Explore whether crypto staking aligns with Islamic law in our comprehensive guide. Learn the key considerations for compliance. Read more to find out!

Many blockchain networks' well-regarded decentralization and security benefits are highly dependent on one specific activity — 

. Staking involves contributing crypto funds to 

 (PoS) blockchains to power the transaction validation activity on them. Stakers — which can be institutional entities or individuals — lock their cryptocurrency funds on these blockchains to receive the chance to validate blocks of transactions. In return, they receive cryptocurrency rewards for their work, making crypto staking a potentially viable income source. 

Many individuals and smaller business entities who lack the technical capacity or financial reserves to act as blockchain validators can still earn staking rewards by delegating their funds to their preferred validator on a PoS blockchain.

Along with liquidity mining, yield farming and crypto coin trading, crypto staking is one of the critical ways to earn income within the blockchain industry. Many Muslim investors may wonder if crypto staking is a halal activity. In this article, we cover all the key details related to crypto staking and its status from an Islamic law perspective, in order to help Muslim investors decide whether staking cryptocurrencies is halal or haram.

In order to maintain their operations and process transaction blocks, certain blockchain platforms (those based on a PoS block validation model) require the availability of crypto funds contributed to the network. This is because these blockchains award the right to validate transaction blocks to 

 that have staked/contributed a certain amount in the network's native cryptocurrency. In the most standard implementation of PoS, the more funds a node has staked on a platform, the higher their chance of being selected as the validator of the next block. This system is used to encourage participation from validators who have 

 — that is, those genuinely interested in supporting the network and ready to contribute funds for this purpose.

Staked funds aren't given away or "donated" by validators — they remain the property of the validator, and can be reclaimed/unstaked if and when the network participant who has provided them decides to stop their block processing activities. To encourage users' participation in the block validation process, validator nodes earn staking rewards for each block they help process.

Most crypto users don't act as full validator nodes on PoS networks, as this often requires substantial minimum staking amounts and technically intricate processes to set up and run a node. However, these users can also earn income from staking crypto in various more affordable and user-friendly ways. Examples include delegating their funds to their preferred validator on blockchains supporting such delegation, or participating in a staking pool (more on that below). Via these options, users can earn a share of the total staking rewards awarded to full validator nodes.

Additionally, crypto users can earn staking rewards using specialized products on crypto trading platforms and crypto exchanges. One such product is 

, previously known as Bybit Staking, which allows you to earn staking rewards without the complexities of staking in blockchain environments. Staking products on exchanges often provides a wider choice of crypto tokens and coins than direct blockchain-based staking. This is because blockchain-based staking options are limited to native coins of PoS networks, whereas exchanges frequently offer additional assets, such as popular 

Independent staking involves setting up and running your own full validator node on a PoS blockchain network. You are responsible for technical setup procedures and are typically required to keep your node online and ready to process blocks without significant downtime.

Minimum staking requirements for independent staking are often substantial. For instance, the 

 (ETH) blockchain requires validator nodes to stake at least 32 ETH (around $80,000 as of Nov 1, 2024), while becoming a 

 (BNB) validator requires an investment of 10,000 BNB (currently around $5.7 million). Technical uptime requirements aren't child’s play, either, as validator nodes are encouraged to be online at all times, and frequent downtimes may lead to penalties in the form of slashing, whereby you lose some portion of your staked funds.

The advantage of independent staking is that you can earn substantial amounts by receiving full staking rewards from the blockchain. On PoS platforms such as Ethereum, full validators don't need to pay anyone commission fees or other charges, nor do they have to share their rewards with others. In comparison, on 

 (DPoS) blockchains, independent validators share the rewards with those who have delegated their funds to them, but typically still earn a more significant cut than each individual delegator.

For most crypto users, the technical and financial requirements of independent staking are too high. As an alternative, these users can join a staking pool to earn crypto rewards. Staking pools are platforms that facilitate the pooling of crypto funds from many users. These funds are then used to manage the actual direct staking, for instance by running validator nodes or delegating the funds to blockchain validators. By joining a staking pool, you can earn a share of staking rewards commensurate to the share of funds you’ve provided. With PoS staking pools, you only need to contribute crypto, and don't have to worry about providing computing capacity.

Understanding Islamic Finance and Crypto Staking

For many Muslim investors, adhering to the principles of Islamic finance and Shariah law is important when choosing an investment product. Islamic finance principles state that any investment should avoid interest (riba), speculation/gambling (maysir) and excessive uncertainty (gharar). It also shouldn’t involve trading assets that you don't actually own, or be related to haram activities or products, such as drugs, alcohol, pork, gambling, betting or pornography.

When evaluating whether crypto staking is a halal activity, it's important for investors to differentiate it from other popular forms of earning crypto income: liquidity mining and yield farming. 

 involves providing crypto funds to coin swap pools on 

 (DEXs). These funds are required by some DEXs — those based on the 

 (AMM) model — to have enough liquidity for swap operations. Liquidity providers earn a share of transaction fees from swaps involving the assets in the pool. In turn, 

 refers to the strategic allocation of crypto funds across various 

 (DeFi) protocols to maximize yields earned. Yield farming allocations can often involve borrowing and lending activities, often with the involvement of interest (riba).

Learn all about Bybit Islamic Account and

Unlike many yield farming activities, crypto staking doesn't usually involve riba. There is no lending or borrowing of funds with interest in crypto staking. Stakers invest their funds to support the operations and security of blockchain networks, and earn staking rewards based on the amounts they’ve contributed. These reward payouts aren't based on money that has been lent to someone with interest.

As noted above, crypto staking isn't an interest/riba–based activity. Additionally, there's no maysir, or gambling/speculation, in crypto staking: stakers earn a certain amount of relatively stable income that has little to do with speculative trading activities. The fixed and stable nature of crypto staking rewards also indicates no gharar, or excessive uncertainty. In fact, crypto staking is considered among the least 

 or speculative forms of earning income in the blockchain industry.

As such, crypto staking lacks the characteristics of the three fundamental prohibitions in Islamic finance — riba, maysir and gharar. This indicates that staking cryptocurrencies on blockchain platforms may qualify as a halal activity.

Additionally, Muslim investors need to ensure that the blockchain platform they support with staking isn't involved in haram activities, such as those related to alcohol, pork or other products forbidden in Islam.

With crypto staking being a halal activity in most cases, investors might be wondering which staking platforms and coins are the most suitable from the Islamic finance perspective. Below, we list five cryptocurrencies and their associated blockchains that are likely the optimal choices for a Muslim investor looking for staking opportunities. These five options are among the largest PoS networks in the industry. This ensures that their staking processes are among the most stable and predictable in the cryptosphere, which helps minimize the probability of gharar. 

As the largest players in the industry, these chains' native cryptocurrencies also feature some of the highest current trading volumes, which ensures a higher degree of price stability and a lower likelihood of speculation/maysir for these coins. This is also a key factor from an Islamic finance perspective, as you’ll stake and earn rewards in these platforms' respective crypto assets.

Ethereum (ETH) — specifically, its current PoS version, 

 — is the world's largest blockchain currently utilizing staking for block validation. It’s known to provide stable and highly sought-after staking rewards in its native cryptocurrency, ETH. While independent staking on the network, which requires 32 ETH collateral, is financially not viable for many crypto users, you can still join a staking pool to earn rewards.

 (SOL) is another top PoS blockchain. It typically features faster processing times and lower fees for crypto transactions than Ethereum. Unlike Ethereum, Solana doesn't impose a minimum amount to run a full validator node. In theory, that means anyone could run an independent staking operation on the blockchain. However, in practice, the competition among Solana validators for the chance to validate blocks is intense, and those with modest amounts staked in them are unlikely to win the race. The good news is that Solana, unlike Ethereum, supports stake delegation. This gives you two practical options to earn staking rewards as an ordinary user: delegate your stake to a preferred validator, or join a staking pool.

 (ADA) is a leading PoS blockchain network that exclusively uses staking pools for its block validation. This means there's no individual staking on Cardano. To participate in staking on this blockchain, you have two options: run your own pool, or, as a more practical choice for most users, join an existing one.

 scalability solutions for Ethereum. At the heart of its ecosystem is the Polygon PoS blockchain, which supports independent staking via running a validator node, as well as stake delegation. 

Currently, Polygon validators are required to stake their POL on Ethereum’s network, although the platform plans to enable full direct staking via its own chain in the near future. For most users, however, stake delegation is the best option: in this mode, you don't need to worry about technical intricacies, such as which actual network — Polygon or Ethereum — is handling your stake. Besides the stake delegation option, you can also choose an external staking pool provider for the platform's native token (POL).

 (AVAX) is another popular and well-regarded blockchain that offers staking. Somewhat smaller than most of the chains described above, Avalanche is still among the heavyweights of the blockchain industry: its native coin, AVAX, has amassed a 

 of over $10 billion (as of Nov 1, 2024). 

Avalanche offers direct independent staking: you can run your own validator node, or delegate your stake. The independent validator staking option requires collateral of 2,000 AVAX ($49,880 as of Oct 31, 2024), while the minimum requirement for stake delegation is a relatively modest 25 AVAX ($623.50). As is the case with other major PoS chains, you can also find a variety of external staking pool providers for AVAX.

The crypto market features a variety of passive income opportunities, but identifying which ones are halal isn't always straightforward. In its typical format, crypto staking can be considered a halal activity, as it doesn't involve lending or borrowing funds with interest (riba), speculative trading akin to gambling (maysir) or excessive uncertainty (gharar) often associated with some other crypto activities. As such, Muslim investors can use cryptocurrency staking, although it's always important to carefully scrutinize the actual activities of the crypto project offering staking. If these activities aren't linked to haram industries or products, staking may be one of the safest options for a crypto-minded Muslim investor. 

Disclaimer: Due to varying opinions on Shariah compliance of crypto trading, we recommend you to conduct your own further research. Please note that the posts on Bybit Learn should not be considered as fatwa. Our aim is to present information on different topics to empower readers to make informed decisions.

Intermediate

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Is Crypto Staking Halal? All You Need to Know

Discover how to trade USDC perpetual futures on Bybit. Learn about margin types, collateral options, order types and risk management tools.

Perpetual futures at Bybit enable traders to speculate on cryptocurrency prices without expiration dates, providing flexibility for a wide range of strategies. With the added stability of USDC, one of the leading USD-pegged stablecoins, alongside customizable leverage and robust risk management tools, USDC perpetual futures are an ideal choice for both novice and seasoned traders.

What Are USDC Perpetual Futures Contracts?

USDC perpetual futures contracts are a type of crypto derivative that lets traders speculate on asset prices without needing to worry about contract expiration dates. This allows traders to hold positions as long as they meet margin requirements.

 (USDC) is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar (USD), designed to maintain a 1:1 value with it. It’s widely used as collateral in crypto trading for its stability and reliability.

Top Bybit USDC Perpetual Futures by Trading Volume 

Bybit offers several popular USDC perpetual futures contracts, with the highest trading volumes often seen in BTC-PERP, ETH-PERP and SOL-PERP. 

These contracts allow traders to speculate on the price movements of major assets while using USDC as margin, providing stability and flexibility in volatile markets.

How Do USDC Perpetual Futures Contracts Work?

 on Bybit allow traders to use USDC as collateral to speculate on price changes of major crypto assets. A key feature of perpetual futures trading is the 

, a periodic payment exchanged between long and short traders to keep contract prices close to the asset's spot price.

How to Trade USDC Perpetual Futures on Bybit

1. To trade USDC perpetual futures on Bybit, start with depositing USDC into your Unified Trading Account by selecting your preferred deposit method in the 

Bybit offers leverage of up to 125x, allowing you to amplify gains or losses. Adjust leverage according to your 

Margin Requirements for USDC Perpetual Positions

How to Calculate Position Sizing for Perpetual Positions 

Position sizing is essential in perpetual futures trading, because it determines the capital at risk and supports effective risk management.

 to estimate appropriate sizing based on risk tolerance and account balance.

, in the example shown above, a trader opens a 

 of 180 USDC, the trade yields a profit of 500 USDC, resulting in a return on investment (ROI) of 277.77%. Bybit’s 

 helps traders determine the optimal position size, based on leverage and risk.

Other Advanced Tools for USDC Perpetual Trading

Conclusion: Getting Started With USDC Perpetuals Futures

Trading USDC perpetual futures on Bybit offers unique advantages, such as using USDC, one of the leading stablecoins, as collateral. This makes USDC perpetuals a reliable choice for those who are wary of market volatility. Bybit’s platform provides additional features, such as flexible leverage, advanced trading tools and access to in-depth market data, which together enhance trading precision and control.

However, it’s essential to grasp the risks involved. Leveraged positions amplify both gains and losses, so understanding risk management tools — such as setting stop-loss orders — is crucial for preserving capital. New traders can explore 

, a valuable tool for practicing strategies without risking real funds that lets you build confidence and develop effective trading habits before diving into live markets. 

 and explore our flexible perpetual futures contracts.

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The Global Dollar Network, launched by leaders in fintech and digital assets including Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Kraken, Nuvei, Paxos, and Robinhood, aims to accelerate global stablecoin adoption. 

Daily Top Performer — Mask Network (MASK)

The S&P 500 fell 0.28% as investors anticipated the U.S. election and a likely 25-basis-point Fed rate cut, with major tech stocks like Tesla and Amazon leading the decline. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was down by 1.94%, with Bitcoin and Ether dropping by 2.39% and 3.87%, respectively in the past 24 hours.

Today’s top performer is MASK, which surged 8.0% following Mask Network’s unveiling of a revamped website with enhanced features and tutorials.

Mask Network, founded in 2017, is a protocol that bridges Web 2.0 and web3, enabling users on platforms like Twitter and Facebook to access web3 features, including crypto and NFTs. It supports multiple blockchain networks, such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Solana, making it chain-agnostic. Mask Network 

 an update to its website, featuring a new layout that highlights product features and a revamped tutorial page.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

, launched by leaders in fintech and digital assets including Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Kraken, Nuvei, Paxos, and Robinhood, aims to accelerate global stablecoin adoption. The network introduces USDG, a new stablecoin issued by Paxos, compliant with Singapore’s Monetary Authority framework. It seeks to address shortcomings in current stablecoins by providing trusted, low-cost options for enterprises while rewarding network participants. The initiative encourages collaboration among custodians, exchanges, and financial institutions to innovate in global money movement. USDG is now available through various partners, with DBS Bank managing its reserves.

Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETF flows totaled -$579.5 million, with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) accounting for -$63.7 million and non-GBTC products comprising -$515.8 million.

 opens on November 7th, with a current pre-market price of $0.04. For claiming, users can visit the provided link: 

Beginner

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Global Dollar Network Launched to Boost Stablecoin Adoption with New USDG Stablecoin

Web3 gaming is a multibillion dollar industry with millions of players worldwide. Its games come in a variety of styles. Learn more here.

 has transformed its role from that of a cutting-edge financial investment to become a part of everyday life. While 

 concepts are used for a multitude of practical services, they're also a fantastic source of entertainment. Gaming is currently one of the biggest applications of web3 design. By adding blockchain features to gaming experiences, developers have been able to make games even more exciting and meaningful. Explore this guide to see why web3 gaming is so popular. 

Web3 gaming is a multibillion dollar industry with millions of players across the globe. Its games come in a variety of styles, ranging from first-person shooters to puzzle games. The main commonality among all of these games is the use of blockchain technology, such as in-game cryptos and 

“Web3 gaming” might sound pretty high-tech, but it's actually surprisingly simple. Web3 games are just standard games that incorporate blockchain technology into their designs. 

The majority of web3 games rely on two basic structures: half of each game is a standard video design that uses coding, software and hardware to create a system in which users input instructions and receive a gaming experience. The component that differentiates web3 gaming from other gaming is that of its blockchain technology. While designing their games, web3 developers also connect their systems to a blockchain, setting up multiple 

 that trigger when certain in-game actions occur. This design allows web3 games to include all sorts of blockchain mechanics. The following are a few examples:

Web3 gaming is an incredibly broad industry. Some web3 games are simple mobile apps where you tap a single button, while others are complex worlds that require hours of practice to understand. To get a good understanding of the web3 gaming landscape, it's useful to take a look at some of the most common types of games.

 gaming or DeFi gaming, investment gaming emerged as the first generation of web3 games, essentially a gamified version of standard crypto investment, with features such as 

 focus primarily on making money, but they use a game-based interface to make the process more entertaining.

 or P2E games) gamify standard behaviors. Users might tap a button or take a walk in real life, and then their action mines cryptocurrency that’s directly deposited in the player's wallet. Ever since the earliest 

, this has been one of the most popular forms of web3 gaming.

The modern generation of web3 game development is moving away from repetitive, crypto-focused designs and instead attempting to copy strategies from the traditional gaming industry. Competition-based games involve players battling each other. Though players can earn digital assets, the main goal is simply to compete with each other. Game options like 

 mimic first-person shooter competitions, while styles such as 

 gaming. This style of gaming prioritizes socializing with other gamers and building a community. Options like 

 create complex worlds in which players can create a character to role-play and interact with other characters.

The unique technology behind web3 gaming allows this industry to offer players key features they can't find anywhere else. Depending upon the game you choose, you may be able to enjoy many different fantastic game components.

For many players, the big appeal of web3 gaming is that digital assets have actual value. Using blockchain technology for in-game currency and items allows players to trade their assets both within and outside of the game. This allows the market to assign their assets a value, and players can choose to convert their items into other types of currency if they wish to.

Multiple games in the web3 space operate under the principle of decentralization. Instead of having one company run the entire system, the game is run as a collective of players and developers. Blockchain technology allows players to vote on various decisions, such as what mechanics to add to the game or what the price of an object should be. 

The majority of web3 games emphasize player ownership of in-game items. Users have direct control over the things they earn and create within the game. Not only can players buy and sell their possessions as they wish, but they can choose how to use or upgrade their digital assets.

Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence

Web 2.0 gaming is at the forefront of gaming design. Though virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence technology aren’t a requirement for web3 gaming, they’re far more common within the gaming sector. Many games hope to use these technologies to offer the most immersive and detailed experiences possible.

All the unique features of web3 gaming make it a particularly useful type of gaming universe. Compared to traditional games, web3 games have many special advantages.

Blockchain technology is a highly useful tool for game developers. For example, it makes it a lot simpler to manage things like player rewards and land generation, giving developers more options when designing their games. Web3 gaming systems also have the ability to run online, seamlessly interacting with a variety of 

 products and blockchain tools. Ultimately, this means that the web3 gaming community has some truly unique games that couldn't flourish with standard technology. 

Web3 ecosystems streamline the process of making a profit from games. Since it's so easy to transfer and trade assets, players can more easily convert their gaming skills into cash. Not every player may make millions, but web3 games come with many opportunities to earn money.

Since web3 games often run on principles of decentralization and transparency, they're often an ideal way to safeguard players' rights. Players usually retain control of their own data and don't have to worry about their hard-earned assets being taken away from them. Furthermore, web3 games typically value and respect the input of their communities. Blockchain technology makes it easy to ensure that community members are involved in every step of game production.

Web3 games are known for their capability to offer an immersive and seamless gaming experience. In-game transactions and crafting are directly linked to real blockchain assets, so gamers can feel particularly connected to their games. Instead of having all gaming experiences take place within a specific program, gaming experiences have real-world ramifications that can be explored through multiple blockchains and online communities. 

Though web3 gaming has many benefits, it's not always a perfect ecosystem. Here are some of the issues that web3 gamers may encounter. 

Web3 games operate with some nontraditional technology, so they can be quite confusing. Instead of simply downloading an app or launching a website, users might need to do things like 

. This adds an extra layer of complexity that may make it hard for web3 games to onboard new users.

While web3 games have the potential to offer an immersive experience, it's not a requirement. The focus on investing and profitability has led to some criticism from the gaming community. There are quite a few projects designed simply to make money, and these often struggle to engage players. Many gamers complain about web3 games with overly repetitive mechanics, cheap artwork or bland storylines. It can take some time for gamers to sort through the vast amount of web3 projects and find games that are fun to play for hours at a time. 

Both web3 gaming and traditional gaming hope to appeal to the same user base. Both styles of gaming endeavor to entertain people by appealing to their competitive and creative instincts. There’s quite a bit of overlap in the styles of games being released, and the same developers and gaming studios are working in both traditional and DeFi spaces.

However, unlike traditional games, web3 games can take advantage of newer technology. This style of gaming offers many unique aspects not found in traditional games:

Web3 gaming is still a fairly new industry, with many changes ahead. Currently, the big trend in web3 gaming is 

 models. However, online discussions suggest that users may be shifting away from simpler games. There's been a growing demand for more complex games that mimic the depth and creativity of AAA games. 

 with endless possibilities for fighting, crafting, exploring and more. In the future, web3 games may begin to prioritize entertainment and engagement over investment opportunities. You can expect to see fewer games with DeFi tie-ins, and more games that try to mimic the appeal of games like 

Web3 gaming is poised to become one of the biggest blockchain industries. 

 by 2030. With so much potential profit, web3 gaming is certainly worth exploring. Both amateur traders and professionals have the chance to earn money through different games in web3 spaces.

However, keep in mind that the days of earning thousands of dollars just by tinkering around with a new GameFi product are most likely over. With so many products on the market now, it's much harder for players to earn money by tapping a few buttons. Instead, the big investment opportunities are more likely to come from supporting the products themselves. While you might be able to make a little money by playing a game, purchasing a new game's crypto and watching it grow is likely to be a more efficient and profitable use of your time.

Web3 gaming's capacity to combine entertaining game mechanics with profitable blockchain technology has helped this industry soar. Not only are blockchain games currently worth billions of dollars, but they're also poised to capture more players than traditional online games. Investors who want to be on the cutting edge of web3 trends would certainly do well to pay close attention to web3 gaming.

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Web3 Gaming: Elevating Play to Next-Level Realities

Bybit Learn

Crypto

Learn what drives crypto volatility and discover strategies to manage it, from portfolio diversification to hedging, emotion-free investing, and utilizing smart order types like stop-loss.

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The volatility of the crypto market is often thought to be on a scale of its own, with Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies frequently going through head-spinning price roller coasters. In the past few years, the world's leading cryptocurrency asset (and the primary gauge of the overall crypto market's performance), the BTC coin, has experienced wild price swings. In March 2022, having just begun to recover from the catastrophic losses of the November 2021 crash, Bitcoin entered a multi-month steep decline, losing nearly two-thirds of its value between late March 2022 and early November of the same year.

More recent times have also witnessed Bitcoin's well-known volatility. Between early October 2023 and late March 2024, the cryptocurrency appreciated by 174%, a rate of growth that sounds nearly surreal to a stock market investor. By the time of this writing (Sep 12, 2024), Bitcoin has lost around 21% of those March 2024 highs and continues to demonstrate significant volatility. 

What drives the volatility of Bitcoin and the overall crypto market — and how can investors shield themselves from it? In this article, we take a closer look at crypto volatility and the best ways to manage it.

The volatility of a financial asset is defined as the rate of variation in its price over a specific period of time. Assets with high price volatility are characterized by more pronounced and frequent price fluctuations. More volatile assets are also considered riskier from an investment perspective. However, as any market participant knows, higher risk levels also mean higher return opportunities. In fact, in financial markets, volatility is synonymous with risk.

Volatility is typically measured using the 

, which shows an asset's typical magnitudes of change within a defined period. Normally, this volatility is expressed as a percentage.

Crypto Volatility vs. Traditional Market Volatility

The crypto market's typical volatility is considerably higher than the average volatility of stock markets, and often exceeds the volatility of commodities markets as well. Even Bitcoin, which is considered far less volatile than smaller-cap 

, has much higher volatility levels than traditional financial assets. While Bitcoin's one-year volatility may be declining, as shown in the chart below, it still stood at around 40% as of April 2024. In contrast, the one-year volatility of gold, global equities (ACWI IMI) and U.S. bonds (US Agg) was around 10% in April 2024, four times lower than that of Bitcoin.

The key factors contributing to the crypto market's higher volatility in comparison to traditional markets include:

Sentiment plays an important role in any market, but is particularly influential in crypto markets, as they have lower barriers to entry compared to stock markets. For instance, on many 

 (CEXs), you can start investing with just a few dollars and no identity or residence verification requirements. As a result, many novice retail investors have joined the crypto market. These investors often lack the expertise to conduct a thorough 

 of the market. As a result, they’re often driven by sentiment, particularly social media sentiment and online news.

The relatively younger age of crypto investors compared to stock market participants also makes them more prolific social media users, and social media is the primary source where emotions, hype, opinion and other elements of sentiment around crypto assets are forged. Just ask Elon Musk, one social media influencer with a penchant for swaying sentiment around assets like Bitcoin and Dogecoin (DOGE).

The first, rudimentary crypto markets began to emerge around 2010–2011. As such, the crypto market is at most 14 years old. In comparison, trading in stocks has been around for a few centuries, while commodities markets have existed for millennia. The immaturity of the crypto market means that its defining properties and rules are still being actively developed.

Compared to traditional markets, the crypto market has low levels of regulation, although this is slowly changing. In the aftermath of the 

, regulators in the U.S. and across the globe have enacted, or are in the process of enacting, laws that would better regulate crypto trading and investment. For instance, in 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 

, opening the way to bringing investment in these assets under regulatory control. The 

 in the U.S. in early 2024 has also made many analysts confident about the further stabilizing of crypto prices as more mainstream investors get exposed to Bitcoin.

However, the crypto market in general continues to be much less regulated than stock markets, which acts as one contributor to its notorious volatility.

Macroeconomic indicators like inflation rates, central bank interest rates, GDP growth rates, major free trade agreements and more have the potential to significantly affect the volatility of the cryptocurrency market. In part, this is often caused by the reallocations between asset classes initiated by large institutional investors. As a response to macroeconomic data and forecasts, these investors might shift funds between crypto and other asset classes, such as bonds, stocks or commodities. Since the crypto market has much less liquidity than traditional markets, any such reallocations can greatly affect it.

Unlike the stock market and other traditional markets, the crypto market is open 24/7 and experiences no interruption to its trading processes. The continuous nature of the market also contributes to its volatility.

Some order types and techniques can be particularly useful in 

 and digital assets. These include stop-loss orders, take-profit orders, position sizing and put options.

 orders come with an instruction to buy or sell an asset when it reaches a certain level, known as the stop price. These orders are widely used to minimize potential trading losses, and can be highly useful for limiting losses in the high-volatility environment of the crypto market.

 orders instruct traders to close a trading position when they achieve a pre-specified profit level. While stop-loss orders are used to minimize losses, take-profit orders are designed to protect profits.

 refers to the number of units a trader allocates to a specific position, taking into account their overall portfolio and 

. In high-volatility markets, position sizing can help you avoid losses resulting from overreliance on a single asset or position.

 is an options contract that gives you the right to sell a target asset at a specific price within a specified period. Put options can provide valuable protection against price losses when a high-volatility market suddenly turns bearish.

Portfolio diversification is another useful method for managing volatility. By splitting your total investment into different asset types or coins that share low or negative correlations with each other, you can protect your overall portfolio from adverse price movements. For instance, under certain market conditions, Bitcoin may exhibit low correlations with the stock market, primarily non-technology stocks. By splitting your overall portfolio between Bitcoin and non-tech stocks, you could, hopefully, expect positive returns from the latter at times when the former enters a period of losses.

 is a popular investment risk minimization approach. In its most classic form, hedging is based on opening offsetting or opposite positions to protect yourself from adverse price movements. Earlier, we noted how put options can be used to manage the volatility of the crypto market. One example of hedging would be to buy a put option on an asset on which you're currently going long. Conversely, you would buy a call option on an asset you're currently shorting as part of your hedging strategy.

Managing your emotions during trading is a critical skill, particularly in the highly volatile environment of the crypto market. The market is strongly driven by sentiment, and one way to detach yourself from emotion-based trading is to recognize the prevalent sentiment. You can do so by using crypto sentiment indices designed to measure the levels of fear (aversion to buying/predisposition to selling) and greed (aversion to selling/predisposition to buying) dominating the market. One such indicator, the 

, is offered by the Alternative.me portal.

Besides using market-wide sentiment measures, strive to base your decisions on thorough research of the crypto of interest to you in order to avoid emotion-based investing. As a minimum, this should include facts about the team behind the project, coin distribution schemes, actual activity on the platform linked to the coin, its road map and white paper, VC capital raised and historical price performance.

Useful Trading Tools for Managing Crypto Volatility

Volume analysis involves studying a crypto asset's overall trading volumes (the sum of buying and selling volume) over a period of time, such as 24 hours, 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 3 months or longer periods. Many analysts believe that volume spikes precede price increases, while volume declines are followed by price losses.

 (MAs) can be an effective visual aid in studying the volatility of crypto assets. The 

 is derived by calculating the averages for a certain number of the latest price points (e.g., daily closing prices) for a crypto asset. These averages are then plotted along with the main price line on a chart. A typical number for the latest price points used in the calculation is often 5, 10, 20, 50 or 200, and can also vary depending upon the analyst's choice. MA-derived price lines are normally smoother than actual asset price lines, providing a useful visual tool for detecting upcoming trend reversals.

 are a visual tool for identifying trends and momentum for an asset. A Bollinger Band chart consists of three lines — a 20-day moving average price line, an upper line set at two standard deviations above the MA line and a lower line set at two standard deviations below the MA line. The number of periods for the MA line and the number of standard deviations used for the upper and lower lines can be modified, depending upon the analyst's preferences.

 (ATR) indicator is a 14-day moving average of true ranges for an asset. Each true range value is the largest difference between the asset's most recent high and most recent low. ATR is a useful measure for assessing the price volatility of an asset.

 is a valuable tool for assessing price volatility and identifying support and resistance levels. Using Fibonacci retracement, you first consider two price extremes for a given period on the price chart: the swing high and the swing low. You then calculate and plot several price points within the range, as horizontal charts. These price points typically correspond to 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8% and 78.6% of the range. The percentages are based on Fibonacci numbers, which occur in many sequences in the natural world. When the asset price touches the horizontal Fibonacci levels on the chart, it provides an indication to traders concerning potential price reversals, consolidations and breakouts.

 (RSI) indicator is a technical analysis measure that indicates whether an asset is overbought (due for a correction) or oversold (due for a recovery). RSI represents a value between 0 and 100. Values above 70 indicate that an asset is overbought, while values below 30 signal an oversold asset.

Crypto market volatility presents significant challenges and unique profit opportunities for investors who aren't shy of high-risk/high-return environments. The immaturity of the crypto market, alongside its low levels of regulation, 24/7 trading opportunities and high susceptibility to sentiment-driven swings will continue to shape the nature of crypto trading. In this environment, it's critical for traders and investors to manage high levels of volatility using the methods, indicators and order types we've outlined above.

What Is Crypto Volatility and How to Manage It

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