BITCOIN STOCHASTIC

What is Bitcoin Stochastic?

Bitcoin’s stochastic indicator asks where the latest close sits inside the recent highest-to-lowest price range. It converts that location into a 0–100 scale. A raw value of 80 places the close four-fifths of the way from the lowest low to the highest high. It says nothing by itself about the dollar size of that range.Maketo’s default slow stochastic uses 14 candles for the range and two stages of 3-period simple averaging. The first displayed line, %K, is the smoothed range position. The second, %D, averages that displayed line again. Smoothing makes the reading steadier, but also means the displayed value can differ from the latest candle’s raw position.

Locate the close within the range

The unsmoothed calculation is 100 × (close − lowest low) ÷ (highest high − lowest low). A close at the highest high gives 100; a close at the lowest low gives 0. Near the top does not mean the range must end there: new highs can lift the entire range while the indicator stays high.

Compare the two displayed lines

When %K sits above %D, the quicker smoothed range position is above its slower average. When it sits below, the reverse holds. A crossing below %D near 90 describes a change in range position, while both readings can still be near the top of the range.

Separate chart thresholds from direction

The threshold view defaults to 20 and 80 and records completed-candle crossings of %K. Maketo’s directional summary instead requires %K above 50 and above %D for Rising, or below both for Falling. Conflicting comparisons are Mixed. Moving the chart thresholds changes the recorded events, not that directional rule.

How Stochastic is calculated

Raw %K = 100 × (close − lowest low) / (highest high − lowest low). Slow and full variants smooth %K and add a %D average. Defaults use 14 candles with 3-candle smoothing. The page is published on Slow stochastic, period 14, smooth d 3, smooth k 3. A period counts candles at the interval you choose, so the same setting covers a different stretch of time on a one-hour chart than on a daily one. How smoothing and missing candles are handled.

A calculation you can follow

These invented values illustrate the difference between raw position and the default two-stage smoothing. Suppose the highest high across 14 candles is $110,000, the lowest low is $90,000, and the latest close is $106,000.The raw position is 100 × ($106,000 − $90,000) ÷ ($110,000 − $90,000) = 80.If the previous two raw positions were 50 and 65, the 3-period %K is (50 + 65 + 80) ÷ 3 = 65.If the previous two smoothed %K values were 55 and 60, the new %D is (55 + 60 + 65) ÷ 3 = 60. The displayed %K is above both 50 and its %D, even though it is below the raw 80.The calculation does not disagree with the close. It deliberately averages several range positions, each calculated using that candle’s own rolling high and low.

Fast, slow and full

Fast uses a 14-candle range, no first-stage smoothing beyond one observation, and a 3-period %D. Slow defaults to 14/3/3. Full exposes the same adjustable stages and starts at 14/3/3, so it initially matches Slow. The names describe settings, not separate sources of market evidence.

Longer range windows

A longer period keeps an old high or low in the comparison for longer. When that extreme finally leaves, the range position can move sharply without an equally large change in the latest close. Inspect the range endpoints when a reading jumps.

Smoothing and available candles

The default first %K needs 16 consecutive candles: 14 for the first raw position, then two more for its 3-value average. Its first %D needs 18. Changing the timeframe changes the elapsed time represented by every stage. Missing candles interrupt these windows.

A narrow range can look dramatic

A small dollar move through a narrow high-low range can send the indicator from near 0 to near 100. Read the price chart alongside the scale; an 80-point indicator change is not an 80% Bitcoin price change.

Do not double-count equivalent measurements

Raw stochastic and Williams %R contain the same range-position information on shifted scales. Their agreement is mathematical, not an independent confirmation. Stochastic RSI is different again: it applies range positioning to RSI values rather than to price highs and lows.

Stochastic compared with Williams %R

Williams %R equals raw stochastic minus 100 when the period and prices match. Compare it with the Fast view’s unsmoothed %K to see the scale translation; comparing it with Slow includes a smoothing difference as well. Open Bitcoin Williams %R.

What happens if the entire range is flat?

When the highest high equals the lowest low, division would be undefined. Maketo assigns the raw position 50, the midpoint, before applying the selected smoothing.

Why is a close near the high paired with a lower indicator reading?

In the Slow and Full views, %K averages several raw positions. Earlier closes lower in their ranges can keep that average below today’s raw position.