I’ve started paying serious attention to the highs and lows patterns after seeing how many times traders use them to anticipate future movements. It’s not magic; it’s just the chart telling a story.

When you look at a chart and notice that each new high is higher than the previous one—that’s what we call a higher high—you’re observing a market that’s still pushing strongly upward. Bitcoin did exactly this between February and March 2023: rising from below $20,000 to over $24,700, then even higher up to $27,500. Each pullback was followed by a new peak higher than the last. This is a sign that sentiment remains positive and buyers are still in control.

Equally important is recognizing when highs stop being higher. If you notice that the peaks start to stagnate or even decline, while the lows keep getting lower, the picture changes completely. In January 2023, Bitcoin showed exactly this pattern: highs dropped from 23,850 to 23,570 to 24,420 (with the last still below the previous ones), and lows gradually fell below 22,850. That kind of higher high was no longer present.

Traders who understand this dynamic know that a higher high represents a resistance level broken and continued demand. When you see this pattern consolidating, the next move tends to follow the upward trend after each correction. Conversely, when the market prints decreasing highs and lows, it means selling pressure is winning, and every recovery attempt gets crushed.

How do I apply this? I use platforms like TradingView to mark these key points on a candlestick chart. I compare the latest high with the previous one: if it’s higher, I keep monitoring for further higher highs. If it’s lower, I start considering short positions or at least reducing exposure.

The important thing is not to stop there. A higher high is a signal, not a guarantee. The market is full of variables—news, technical developments, overall sentiment—that can quickly change the game. That’s why I always combine these patterns with other analyses: historical support and resistance levels, volume, maybe some additional indicators. And of course, risk management remains a priority. Crypto trading is volatile and unpredictable, so I always set stop-losses and never risk more than I can afford to lose.

The fundamental lesson? Charts speak the language of trader behavior. Highs and lows are the visual story of how market psychology changes over time. Learning to read them gives you an edge in predicting where the price will go next. But remember: this is just one tool among many, and trading remains a high-risk activity.