Understanding Price Clustering in the Bitcoin Market

⚪ Clustering Around Round Numbers: The study highlights that Bitcoin prices tend to cluster around round numbers, such as $10,000, $20,000, or $50,000. This is primarily driven by psychological barriers, where traders view these round numbers as significant price levels, leading to an increased concentration of trading activity.

⚪ Impact of Time Frames: The extent of price clustering varies significantly with the time frame. In shorter time frames (like 1-minute or 15-minute intervals), price clustering is less pronounced due to the randomness of price movements. However, as the time frame lengthens (hourly or daily), the clustering effect becomes more apparent, suggesting that traders may be more likely to anchor their strategies around these round numbers over longer periods.

⚪ Differences in Open, High, and Low Prices: The study also finds differences in clustering patterns between open, high, and low prices. High prices tend to cluster around the digits 8, 9, and 0, while low prices cluster around 1, 2, and 0. Open prices generally show less clustering, suggesting they are less influenced by immediate market psychology. This pattern suggests that traders should pay particular attention to high and low prices during trading sessions, as these are more likely to show clustering around key levels.

• High Price: This is the highest price that Bitcoin reaches during a specific time period (for example, during a day or an hour). The study found that high prices cluster more around certain numbers, especially numbers ending in 0 or 9. So, high prices often end in numbers like $10, $100, $1,000, or $9,999 because traders tend to react to these round numbers.
  
• Low Price: This is the lowest price Bitcoin hits during a certain time period. Similar to high prices, low prices also cluster, but more around numbers ending in 0 and 1. So, low prices might end in numbers like $10, $1,001, or $5,001.
  

Why is there a difference?

• High prices tend to cluster at numbers ending in 0 or 9 because those feel like natural stopping points for traders.
  
• Low prices tend to cluster at numbers ending in 0 or 1 for similar reasons.
  

⚪ Price Level Influence: The study highlights that clustering behavior changes with the overall price level of Bitcoin. At lower price levels (e.g., below $10,000), there is more clustering around multiples of 5, such as $25, $50, or $75. As the price increases, the significance of these smaller increments diminishes, and clustering around larger round numbers becomes more dominant.

• Price Clustering at Low Levels (<$10 USD):
  There is significant clustering at prices ending in 0, but also notable clustering at prices ending in 5, which acts as a psychological barrier at these lower levels. Prices ending with 50 are also frequently observed as significant psychological barriers. Clustering is weaker overall at these levels compared to higher price ranges, but still noticeable at certain intervals.
  
• Price Clustering at Mid-Levels ($100–$1,000 USD):
  Clustering becomes more focused on round numbers like 00, 50, and 25. As prices increase, clustering around smaller numbers like 5 or 10 reduces. Larger psychological barriers, such as 100 and 500, emerge as significant points of clustering.
  
• Price Clustering at Higher Levels (≥ $10,000 USD):
  At these price levels, clustering becomes even more prominent around major round numbers like 10,000, 20,000, etc. The last two digits 00 become much more frequent, and there is almost no clustering at digits like 5 or 1. Clustering becomes very strong at larger round figures, with a strong psychological barrier hypothesis at play.
  

Summary of Clustering at Different Levels:

• Low Prices (<$10): Clustering at 5, 10, 50, and 100.
  
• Mid Prices ($100–$1,000): Strong clustering at 00, 50, and 25.
  
• High Prices (≥$10,000): Dominant clustering around 00 and multiples of 1,000 (e.g., 10,000, 20,000).