Bitcoin · BTC/USDT · daily
What happens to Bitcoin after a volatility squeeze?
Since 2017, Bitcoin has shown a volatility squeeze 40 times. In the 40 cases old enough to score, the price was higher 7 days later 53% of the time, with a median move of +0.4%. On an ordinary day the median 7-day move for BTC is +0.5%.
No better than chance20
Once you allow for how many studies were run, a gap this large is luck about 99% of the time, so this signal has told you nothing reliable about the following week.
By holding period
| After | Cases | Higher | Median move | Middle half | Ordinary median | Gap | By luck | Proof score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 40 | 45% | −0.3% | −1.4% to +1.0% | 0.0% | −0.3% | 60% | 48 |
| 3 days | 40 | 48% | −0.1% | −2.6% to +1.8% | +0.3% | −0.4% | 84% | 22 |
| 7 days | 40 | 53% | +0.4% | −5.3% to +1.9% | +0.5% | −0.1% | 99% | 20 |
| 14 days | 40 | 40% | −2.5% | −7.7% to +4.8% | +0.8% | −3.3% | 47% | 52 |
| 30 days | 40 | 35% | −3.7% | −14.3% to +14.9% | +1.7% | −5.4% | 57% | 52 |
“Ordinary median” is the median move of BTC over the same number of days starting from any day. “Gap” is the signal's median minus the ordinary one. “By luck” is how often a gap at least that large comes from randomly chosen days, corrected for the 3,572 studies run at each holding period (for this study taken alone: 94%).
Holding it for 7 days
Dips and best points use each day's low and high, measured from the close on the signal day. Costs assume 0.3% for a round trip: a 0.1% exchange fee each way and 0.05% slippage each way.
Did it hold up over time?
Splitting the cases by date: in the earlier 24 the gap over 7 days was −0.5%, and in the later 16 it was +0.1%. The direction changed, which is what a pattern produced by chance tends to do.
Every occurrence
One square per occurrence, oldest first. Green: higher 7 days later. Red: lower. Grey: not yet 7 days old.
| Date | Close | +1d | +7d | +30d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Aug 2026 | $63,970 | −0.6% | +0.9% | +22.4% |
| 28 Jul 2026 | $63,915 | +0.1% | +0.3% | +25.6% |
| 21 Jul 2026 | $66,556 | −0.7% | −4.0% | +9.7% |
| 30 Dec 2025 | $88,485 | −0.9% | +5.9% | −4.3% |
| 28 Jul 2025 | $118,062 | −0.1% | −2.5% | −5.8% |
| 30 Jun 2025 | $107,147 | −1.4% | +1.0% | +10.0% |
| 19 Feb 2025 | $96,644 | +1.7% | −12.8% | −13.0% |
| 3 Feb 2025 | $101,329 | −3.5% | −3.8% | −10.6% |
| 9 Dec 2024 | $97,276 | −0.7% | +9.0% | −2.3% |
| 3 Nov 2024 | $68,776 | −1.3% | +16.9% | +39.4% |
| 10 Jun 2024 | $69,540 | −3.2% | −4.4% | −17.0% |
| 3 Jun 2024 | $68,810 | +2.5% | +1.1% | −12.5% |
The 12 most recent. All 40 are in the open data file.
The rule
20-day Bollinger Band width at its narrowest of the previous 120 days. Unusually tight Bollinger Bands are said to come before large moves, in either direction.
Occurrences closer than 7 days to the previous one are not counted again. The signal is confirmed at the daily close (00:00 UTC) and returns are measured from that close. Full method.
The same signal on other coins
| Coin | Cases | Higher after 7d | Median | Gap | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chiliz | 24 | 63% | +6.0% | +6.7% | Weak evidence |
 Bitcoin Cash | 29 | 41% | −3.1% | −2.9% | Weak evidence |
 Dogecoin | 25 | 56% | +2.1% | +3.0% | Weak evidence |
 Algorand | 25 | 36% | −5.0% | −4.0% | Weak evidence |
 TRON | 35 | 63% | +0.9% | +0.3% | Weak evidence |
 Neo | 25 | 36% | −3.6% | −3.0% | Weak evidence |
 Ethereum | 30 | 43% | −1.1% | −1.4% | Weak evidence |
 XRP | 26 | 54% | +1.1% | +1.8% | Weak evidence |
Volatility squeeze across all 94 coins
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