-time high. Generally speaking, corrections that exceed 70% are considered normal, with some altcoins even reaching 90%-99%.
Note that some assets never recover from a bear market, which means that the investors that failed to sell them around their all-time high could be left chasing losses.
The all-time-high definition is also applicable to the market capitalization value. For instance, in January 2018, a couple of weeks after Bitcoin’s ATH record, the market cap of the entire cryptocurrency market hit an all-time high of approximately $661.2 billion.